Sexuality in Islam, particularly Islamic jurisprudence of sex () and Islamic jurisprudence of marriage () are the codifications of Islamic scholarly perspectives and rulings on sexuality, which both in turn also contain components of Islamic family jurisprudence, Islamic marital jurisprudence, hygienical, criminal and bioethical jurisprudence, which contains a wide range of views and laws, which are largely predicated on the Quran, and the sayings attributed to Muhammad (hadith) and the rulings of religious leaders (fatwa) confining sexual intercourse to relationships between men and women.
All instructions regarding sex in Islam are considered parts of, firstly, taqwa or obedience and secondly, Iman or faithfulness to God. Sensitivity to gender difference and modesty (haya) outside of marriage can be seen in current prominent aspects of Muslim cultures, such as interpretations of Islamic dress and degrees of gender segregation. Islamic marital jurisprudence allows Muslim men to be married to multiple women (a practice known as polygyny).
The Quran and the hadiths allow Muslim men to have sexual intercourse only with Muslim women in marriage (nikāḥ) and "what the right hand owns".Abd al-Ati, Hammudah. The family structure in Islam. Baltimore, MD: American Trust Publications, 1977. This historically permitted Muslim men to have extramarital sex with concubines and sex slaves. Contraceptive use is permitted for birth control. Acts of homosexual intercourse are prohibited, although Muhammad—the main prophet of Islam—never forbade non-sexual relationships.
Legal prescriptions Modesty
Islam has strongly emphasized the concept of decency and modesty (haya) and chastity; besides the lawful sexuality, priority is given to modesty and chastity both inside and outside the marital relationships. The Quran warns against immoral lust (fahisha), and the hadith literature, modesty has been described by Muhammad as "a part of faith" in hadith traditions. Islam strictly discourages nudity and public nakedness, and it is also forbidden for spouses to spread the secrets of what happens between them in their private marital life.
Education Adult Islam has a long tradition of pragmatism with respect to sex education, with sex being readily discussed and not subject or taboo as long as the topics under discussion were Islamically permissible. A hadith attributed to Muhammad's wife Aisha states that the Ansar women in particular were not shy about asking questions regarding sexual matters as long as they are halal.Bukhari, Book 3, Number 0649. Muslim 332 From as early as the 14th-century, entire manuscripts devoted to Islamic sexual education were being written in Arabic in Baghdad, which at that time was a great literary centre within the Muslim world.
The Perfumed Garden of Sensual Delight (Arabic: الروض العاطر في نزهة الخاطر) is a fifteenth-century Arabic Islamic sex manual and work of erotic literature by Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Nefzawi, also known simply as "Nefzawi". The book presents opinions on what qualities men and women should have to be attractive and gives advice on sexual technique, warnings about sexual health, and recipes to remedy sexual maladies. It gives lists of names for the penis and vulva, and has a section on the interpretation of dreams. Interspersed with these there are a number of stories which are intended to give context and amusement.
Children According to Abdullah Nasih Ulwan, sex education is not recommended until the approach of puberty, and children are expected to be taught the signs of this as well as the characteristics which distinguish men from women. Islamic tradition also encourages that sexual education be entwined with morality, explaining Islamic rules involving the covering the intimate parts of the body, 'awrah, and the Islamic positions on modesty, chastity and avoiding promiscuity.
Circumcision
Khitan or Khatna (, ) is the term for male circumcision carried out as a cultural rite by Muslims and is considered a sign of belonging to the wider Islamic community. Whether or not it should be carried out after converting to Islam is debated among Islamic scholars. The Quran does not mention circumcision, either explicitly or implicitly—in any verse—while some hadiths mention circumcision in a list of practices known as fitra (acts considered to be of a refined person). However, different hadiths contradict on whether circumcision is part of fitra or not.
According to some traditions Muhammad was born without a foreskin (aposthetic), while others maintain that his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib circumcised him when he was seven days old.Al-Halabi, Ali Ibn-Burhan-al-Din. Alsirah al-halabiyyah. Vol.1 Beirut: Al-maktabah al-islamiyyah. (n.d.): 54-5. Islamic sources that advocate for circumcision also do not fix a particular time for circumcision, which can depend on family, region, and country. The preferred age is usually seven although some Muslims are circumcised as early as the seventh day after birth and as late as the commencement of puberty.
Puberty
Bāligh or bulūgh () refers to a person who has reached puberty or adulthood, and has full responsibility under Islamic law. In Islam, human life is divided into two parts, the first is before adolescence or childhood, when man is considered innocent, and the second is after adolescence (bulugiyat) or adulthood, when the Islamic law is fully applied to man and the hereafter is judged. If a person dies before he becomes an adult, he is considered to be in heaven.
The minimum age for puberty in boys is approximately 12 lunar years, and in the absence of symptoms, approximately 15 lunar years to maximum 18 lunar years, or may vary by geographical region; in the case of boys, the characteristics or signs of puberty, pubic hair growth, and Spermarche ("wet dreams"). The minimum age of puberty for girls is approximately 9 lunar years and if absence of no symptoms are found, it can be considered as approximately 15 lunar years to maximum 17 lunar years or 18 lunar years, or may vary by geographical region in case of girls. The characteristics or signs of puberty in girls are pubic hair, menstruation, wet dreams, and the ability to conceive.
In issues pertaining to marriage, baligh refers to the legal expression hatta tutiqa'l-rijal, which means a wedding may not take place until a girl is physically fit for sexual intercourse. This can also, though not necessarily, coincide with the reaching of sexual maturity manifested by menses or nocturnal emission.Masud, Islamic Legal Interpretation, Muftis and Their Fatwas, Harvard University Press, 1996. Only after a separate condition called rushd, or intellectual maturity to handle one's own property, is reached can a wife receive her bridewealth.
Menstruation
The Quran makes specific mention of menstruation in Surah al-Baqarah that instructs Muslims to:"...keep aloof from the women during the menstrual discharge and do not go near them until they have become clean; then when they have cleansed themselves, go in to them as Allah has commanded you".Language that is taken to clearly imply that sexual relations during menstruation are prohibited. Ibn Kathir—a muhaddith—narrated a hadith that describes Muhammad's habits with his menstruating wives. This hadith demonstrates that Muhammad gave licence to all forms of spousal intimacy during the period of menstruation with the exception of vaginal intercourse. Women are required to perform ritual cleansing (ghusl) before resuming religious duties or sexual relations upon completion of their menstruation.
Sexual intercourse is also prohibited during menstruation, for forty days after childbirth (puerperium), during the daylight hours of the month of Ramadan (i.e. while fasting) and on pilgrimage. While in the sanctuary (Masjid al-Haram) in Makkah, pilgrims are not allowed to have intercourse, and marriages performed during the pilgrimage are invalid.
Nocturnal emissions
Nocturnal emission is not a sin in Islam. Moreover, whereas a person fasting—in Ramadan or otherwise—would normally be considered to have broken their fast by ejaculating on purpose (during either masturbation or intercourse), nocturnal emission is not such a cause. They are still required to bathe prior to undergoing some rituals in the religion. Muslim scholars consider ejaculation something that makes one temporarily ritually impure, a condition known as junub; meaning that a Muslim who has had an orgasm or ejaculated must have a ghusl.
Legal relationships Marriage
In Islam and Islamic law (sharia), marriage (nikāḥ) is a legal and social contract between two individuals that outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom and bride. Polygyny is permitted in Islam under some conditions. Both the groom and the bride are to consent to the marriage of their own free wills. Marriage is an act of Islam and is strongly recommended. In Islamic jurisprudence, the primary purpose of sex between marriage and concubinage is procreation. Islam recognizes the strong sexual urge and desire for reproduction and supports a pro-natalist view of procreation.
Divorce in Islam can take a variety of forms, some executed by a husband personally and some executed by a religious court on behalf of a plaintiff wife who is successful in her legal divorce petition for valid cause.
In addition to nikah, there is a different fixed-term marriage known as ("temporary marriage")Wehr, Hans. Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic: a compact version of the internationally recognized fourth edition. Ed. JM Cowan. New York: Spoken Language Services, Inc., 1994. . Print. permitted only by the Twelver branch of Shia Islam for a pre-fixed period.Berg, H. "Method and theory in the study of Islamic origins". Brill 2003 , 9789004126022. Accessed at Google Books 15 March 2014.Pohl, F. "Muslim world: modern Muslim societies". Marshall Cavendish, 2010. , 1780761479277. pp. 47–53. There is also a misyar marriage, a non-temporary marriage with the removal of some conditions such as living together, permitted by some Sunni scholars.
In Islam, the husband should have intercourse with his wife according to what satisfies her, so long as that does not harm him physically or keep him from earning a living. The husband is obliged to treat his wife in a kind and reasonable manner. Part of that kind and reasonable treatment is intercourse, with tradition stipulating that couples should not forego intercourse for longer than four months, though some prominent scholars have prescribed a more stringent minimum frequency of sexual intercourse as a religious obligation for husbands; Ibn Hazm prescribed once a month and al-Ghazali prescribed once every four days. According to other scholars, there is no time limit.Ibn Qudaamah, Malik, Al-Mughni, 7/30, Al-Jassaas, Ahkaam al-Qur’aan, 1/374, Shaykh al-Islam, Al-Ikhtiyaaraat al-Fiqhiyyah, p. 246. However, most scholars say that it is obligatory on women alike not to refuse their husbands if they call them, so long as the woman who is called is not menstruating or sick in such a way that intercourse will be harmful to her, or observing an obligatory fast. If she refuses with no excuse, then she is cursed.al-Fataawa al-Islamiyyah, 3/145, 146, Kashf al-Qinaa’, 5/189, Al-Muhalla, 10/40, Kashf al-Qinaa’, 5/189.
Interfaith marriage Interfaith marriages are recognized between Muslims and Non-Muslim "people of the book" (usually Jews, Christians, and Sabians). According to the traditional interpretation of Islamic law (sharia), a Muslim man is allowed to marry a Christian or Jewish woman but this ruling does not apply to women who belong to other Non-Muslim religious groups, whereas a Muslim woman is not allowed to marry a Non-Muslim man of any Non-Muslim religious group. However, marriage with an idolatress or idolater is forbidden.