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"Is sex inherently evil?" A Muslim would be surprised by this question. Such a thought would never cross his mind. But the revelance of this question to Christianity and the Western world will become clear from the following pages. In the last eighty years, especially after the two World Wars, the sexual morality of the West has undergone a great change which is commonly described as the "sexual revolution." On the ruins of the dying Christian morality, the west is trying to build a liberal sexual morality known as the "New Sexual Morality". To understand the social and historical background in which the new morality is emerging, it is necessary to study the sexual morality of the Christian Church.Although Christianity is commonly thought to be a religion based on Jesus Christ's teachings, I use the word "Christianity" in this book for the teachings of the Church
The first person in Christianity to talk on sexual morality was St. Paul. He says, "It is good for a man not to touch a woman."2 In simple words this means that the Christian Church teaches that celibacy is better than marriage, and that human body is not for sexual pleasure but for the Lord only. "The body is not meant for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body ... Do you know that your bodies are members of Christ?"3
But St. Paul knew that celibacy meant suppressing human nature, and human nature cannot be suppressed. He knew that if marriage is totally forbidden, then people will still indulge in it unlawfully. So he says, "Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife and every woman have her own husband."4 Then as if to prevent the people from forgetting the holiness of celibacy, he continues: "I say this by way of concession, not of command. For I wish that all men were as I myself
St. Paul further goes on to describe that marriage means distress: "Now concerning the unmarried ... I think that in the view of the Present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is ... Are you free from a wife? Then do not seek a wife. But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a girl marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry shall have trouble in flesh."2
According to the Bible, marriage and pleasing God are antipathetic to each other. St. Paul says, "I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord; but the married man is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please his wife and his interest is divided ... The unmarried woman care for the affairs of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and spirit; but a married woman cares for worldly affairs, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord."3 he concludes the Christian position as follows: "So that he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marrying will do better."4
So the Christian view on marriage, in its original form, can be summarized as follows:
(a) celibacy is good and should be adopted;
(b) in order to refrain from adultery, marriage is allowed; but it is regrettable and one should try his or her best to avoid it;
(c) marriage retards salvation and is antipathetic to pleasing God.
Three centuries after St. Paul, came a theologian known as St. Augustine. Like his predecessor, he believed that sex was a threat to spiritual upliftment: "I know nothing which brings the manly mind down from the heights more than a woman's caresses and that joining of bodies without which one cannot have a wife."1 He went even further than St. Paul by associating guilt with sex. He acknowledged that sex was essential for reproduction but argued that the act of sexual intercourse itself was tainted with guilt because of the sin of Adam and Eve. Sexual intercourse was transformed from something innocent to something shameful by the original sin of Adam and Eve, which is passed on from generation to generation.
In his The City of God, St. Augustine says, "Man's transgression [i.e., Adam and Eve's sin] did not annual the blessing of fertility bestowed upon him before he sinned, but infected it with the disease of lust."2 In short, he preached that: (a) sex was something shameful because of the original sin of Adam and Eve; (b) chastity and celibacy was of a higher moral than marriage; (c) celibacy was a prerequisite for priests and nuns.
There is no doubt that the survey of the Christian sexual morality is essential for understanding the sexual revolution of this century; but to fully comprehend the historical background in which the new sexual morality has emerged, it is equally important to look at the Victorian era.
"While the Christians in the pre-Victorian era were content with restricting sex to marriage, Victorians were concerned with how best to harness sex and rechannel it to loftier ends. For Victorians a moral man abstained from sex outside of marriage and was highly selective and considerate in sexual expression within marriage. And a moral woman endured these sporadic ordeals and did nothing to encourage them. Pleasure was not an appropriate goal for either sex, but especially not so for woman."1
The following can be stated as the sexual morality of the Christian West in the nineteenth century: (a) sex is morally degraded than celibacy; (b) sexual passion in human beings is result of the original sin, therefore sex for pleasure is sinful; (c) sex without pleasure is allowed only with the intention of procreation. At the dawn of the twentieth century, the prevalent view was that sex is inherently evil and is acceptable only as a lesser of two evils.
What you read above was a brief historical and social background of the Christian West against which the New Morality was emerging. The Church made a serious error in suppressing the most nature urge of human beings, the very means of their perpetuity. And it is obvious that natural urges can never be suppressed. 'Allamah Rizvi writes:
Commenting on the attitude of Christian clergy, Russell writes, "It was only towards the end of the thirteenth century that the celibacy of the clergy was rigidly enforced. The clergy, of course, continued to have illicit relations with women ..."2 Pope John XXIII was condemned for adultery and incest; the abbot-elect of St. Augustine, at Canterbury, in 1171 was found to have
This and nothing else could have been the consequence of an unnatural sexual morality. Those who could not suppress their natural urges, indulged in sinful acts secretly; others, like Martin Luther, revolted against the church and started the reformation movement which abandoned celibacy.
And when the Christian Church lost its influence in social affairs of the Western world, even the lay man revolted. This revolt gained momentum after the two World Wars; and the Christian West started the sexual revolution in reaction to the sexual suppression. A reform movement takes the society from extremes toward moderation; whereas a revolution, in its early stages, takes the society from one extreme to the other. 'Allamah Rizvi comments, "Nature can be compared to a steel spring which, when pressed down, jumps back with equal force. When it took its revenge upon Christians, it turned Christian societies into the most permissive, libertine and undisciplined ones the world had ever seen."2
Thus the New MOrality emerged in the West and leaped to the other extremes. From the extreme of suppressing natural desires, some preachers of the new
To summarize, we can say that firstly, the West travelled from one extreme -that of sexual suppression- exemplified by the Christian Church to the other extreme -that of free sex and sex for fun- exemplified by the liberal sexual morality. Secondly, the West has realized that free sex and sex for fun is not acceptable to human sensibilities. Finally, after jumping from one extreme
The reason why I discussed the religious and social background in which the sexual revolution has taken place is to let the Muslims -whether residing in West or East- know that this revolution was not a by-product of science and technology per se (although some scientific technologies like contraceptive have made it easier); rather it was a reaction to the suppressive sexual morality of the Christian Church. This, I hope, will also break the myth among many Asians and Africans, especially the elite class, that every behaviour and norm of the West is based on sound scientific reasons!The Islamic sexual morality is fundamentally different from that of the Christian Church. This is because of the all-encompassing nature of the Islamic shari'ah. Bertrand Russell says, "Great religious leaders, with the exception of Muhammad -and Confucius, if he can be called religious- have in general been very indifferent to social and political considerations, and have sought rather to perfect the soul by meditation, disciple and self-denial."1 Yet, Islam has surely not been indifferent to social problems.
The Islamic sexual morality is also fundamentally different from the new sexual morality in a sense that it does not accept the concept of free sex. Islam aims at teaching its followers not to suppress their sexual urges, rather to fulfill them but in a responsible way.
1. Marriage and Morals, p.175-6.
Islam recognizes the sexual needs of human beings and believes that the natural instincts should be nurtured, not suppressed. Islam say that biological parts of our body have a purpose, they have not been created uselessly. No text in Islam can be found to equate sex with inherent evil or sin; whatever has been taught by the Qur'an, Prophet Muhammad and his Ahlu 'l-bayt is pointing in opposite direction. What the Qur'an and the authentic sunnah -and I emphasize on authentic- have said about sex and marriage will now be discussed under the following headings: Islam has very highly recommended marriage as a good deed and not as a lesser of two evils; Islam has very strongly opposed celibacy and monasticism; and Islam believes that marriage is not a hindrance in spiritual way-faring, on the contrary it helps the wayfarer.It is important to realize that in Islamic texts the idea of marriage is not divorced from sex, nor is it confined to sex for the purpose of procreation. The legal term for marriage is "nikah" which literally means sexual intercourse.
Marriage per se is a highly recommended deed. Allah says, "Marry the spouseless among you ... if they are poor, God will enrich them of His bounty." (Qur'an 24:32) The first word of this verse begins with "fankihu" (Marry!) which is an imperative form of the word nikah. According to the principles of Islamic jurisprudence, any communication in imperative form from God can have two levels of meaning: either it is an obligatory command or
Sex has been openly recommended in the Qur'an, "When they [i.e., the wives] have cleansed themselves [after menstruation], you go into them as Allah has commanded." (2:222) The phrase 'commanded you' does not refer to any legislative command; that is, it does not mean that as soon as a person's wife becomes clean from her period, he should immediately have sex with her. It is a creative command and refers to the sexual urge which Allah has placed in our nature. And when sexual urge is counted as a creative command of God, then who can associate it in any way with sin and evil?!
Marriage and sex are among the signs of God's power and blessings. The Qur'an says, "And among His Signs is that He has created for you spouses from among yourselves so that you may live in tranquility with them; and He has created love and mercy between you. Verily, in that are signs for those who reflect." (30:21)
From these few verses of the Qur'an, one can easily understand that according to Islam: (a) marriage is a sign of God's power and blessings; (b) marriage is a highly recommended act of virtu which should not be avoided
The Prophet and the Imams of Ahlul Bayt also encouraged their followers to marry and to fulfill their sexual urges in lawful ways as can be seen from the followings:
The Prophet said, "No house has been built in Islam more beloved in the sight of Allah than through marriage."1 The Prophet said, "O you young men! I recommend sexual intercourse to you."2 Imam 'Ali said, "Marry, because marriage is the tradition of the Prophet. The Prophet said, "Whosoever like to follow my tradition, then he should know that marriage is from my tradition.""3 Imam Riza said, "Three thing are from the traditions of the messengers of God: perfume, shaving the [excessive] hair and frequently visiting one's wife."4 Ishaq bin 'Ammar quotes Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq as follows: "Loving women is among the traditions of the prophets."5
The Prophet said, "Prayer has been made the apple of my eyes, and my pleasure is in women."6 See with how ease the Prophet moves from prayers to the pleasure of women! The Prophet said, "No Muslim man has gained a benefit after [the religion of] Islam better than a Muslim wife who is a cause of his pleasure whenever he looks towards her ..."7 Imam Muhammad al-Baqir quotes the
Jamil bin Darraj quotes Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq saying, "Mankind has not enjoyed [anything] in this world and the hereafter more than the desire for women. Allah says, 'The love of desire os women ... has been made to seem fair to people.' [3:14] The people of the Paradise do not enjoy anything from it more desirable than sex, neither food nor drink."2
