Chapter 1

Islam and Traditional Sexual Ethics

For Muslims, the institution of marriage based on mutuality
of natural interest and cordiality between spouses represents a sublime
manifestation of the Divine Will and Purpose. This is discernible in the
Quranic verse cited below:

And one of His signs
is that He created mates for you, that you may find rest in them, and He
envisaged between you love and compassion ... (Quran, 30:21)

According to Islamic tradition (sunnah), marriage has been deemed to be an essential requirement.
Celibacy has been regarded as a malevolent condition fraught with evils.

The Islamic approach concerning marriage and morals differs
from what is known about some of the traditional moralizations of a negative
kind. Surprisingly enough, certain traditional moralists regarded sexuality as
something basically wicked. They viewed sexual intercourse; even with ones
legal spouse, as impure, evil, undesirable, destructive, and as if it were
characteristic of the guilty and fallen.

Still more surprising
is the generalized view harboured in the West that the traditional world
commonly believed in the superstition that ascribed an evil connotation to
everything pertaining to sex. The famous Western philosopher, Bertrand Russell,
is no exception in this regard. In his book: Marriage and Morals, he generalizes that:

" ... anti-sexual
elements, however, existed side by side with the others from a very early time,
and in the end, where ever Christianity and Buddhism prevailed, these elements
won a complete victory over their opposites. Westermarck gives many instances
of what he calls 'the curious notion that there is something impure and sinful
in marriage, as in sexual relations
generally.

In the most diverse parts of the world, quite remote from any Christian
or Buddhist influence, there have been orders of priests and priestesses vowed
to celibacy. Among the Jews the sect of the Essenes considered all sexual
intercourse impure. This view seems to have gained ground in antiquity .

... There was indeed a generalized tendency towards ascetism in the
Roman empire. Epicureanism nearly died out and stoicism replaced it among
cultivated Greeks and Romans . ... The neo-Platonists were almost as
ascetic as the Christians. From Persia the doctrine that matter is evil spread
to the West, and brought with it the belief that all sexual intercourse is
impure. This is, though not in an extreme form, the view of the Church ..." [1]

Negative sexual attitudes continued through the centuries to
affect masses of credulous people, in an adverse and also frightening manner of
repugnance towards sex. The high incidence of psychosomatic disorders and
spiritual ailments is largely and uniquely attributed by some psychoanalysts to
a widespread prevalence of deeply ingrained negative sexuality.

What could have been
the causative factors in the misconceptions about sexuality? What could be the
reasons for men to deny themselves the natural satisfaction and the
psychosomatic well being associated with healthy and desirable sex? Why should
people lead their lives, so as to virtually condemn an essentially wholesome
part of their lives? These are some of the complex questions for which thinking
men have yet to provide meaningful and convincing answers. Yet, we all know
that there could be many different reasons for, and causes of, aversion to
human sexuality.

Apparently, the reasons include prejudicial thinking about
sexual desire and intercourse. The prejudice was carried to the extreme among
the Christians, in organizing their churches and the clergy.

The celibacy of Jesus Christ inspired them to the effect
that married status for saints and preachers was considered tantamount to
pollution of their chastity and piety. Accordingly, Popes are always chosen
from among unmarried priests. In fact, all the members of the Catholic clergy
are bound by their oaths of celibacy towards remaining virtuous.

Bertrand Russell says:

"Two or three
beautiful descriptions of this institution (marriage) have been culled out of
the immense mass of the patristic writings; but in general, it would be
difficult to conceive anything more coarse or repulsive than the manner in
which they regarded it . ... The object of the ascetic was to attract men to a
life of virginity, and as a necessary consequence, marriage was treated as an
inferior state . ... To 'cut down by the axe of Virginity the wood of Marriage'
was in the energetic language of St. Jerome, the end of the saint" [2]

Church
approves marriage for purpose of human procreation. The need for propagation of
human species is not construed as something adequate to lift the stigma of
impurity from any sexual act. Another reason for conceding marriage is to
eliminate fornication between men and women. Again to quote Bertrand Russell:

"Christianity, and more particularly St. Paul, introduced an entirely novel view of marriage that it existed not
primarily for the procreation of children, but to prevent the sin of
fornication" [3]

The Catholic church regards marriage as sacrosanct and
binding until death intervenes. Accordingly, dissolution of marriage, or
divorce, is not permitted. The prohibition of annulment of marriage or divorce
may have something to do with a possible desire to atone for the original sin,
resulting in the expulsion of Adam and Eve in an unmarried state.

Irrational attitudes towards women prevailed among some of
the ancient peoples. These included a notion that a woman was not a complete
human being; for, her situation as a creature might well lie somewhere between
a human being and an animal. Also, she was devoid of an articulate spirit, so
that she could never make it to Heaven! Similar other superstitions were
rampant in the past.

Fortunately, however, the aforementioned beliefs and notions
were not universally carried to the extreme. Any natural limits of women, as
identified and evaluated in the past, were not encroached upon. Any impact of
traditional ways of thinking did not go beyond cultivation of a sense of pride
by men and inculcation of a sense of inferiority among women through generations.

Apparently, the
belief in the inherent wickedness of sexual desire and intercourse made men and
women absolutely and equally distressed in spiritual terms. Moreover, it caused
a rather demoralizing conflict between the natural instinct's urge and the
religious or sectarian belief about wickedness of carnal desire and sexual
intercourse.

Spiritual ailments
and unhappiness arising from the aforementioned conflict included disharmony
between genuine natural desires and socially induced aversion towards their
fulfillment. The problem assumed extraordinary proportions, in as much as it
became the subject of intensive investigations by psychologists and
psychoanalysts.

In the above
context, the revolutionary logic of Islam can be of extraordinary interest.
Islam gives no slightest indication to the effect that sexual desire is evil in
itself, or that it is necessarily fraught with evil consequences. On the
contrary, the Islamic endeavour in this regard is aimed at regulating human
sexuality in a most humane manner.

In the perspective
of Islam, human sexual relations are limited only by the genuine interests of
the present society, or the posterity. In this connection, the Islamic approach
follows well known guidelines, leading neither to any sense of sexual
deprivation and frustration, nor to any repressed or inhibited sexual desire.
It is a pity that scholars, like Bertrand Russell, who has evaluated the
Christian and Buddhist morals, have refrained from specifically commenting on
Islamic ethics.

In his book: Marriage
and Morals, Bertrand Russell mentions in passing about Islam. For example,
he says:

"Great religious
leaders, with the exception of Mohammad 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,
discipline and self-denial." [4]

Nonetheless, it is true that from the Islamic point of view
sexual desire is not only compatible with human intellectuality or spirituality,
but is evidenced as part of the nature and temperament of the prophets.
According to one tradition (hadith), love
and affection for women were characteristic of the moral conduct of the
prophets.

There are several other traditions and narrations indicating
prophetic regard for women. According to some, the Prophet of Islam and the
pious Imams too have all explicitly demonstrated their love and regard for
their wives and the womenfolk. At the same time, they have strongly disapproved
of any human inclination towards celibacy or monasticism.

One of the companions of the Holy Prophet, Osman bin
Madaoon, devoted himself to Allah's worship to such an extent that he kept fast
practically everyday, as well as regular nightly vigils in prayers. His wife brought
the matter to the attention of the Prophet, who reacted with visible annoyance
and proceeded at once to where his companion was and said:

"O Othman! Know that Allah has not deputed me to encourage any monastic
life. My Shariah laws are meant for enhancing and facilitating human
accomplishment of their natural lives. Personally, I offer my prayers, keep
fast and maintain my conjugal
relations. Accordingly, to follow me in Islam means conforming to the traditions
laid down by me, which include the requirement that men and women should marry
and live together harmoniously"

The Islamic position as
explained above makes it clear that human sexuality in itself neither
represents any inborn wickedness, nor it invariably signifies evil
consequences. Furthermore, it clarifies that wickedness has been traditionally
ascribed to human sexuality in the process of evolving religious morality in
the Western world. Now, the Western world has taken a 180- degree turn in
reversing its extreme traditional morals.

At present, the Western world believes in respecting and
freeing sexual desires and involvements through lifting of traditional moral
restraints. In fact, many Westerners now favour sexual permissiveness. They
contend that whatever morality has been inherited by them carries no more than
a religious connotation. They claim that today's new morals are based on not
only philosphical, but scientific reasons.

Unfortunately, the negative sexuality traditionally and
recently evolved in the West has penetrated the moral fabric of our society,
too.

This is despite all the erstwhile difficulty of
international communication. Now with the improved means of communication and
regular international contacts, the modernistic Western speculations are
virtually flooding our society, as will be explained later on herein.

[1]
. Bertrand Russell: Marriage
and Morals, George Allen and Unwin Ltd., London, Paperbacks Ed. 1976, p.p.
31-32

[2]
. Ibid. p.
39-40

[3]
. Ibid. p. 35

[4]
. ?