Sexuality in Islam#Castration

{{Main|Haya (Islam)|Islam and clothing}}

{{see also|Awrah|Purdah|Gender segregation in Islam|Gender roles in Islam|Mahram}}

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),{{Cite book|last=Sardar|first=Ziauddin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YqAYCn1O5WwC&q=fahisha&pg=PT307|title=Reading the Qur'an: The Contemporary Relevance of the Sacred Text of Islam|date= 2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-991149-3|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Ṣallābī|first=ʻAlī Muḥammad Muḥammad|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rU11lVnBWOwC&q=fahishah&pg=PA309|title=The Noble Life of the Prophet|publisher=Darussalam|year=2005|isbn=978-9960-9678-7-5|location=Riyadh, Saudu Arabia|pages=309, 310|language=en}} and the hadith literature, modesty has been described as "a part of faith".{{cite web | url=http://40hadithnawawi.com/index.php/the-hadiths/hadith-20 | title=Hadith 20 :: Modesty is from Faith | publisher=40hadithnawawi.com | access-date=27 July 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150810122508/http://40hadithnawawi.com/index.php/the-hadiths/hadith-20 | archive-date=10 August 2015 }} Islam strictly discourages nudity and public nakedness,{{cite book |last1=Ahmed |first1=Akbar S. |title=Postmodernism and Islam: Predicament and Promise |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-92417-2 |page=89 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ARFh_D9pzEC&q=nudity+in+Islam&pg=PA89 |access-date=12 June 2020 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Khan |first1=Muhammad Aftab |title=Sex & Sexuality in Islam |date=2006 |publisher=Nashriyat |isbn=978-969-8983-04-8 |pages=312, 320, 414 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BRTYAAAAMAAJ&q=nakedness+in+Islam |access-date=12 June 2020 |language=en}} and it is also forbidden for spouses to spread the secrets of what happens between them in their private marital life.{{cite web | url=http://www.quran.mu/marital-privacy-in-islam.html | title=Marital privacy in Islam | access-date=1 December 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208211244/http://www.quran.mu/marital-privacy-in-islam.html | archive-date=8 December 2015 }}

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.{{Better source needed|this is just original research|date=November 2023}} 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.{{cite journal |title=Women and Men in al-Suyūṭī's Guides to Sex and Marriage |last=Myrne |first=Pernilla |date=2018 |publisher=The Middle East Documentation Center (MEDOC) at the University of Chicago |issn=1947-2404 |doi=10.25846/26hn-gp87 |pages=47–67 |journal=Mamlūk Studies Review |volume=XXI |url=https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/1253?ln=en}}

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.

According to Abdullah Nasih Ulvan, 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.{{cite book |last1=Alwan |first1=Abdullah Nasih |last2=Ghali |first2=Mahmoud |last3=Ghani |first3=Kamal Abdul |last4=Elkhatib |first4=Shafiq |last5=Shaban |first5=Ali Ahmad |last6=Al-Gindi |first6=Ash-Shahhat |last7=Zeid |first7=Khalifa Ezzat |first8=Selma |last8=Cook |title=Child Education in Islam |date=2004 |publisher=Dar-Us Salam |location=Cairo |isbn=977-342-000-0 |pages=186–214 |edition=2nd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lk685SYzgOIC&q=child+education+in+islam&pg=PA14 |access-date=19 December 2020 |language=en}} 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.

{{See also|Khitan (circumcision)|Khafd}}

Khitan or Khatna ({{langx|ar|ختان}}, {{langx|ar|ختنة}}) 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/islamethics/malecircumcision.shtml |title=Circumcision of boys |access-date=29 July 2008 |work=Religion & ethics – Islam |publisher=BBC |date=24 March 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080305204605/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/islamethics/malecircumcision.shtml |archive-date=5 March 2008 }} Whether or not it should be carried out after converting to Islam is debated among Islamic scholars.{{cite web |url=http://convertingtoislam.com/circum.html |title=Male circumcision – the Islamic View |publisher=www.convertingtoislam.com |access-date=4 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151217175325/http://convertingtoislam.com/circum.html |archive-date=17 December 2015 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.islamicinvitationcentre.com/FAQ/converts/FAQ_converts.html#Anchor-34662circumcision|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227151507/http://islamicinvitationcentre.com/FAQ/converts/FAQ_converts.html#Anchor-34662circumcision|archive-date=27 December 2010 |title=Is Circumcision obligatory after conversion? |publisher=Islamicinvitationcentre.com |access-date=20 May 2012}} 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 Abdul-Muttalib circumcised him when he was seven days old.{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/islamethics/malecircumcision.shtml |title=Religions – Islam: Circumcision of boys |publisher=BBC |date=13 August 2009 |access-date=26 February 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629074142/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/islamethics/malecircumcision.shtml |archive-date=29 June 2012 }}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.

{{Main|Baligh}}

Bāligh or bulūgh ({{langx|ar|بالغ or بُلوغ}}) 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.{{cite book |last1=Meri |first1=Josef W. |title=Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia |date=2006 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-96690-0 |page=150url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H-k9oc9xsuAC&q=puberty+islam&pg=PA150 |language=en}}{{cite book |title=Elementary Education and Motivation in Islam |date=2010 |publisher=Cambria Press |isbn=978-1-62196-932-7 |pages=21, 25 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hdaLbLKJ9CkC&q=puberty+islam&pg=PA25 |access-date=24 May 2020 |language=en}}

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 semen discharge (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.

.{{cite book|last1=Hughes |first1=Thomas Patrick |title=A Dictionary of Islam: Being a Cyclopædia of the Doctrines, Rites, Ceremonies, and Customs, Together with the Technical and Theological Terms, of the Muhammadan Religion |date=1885 |publisher=W.H. Allen |page=476 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rDtbAAAAQAAJ&q=puberty+islam&pg=PA476 |access-date=24 May 2020|language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Torab |first1=Azam |title=Performing Islam: Gender and Ritual in Islam |date=2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-15295-3 |page=109 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XsWorLT4p3UC&q=puberty+islam&pg=PA169 |access-date=24 May 2020 |language=en}}

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.

{{main|Menstruation in Islam}}

The Qur'an makes specific mention of menstruation in Quran 2:222 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",{{cite quran|2|222|t=s|s=ns}} language that is taken to clearly imply that sexual relations during menstruation are prohibited.{{cite book |last=Joseph |first=Suad |title=Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures |year=2007 |publisher=Brill |page=531}} Ibn Kathīr, 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.{{cite web |last=Baugh |first=Carolyn |title=Oxford Islamic Studies Online |url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0965 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908190008/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0965 |archive-date=8 September 2015 }}

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 (in Ahram) at Mecca, pilgrims are not allowed to have intercourse, and marriages performed during the pilgrimage are invalid.{{cite web |last=Wheeler |first=Brannon |title=Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World |url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3403500093&v=2.1&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w |publisher=Macmillan Reference USA |access-date=3 May 2013}}

{{main|Nocturnal emission#Islamic}}

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.{{cite book |last1=Smith-Hefner |first1=Nancy J. |title=Islamizing Intimacies: Youth, Sexuality, and Gender in Contemporary Indonesia |date=2019 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |location= |isbn=978-0-8248-7811-5 |page=128 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iVnGDwAAQBAJ&q=nocturnal+emission+islam&pg=PA128 |access-date=26 December 2020 |language=en}}

{{main|Marriage in Islam|Islamic marital jurisprudence}}

In Islam and Islamic law (sharia), marriage (nikāḥ نکاح) is a legal and social contract between two individuals that outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom and bride.{{cite web | url=http://www.al-islam.org/islamic-marriage-syed-athar-husain-sh-rizvi/importance-marriage-islam | title=Importance of Marriage in Islam | date=22 October 2012 | publisher=al-islam.org | access-date=10 June 2015}} Polygyny is permitted in Islam under some conditions.{{cite web |url=http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article308231.ece |title=Women in polygamous marriages suffering psychological torture – Arab News |access-date=2011-03-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311202547/http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article308231.ece |archive-date=2011-03-11 }} 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.{{cite book |last1=Simon |first1=Rita James |last2=Brooks |first2=Alison |title=Gay and Lesbian Communities the World Over |date=2009 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-7391-4364-3 |page=46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AGlGTAXlAcsC&q=homosexuality+islam&pg=PA17 |access-date=26 May 2020 |language=en}}

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.{{cite web |url=https://nikah101.com/getting_married.html |title=Getting Married |access-date=2018-10-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004225955/https://nikah101.com/getting_married.html |archive-date=2018-10-04 |url-status=live}}

In addition to nikah, there is a different fixed-term marriage known as {{transliteration|ar|zawāj al-mut'ah}} ("temporary marriage")Wehr, Hans. [http://ejtaal.net/aa/#hw4=1058,ll=2783,ls=38,la=4127,sg=968,ha=718,pr=145,vi=350,mgf=779,mr=647,mn=1306,aan=617,kz=2459,ulq=1576,uqa=389,uqw=1523,umr=1012,ums=848,umj=778,uqq=365,bdw=829,amr=594,asb=911,auh=1501,dhq=525,mht=842,msb=221,tla=92,amj=766,ens=287,mis=2024,br=890 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. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619052549/http://ejtaal.net/aa/#hw4=1058,ll=2783,ls=38,la=4127,sg=968,ha=718,pr=145,vi=350,mgf=779,mr=647,mn=1306,aan=617,kz=2459,ulq=1576,uqa=389,uqw=1523,umr=1012,ums=848,umj=778,uqq=365,bdw=829,amr=594,asb=911,auh=1501,dhq=525,mht=842,msb=221,tla=92,amj=766,ens=287,mis=2024,br=890 |date=2017-06-19 }}. Print.{{rp|page=1045}} permitted only by the Twelver branch of Shi'ite for a pre-fixed period.Berg, H. [https://books.google.com/books?id=SxPyHsFzNMIC&q=Mutah+of+marriage&pg=PA165 "Method and theory in the study of Islamic origins"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509211138/https://books.google.com/books?id=SxPyHsFzNMIC&pg=PA165&dq=Mutah&hl=en&sa=X&ei=TOtbUaCjLMjOrQeZ6IHwAw&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAg#v=snippet&q=Mutah%20of%20marriage&f=false |date=2016-05-09 }} Brill 2003 {{ISBN|9004126023}}, 9789004126022. Accessed at Google Books 15 March 2014.Hughes, T. [https://books.google.com/books?id=O84eYLVHvB0C&dq=Mutah&pg=PA424 "A Dictionary of Islam."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423230922/https://books.google.com/books?id=O84eYLVHvB0C&pg=PA424&dq=Mutah&hl=en&sa=X&ei=TOtbUaCjLMjOrQeZ6IHwAw&ved=0CFkQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=Mutah&f=false |date=2016-04-23 }} Asian Educational Services 1 December 1995. Accessed 15 April 2014.{{rp|page=242}}Pohl, F. [https://books.google.com/books?id=n4Eye4ilLVkC&dq=Mutah&pg=PA50 "Muslim world: modern Muslim societies"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624115230/https://books.google.com/books?id=n4Eye4ilLVkC&pg=PA50&dq=Mutah&hl=en&sa=X&ei=l0VdUeCnM4ajiAfXnoCgCQ&ved=0CDMQ6AEwATgU#v=onepage&q=Mutah&f=false |date=2016-06-24 }} Marshall Cavendish, 2010. {{ISBN|0761479279}}, 1780761479277. pp. 47–53.{{Cite book |last = İlkkaracan |first = Pınar |title = Deconstructing sexuality in the Middle East: challenges and discourses |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pnGwP9-FhxYC&pg=PA36 |publisher = Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |year = 2008 |page = 36 |isbn = 978-0-7546-7235-7 |url-status = live

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151030194344/https://books.google.com/books?id=pnGwP9-FhxYC&pg=PA36&dq |archive-date = 30 October 2015}}

There is also Nikah Misyar, a non-temporary marriage with the removal of some conditions such as living together, permitted by some Sunni scholars.{{cite web|quote=In a misyar marriage the woman waives some of the rights she would enjoy in a normal marriage. Most misyar brides don't change their residences but pursue marriage on a visitation basis. |url=http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/642991 |title=Misyar now a widespread reality |work=Arab News |date=12 October 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218025556/http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/642991 |archive-date=2017-02-18}}{{cite book|first= Elie |last= Elhadj|title=The Islamic Shield: Arab Resistance to Democratic and Religious Reforms| year=2006|publisher=Universal Publishers|isbn=978-1599424118| page=51}}{{cite journal|journal=Al-Raida |issue=92–99|page=58|title=Misyar Marriage|publisher=Beirut University College, Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World |year=2001}}

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,{{cite book |last1=Busaq |first1=Muhammad Al-Madani |last2=Ahmed |first2=Zubair |title=perspectives on modern criminal policy & islamic sharia |date=2005 |publisher=Naif Arab University |location=Riyadh, Saudi Arabiya |isbn=978-9960-853-17-8 |page=117 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LD8yVhn_WB4C&q=omar+hafsa+husband+wife+four+month&pg=PA117 |access-date=30 May 2020 |language=en}} 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.{{cite book |last= Al-Kawthari|first=Muhammad ibn Adam |author-link= Muhammad ibn Adam Al-Kawthari |date=August 19, 2020 |title= Islamic Guide to Sexual Relations|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=WFdoEAAAQBAJ&dq=islamic+scholars+sex+once+a+month&pg=PT39 |location= |publisher= Turath Publishing|page= |isbn=9781906949617}} 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.

File:Icon Iakovos Moskos.jpg and Saint Catherine's Monastery allowing interfaith marriage between Muslims and Christians, as discussed in the Ashtiname of Muhammad]]

Interfaith marriages are recognized between Muslims and Non-Muslim "People of the Book" (usually Jews, Christians, and Sabians).{{cite encyclopedia|title=Ahl al-Kitab|editor=John L. Esposito|encyclopedia=The Oxford Dictionary of Islam|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2014|url=https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary00bada|df=dmy-all|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001|isbn=9780195125580}} According to the traditional interpretation of Islamic law (sharīʿa), 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,{{cite journal |last=Leeman |first=A. B. |year=2009 |title=Interfaith Marriage in Islam: An Examination of the Legal Theory Behind the Traditional and Reformist Positions |url=https://ilj.law.indiana.edu/articles/84/84_2_Leeman.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Indiana Law Journal |location=Bloomington, Indiana |publisher=Indiana University Maurer School of Law |volume=84 |issue=2 |pages=743–772 |issn=0019-6665 |s2cid=52224503 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123062516/https://ilj.law.indiana.edu/articles/84/84_2_Leeman.pdf |archive-date=23 November 2018 |access-date=25 August 2021}}{{rp|755}} whereas a Muslim woman is not allowed to marry a Non-Muslim man of any Non-Muslim religious group.{{sfn|Leeman|2009|p=755}}{{cite book |author-last=Elmali-Karakaya |author-first=Ayse |year=2020 |chapter=Being Married to a Non-Muslim Husband: Religious Identity in Muslim Women's Interfaith Marriages |editor1-last=Hood |editor1-first=Ralph W. |editor2-last=Cheruvallil-Contractor |editor2-first=Sariya |title=Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion: A Diversity of Paradigms |volume=31 |pages=388–410 |location=Leiden and Boston |publisher=Brill Publishers |doi=10.1163/9789004443969_020 |isbn=978-90-04-44348-8 |s2cid=234539750 |issn=1046-8064}} However, marriage with an idolatress or idolater is forbidden.{{cite web |last=Kassam |first=Zayn |title=Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World |url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3403500164&v=2.1&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w |publisher=Macmillan Reference USA |access-date=3 May 2013}}

In the case of a Muslim-Christian marriage, which is to be contracted only after permission from the Christian party, the Christian spouse is not to be prevented from attending church for prayer and worship, according to the Ashtiname of Muhammad, a treaty between Muslims and Christians recorded between Muhammad and Saint Catherine's Monastery.{{cite book |last1=Ahmed |first1=Akbar S. |title=Postmodernism and Islam: Predicament and Promise |date=11 January 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-92417-2 |page=62 |language=en |quote=The Quran speaks favourably of the people of the Book. For example, Surah 3, verse 199, carries a universal message of goodwill and hope to all those who believe, the people of the Book irrespective of their religious label—Christian, Jew or Muslim. Muslims can marry with the people of the Book,}}{{cite book |last1=Timani |first1=Hussam S. |last2=Ashton |first2=Loye Sekihata |title=Post-Christian Interreligious Liberation Theology |date=29 November 2019 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-030-27308-8 |page=196 |language=en}}

File:Slaves Zadib Yemen 13th century BNF Paris.jpg

{{main|Islamic views on concubinage|History of concubinage in the Muslim world}}

Before the abolition of slavery, concubinage existed alongside marriage as a permitted relationship in Islamic law that allowed a man to have sexual intercourse with his female slaves.{{Cite journal|last=Ali|first=Kecia|date=February 2017|title=Concubinage and Consent|journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies|language=en|volume=49|issue=1|pages=148–152|doi=10.1017/S0020743816001203|issn=0020-7438|doi-access=free}} Concubinage, which was a sexual relationship between a Muslim man and an unmarried female slave whom he owned, was the only legal sexual relationship outside marriage in Islamic law.

"Concubine" (surriyya) refers to the female slave (jāriya), whether Muslim or non-Muslim, with whom her master engages in sexual intercourse. The word surriyya is not mentioned in the Quran. However, the expression "Ma malakat aymanukum" (that which your right hands own), which occurs fifteen times in the sacred book, refers to slaves and therefore, though not necessarily, to concubines. Concubinage was a pre-Islamic custom that was allowed to be practised under Islam through some reform with Jews and non-Muslim people. Muhammad also inspired to free "converted pious" concubines and marry them.{{cite web | url=http://quranx.com/Hadith/adab/In-Book/Book-9/Hadith-48/ | title=Al-Adab Al-Mufrad / Book-9 / Hadith-48 | publisher=quranx.com | access-date=7 June 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217062833/http://quranx.com/Hadith/adab/In-Book/Book-9/Hadith-48/ | archive-date=17 February 2017 }}

Islamic jurisprudence sets limits on the master's right to sexual intercourse with his female slave. A man's ownership of his unmarried slave-girl gave him an exclusive right to have sex with her under the condition that he could not sell her to others (in order to prevent prostitution of slaves) and neither harm her.{{Cite book|last=Asy-Syafi'i R. A., Al-Imam.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/950516509|title=Al-Umm = Kitab induk|date=1989|publisher=Victory Agencie|others=Sh-Ma Ismail Yakub.|isbn=983-9581-50-3|location=Kuala Lumpur|oclc=950516509}} A man could own a limitless number of concubines that he could afford and maintain their upkeep, but could not have access to the slave-girls owned by his wife. Marriage between the master and his concubine was only possible if she was granted free status first. To avoid pregnancies, the master had the right to practice coitus interruptus. The birth of progeny would change the legal status of the concubine to that of umm al-walad ("mother of the child"); as such, the concubine could not then be sold and her child would be seen as legitimate and free. On the (lawful) death of her master, she would automatically acquire free status.

Sexual hygiene in Islam is a prominent topic in Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) due to its everyday nature. After sexual intercourse or seminal discharge, individuals enter a state known as junub ({{lang|ar|جنب}}) meaning ritually impure due to sexual intercourse or seminal discharge.

This state prevents a person from offering salat, and a person in such a state must perform a full-body ablution known as ghusl to regain the state of ritual purity necessary to once again perform prayers,{{cite book |last=Clark |first=Malcolm |title=Islam for Dummies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zPXu561ZpvgC&pg=PT145 |year=2003 |publisher=Wiley Publishing Inc. |location=Indiana |page=145|isbn=9781118053966 }}{{cite book |last=Ali |first=Kecia |title=Sexual Ethics and Islam: feminist reflections on Qur'an, hadith, and jurisprudence |year=2006 |publisher=Oneworld |location=Oxford}} or touching a copy of the Quran.{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/295507/Islam |title=Islām |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |access-date=2010-08-25}}

During Ramadan, sexual activity is only permitted at night.{{cite web |last=Ahmad |first=Anis |title=Oxford Islamic Studies Online |url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236MIW/e0667 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304113623/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236MIW/e0667 |archive-date=4 March 2016 }} Although this passage is explicitly addressed to men, the regulations on sex in regard to fasting are universally taken to apply equally to both male and female Muslims.{{cite book |last=Ali |first=Kecia |title=Sexual Ethics and Islam: feminist reflections on Qur'an, hadith, and jurisprudence |url=https://archive.org/details/sexualethicsisla00alik |url-access=limited |year=2006 |publisher=Oneworld |location=Oxford |page=[https://archive.org/details/sexualethicsisla00alik/page/n156 128]}}

The Quran does not contain explicit text regarding contraception. Muslims refer to the hadith on the question of contraception. According to Muslim scholars, birth control is permitted, when it is temporary and for a valid reason.

{{cite web |author1=Dr. Hatem al-Haj |title=Fatwa-76792 – Getting my tubes tied: female sterilization |url=http://www.amjaonline.org/fatwa-76792/info |website=www.amjaonline.org |access-date=9 October 2018 |date=6 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413031826/http://www.amjaonline.org/fatwa-76792/info |archive-date=13 April 2018 |url-status=dead }}

{{cite journal |last=Sachedina |first=Zulie |title=Islam, Procreation and the Law |journal=International Family Planning Perspectives |year=1990 |volume=16 |issue=3 |pages=107–111 |jstor=2133308 |doi=10.2307/2133308 }} As such, the withdrawal method of contraception—'Azll—is allowed according to the hadith. Muslim jurists concur with its permissibility{{cite book |last=Ali |first=Kecia |title=Sexual ethics and Islam: feminist reflections on Qur'an, hadith, and jurisprudence |year=2006 |publisher=Oneworld |location=Oxford}} and use analogical deduction to approve other forms of contraception (e.g., condom usage).{{cite web |last=Esposito |first=John |title=Oxford Islamic Studies Online |url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e358 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201230901/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e358 |archive-date=1 February 2014 }}

Under normal circumstances, sterilization is not considered to be permitted in Shari’ah. The irreversible nature associated with both the male and female sterilizations contradicts one of the primary purposes of marriage which is to have children, as mentioned by Abu Hamid al-Ghazali in his Ihya’ Ulum al-Din. Furthermore, sterilization is considered a form of self-mutilation (muthla), which is forbidden.

{{cite web |author1=Muhammad ibn Adam |title=Permanent Contraception (Female Sterlisation) – Does Intention affect Permissibility? |url=http://www.daruliftaa.com/node/5114?txt_QuestionID |website=Darul Ifta |access-date=10 September 2018 |date=2 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009092820/http://www.daruliftaa.com/node/5114?txt_QuestionID |archive-date=9 October 2018 |url-status=live }} While sterilization as a form of permanent contraception is primarily forbidden in Islam, sterilization is allowed for specific health indications such as uncontrolled diabetes, heart disease, or congenital abnormalities incompatible with life. In such cases, patients may be sterilized after they have given their free, informed consent.{{cite book |last1=Bagheri |first1=Alireza |last2=Al-ali |first2=Khalid Abdulla |title=Islamic Bioethics: Current Issues And Challenges |date=30 August 2017 |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=978-1-78326-751-4 |page=239 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kpA4DwAAQBAJ&dq=sterilization+permitted+Islam&pg=PA239 |access-date=26 September 2023 |language=en}}

As early as 1980, authoritative fatwas issued from Egypt's famed Al-Azhar University suggested that in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and similar technologies are permissible In Islam as long as they do not involve any form of third-party donation (of sperm, eggs, embryos, or uteruses).{{Cite journal|url = http://vlex.com/vid/fatwas-ivf-gamete-sunni-shia-islam-418643 | last = Inhorn | first = MC | title = Making Muslim babies: IVF and gamete donation in Sunni versus Shi'a Islam | journal = Cult Med Psychiatry | volume = 30 | issue = 4 | pages = 427–450 | date = December 2006 | pmid = 17051430 | pmc = 1705533 | doi = 10.1007/s11013-006-9027-x | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090624121701/http://vlex.com/vid/fatwas-ivf-gamete-sunni-shia-islam-418643 | archive-date = 24 June 2009 }}

{{further|Intersex people and religion#Islam}}

Intersex persons in Islam are referred to as khunthaa in the books of Fiqh.

An intersex person may have sex characteristics or organs that are not typically male or female. This person is called a khunthaa in the books of Fiqh. There are three types of khunthaa:

1. A person has aspects of both organs and urinates from the male organ. This person will be included among the males, and the laws regarding males will fall on them.

2. The person urinates from the female organ, so they will be included among the females. The laws related to females will fall on this person. This applies before the person reaches maturity. After maturity, the person will be rechecked. If they experience wet dreams like a male, then they will be counted as male. On the other hand, if the person develops breasts and other signs of being female, then they will be included among the females.

3. When both masculine and feminine signs are equal and it cannot be determined whether the person is more male or more female, then such a person is termed khunthaa mushkil.{{Cn|date=October 2024|reason=This word combination is in no way Arabic there is doubt that it is even a thing}} There are different laws regarding such a person. It is not permissible for a khunthaa mushkil to wear silk and jewellery, as both of these are permissible for females, but because this person's condition cannot be ascertained, precaution demands that such a person not wear silk and jewellery because of the possibility that the person may be more male. Such a person cannot travel without a mahram because of the possibility of being more female.

In medieval Islamic scholarship, an individuals social status was defined by their sex characteristic. Debates on the legitimacy of intersex persons arose due to legal debates regarding inheritance.{{Cite journal |last=Ragab |first=Ahmed |date=2015 |title=One, Two, or Many Sexes: Sex Differentiation in Medieval Islamicate Medical Thought |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24616517 |journal=Journal of the History of Sexuality |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=428–454 |issn=1043-4070}}

Intersex medical interventions are considered permissible to achieve agreement between a person's exterior, chromosomal make-up, or sex organs. They are regarded as treatment and not the altering of Allah's creation or imitation of the opposite sex.{{cite web|url=http://en.islamtoday.net/node/1334|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107021853/http://en.islamtoday.net/node/1334|url-status=dead|archive-date=2015-01-07|title=Sex change operation – IslamToday – English|website=en.islamtoday.net}}

There are varying scholarly views of masturbation ({{langx|ar|استمناء|istimnā’}}) in Islam, largely because the Qur'an does not specifically mention the subject. Islamic scripture does not specifically mention masturbation. Like most people prior to the morals of the Age of Enlightenment, pre-modern Islam faced masturbation mostly with indifference.Anchassi, O. (2022). The Churning in the Flogging of ʿUmayra: Or, Towards a History of Masturbation in Premodern Islamic Law. Studi Magrebini, 20(2), 213-246. https://doi.org/10.1163/2590034x-20220075 A few hadiths underline this view, stating that "it is your fluid, or your member, so do whatever you like, as it were.". There are a few hadiths prohibiting masturbation but these are classified as unreliable.{{Cite web|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/Public/Login.html?url=%2Fapp%3Fservice%3Dexternalpagemethod%26page%3DArticleViewDispatch%26method%3Dview%26uri%3D%2Fopr%2Ft349%2Fe0011&failReason=|title=[Sexuality and Law]|last=Omar|first=Sara|website=www.oxfordislamicstudies.com|publisher=Oxford Islamic Studies Online|url-access=limited|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402145942/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t349/e0011|archive-date=2 April 2019|url-status=dead|access-date=7 July 2019}}

Masturbation has nevertheless been considered haram or prohibited by many jurists historically,The Lawful And The Prohibited In Islam, Yusuf Al-Qardawi – 1997.The New Arab Man: Emergent Masculinities, Technologies, and Islam in the Middle East, p 168, Marcia C. Inhorn – 2012. though often with the caveat that it may be permissible if done out of necessity. For example, one scholar notably permitted masturbation as a means whereby soldiers, far away from their wives on a tour of duty might remain chaste.Islam, Gender, and Social Change, p. 28, Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, John L. Esposito – 1998. At the same time, in certain points in history, masturbation has also been considered among the great sins,{{Cite journal|title=Biḥār al-Anwār|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1875-9831_isla_com_000000127|access-date=2021-04-04|website=Encyclopaedia Islamica|date=16 October 2015|doi=10.1163/1875-9831_isla_com_000000127}} and subject to discretionary punishments ta'zir under Islamic law,{{Cite journal|title=al-MUFĪD|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/_eifo_sim_5316|access-date=2021-04-04|website=Encyclopédie de l’Islam|date=October 2010|doi=10.1163/_eifo_sim_5316}} with stronger punishments in case of repeat offense.{{Cite journal|title=ḤAMZA b. al-Ḥasan [Ibn] al-Muʾaddib al-IṢFAHĀNĪ|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004206106_eifo_sim_2697|access-date=2021-04-04|website=Encyclopédie de l’Islam|date=October 2010|doi=10.1163/9789004206106_eifo_sim_2697}} As such, positions on masturbation vary widely.{{cite web |last=Omar |first=Sara |title=Oxford Islamic Studies Online |url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t349/e0011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114153420/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t349/e0011 |archive-date=14 November 2016 }}

The four Sunni schools of jurisprudence or fiqh (Hanafi, Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali), have differing stances on the issue. Some see it forbidden in certain cases (i.e. if it leads a man/woman to ignore their spouse sexually) but recommended it when they see it as a lesser evil to illicit sex. In the Maliki and Shafi'i schools, masturbation is typically fully prohibited,[http://nikah.com/marriage/islam_part1.asp Marriage in Islam – Part 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127060711/http://nikah.com/marriage/islam_part1.asp |date=27 November 2010 }} by Hussein Khalid Al-Hussein, Ph.D. Refer to: Section Al-`Alaqat Al-Mubahah (Allowed Relationships) while in the Hanafi and Hanbali schools, it is typically prohibited unless one spouse is unattainable and one fears adultery or fornication (i.e. in a state of extreme sexual desire), in which case, it is permissible to seek a relief through masturbation.Ebrahim, A.F.M., 1990. Islamic Teachings and Surrogate Motherhood. Journal for the Study of Religion, 3(1), p36. "'Abd al-Rahman al-Juzayri states: The author of Subul al-Salam says that some of the Hanbali and Hanafi jurists are of the opinion that masturbation may be permissible in the event that one fears \[that his not engaging in it\] would lead to his committing adultery or fornication. But he cautions that such a view is weak and is not to be relied on."{{cite web|last=Starling|first=John|title=My Husband won't stop Masturbating|url=https://www.hanbalidisciples.com/post/2018/04/25/my-husband-wont-stop-masturbating|website=Hanbali Disciples|date=25 May 2018|access-date=14 July 2021|archive-date=14 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714110609/https://www.hanbalidisciples.com/post/2018/04/25/my-husband-wont-stop-masturbating|url-status=live}}{{cite book|author=Ibrahim bin Muhammad ibn Dawyan|title=Manar as-Sabeel|page=1012}}Çakmak, S., 2010. Hanefî mezhebinde mekruh kavramı, gelişimi ve tenzîhî-tahrîmî mekruh ayrımı (Master's thesis, Uludağ Üniversitesi).{{cite web|title=Fatawa – Is masturbation prohibited in Islam as some people claim that it is normal and even healthy?|url=https://www.dar-alifta.org/Foreign/ViewFatwa.aspx?ID=5944|access-date=2021-04-04|website=Dar al-Ifta al Misriyyah|archive-date=24 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210324222747/https://www.dar-alifta.org/Foreign/ViewFatwa.aspx?ID=5944|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Khan|first=Waseem|title=Masturbation if excited, but away from one's spouse|url=https://darululoomtt.net/masturbation-if-excited-but-away-from-ones-spouse/|website=DarulUloomTT|date=26 October 2015|access-date=14 July 2021|archive-date=14 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714015440/https://darululoomtt.net/masturbation-if-excited-but-away-from-ones-spouse/|url-status=live}}{{efn|Hanafi scholar, Ibn Nujaym wrote, "It is mentioned in the collection of fatawa Al-Walwaljiya that there is no harm [in masturbating] if one only seeks to relieve sexual desire (i.e. excessive sexual desire that distracts a person from religious and worldly matters). Also if one is spouseless or has a spouse, yet it is difficult to reach her/him due to certain circumstances. This opinion is also stated in Al-Siraj Al-Wahaj."{{Cite book|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.37542/iq|title=IQ (Ilmu Al-qur'an): Jurnal Pendidikan Islam|year=2020 |publisher=Fakultas Tarbiyah, Institut PTIQ Jakarta|doi=10.37542/iq}}}}{{efn|The Hanafi jurists have two words for the ruling that the other Sunni schools and Islamic denominations would refer to as simply "Haram" (forbidden) - 1) "Makruh Tahrimi", 2) "Haram". The difference is that what is "Haram" in their terminology is that which is established definitively, whilst the evidence for something labelled "Makruh Tahrimi" is not definitive (e.g. it is based on a Hadith that is Khabar Ahad.) "Makruh Tahrimi" should not be confused with what other schools generally refer to as Makruh – which in the Hanafi school is known as "Makruh Tanzihi" (Categorically Disliked). The Hanafi scholars view the sin of committing a "Makruh Tahrimi" act as lesser than the sin of committing what they call a "Haram" act, though both are forbidden and so incur sin.{{cite web|title=Fatwa #16088|last1=Moosa|first1=Ismail|last2=Desai|first2=Ebrahim|authorlink2=Ebrahim Desai|url=http://askimam.org/public/question_detail/16088|date=23 January 2008|website=Askimam|publisher=Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyya|access-date=13 July 2021|archive-date=26 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726073733/http://askimam.org/public/question_detail/16088|url-status=live}}}}

The Maliki and Shafi'i position stem from it being considered prohibited by both Imam Malik ibn Anas and Imam Al-Shafi’i, the latter stating that verses in the Qur'an about guarding one's chastity and private parts applied to masturbation. At the same, there is a minority opinion within the Maliki school that allows masturbation if done in private and without the use of illicit materials such as pornography and drugs.{{cite book|last1=Abdul-wahid|first1=Ibn Ashir|title=The Guiding HelperThe Guiding Helper The Guiding Helper Main Text & Explanatory Notes|publisher=The Guiding Helper Foundation|page=190|url=https://www.abc.se/home/m9783/ir/d/gh_e.pdf|access-date=19 May 2018|archive-date=26 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131126153059/http://www.abc.se/home/m9783/ir/d/gh_e.pdf|url-status=live}} Some Hanbali jurists meanwhile also excuse that those under the desire pressure from not being married, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal also said it is permissible for prisoners, travellers and for men and women who have difficulty in finding a lawful spouse.Sayfuddin, M. and Muhametov, A.R., 2004. Love & sex in Islam. Booktango. p. 44. In Hanafi scholarship, a wife manually stimulating her husband is meanwhile disliked, but not prohibited, meaning it would be preferable not to do so but doing so will not incur sin.{{cite web|last=Rabbani|first=Faraz|title=Mutual masturbation between spouses|url=https://seekersguidance.org/answers/hanafi-fiqh/mutual-masturbation-between-spouses/|website=SeekersGuidance|date=8 May 2014|access-date=14 July 2021|archive-date=14 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714015448/https://seekersguidance.org/answers/hanafi-fiqh/mutual-masturbation-between-spouses/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Zia al-Qadri|first=Qasim|title=IS IT PERMISSIBLE FOR A MAN TO BE MASTURBATED BY HIS WIFE?|url=https://www.seekerspath.co.uk/question-bank/physical-relations/q-id0254-is-it-permissible-for-a-man-to-get-masturbated-by-his-wife/|website=SeekersPath|date=8 March 2020 |access-date=14 July 2021|archive-date=14 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714015440/https://www.seekerspath.co.uk/question-bank/physical-relations/q-id0254-is-it-permissible-for-a-man-to-get-masturbated-by-his-wife/|url-status=live}}{{better source needed|these are just opinions of a scholar, and the text doesn't even capture their opinion accurately|date=December 2023}}

In Shia jurisprudence, masturbation is generally considered prohibited, though there has always been a view to permit masturbation as the lesser of two evils (so as to ward off falling into fornication).{{cite journal |last=Inhorn |first=Marcia |title=Masturbation, Semen Collection and Men's IVF Experiences: Anxieties in |journal=Body & Society |year=2007 |volume=13 |issue=37|pages=37–53 |doi=10.1177/1357034X07082251 |s2cid=72428852 }} Those jurists who permit masturbation in different cases distinguish between those who masturbate out of necessity and those who have these means yet still masturbate to gratify their lust. Ja'far as-Sadiq also cited the Quran'ic verses on guarding one's chastity and private parts.Hoseini, S.S., 2017. Masturbation: Scientific evidence and Islam's view. Journal of religion and health, 56(6), pp.2078.{{Cite journal|title=Risāla ilā aḥad fuqahāʾ al-muslimīn|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1877-8054_cmr_com_25094|access-date=2021-04-04|website=Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History|doi=10.1163/1877-8054_cmr_com_25094}} The modern Iranian jurist Ali al-Sistani has stated that masturbation, while emphasising that it is haram in all other circumstances, is permissible in case of medical necessity, provided there was no lawful means to achieve ejaculation.{{cite web|last=Al-Sistani|first=Ali|title=Masturbation|url=https://www.sistani.org/english/qa/01244/|website=Sistani.org|access-date=14 July 2021|archive-date=20 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320083410/https://www.sistani.org/english/qa/01244/|url-status=live}}

In Sunni Islam, oral sex between a husband and wife is considered "Makruh Tahrimi"{{cite web|title=Ask The Scholar: What is meant by makruh?|url=http://askthescholar.com/question-details.aspx?qstID=1750|work=Shaik Ahmad Kutty|publisher=Ahmad Kutty|access-date=7 July 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20120709204156/http://askthescholar.com/question-details.aspx?qstID=1750|archive-date=9 July 2012}} or highly undesirable by some Islamic jurists when the act is defined as mouth and tongue coming in contact with the genitals.{{cite web|title=Oral Sex in Islam|url=http://www.central-mosque.com/fiqh/OralSexInIslam.htm|work=The Majlis|publisher=JamiatKZN, Central-Mosque.com|access-date=7 July 2012|location=Vol. 6 No. 8|date=14 June 2003|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614230937/http://www.central-mosque.com/fiqh/OralSexInIslam.htm|archive-date=14 June 2012}}{{cite web|title=Are partners allowed to lick each other's private parts?|url=http://www.askimam.org/public/question_detail/21483#_ftnref1|work=Mawlana Saeed Ahmed Golaub|publisher=Moulana Ismail Desai|access-date=9 October 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004191016/http://askimam.org/public/question_detail/21483#_ftnref1|archive-date=4 October 2012}} The reason behind considering this act as not recommended is manifold, the foremost being the issue of modesty, purification (Taharat) and cleanliness.{{cite web|title=Questions On Sexuality, Oral sex|url=http://www.livingislam.org/fiqhi/fiqha_e92.html#2|work=Living Islam|publisher=GF Haddad|access-date=7 July 2012|author=Hajj Gibril|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120620140054/http://www.livingislam.org/fiqhi/fiqha_e92.html#2|archive-date=20 June 2012}} In Twelver Shia Islam, oral sex is permitted as long as najasah (impurity) is not consumed.{{cite web |title=Is oral sex between married couples allowed according to Shia teachings? If so, what is the evidence for it from the teachings of the Prophet (s) and the Imams (s)? |url=https://www.al-islam.org/ask/is-oral-sex-between-married-couples-allowed-according-to-shia-teachings-if-so-what-is-the-evidence-for-it-from-the-teachings-of-the-prophet-s-and-the-imams-s |website=Al-Islam.org|date=17 May 2020 }}

The most common argument states that the mouth and tongue are used for recitation of the Quran and for the remembrance of Allah (Dhikr).{{cite web|title=Remembrance of Allaah|url=http://www.islaam.net/main/display.php?id=391&category=134|work=Islamic Network.|access-date=7 July 2012|author='Alî Abd-ur-Rahmân al-Hudhaifî|date=4 May 2001|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415032643/http://www.islaam.net/main/display.php?id=391&category=134|archive-date=15 April 2012}} The status of contact between genitals and mouth and genital secretions is also debated among the four Sunni schools, some scholars viewing them as impure and others not.

{{main|Islam and abortion}}

Islamic schools of law have differing opinions on abortion, though it is prohibited or discouraged by most.{{cite journal |last=Sachedina |first=Zulie |title=Islam, Procreation and the Law |journal=International Family Planning Perspectives |year=1990 |volume=16 |issue=3 |page=111}} However, abortion is allowed under certain circumstances, such as if the mother's health is threatened. If the abortion is necessary to save the woman's life, Muslims universally agree that her life takes precedence over the life of the fetus.{{cite book |first=Donna Lee |last=Bowen |chapter=Contemporary Muslim Ethics of Abortion |editor-first=Jonathan E. |editor-last=Brockopp |title=Islamic ethics of life: abortion, war, and euthanasia |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=agqtUUoOgQoC |year=2003 |publisher=University of South Carolina Press |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001185028/https://books.google.com/books?id=agqtUUoOgQoC&PA=88 |archive-date=1 October 2015 |isbn=978-1570034718 }}

Muslim views on abortion are also shaped by the Hadith as well as by the opinions of legal and religious scholars and commentators. In Islam, the fetus is believed to become a living soul after four months of gestation,"(The matter of the Creation of) a human being is put together in the womb of the mother in forty days, and then he becomes a clot of thick blood for a similar period, and then a piece of flesh for a similar period. Then Allah sends an angel who is ordered to write four things...then the soul is breathed into him"
{{Hadith-usc|bukhari|usc=yes|4|54|430}} and abortion after that point is generally viewed as impermissible. Many Islamic thinkers recognize exceptions to this rule for certain circumstances; indeed, Azizah Y. al-Hibri notes that "the majority of Muslim scholars permit abortion, although they differ on the stage of fetal development beyond which it becomes prohibited."{{Cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-08-13-forum-abortion_x.htm |work=USA Today |title=Where does God stand on abortion? |first=Tom |last=Ehrich |date=13 August 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120627035106/http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-08-13-forum-abortion_x.htm |archive-date=27 June 2012 }}

Some Muslim scholars hold that the child of rape is a legitimate human being and therefore subject to the normal laws of abortion, that it is permitted only if the fetus is less than four months old, or if it endangers the life of its mother. Certain contemporary fatwas have also laid out the position that permit abortion if the newborn might suffer from a congenital condition that would make its care exceptionally difficult for the parents.{{cite book |first=Vardit |last=Rispler-Chaim |chapter=The Right Not To Be Born: Abortion of the Disadvantaged Fetus in Contemporary Fatwas |editor-first=Jonathan E. |editor-last=Brockopp |title=Islamic ethics of life: abortion, war, and euthanasia |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=agqtUUoOgQoC |year=2003 |publisher=University of South Carolina Press |pages=87–88 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001185028/https://books.google.com/books?id=agqtUUoOgQoC&PA=88 |archive-date=1 October 2015 |isbn=978-1570034718 }}

{{main|LGBT in Islam}}

According to Islamic tradition, gender can be divided into the following groups: male, female, khunsa, mukhannis (binary transgender), and mukhannas (non-binary transgender).{{cite book |last1=Martin |first1=Fran |last2=Jackson |first2=Peter |last3=McLelland |first3=Mark |last4=Yue |first4=Audrey |title=AsiaPacifiQueer: Rethinking Genders and Sexualities |date=2010 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-09181-0 |page=91 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PssO1pfKDtwC&q=sex+change+islam&pg=PA91 |access-date=26 May 2020 |language=en}} According to the Iranian scholar Mehrdad Alipour, "in the premodern period, Muslim societies were aware of five manifestations of gender ambiguity: This can be seen through figures such as the khasi (eunuch), the hijra, the mukhannath, the mamsuh and the khuntha (hermaphrodite/intersex)."

The Arabic term for a trans woman is mukhannith, whereas the term for a trans man is mutarajjilah. It is generally considered possible to change one's gender according to Islamic law, however, transition is linked to surgery.Zaharin AAM, Pallotta-Chiarolli M. Countering Islamic conservatism on being transgender: Clarifying Tantawi's and Khomeini's fatwas from the progressive Muslim standpoint. Int J Transgend Health. 2020 Jun 16;21(3):235-241. doi: 10.1080/26895269.2020.1778238. PMID 34993508; PMCID: PMC8726683. Since homosexuality is usually forbidden, some people seek out sexual reassignment surgery to change their gender status.Sarcheshmehpour, Zahra, and Raihanah Abdullah. "Transsexuality in Iran: Issues and Challenges." Journal of Shariah Law Research 2.1 (2017): 55-74. Transgender identities usually work within the gender binary, although in some Classical Arabic literature, gender identities deviating from the gender binary have been discussed.

In Islamic literature, the plural term mukhannatun (مخنثون "effeminate ones", "men who resemble women", singular mukhannath) was a term used to describe gender-variant people, and refers to a person who behaves like a woman in gentleness, speech, appearance, movements and so on.Rowson, Everett K. (October 1991). "The Effeminates of Early Medina" (PDF). Journal of the American Oriental Society. American Oriental Society. 111 (4): 671–693. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.693.1504. doi:10.2307/603399. ISSN 0003-0279. JSTOR 603399. LCCN 12032032. OCLC 47785421. S2CID 163738149. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 October 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2021.Zaharin, Aisya Aymanee M.; Pallotta-Chiarolli, Maria (June 2020). "Countering Islamic conservatism on being transgender: Clarifying Tantawi's and Khomeini's fatwas from the progressive Muslim standpoint". International Journal of Transgender Health. Taylor & Francis. 21 (3): 235–241. The mukhannath is to be distinguished from both the khuntha (intersex) and the eunuch (castrated). Any form of castration is strongly forbidden in Islam.{{cite book |last1=Favazza |first1=Armando R. |title=Bodies Under Siege: Self-mutilation and Body Modification in Culture and Psychiatry |date=1996 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-0-8018-5300-5 |page=182 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BwQT9fdZNdgC&q=castration+in+islam&pg=PA182 |access-date=26 May 2020 |language=en}}

A hadith from collection of Bukhari (compiled in the 9th century), is often used as example for the legal status of transgender people in general. It includes a report regarding mukhannathun, who were granted access to secluded women's quarters and engaged in other non-normative gendered behavior:Rowson, Everett K. (October 1991). "The Effeminates of Early Medina" (PDF). Journal of the American Oriental Society. American Oriental Society. 111 (4): 671–693. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.693.1504. doi:10.2307/603399. ISSN 0003-0279. JSTOR 603399. LCCN 12032032. OCLC 47785421. S2CID 163738149. Archived from the original In hadiths attributed to Muhammad's wives, the mukhannath in question expressed his appreciation of a woman's body and described it for the benefit of another man. According to one hadith, this incident was prompted by a mukhannath servant of Muhammad's wife Umm Salama commenting upon the body of a woman and following that, whereupon Muhammad cursed the mukhannathun and their female equivalents, mutarajjilat and ordered his followers to remove them from their homes."Sunan Abi Dawud » Book of General Behavior (Kitab Al-Adab) » (61) Chapter: The ruling regarding hermaphrodites". Sunnah.com. Archived from the original on 25 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018

These hadiths have been used by some to oppose the legitimacy of transgender people in general and sometimes, to sanction surgery. However, this prohibition is not universal. Since Muhammad did not forbid the mukhannatun to enter woman's space at first, but only after this specific mukhannath abused his trust, these hadiths can be seen as validation of third-gender identities.

Shia scholar Ayatollah Khomeini, as affirmed by Ayatollah Khamenei, as well as various Sunni scholars, ruled out that "Sex-reassignment surgery is not prohibited in shari'a law if reliable medical doctors recommend it."M. Alipour (2017) Islamic shari'a law, neotraditionalist Muslim scholars and transgender sex-reassignment surgery: A case study of Ayatollah Khomeini's and Sheikh al-Tantawi's fatwas, International Journal of Transgenderism, 18:1, 91-103, DOI: 10.1080/15532739.2016.1250239 Similarly, scholars from Pakistan agreed that transsexual people, who took sexual reassignment surgery, would be allowed to marry and be buried according to Islamic funeral law.{{cite web | url=https://www.diken.com.tr/din-alimleri-fetva-verdi-transeksuellerin-evlenmesinde-islami-bir-engel-yok/ | title=Din alimleri fetva verdi: Transeksüellerin evlenmesinde İslami bir engel yok - Diken | date=28 June 2016 }}

Likewise, transgender identities beyond the binary spectrum have been discussed and partly validated. Islamic literary sources mention a mukhannath named Ṭuways, but never describe his sexuality or behavior as immoral. Al-Nawawi and al-Kirmani distinguished mukhannathun into those whose feminine traits seem unchangeable, despite the person's best efforts to stop them, and those whose traits are changeable but refuse to stop. Only the latter ones are to blame. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani stated that all mukhannathun must make an effort to cease their feminine behavior, but if this proved impossible, they were not worthy of punishment. Those who made no effort to become less "effeminate", or seemed to "take pleasure in (his effeminacy)", were worthy of blame.

{{main|Fahisha|Dayyuth}}

Islam strictly prohibits fahisha, an Arabic word commonly meaning lewdness and indecency.{{cite book |last1=Sardar |first1=Ziauddin |title=Reading the Qur'an: The Contemporary Relevance of the Sacred Text of Islam |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-991149-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YqAYCn1O5WwC&dq=pornography+islam&pg=PT298 |accessdate=26 May 2020 |language=en}} Salah is supposed to prevent one from indecency (fahisha) and evil deeds (munkar). Jurists also recommend to abstain from acts inciting zina and to hold on taqwa (abstinence from Haram) so that a solution must be gotten from God in reward according to Quran.{{efn|And whoever fears Allah - He will make for him a way out. And will provide for him from where he does not expect. And whoever relies upon Allah - then He is sufficient for him.-At-Talaq, 65:2-3{{cite book |last1=Abdul-Rahman |first1=Muhammad Saed |title=Islam: Questions and Answers - Manners (Part 2) |date=1 November 2007 |publisher=MSA Publication Limited |isbn=978-1-86179-341-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g956Y2C2pE4C&dq=zina+65%3A2-3&pg=PA84 |access-date=12 July 2023 |language=en}}}}{{better source needed|this is original research hidden in a note|date=December 2023}}

File:Stoning of woman.jpg by Abu'l Hasan Ghaffari or his atelier. Tehran, 1853–1857]]

{{main|Zina}}

According to Islamic laws made by exegesis of the Quran and the hadiths, all sexual relationships except with a spouse (or a man's concubine) are considered zinā (fornication).{{cite book |last=Joseph |first=Suad |title=Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures |year=2006 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden, Boston}} Zina must also be committed by a person of their own free will.{{cite encyclopedia|first=Elyse|last=Semerdjian|title=Zinah|encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World|editor=John L. Esposito|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2009|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001/acref-9780195305135-e-0984|url-access=subscription|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001|isbn=9780195305135}} According to traditional jurisprudence, zina can include fornication, adultery,{{cite book |last1=Khan |first1=Shahnaz |title=Zina, Transnational Feminism, and the Moral Regulation of Pakistani Women |date=2011 |publisher=UBC Press |isbn=9780774841184 |page=8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9IfJl4J7MAgC&q=adultery+fornication+zina&pg=PA8 |access-date=13 July 2019 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Akande |first1=Habeeb |title=A Taste of Honey: Sexuality and Erotology in Islam |date=2015 |publisher=Rabaah Publishers |isbn=9780957484511 |page=145 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XKyPCgAAQBAJ&q=adultery+fornication+zina&pg=PA145 |language=en}} prostitution,{{cite book |last1=Meri |first1=Josef W. |title=Medieval Islamic Civilization: L-Z, index |date=2006 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9780415966924 |page=646 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LaV-IGZ8VKIC&q=prostitution+zina&pg=PA646 |language=en}} rape, anal sex,{{cite book|last1=Habib|first1=Samar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9y_TyzK9_5oC&q=homosexuality+zina&pg=PA211|title=Islam and Homosexuality|date=2010|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9780313379031|edition=1st|page=211|language=en|access-date=12 July 2019}} incest,{{cite book |last1=Clarke |first1=Morgan |title=Islam and New Kinship: Reproductive Technology and the Shariah in Lebanon |date=2009 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=9781845454326 |page=41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MwreDKOTXM8C&q=incest+zina&pg=PA42 |access-date=13 July 2019 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Kamali |first1=Mohammad Hashim |title=Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law: A Fresh Interpretation |date=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780190910648 |page=94 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNGaDwAAQBAJ&q=incest+zina&pg=PA94 |access-date=13 July 2019 |language=en}} and bestiality.{{cite book |last1=Semerdjian |first1=Elyse |title="Off the Straight Path": Illicit Sex, Law, and Community in Ottoman Aleppo |date=2008 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=9780815651550 |page=53 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cZzuBMnBKfUC&q=bestiality+zina&pg=PA53 |access-date=13 July 2019 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Ahmed |first1=Syed |title=Law relating to fornication (Zina) in the Islamic legal system: a comparative study |date=1999 |publisher=Andhra Legal Decisions |page=3,71,142 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N24mAQAAIAAJ&q=bestiality+zina |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Semerdjian |first1=Elyse |title="Off the Straight Path": Illicit Sex, Law, and Community in Ottoman Aleppo |date=2008 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=978-0815651550 |page=53 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cZzuBMnBKfUC&q=bestiality+zina&pg=PA53 |access-date=13 July 2019 |language=en}}

According to Abdel Sabour Abdel Qawi Misry, prostitution in Islam is forbidden.{{cite book |last1=مصري |first1=عبد الصبور عبد القوي |title=الجرائم الواقعة على العرض والأخلاق: دراسة مقارنة |date=1 January 2016 |publisher=Al Manhal |isbn=9796500376813 |page=149 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a9XiDwAAQBAJ&dq=%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85+%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A9&pg=PA149 |access-date=26 September 2023 |language=ar}} Daz Austin Endshow says that, Qur'an says about prostitution that female slaves should not be forced into prostitution.{{cite book |last1=إندشو |first1=داج أوستين |title=الجنس والدين: التعاليم والمحظورات في تاريخ الأديان |date=8 January 2020 |publisher=Safsafa Publishing House |isbn=978-977-821-138-2 |page=1877 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jwzeDwAAQBAJ&dq=%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85+%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A9&pg=PA1877 |access-date=26 September 2023 |language=en}}{{blockquote|And compel not your slave-girls to prostitution when they desire to keep chaste, in order to seek the frail goods of this world's life. And whoever compels them, then surely after their compulsion Allah is Forgiving, Merciful..|{{cite quran|24|33|s=ns}}}} Islamic prophet Muhammad said: There is no prostitution in Islam.{{blockquote|Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas, the Prophet said: There is no prostitution in Islam. If anyone practised prostitution in pre-Islamic times, the child will be attributed to the master (of the slave-woman). He who claims his child without a valid marriage or ownership will neither inherit nor be inherited.|{{Hadith-usc|abudawud|usc=yes|12|2257}}}} The penalty for prostitution in Islam is one hundred lashes for the adulterer or adulteress. If a married man or woman is practicing prostitution, the punishment amounts to death by stoning. Despite the severity of the punishments, Islam has established laws that make the practice of punishment against perpetrators of prostitution extremely difficult, as it is required to punish the practitioner of prostitution that he personally confess. By engaging in it, or that there are four witnesses who witnessed the act of having sex, provided that the adulterer has a clear vision beyond doubt, provided that part of his penis (the glans or more) is absent in the adulteress’s vagina, and that none of the four witnesses retract his testimony, otherwise the remaining three or less will become guilty. On charges of slandering a man and a woman, the punishment for slander is imposed on them. Islam also imposes strict punishments on those who accuse chaste women of engaging in prostitution without evidence, namely four witnesses.

{{main|Rape in Islamic law}}

Rape is considered a serious sexual crime in Islam, and can be defined in Islamic law as: "Forcible illegal sexual intercourse by a man with a woman who is not legally married to him, without her free will and consent".{{cite journal|last1=Noor|first1=Azman Mohd|title=Rape: A Problem of Crime Classification in Islamic Law|journal=Arab Law Quarterly|date=1 January 2010|volume=24|issue=4|pages=417–438|doi=10.1163/157302510X526724}}

Classical Islamic law defined what today is commonly called "rape" as a coercive form of fornication or adultery (zināʾ).{{cite web |url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t349/e0075 |title= The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Law |last=Kassam |first=Zayn |publisher= Oxford Islamic Studies Online |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304113724/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t349/e0075 |archive-date= 4 March 2016 |url-status=dead |access-date= 3 May 2013}} This basic definition of rape as "coercive zināʾ" meant that all the normal legal principles that pertained to zināʾ—its definition, punishment and establishment through evidence—were also applicable to rape; the prototypical act of zināʾ was defined as sexual intercourse between a man and a woman over whom the man has neither a conjugal nor an ownership right. Zināʾ was established, according to classical law, through confession by one or both parties as well as proof. A second type of evidence—pregnancy in an unmarried/unowned woman—was contested between the schools. The stringent evidentiary and procedural standards for implementing the zināʾ punishment may have functioned to offset the severity of the punishment itself, an effect that seems to have been intended by legal authorities, who in the early period developed legal maxims encouraging averting the ḥadd punishments as much as possible, whether through claiming ambiguity (shubhah) or a lack of legal capacity (ahliyya).

The requirements for proof of rape, by contrast, are less stringent, and do not require any extraneous witness testimony, eyewitness or otherwise:

Rape charges can be brought and a case proven based on the sole testimony of the victim, providing that circumstantial evidence supports the allegations. It is these strict criteria of proof which lead to the frequent observation that where injustice against women does occur, it is not because of Islamic law. It happens either due to misinterpretation of the intricacies of the Sharia laws governing these matters, or cultural traditions; or due to corruption and blatant disregard of the law, or indeed some combination of these phenomena.

Caliph Umar accepted the testimony of a single individual who heard the rape victim call for help as evidence that rape occurred. Imam Malik accepted physical injuries on the victim as evidence that rape occurred.{{Cite book|last=Abiad|first=Nisrine|title=Sharia, Muslim States and International Human Rights Treaty Obligations: A Comparative Study|publisher=BICIL|year=2008|isbn=978-1905221417|pages=136}} If a woman claims to have been raped or sexually abused under duress, she will be acquitted of adultery in light of Qur'anic verse 24:33, which states that a woman has not sinned when compelled to commit this crime.{{cite book | last=Zakariyah | first=Luqman | title=Legal maxims in Islamic criminal law : theory and applications | publisher=Brill Nijhoff | location=Leiden Boston | year=2015 | isbn=978-90-04-30487-1 | page=141}}

According to Professor Oliver Leaman, the required testimony of four male witnesses who eyewitnessed the actual penetration applies only to consensual illicit sexual relations (whether adultery or fornication), not to the non-consensual crime of rape.{{cite book |title=Controversies in Contemporary Islam |last=Leaman |first=Oliver |publisher=Routledge |author-link=Oliver Leaman |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-415-67613-7 |location=New York |pages=78}}

What distinguished a prototypical act of zināʾ from an act of rape, for the jurists, was that in the prototypical case, both parties act out of their own volition, while in an act of rape, only one of the parties does so. Jurists admitted a wide array of situations as being "coercive" in nature, including the application of physical force, the presence of duress, or the threat of future harm either to oneself or those close to oneself; they also included in their definition of "coercion" the inability to give valid consent, as in the case of minors, mentally ill, or unconscious persons. Muslim jurists from the earliest period of Islamic law agreed that perpetrators of coercive zināʾ should receive the ḥadd punishment normally applicable to their personal status and sexual status, but that the ḥadd punishment should not be applied to victims of coercive or nonconsensual zināʾ due to their reduced capacity.

{{main|Mahram}}

Marriage is not allowed between most relatives with whom relations would typically considered incestuous, including a man marrying his mother, daughter, sister, aunt, niece or mother-in-law. However cousin marriages are not prohibited and are widely practicedhttps://www.researchgate.net/figure/3-Consanguinity-rates-in-some-World-populations_tbl1_242701104 {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}} throughout many parts of the Islamic world, as they are not considered mahrams, or direct relatives. Other prohibited marriages include step-children born of a spouse whom the individual has consummated the marriage with, or multiple sisters from the same family. Incestuous relationships in Islam (zinā bi'l-mahārim) are those with any of a person's mahram, a definition of nuclear and extended family derived from the hadith.{{cite book |last1=Clarke |first1=Morgan |title=Islam and New Kinship: Reproductive Technology and the Shariah in Lebanon |date=2009 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-1845454326 |page=41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MwreDKOTXM8C&q=incest+zina&pg=PA42 |access-date=13 July 2019 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Kamali |first1=Mohammad Hashim |title=Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law: A Fresh Interpretation |date=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0190910648 |page=94 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNGaDwAAQBAJ&q=incest+zina&pg=PA94 |access-date=13 July 2019 |language=en}}

All Sunni Muslim jurists agree that anal sex is haram (prohibited), based on the hadith of Muhammad.{{cite book |last1=Drissner |first1=Gerald |title=Islam for Nerds: 500 Questions and Answers |date=2016 |publisher=pochemuchka (Gerald Drissner) |isbn=978-3-9819848-4-2 |page=679 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=odXkDwAAQBAJ&q=anal+islam&pg=PA679 |access-date=6 June 2020 |language=en}} In contrast, according to Twelver Shia Muslim jurists, anal sex is considered makruh (strongly disliked) but is permissible with the consent of the wife.{{cite web |title=From Marriage to Parenthood The Heavenly Path – Chapter 2: Sexual Etiquette |url=https://www.al-islam.org/marriage-parenthood-heavenly-path/chapter-2-sexual-etiquette |website=Al-Islam.org|date=30 January 2013 }}

Many scholars point to the story of Lot in the Quran as an example of sodomy being an egregious sin. However multiple others hold the view that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was not specifically due to the sodomy practiced in those towns, but as a combination of multiple transgressions. The death by stoning for people of Sodom and Gomorrah is similar to the stoning punishment stipulated for illegal heterosexual sex. There is no punishment for a man who sodomizes a woman because it is not tied to procreation. However, other jurists insist that any act of lust in which the result is the injecting of semen into another person constitutes sexual intercourse.

Sodomy often falls under that same category as sex between an unmarried man and woman. Male-male intercourse is referred to as liwat while female-female intercourse is referred to as sihaq. Both are considered reprehensible acts but there is no consensus on punishment for either. Some jurists define zināʾ exclusively as the act of unlawful vaginal penetration, hence categorizing and punishing anal penetration in different ways. Other jurists included both vaginal and anal penetration within the definition of zināʾ and hence extended the punishment of the one to the other.

Religious discourse has mostly focused on such sexual acts, which are unambiguously condemned. The Quran refers explicitly to male-male sexual relations only in the context of the story of Lot, but labels the Sodomites' actions (universally understood in the later tradition as anal intercourse) an "abomination" (female-female relations are not addressed). Reported pronouncements by Muhammad (hadith) reinforce the interdiction on male-male sodomy, although there are no reports of his ever adjudicating an actual case of such an offence; he is also quoted as condemning cross-gender behaviour for both sexes and banishing them from local places, but it is unclear to what extent this is to be understood as involving sexual relations. Several early caliphs, confronted with cases of sodomy between males, are said to have had both partners executed, by a variety of means. While taking such precedents into account, medieval jurists were unable to achieve a consensus on this issue; some legal schools prescribed capital punishment for sodomy, but others opted only for a relatively mild discretionary punishment. There was general agreement, however, that other homosexual acts (including any between females) were lesser offences, subject only to discretionary punishment.

{{main|Homosexuality and Islam}}

The Quran strictly prohibits homosexuality through the story of Lot (also in the Biblical Book of Genesis), in Surat Al-Nisa, Surat Al-A'raf, and possibly verses in other surahs.Camilla Adang (2003), Ibn Hazam on Homosexuality, Al Qantara, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 5–31.Stephen O. Murray and Will Roscoe (1997), Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature, {{ISBN|978-0814774687}}, New York University Press, pp. 88–94.{{cite book|last=Michaelson|first=Jay|title=God Vs. Gay? The Religious Case for Equality|year=2011|publisher=Beacon Press|location=Boston|isbn=97-80807001592|pages=[https://archive.org/details/godvsgayreligiou00mich/page/68 68–69]|url=https://archive.org/details/godvsgayreligiou00mich/page/68}} For example, Abu Dawud states,Mohamed S. El-Awa (1993), Punishment In Islamic Law, American Trust Publications, {{ISBN|978-0892591428}} Al-Nuwayri (1272–1332) in his Nihaya reports that Muhammad is "alleged to have said what he feared most for his community were the practices of the people of Lot."{{Cite encyclopedia|year= 1983 | title=Liwāṭ |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam| edition=2nd|publisher=Brill | editor-last = Bearman | editor-first = P. | editor-last2 = Bianquis | editor-first2 = Th. | editor-last3 = Bosworth | editor-first3 = C.E. | editor-last4 = van Donzel | editor-first4 = E. | editor-last5 = Heinrichs | editor-first5 = W.P.| doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_4677 }} Classical Islamic jurists did not deal with homosexuality as a sexual orientation, since the latter concept is modern and has no equivalent in traditional law, which dealt with it under the technical terms of liwat and zina.Habib, Samar (2010). Islam and Homosexuality. ABC-CLIO. p. 204. ISBN 978-0-313-37903-1. Archived from the original on 2023-04-19. Retrieved 2020-10-02 Most legal schools treat homosexual intercourse with penetration similarly to unlawful heterosexual intercourse under the rubric of zina, but there are differences of opinion with respect to methods of punishment.

There is disagreement over what punishments should be administered according to the above Quranic and prophetic orders.{{cite web |last=Moosa |first=Ebrahim |title=Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World |url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3403500144&v=2.1&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w |publisher=Macmillan Reference USA}} Early caliphs were known to have had both of the male partners executed in various ways.{{cite web |last=Rowson |first=Everett |title=Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World |url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3403500196&v=2.1&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w |publisher=Macmillan Reference USA |access-date=1 May 2013}} Some other jurists believe that there is no punishment that will serve as an effective purgative for this act, and therefore its immorality precludes an earthly punishment. Some jurists are so morally offended by homosexuality that just the discussion around it is cause for excommunication and anathematizing.

The discourse on homosexuality in Islam is primarily concerned with activities between men. There are, however, a few hadith mentioning homosexual behaviour in women.{{cite encyclopedia|author1=Al-Hurr al-Aamili|author-link1=Al-Hurr al-Aamili|title=Wasā'il al-Shīʿa|title-link=Wasā'il al-Shīʿa|script-title=ar: وسائل الشيعة|trans-title=Things of the followers|language=ar|at=Hadith number 34467-34481}}{{cite book|last1=Atighetchi|first1=Dariusch|title=Islamic bioethics problems and perspectives|date=2007|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|location=New York|isbn=978-1402049620|page=149|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tdm9V89lW3IC&pg=PA149|access-date=13 July 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180331225354/https://books.google.com/books?id=Tdm9V89lW3IC&pg=PA149|archive-date=31 March 2018}} Although punishment for lesbianism is rarely mentioned in the histories, al-Tabari records an example of the casual execution of a pair of lesbian slavegirls in the harem of al-Hadi, in a collection of highly critical anecdotes pertaining to that Caliph's actions as ruler.{{cite book|last=Bosworth|first=C.E.|title=The History of al-Tabari Vol. 30: The 'Abbasid Caliphate in Equilibrium: The Caliphates of Musa al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid A.D. 785-809/A.H. 169–193|year=1989|publisher=SUNY Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wqf1gwM9O58C&q=Tabari+lesbian+Caliph+al-Hadi&pg=PA73|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924163939/https://books.google.com/books?id=wqf1gwM9O58C&pg=PA73&lpg=PA73&dq=Tabari+lesbian+Caliph+al-Hadi&source=bl&ots=BEsfAzmpXj&sig=euUAWk4eDKk4Q0pxtRgx5Uo-ZMo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nooiUr7BGcTxhQff9oGQBQ&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Tabari%20lesbian%20Caliph%20al-Hadi&f=false|archive-date=24 September 2015|isbn=978-0887065644}} Some jurists viewed sexual intercourse as possible only for an individual who possesses a phallus;{{cite web |last=Omar |first=Sara |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Law |url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t349/e0010 |publisher=Oxford Islamic Studies Online |access-date=3 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908183225/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t349/e0010 |archive-date=8 September 2015 }} hence those definitions of sexual intercourse that rely on the entry of as little of the corona of the phallus into a partner's orifice. Since women do not possess a phallus and cannot have intercourse with one another, they are, in this interpretation, physically incapable of committing zinā.

According to Muslim tradition Islamic prophet Muhammad forbade castration. Muhammad told a follower who asked for permission to castrate himself to avoid the temptation to fornicate, "He who castrates himself or another does not belong to my followers, for castration in Islam may consist only in fasting."{{cite book |last1=Favazza |first1=Armando R. |title=Bodies under siege : self-mutilation and body modification in culture and psychiatry |date=1996 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |isbn=978-0-8018-5300-5 |page=182 |edition=2nd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BwQT9fdZNdgC&dq=castration+in+islam&pg=PA182 |access-date=7 December 2022 |language=en}} This hadith is in the context of another, which encourages men who are unable to get married and struggle with chastity and desires to resort to fasting, as this helps with lowering libido.{{Cite web |title=Sahih al-Bukhari 5066 - Wedlock, Marriage (Nikaah) - كتاب النكاح - Sunnah.com - Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم) |url=https://sunnah.com/bukhari:5066 |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=sunnah.com}}

{{columns-list|

• Marriage in Islam
• Concubinage in the Muslim world
• Nikah mut'ah, the Shia fixed-term temporary marriage.
• Misyar, the Sunni open-ended, negotiated marriage contract.
• Taqwa
• Repentance in Islam
• Al-Wishah fi Fawa'id al-Nikah
• The Perfumed Garden
• Sexual ethics
• Istihadha
• Wedad Lootah, author.
• Gender roles in Islam
• Aqidah
• Political aspects of Islam

}}

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |last1=Altalib |first1=Hisham |last2=Sulaymān |first2=ʻAbdulHạmīd Abū |last3=Altalib |first3=Omar |author-link2=Abdul Hamid AbuSulayman|title=Sex and Sex Education: What Do We Tell Our Children? |date=2013|publisher=International Institute of Islamic Thought |isbn=978-1-56564-570-7 |url=https://www.iium.edu.my/media/88705/Sex_and_Sex_education_What_Do_We_Tell_Ou.pdf |language=en}}
• Ulwan, Abdullah Nasih (2002), Islam and Sex. Cairo: Darus Salam
• Ulwan, Abdullah Nasih (2004), Child Education in Islam. Cairo: Darus Salam
• Ulwan, Abdullah Nasih (2002), Islam and Love. Cairo: Darus Salam
• Ayubi, Nazih (2004). Political Islam: Religion and Politics in the Arab World. New York: Routledge.

General

• {{cite encyclopedia |editor=Suad Joseph, Afsaneh Najmabadi |title=Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures: Family, Law, and Politics |publisher=BRILL |year=2003}}

{{Commons category|Sexuality in Islam}}

{{Wikiquote|Islam and sexuality}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20051201010701/http://www.brandeis.edu/projects/fse/muslim/mus-index.html FSE Project section on Muslim Sexual Ethics]

{{Islam topics |Law |state=collapsed}}

{{sex}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Islamic Sexual Jurisprudence}}

Category:Islamic criminal jurisprudence

Category:Islamic family law

Category:Islamic jurisprudence

Category:Modesty in Islam

Category:Intersex topics in religion and mythology

Category:Transgender topics and religion

Category:LGBTQ and Islam

Category:Religious natalism