Sex and Marriage

Marriage and the family form the basis of Islamic society:

It is He Who has created man from water: then has He established relationships of lineage and marriage: for thy Lord has power (over all things) (Surah 25:54).

No institution in Islam finds more favour with God than marriage (Hadith):

The father or any other guardian cannot give in marriage a virgin or one who has been married before without her consent. (Hadith)

… and men are warned to be careful in whom they choose to marry: A woman is taken in marriage for three reasons; for her beauty, for family connections or the lure of wealth. Choose the one with faith and you will have success. (Hadith)

Islam teaches that sexual intercourse is an act of worship which also fulfils human emotional and physical needs as well as being the means of procreation. Children are then the means by which humans contribute towards Allah’s creation. The pleasure of sexual intercourse is a gift from Allah and must only take place within a married relationship:

It is He Who has created man from water: then has He established relationships of lineage and marriage: for thy Lord has power (over all things) (Surah 25:54).

Marriage includes the responsibility of both parties to meet each other’s sexual needs. Men are forbidden from being alone with women except for their wives in case they are tempted by them:

Let no man be in privacy with a woman who he is not married to, or Satan will be the third (Hadith).

Sex outside of marriage is forbidden and a serious crime.

Nor come nigh to adultery: for it is a shameful (deed) and an evil, opening the road (to other evils) (Surah 17:32).

The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication-flog each of them with a hundred stripes: let not compassion move you in their case, in a matter prescribed by Allah, if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day: and let a party of the Believers witness their punishment (Surah 24:2).