Salaamun alaykum, dear readers!
Fornication and adultery are sins according to God in the Quran. They are collectively referred to as “zina”, which is Arabic for any adultery or fornication as per Lane’s Arabic-English Lexicon.
Is Masturbation “Unlawful Sex”?
The more interesting question, however, is whether self-pleasure (also known as masturbation) is permissible or not according to the Quran alone.
The Quran stated to guard the privates from something that only the spouse can do to it. The question becomes, guard the privates from doing what?
- Is it to guard your privates from your own eyes?
- Is it to guard your genitals from fresh air? Only the spouse can apply fresh air to it?
- Is it to guard your privates from water and soap, such that you can’t even clean your own genitals with soap and water? Only the spouse can clean your genitals?
if the Quran declares that it has all the details of everything (verse 12:111 and 16:89 and others), so the Quran tells you what acts to guard the privates from.
The only acts specifically mentioned in the Quran to guard the privates from is sex with a non-spouse, or displaying the privates to those who aren’t spouses and family members.
Masturbation is not an act mentioned in the Quran to guard the privates from, thus it is permissible. If masturbation was impermissible, the fully-detailed Quran would have a detail about guarding the privates from masturbation, but it doesn’t.
Therefore, self-pleasure is not something a Muslim who trusts the Quran to be a complete source of guidance should feel guilty of doing at all. It can not only help manage sexual urges, but can also be a fantastic way to learn about and explore one’s own sexuality before getting married.
But with all activities (eating, drinking, socializing, and more), moderation is important.
Adultery and Fornication
There is a prescribed punishment for the act of zina (unlawful sex), and that is 100 lashes in public, for the male and female.
- [23:5-6] And the ones who are guardians of their private parts, except from their spouses, or what their right hands have owned. Then indeed, they are not faulted.
- [70:29-30] And those who guard their private parts except from their spouses, or what their right hands possess, with whom they are free from blame.
- [17:32] And do not approach unlawful sex. Indeed, it has been an immorality, and an evil way.
Surah 24 outlines the punishment of fornication and adultery. The punishment for fornication is 100 lashes for both sexes, not the death penalty for women.
There is a misconception that married adulterers are stoned to death. The story of “stoning adulterers to death” started with verse 4:15 (the 15th verse of Surah 4), the original punishment for women who committed illicit sex. The original punishment was, upon the testimony of four credible witnesses, house arrest until death, unless God decreed a way out for them later.
- [4:15] And the ones who come with the enormity among your women, you shall thus call to witness against them four among you. Then if they have borne witness, then retain them in their houses until death takes them, or until God makes for them a way.
So, God did make for the women a way later on. Surah 4 was the 92nd Surah (chapter) that was revealed to Muhammad by order of revelation, and Surah 24 was the 102nd Surah that was revealed, and you can review the order that each Surah was revealed to the prophet in the footnote below.[1]
Therefore, the lifelong house arrest (for women) was replaced with 100 lashes (both sexes).
And the change in punishment is confirmed due to the Quran stating in verse 4:25 that the slave women receive only half of the punishment of the freed women. You cannot divide a lifetime house arrest in half, but you can divide the 100 lashes in half, hence the change in punishment has been confirmed.
However, the Hadith texts say that Muhammad claimed God made a way out for the women, and that is: 100 lashes and a one-year exile for unmarried women or men who do it, and 100 lashes and stoning to death for married women or men who do it.
- Ubaidah ibn as-Samit reported that whenever Allah’s Messenger received revelation, he felt its rigour and the complexion of his face changed. One day revelation descended upon him, he felt the same rigour. When it was over and he felt relief, he said: “Take from me. Allah has ordained a way for them (women who commit illicit sex). When a married man (commits adultery) with a married woman, and an unmarried male with an unmarried woman, then in case of married persons there is one hundred lashes and then stoning. And in case of unmarried persons, one hundred lashes and exile for one year.” (Sahih Muslim, no. 1690)
So let’s analyze the above Hadith. If the prophet truly received the revelation that all unmarried fornicators (man or woman) get banishment for a year in addition to the 100 lashes, then why is not the banishment mentioned in the Quran when the punishment for fornication is discussed?
If people are married and commit adultery (man or woman), why is not the stoning to death mentioned in the Quran as their punishment?
If the Quran has all the details of everything as stated in verses 12:111 and 16:89, then how did the Quran forget to include such an important detail (stoning for the married, and banishment for the unmarried) to the punishment for committing fornication? Did God forget to include stoning and banishment in the Quran while decreeing the 100 lashes?
Also, if the punishment for slave women is half the punishment of free women according to verse 4:25, how do you cut stoning to death in half if a slave woman committed adultery? You cannot cut a death penalty in half, so this is another way that the Hadith of stoning adulterers to death is a contradiction with the Quran.
Let’s examine this shocking Hadith about the punishment of stoning:
- Umar bin Al-Khattab said: “Verily Allah sent Muhammad (ﷺ) with the truth, and he revealed the Book to him. Among what was revealed to him was the Ayah (verse) of stoning. So the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stoned, and we stoned after him. I fear that time will pass over the people such that someone will say ‘We do not see stoning in the Book of Allah.’ They will be misguided by leaving an obligation which Allah revealed. Indeed stoning is the retribution for the adulterer if he was married and the evidence has been established, or due to pregnancy, or confession.” (Tirmidhi, no. 1432)
The above Hadith states that a Quranic verse (Ayah) of stoning was revealed, but at the same time it also says that Umar fears a time when people will refuse stoning by saying that it is not in the Quran.
If a Quranic verse to stone adulterers was revealed, then where is it? Is the stoning verse a forgotten verse?
Now let’s discuss the real punishment of unlawful sex as it appears in the Quran:
- [24:2-9] The male committer of illicit sex, and the female committer of illicit sex, you shall thus lash every one of them a hundred lashes; let not benevolence with them take you in God’s religion, if you were to believe in God and the Last Day, and let a faction of the believers witness their punishment…But the ones who accuse chaste women, then do not come with four witnesses, you shall thus lash them eighty lashes, and not accept testimony for them, ever. And those are the wicked. Except the ones who repented after that and reformed. Then indeed, God is Forgiving, Merciful. And the ones who accuse their spouses, but have no witnesses for them except their themselves, then the testimony of one of them is four testimonies by God, if indeed he is definitely among the truthful, and the fifth is that God’s curse will be upon him, if he was among the liars. But it would ward the punishment from her, that she bears witness in four testimonies by God that he is definitely among the liars, and the fifth is that God’s anger will be upon her, if he was among the truthful.
Protecting Women
Those who accuse women of illicit sex, but fail to produce four witnesses, then the accusers (whether male or female) get 80 lashes. It doesn’t have to be publicized this time, unlike the 100 lashes. It applies to both sexes.
Notice something interesting: the Quran does not say that men need four witnesses to qualify them for the punishment (only enough evidence is necessary for that), but four truthful witnesses are required to qualify women for the punishment.
Also, there is no punishment for wrongly accusing a male of adultery in the Quran, but there is a punishment for wrongly accusing a female in the Quran (80 lashes), if the person cannot produce four credible witnesses to support his or her claim. Testimony from the false accuser for all crimes should not be accepted by the false accuser unless that person repents.
So it is much easier for someone to accuse a man of committing unlawful sex, all that the accuser has to do is provide some kind of proof at minimum. But for a woman, in order to accuse her, four credible witnesses are needed. Her own confession against herself is not enough, as she only counts as one witness.
In fact, if she is the one bringing up a case of adultery or fornication against herself, but cannot produce four total witnesses, she herself must be flogged with 80 lashes since according to the Quran she falsely accused herself by failing to produce four witnesses, and must repent or else future testimony from her regarding anything cannot be accepted.
Why is it the case that it is easier to Quranically convict and punish a man for unlawful sex but not women? The answer likely is because women (at least at the time) needed far more protection than men against accusations of things such as extramarital affairs.
God in the Quran wants people to reduce inequalities and disparities between each other as much as possible, hence there are many verses mandating generosity towards the poor, fighting for the oppressed people, and reducing wealth inequalities. Women probably had more to lose than men when accused of adultery, whether the accusation was true or not, hence why only women require four witnesses for any accusation of unlawful sex to be valid.
There are cases where the illicit sex is done in secret by the wife, with no one else knowing. In that case, the testimony of the husband counts as four witnesses IF he swears by God he’s telling the truth. The “fifth” witness mentioned in the Quran is God’s curse or wrath. But IF she swears by God four times that he’s lying, punishment won’t apply. If the husband lies while swearing, God’s curse will be upon him. If the wife lies while swearing, God’s wrath will be upon her. This is exclusively for if the husband is accusing the wife, and there is no witness apart from himself. This does not apply if the husband has one or two other witnesses apart from himself.
Compelling People to Be Punished is Forbidden in the Quran
All Quranic punishments must be done with the consent of the one being punished.
That is because God in the Quran ordained for there to be no compulsion in the religion of Islam. That means the punishment for adultery cannot be compelled on someone who does not consent to receiving it, even if there is sufficient evidence against that person.
The wisdom is that if a woman was wrongly accused by those conspiring to make accusations against her out of spite and pretending to be witnesses, and she knows full well her innocence, she can say that she does not consent to receiving the punishment and maintain her innocence. The same applies to a man who knows full well that he is wrongly accused.
- [2:256] There is no compulsion in the religion…
Why Make Fornication Unlawful?
It’s easy to intuit why adultery is seen as wrong, because if you’re married but having sex with others, it is likely that you’re cheating on your spouse.
But what about fornication, where two unmarried people have sex? Why would that be forbidden?
- While God knows best why He wants to forbid something, the truth is that back then, there were no testing or treatments for sexually-transmitted disease available, nor all the contraceptive options that we have today.
- There was also no DNA testing to resolve paternity disputes.
- There was also the risk of unplanned pregnancy and single motherhood.
Birth control pills, STD testing, DNA testing, condoms, IUDs, Nexplanons, vasectomies, Doxy PEP, doxycycline, PrEP shots, Biktaarvy, these are all astounding luxuries of modernity. None of these were available before the year 1960.
So monogamy in the form of marriage, and relying on family from both spouses, was the most convenient protection and way to enjoy sex while limiting the spread of STDs, and allowing to raise babies in a supportive environment if pregnancies occur, whether accidental or intended, for all of human history until less than 70 years ago.
Marriage essentially boils down to a formal contract of monogamy between two people, and the reason a contract is needed is because monogamy works best when commitment is guaranteed between two people, like how business works best through contracts and guarantees.
- The goal is that when someone betrays the exclusivity that comes with monogamy, there will be legal consequences at least if the marriage contract penalizes infidelity, because it’s not just an emotional bond that was broken, but a legal contract was violated.
- The Quran says that God doesn’t hold people accountable for casual oaths that everyone knows aren’t serious, but only for serious and contracted oaths (verse 5:89), so formalizing commitment to your spouse through a marriage contract is a way that God will hold people accountable for betrayal, lack of commitment, and non-monogamy to their spouses.
Marriage Mirrors the Relationship God Wants You to Have With Him
The benefit of marriage from an Islamic point of view is that it helps train and motivate people to be patient when difficult times occur with spouses, and patience is a very important Islamic virtue.
Marriage also encourages maintaining commitment, cultivating love and affection for your spouse, listening to your spouse and being attentive to her or his needs, selflessness, making compromises and sacrifices, and working together through challenges rather than just giving up on the marriage too quickly when problems occur.
This mirrors other Islamic values because God wants you to:
- Stay committed to Him through hard times
- Cultivate love for Him
- Be selfless and generous to others with your time and money
- Make sacrifices in the way of God when the need arises
- And to try working out solutions to any problems you have rather than giving up and resenting God for testing you with difficulties.
So, it’s no surprise that God prefers ultra-committed relationships like marriage over casual, no-strings-attached relationships with little commitment.
It just so happens to be that the most effective way to motivate Muslims to get married is to forbid and punish sexual relationships from anyone other than the spouse. Having the fornicator and adulterer get punished publicly with 100 lashes (which, once again, cannot be forced upon someone, and the one being punished has to consent to it first) creates a stigma for Muslims that further reinforces the idea that marriage is far better than fornication.
Mating System Among Animals
If we look at it in another angle (aside from preventing the spread of sexually-transmitted disease, unplanned pregnancies, single parenthood, and paternity disputes, while promoting the practice and cultivation of Islamic virtues that God wants you to have in your relationship with Him), all animals have their own mating systems.
The mating system is the system by which two individual animals mate, or have sexual relations.
Some are monogamous, and some are polygamous. Some look for compatibility in their mates, while others look for objective physical traits in their mates.
Some have distinct mating dances and rituals, while others don’t.
What they all have in common is that their mating systems are driven by the instinct and biology God dictated to them.
However, we humans are not operating on pure instinct. We are a consciously religious species, created to worship God with free will according to Islam, so it would make more sense from an Islamic perspective to have a ritualized and religious-based mating system which reflects this part of our humanity.
So instead of God determining the mating system for us via instinct, God determines our mating system through the moral laws that He sends down. The human mating system that God intended is marriage via following a set of codified religious rules, rather than purely instinct-driven like other animals.
So, you can therefore see why sexual relations outside marriage is not very compatible with Islam.
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