It is a matter of fact that Allah (swt) has placed within humans certain innate characteristics including sexual desire. Allah (swt) is not unjust to his Creations He does not place this desire into human beings, and then tell them to quash such feelings (as is the thinking of certain religions) – on the contrary Allah (swt) provides the means of controlling that desire via the institution of marriage – and during the lifetime of Rasulullah (s) both types of Nikah ran in parallel with one another Nikah and Nikah Mut’ah. From an analytical point of view, let us take the example of one Islamic Republic, Pakistan. The average marital age for the Pakistani male is 30 years, while for a female it is around 25 years of age. Pakistani parents assume that their offspring are ‘angels’ and perpetuate no sins of the flesh until they marry. Sadly, contrary to the conjecture of Pakistani parents, many of their offspring do indulge in immoral practices. In the Islamic Republic of Pakistan:
Why does the the Islamic Republic of Pakistan possess such evils in its society? Let us give you a simple answer. Just read the following tradition:
Narrated ‘Abdullah Ibn Masud: We used to participate in the holy battles led by Allah’s Apostle and we had nothing (no wives) with us. So we said, “Shall we get ourselves castrated (for fear of making sin)?” He forbade us (to castrate ourselves) and then allowed us to marry women with a temporary contract (Mut’ah) and recited to us: ‘O you who believe! Make not unlawful the good things, which Allah has made lawful for you, but commit no transgression.’ (5.87)
Sahih al Bukhari Volume 7 tradition 13a
This tradition makes the following things clear to us, the Sahaba (including the great Sahaba like Abdullah Ibn Masud):
This being the case, how can Pakistani parents expect their children to live like infallible angels until they attain the age of 30? Do Pakistani Muslim parents believe that their children are at a greater level of Iman than the pious Sahaba like Abdullah Ibn Masud?
Now let us cite another example. Initally, Allah (swt) made it Haram for the Sahaba to go to their wives for all thirty nights during the month of fasting. But what happened? The Sahaba were unable to control their sexual desires, even for only thirty consecutive nights and hence they would climb over the backwalls of their houses and sleep with their wives. Upon that Allah (swt) sent a new revelation in the Quran:
[Shakir 2:187]
It is made lawful to you to go into your wives on the night of the fast; they are an apparel for you and you are an apparel for them; Allah knew that you acted UNFAITFULLY to yourselves, so He has turned to you (mercifully) and removed from you (this burden).
The Sunni Ulema in their commentaries of this verse have recorded that Umar Ibn Khattab and other Sahaba were unable to control their sexual desires even for thirty nights.
“Sahaba refrained from going to their wivies during Ramadhan, but some used to commit mistakes due to which this verse was revealed. It is narrated in one tradition that such mistake was committed by several men that also included Umar Bin Khattab, who after Mahgrib prayers did intercourse with his wife. Then people launched complaints about it before Prophet [s] and then these blessed verses were revealed. According to one tradition. When Umar came to the Prophet [s] and told Him [s] the story, He [s] said: ‘O Umar, I had not expected this from you’. Thus, this verse was revealed”
Tafseer Ibn Katheer (Urdu), Volume 1 page 41 (Dehli)
Qadi Thanaullah Pani Patti al-Hanafi records the following in his authority work Tafseer Mazhari:
“Bukhari has narrated from Hadrath Bura [ra] that when the fasts of Ramadhan were made obligatory, people refrained from going to their wives for the whole month of Ramadhan but incidentally some men did intercourse with their wives, therefore Allah [swt] revealed the verse: ‘Allah knew that you acted unfaitfully to yourselves’. Imam Ahmed, Ibn Jareer and Ibn Abi Hatim have narrated from Abdullah Ibn Ka’ab who narrated from his father that the condition of the people during Ramadhan was such that if someone sleeps in the evening, then eating, drinking and approaching his wife would get Haram and will remain so till the time of Iftaar next day. One night Umar [ra] got late while chatting with the Holy Prophet [s], when he returned home, he planned to do intercourse with his wife, she objected and argued that she had slept but Umar argued that he wasn’t slept, after that he started doing intercourse with her and similar act was committed by Ka’ab bin Malik [ra]. Next morning, Umar [ra] told the incident to Holy Prophet [s]“
Tafseer Mazhari, Volume 1 pages 251-252
When the ‘great’ Sahaba that Ahle Sunnah venerate were incapable of controlling their sex drives for thirty days, how can Pakistani parents expect that their children to successfully control their sexual desires until the age of 30 or until they get married?
Sex is a reality, whilst it might be taboo in Islamic societies the fact is, it happens and people use all manner of methods to release sexual tension that ultimately leads to individuals falling into the lowest forms of depravity such as prostitution, paedophila and homosexuality. If it is assumed that this problem is only synonymous with the West then allow us to highlight the case in Pakistan:
The largest and most popular group of Pakistani newspapers is the “Jang Group of Newspapers”. According to them, in the city of Lahore alone, there are more than 55 thousand sex workers in total, and out of them 19 thousand are children. This news is absolutely shocking. Please read complete news which also telling about HIV and other issues of these sex workers.
One would assume that Islamic schools would be houses of protection, far aloof from sexual abuse; sadly this is not the case. In Pakistan, this is an appalling reality that Dr Amir Liaqat, the minister for religious affairs in Pakistan highlighted in the Senate in 2007. Child sex abuse is rife in Pakistani madrassas. This evil has spread its tentacles into Pakistani society and has even taken the shape of custom in many areas, to the point that it is not even frowned upon by people. Moreover, sex evil is also heigh in all over Arabic Countries, see the link:
http://fjordman.blogspot.com/2005/03/hidden-in-plain-sight-prostitution-in.html
Though we are avoiding to go in this issue at moment, but to quote one such incident, a police raid unearthed a ‘mini-jail’ set up at a seminary in the suburban of the Kotaddu city of Pakistan wherein the children were detained, tortured and sodomised.
Read the story from the zipped webpage of daily Dawn
Whilst an Islamic State may indeed be successful in curbing vices, you cannot prevent the influences of Western ideology entering into a Society. Images of sexual behaviour are rife in the West, sex before marriage is a norm. Whilst in the past Muslim countries might have been able to block such behaviour, Western images through the Web and Media means that there is no effective means of preventing Muslims from being exposed to the lures of sexual freedom.The harsh reality is Muslim countries have been unable to control such voyeurism. According to the BBC Website:
Similarly “Google Trend” shows that Pakistan is No. 1 in the world for searching for word “SEX”.
http://www.google.com/trends?q=sex&ctab=1&date=all&geo=all
google trend zipped
“Google Trend” lists the first 10 Countries where users search most for word “SEX”. And out of these 10 Countries, 6 are Muslim Countries. This is a point which should make Muslim Parents think more about their children.
Actually, this is no surprise when one sees internet cafes populated by youth observing pornographic material on the internet. Frequent Pakistani Government attempts to curb this problem have all been in vain. In the past people could only access pornography from video centers, people can now access it at the click of a mouse button.
Similar difficulties have also been brought by television cable networks in Pakistan that show pornographic movies and western movies without any form of censorship.
The situation is all the more difficult for pious Muslims living in the West, parents may try their utmost to prevent such activity influencing minds, but how can they hide their children from a Society where all taboos have ended, the move towards a tolerant society includes the acceptance of sex before marriage and homosexual relationships. Pressure on Muslim youth living in places such as University Halls is even greater where there is a pressure to conform, to be one of ‘us’. Parents living in Muslim countries would be very naïve if they assumed that these difficulties only refer to the generation of Muslims born in the West, and not to their beloved children, that the send out to study. Such parents send their children for 4-5 years to study in Europe. They mistakenly believe that they are angels who would commit no sin during this period, rather they will remain locked inside their flats, reading the Qur’an and praying Salat. Unfortunately, they are totally wrong. The reality is many of these ‘students’ who enter these hedonistic European societies may avoid alcohol, and haraam meat, they may avoid going to Discos, many do become victims of lust / sex that opens the door to further sins. Their steps into deviation are as follows:
It is sheer stupidity for Pakistani parents to assume that their children are leading monastic lives studying in European countries, when they are fully aware that the married Sahaba were unable to control their sexual desires for 30 consecutive nights of Ramadhan, or even worse just for few nights when setting out for war.
Such evils experienced by Muslims in Europe might have influenced Muslim Students to perform “Misyar Marriage” i.e. to marry European girls with the intention of deception and leaving them after their studies are complete. Such deception has no basis in the Qur’an or Sunnah.
Some people still believe that there is no need of encouraging Mutah in society, and for them ‘fasting’ is enough to remove all the evils of masturbation, Porno movies, red light areas etc.
Fasting is indeed an effective way of controlling oneself, but look at all of the Islamic societies where fasting is already being encouraged and performed, despite this, these evils are growing more and more. Why?
The reason is you cannot control the “MASSES” through Fasting alone. You need to fulfil their ‘natural demand’ in a natural way, while fasting is the ‘last option’ when one is unable to find a woman for marriage. If the logic of “masses” and “last option” is still not clear, then look at the following example of fasting by the Sahaba.
The Sahaba, who were already married, had to stay away from their wives for 30 nights during the month of Ramadhan. But their fasting was unable to help them control their sexual desires for those 30 nights and they committed sexual sins. And upon that Allah (swt) had to reveal this verse:
[Shakir 2:187]
It is made lawful to you to go into your wives on the night of the fast; they are an apparel for you and you are an apparel for them; Allah knew that you acted UNFAITFULLY to yourselves, so He has turned to you (mercifully) and removed from you (this burden).
Those Sahaba were already married, but natural desires were so strong that they were unable to keep a check on their testosterone levels for 30 nights (despite their fasting). When the Sahaba encounted such sexual frustration what can we expect of present day Muslim youth who remain unmarried until the age of 30 in a society surrounded engulfed with impudent activities and vice, are they really going to act like angels for such long period of time?
Alhamdolillah the message of Allah (swt) is clear to us:
Islam is applicable to all situations until the day of judgement. In earlier centuries traders had to visit other countries. One trip could take months even years. Do you believe they would act like angels for that whole period in terms of controlling their sexual desires? For present day Muslim students who visit Europe for 4-5 years for studying, Mutah marriage is highly recommended for them (and if they fear indulging in sin, it becomes obligatory on them to enter into a permanent or temporary Nikah. Muslims have only two options either fornicate or seek out the means of lawful intercourse via the contracting permanent or temporary marriage. The Sahaba were unable to control their sexual desires through fasting or whilst away for brief periods which is Rasulullah (s) ordered that they contract Mut’ah, would Allah (swt) not provide for the same option for later generations of Muslims, who often spend months and even years away from home (due to work and study commitments)? Would Allah (swt) really leave such people to their own devices, or would he provide the relevant safety mechanism? Sexual desire exists in humans, and in the same way Allah (swt) assisted the frustrated Sahaba to relieve themselves by utilising Mut’ah, Allah (swt) has also given Muslims that option today.
When the present day Saudi Ulama (like Bin-Baz) were presented with problems of Muslims students in West, they innovated a new type of thing in Islam, and marketed it with the name “Misyar Marriage” (i.e. marrying a girl with intention of deceiving by divorcing her later on).
The facts are clear to us:
Allah (swt) and Rasulullah (s) never told the Muslims to control their sex drive via monasticism, neither did He (swt) give an order that they relieve themselves by acts such as masturbation or sex with melons – these innovations entered the religion later by the Ahl’ul Sunnah Ulema as methods of preventing Zina when these Ulema prescribed such curious methods to prevent Zinah don’t you think Allah (swt) who is the best of Planners would have also prescribed the appropriate method? Alhamdolillah He (swt) did, He provided the option of temporary marriage to his adherents, a marriage that according to Ibn Abbas can be reinstated in emergency scenarios. An emergency scenario is clearly open to interpretation, and is very personal thing if a person needs a means of controlling his sexual desire then that emergency scenario has triggered and s/he can utilise Mut’ah. On a wider level if emergency scenario does not arise in the West where the pressure to commit Zinah is so great that safe sex is taught as part of a Curriculum in High Schools then when will it arise?
We hereby cite a few examples, about Mut’ah being a basic necessity for the human nature, and where this emergency situation clearly arises.
Aside from the fact Umar had no right whatsoever to make haraam that which Allah swt and his Prophet (s) deemed halal, there clearly was a divine wisdom behind allowing this practice - namely to curtail fornication and facilitate and legitimate mechanism via which to curtail sexual desire - via a marriage contract. Now if there is one thing is known the world over, if nation states seek to curtail activities citizens shall seek alternative means to partake in it. Now when Umar decided to ban a practice that was a legitimate means to curtail one's sex drive what was the consequence? The result was borne out during his own tenure, the spread of homosexuality. Imam of Ahlul Sunnah Abū Arūba Al Harrani (Died 318 AH). records a narration from Aisha:
قالت: أول من اتهم بالامر القبيح - تعني عمل قوم لوط - على عهد عمر، فأمر عمر بعض شباب قريش ألا يجالسوه
"The first time this filthy act, namely the act of the people of Lot took hold was during Umar's era, and Umar ordered the youth of the Quraish to stop sitting in such peoples company"
The author grades the chain as authentic
Kitab al Awail page 132 number 108, printed in Riyadh, Saudi
By deeming a halal practice haraam, the filthy practice of homosexuality came to the fore in Umar's caliphate, Umar quite literally opened up the back door for buggery that has been practised by his followers in Islamic seminaries to this day.
