Giving correct scholarly opinions to both Muslims and non-Muslims: Does Islam allow spousal rape? Part 4

Friday, August 24, 2012

Does Islam allow spousal rape? Part 4

I forwarded this question to the Fatwa centre of America (aka Ask a Mufti)

Question

Salaam. I understand husbands and wives must fulfill the sexual needs of eachother, but some countries like Pakistan, Saudi, Iran and Afghanistan have made laws making it illegal for women to reject sex from their husbands. What is the correct ruling on this?

Answer

I am not aware of any such laws in these countries.

Husband and wife are supposed to fulfill each other's desires. However, under certain circumstances

either spouse may be in a situation where such intimacy is not possible.

Therefore, under those circumstances both couples are advised to practice patience.

One should not do so without the consent of the other partner. This will cause disturbance

and distance in the relationship of husband and wife.

Therefore, neither the husband or wife should refuse to fulfill

the desires of each other unnecessarily nor should they be forcing each other for it.

Marriage takes place between adults and as adults they shoudl

be able to understand each other and be more passionate towards each other.

And Allah knows best.

Mufti Ikram ul Haq

Fatwa Center of America

14 Dhul-Qa'dah 1431/ October 22 2010

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Salaam and welcome

The purpose of this blog is to give accurate and fair fatwas from notable scholars on the religion of Islam.

What's a fatwa?

A fatwa is an opinion or ruling by one who is knowledgeable about Islamic ethics. Usually these people are Imam's, Mufti's, or anyone who has done deep studies of Islam.

Why should we follow scholars?

The Prophet Muhammed (peace be upin him) said:

“Scholars are the inheritors of the prophets.”

A Quran verse is said to coincide with this hadith:

“Then We gave the Scripture as inheritance unto those whom We elected of Our servants.” [Qur'an, 35.32]

Another hadith states:

”The superiority of a scholar (alim) over the devout (abid) is like my superiority over a worshipper or like that of the moon in the night when it is full over the rest of the stars, and truly the scholars arc the heirs of the Prophets, and truly the Prophets do not leave behind them gold or silver, they only leave knowledge as their heritage. So whosoever acquires knowledge acquires a huge fortune.” (Transmitted by Ahmad, Abu Dawud and al Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah.)

We pick and choose the most relevant opinions on major issues that many Muslims have either doubts or questions on.

The thing is there's many sites that give fatwas, but many of them are too extreme, flat out stupid or just wrong, all of whom contradict Islamic teachings. It's gets real tiring hearing about what some ulema (body of scholars) say about women, non-Muslims, and harmless customs. They judge, accuse and somtimes even degrade others. These people are suppose to guide us and help us, yet they're doing the opposite. Islam tells us only God and his Prophet (peace be upon him) can declrare what is haraam (forbidden), however these 'scholars' will find out ways to try and make whatever they want as haraam.
These are also feeders to anti-Islamic material. It makes us look even more worse than we're portrayed.

Another thing, there's many liberal and secular sites that are giving their own rulings, and they lack some of the basic Islamic education, most of which are found in kid's books. They are also doing significant damage to the ummah (worldwide Muslim community).

Our goal is to set things straight and educate both Muslims and non-Muslims about Islam. All of the postings on this blog are to-the-point As well, these posts are for our own benefit, so we can refer back to them when we need to.

The rulings and opinions from scholars on this blog are mostly selected from the following popular sites:

http://www.askthescholar.com/ (run by Sheikh Ahmed Kutty, labeled as one of the top 100 Muslims worldwide).
http://www.onislam.net/ (formerly IslamOnline, one of the most visited Islamic websites in the world).
http://www.muslimvillage.com/
http://www.askamufti.com/
http://en.islamtoday.net/
http://www.canadiancouncilofimams.com/
http://fiqhcouncil.org/
http://www.ali-gomaa.com/ (Grand Mufti of Egypt)
http://www.dar-alifta.org/ (headed by the Grand Mufti of Egypt, advises the Egyptian government on matters)

We are thankful to God that we have found these sites, as they are the only ones (as of now) who post relevant and reliable material. And we hope inshallah (God willing) other Muslims can benefit from them as well)

We also pick out videos from sites like Youtube that feature scholars giving lectures, or their opinions on certain matters.

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