Sex and Quran
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Ah, the dangerous topic. The famous word 'that must not be named'. The taboo, the evil word.
Why does Islam prohibit sex outside marriage? Is it arbritrary or is there a reason behind it?
-God's decisions are not arbritrary.
-God has granted human beings an ability to reason and understand.
-God has clearly marked the domains where human reasoning cannot reach. Those domains include the process of wahi delivery, the life after death and the concept of God. There may be more domains, but these are the ones I recall.So we should be able to understand the position of sex.
What is sex anyway?
IN NATURE, sex is a process with an outcome and an attribute. The outcome is a 'baby' or propagation of the species. The attribute of this act is 'pleasure' (which just cannot be defined but is very real relative to us).Why does sex have pleasure?
The best theory to explain this is that sexual pleasure is an incentive for a species to procreate. If there was no pleasure in sex, why would the species engage in baby-making and tire itself anyway? And quite frankly, humankind today, the billions of human are not a result of two lovers making love under moonlight and living happily ever after. We exist, like other species, thanks to lust. I'm not talking specifically about parents, but in general, the history of humans.Now that we have defined the basis of our belief-system, lets first consider some prevailent alternative views on prohibition of sex-outside-marriage
1-Free sexual intercourse causes aids or other STDs.
This is like saying,
Large frequency of sex leads to AIDS.
This position has not been proven. Similarly, having merely large frequency can occur even in millions of law-abiding married muslims. Hence sheer quantity cannot be the factor.
Then you may say, well, it is because of sex outside marriage-partners. What if my marriage partner inherited AIDS at birth from a parent?
What if the society religiously uses condoms and quarantines AIDS patients?STDs (minus AIDS) don't occur because of sex outside marriage. They occur because of FILTH. Being dirty, and then spreading it through sex. Of course, AIDS can also spread through non-sexual contact like sharing blood.
So, this alone cannot be the reason for prohibiting sex outside marriage. Besides, AIDS was discovered in late 70s. What about the period before that?
2-Frequent sex leads to 'abnormalities' like homosexuality.
The problem is the word 'abnormalities'. How do you define it to be abnormal? (Well, it doesn't lead to propagation of species. Counter We are over-populated anyways, so this is a good way to stop us from killing each other. And there goes this argument). Furthremore, Quran does NOT use 'abnormal' while dealing with homosexuality. Homosexuality is also visible in other species in nature.
Since we cannot agree on the DEFINITION of abnormality (and to gays homosexuality is quite normal), there is no point of pursuing this further.
Quran is a clear book. It does not depend on vague issues and definitions.
Let us look at it from another perspective
-All men and women are equal. Each earn what they strive for.
-Which means, the only way to judge indivuals is through their conduct as defined in wahi, not by other means.What happens when you introduce free sexual intercourse in the society?
1-Sex is based on emotion called lust. Sometimes, if uncontrolled, it can lead to rape. We all agree that rape should not occur. Hence sexual urge must AT LEAST be controlled.
2-Sexual urge is determined by physical attraction. Thus, in our minds, we begin to judge people by their LOOKS and not their conducts. No matter what we say, heads still turn when a large-breasted woman walks by. This goes on even further. You develop the 'entertainment' culture, where people are judged by looks. Looks become a standard of priority. Children, from an early age focus on looking better.
WOMEN END UP BEING ENSLAVED TO MEN BY MAKING UP, LOOKING GOOD AND TRYING TO BE ACCEPTED BY A MALE ONLY BY THEIR LOOKS.
And what about the folks who see free sex around them and don't get a sexual partner because they are not attractive enough? These people go down the depths of self-pity and frustration. They lust for a good-looking woman (or man) but cannot satisfy the lust because the other partner does not find them attractive enough! Such people are the basis of serial killers.
From the above analysis, it is clear that the reason sex is not permitted outside marriage, is because it violates the clause of EQUALITY. It creates a form of slavery. It also degenerates the unfortunate ones, who don't have the birth-right of good looks.