#167: Ruling on Masturbation in Islām 2

*RULING ON MASTURBATION IN ISLAM*

We have mentioned the basic ruling for it and the evidences that abound to prove its impernissibility
We will, here be mentioning the application of the impermissibility
And mention the general verdicts of the Ulamā as regards it
We will also answer the related questions on this matter, Allah willing.

We say, and Allāh is our Help:
That masturbation, was defined by the Ulamā as any stimulation of the self that brings about orgasm and/or ejaculation.
It doesn’t matter whether it is the act of a man or that of a woman
..or that carried out by playing with the organs of an opposite sex.

What is important is that it is a stimulation that leads to orgasm in other than the wife/husband
That said, it becomes apparent that if in the course of a man playing with his wife or vice versa, orgasm and/or ejaculation is attained, it cannot be ruled as maturbation
For this reason, the Ulamā are at a consensus that if a wife uses her hands or any part if her body to masturbate her husband, it is not considered as Harām
Likewise, if the husband does the same.

This is because Allāh – ta’ālā – said in His Book:
نسائكم حرث لكم فأتوا حرثكم أنى شئتم
_”Your wives are in likeness to your farms, so approach your farmlands whichever way you will”_.

For this reason, the Ulamā are at agreement that the default ruling in any form of pleasure-seeking or pleasure-earning between the couple is Halāl except that which can be proved to be Harām by evidence.
In this case, masturbating the partner isn’t of those that evidence have proven impermissible
Some people think that the ruling on masturbation applies only to men. This is not the case, it might even be worse in women than in men
As we have explained last week the generality of the Ulamā have ruled on its impermissibility.

Of note, a very few Ulamā consider it permissible with very sick evidences
It is the position of Ibn Hazm in Al-Muhallā and Ash-Shawkānī in Bulūghu Al-Munā
The argument presented by Ibn Hazm – rahimahullāh – was that there is no textual evidence to prove that it were Harām since there is nothing that forbids a person from touching his private parts
This argument is vehemently debunked by the verse we mentioned last week that clearly mentions the impermissibility of achieving sexual pleasure through other than the wife and the slave-woman.
The most concerted effort for the verdict of permissibility was presented by Ash-Shawkāni in _Bulūghu Al-Munā Fī Hukmi Al-Istimnā_
But of note is the seeming intentional half-quoting of Ulamā so as to justify the position of permissibility
It becomes immediately apparent to any student of knowledge who studies the book that Imām Ash-Shawkānī was not unbiased in his writing
That is because *he quoted very weak narrations of statements that support his position* and was fast to declare the weakness of the narrations that prove its impermissibility.

An excellent rebuttal to his book has been written by the Shaykh Abū ‘Ubaydah Mash’hūr Ibn Has an Āl-Salmān in his Tahqīq of the book
His rebuttal is an excellent read for the one who is a student of knowledge
He mentions in his Introduction, after quoting and mentioning the Imams of the Salaf that forbade and considered it Harām:
_”And the author (I.e. Ash-Shawkānī) pretended to be unaware of these. Instead, he intentionally deleted the statements that imply forbidance in the statements of Ibn ‘Aqīl that were quoted Ibn Al-Qayyim in the first page of this book of his…”_

Ash-Shawkānī is an Imām and his books are very important for the student of knowledge, but we do not follow an Ālim in that which he is wrong
We ask Allāh to forgive him.
What is the punishment for the one who masturbates?
There is no punishment mentioned in the Qur’ān or the Hadīth to this effect
But there is a weak Athar from ‘Alī Ibn Abī Tālib – radiyallāhu anhu – by Ad-Dūrī in the book _Dhammu Al-Liwāt_ that once a man who had induced ejaculation with his hand was brought before him. So, he commanded that he stretched forth his hand, and he flogged him seriously that his hands got red.
…and then financed his marriage from the Baytu Al-Māl
For this reason the Ulamā mentioned that the one who masturbates must be punished by way of _ta’azīr_ (a punishment that is less the capital punishments in whichever way the Imām of the Muslims deems fit)
This is mentioned in the Hanbalī Zād and it is what we hear from our Ulamā
Now, *can masturbation be equivalent to zina *?
The answer is *No*

The Ulamā are at a consensus on that
And there is an Athar from Ibn ‘Abbās – radiyallāhu anhu – that he was asked about it and he said: _”to get married is better than it but it is less than Zina”_
This is because in the case if Zinā, it entails more than one form of Harām act.
It involves getting close to zina which is Harām in itself, it also involves touching the opposite sex and deriving pleasure in seductive talks and acts – which are all Harām
It also involves more than one persons
But in the case of masturbation, its crime is a transgression of the honour of the self.

Lastly, *should one who was addicted to Zinā earlier and who has abandoned it masturbate so as to prevent himself from returning to Zinā?*

The answer is *No*
And that is because, as Shaykhu Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah – rahimahullāh – mentioned, he can do without it.

Therefore, we advise all of ourselves to always use the Halāl outlets that Allāh has provided for us in satisfying our sexual needs, and to not resort to cutting corners and falling thereby into His forbiddances
And whosoever is not capable of marriage should fast and seek Allah’s help and assistance
He will surely help….

*Bārakallāhu fīkum*

*Jazākumullāhu Khayran*

*7th Jumadal Ulaa 1438AH*

📚 *Islam Node*