The Pleasure of Her Sex: Part 2

Part 2

Religious Discourse

What does the Qur’an have to say about a woman’s Right to Pleasure (2.187; 2.223)? 

Yasmin Amin in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Science, and Technology in Islam writes under the the heading “Sexuality” that, 

                      The Qurʾān allows sexual pleasure and does not simply view sex as a means for                                    procreation, but rather as a natural urge and a comfort for both partners (Qurʾān 2:187)                        …Foreplay is highly recommended, as is mutual satisfaction and not rushing the act. A                        wife who discards shyness when with her husband but returns to it after intercourse is                          highly praised, as there is nothing wrong with a woman being active and responsive                              during licit sex.

Rafath or ghunj (excited sexual noises) as well as sexually explicit talk is not just allowed but recommended (Qurʾān 2:187). There is no restriction on sexual positions (Qurʾān 2:233), and men are supposed to ascertain that their partner is satisfied. (Tijānī, 1992, pp. 113–114)

            This sense that sexual satisfaction is as important for women as it is for men is articulated (somewhat obscurely it seems to me) not just in the Qur’an, but also in the hadith and the various writings of the jurists. And, while the act of coitus brings about a state of impurity (which must lead to cleansing), many texts, the Qur’an, the hadith, and numerous jurists’ writings, speak to the importance of a woman’s right to pleasure.  

           This apparent equal right to pleasure for women is also reflected in the creation story of man and woman in the Qur’an. In their entry on “Women and Islam” in The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World, Soraya Altorki, Zayn Kassam, Valerie J. Hoffman, and Valentine M. Moghadam remark on this “equality” in the creation of Adam and Eve: "The creation of the female is attributed, along with that of the male, to a single soul (4:1) from which the other is created as its mate" (4:1). Another verse declares: “Allah created you from dust, then from a little fluid, then He made you pairs” (35: 11). Thus, the Qur’an grants both sexes equality from the perspective of origin and spiritual status.

        This is further evident in the Qur’an in “The Cow” (2.222-224), when the subject of sexual positions is addressed:

                     When they have cleansed themselves, then come unto them as God has commanded                            you.’ Truly, God loves those who repent, and He loves those who cleanse themselves.                          Your women are a tillage for you; so come unto your tillage as you wish, and forward                          for your souls; and fear God, and know that you shall meet Him. Give thou good tidings                      to the believers.

While men are clearly the governing or acting body, and women the more passive ground to be “tilled,” it is clear that both souls are “forwarded” in this encounter. Thus, the spiritual and sexual status are inextricably linked. In this sense, as scholars note, Islam “regards sexuality as a natural part of human relations which must be regulated within the spiritual, ethical and social framework of the religion” (Ruth Roded, “Islamic Views on Sexuality” 159).