Sex education is recognised to be an important part of every culture on earth. Islam, being divine culture, has made sex education an integral part of its holy scriptures, the Holy Quran. Let us read to find out what this wonderful and immaculate book of God reveals about this important subject.
Concerning its philosophy the following verse of the Quran beautifully. sums it: ‘Your wives are a sort of tilth for you; so approach your tilth as to when and how’ (Quran 2:224). Meaning that in much as a farmer prepares his piece of land (tilth) and plants seeds resulting in bumper harvest, so does a good husband carefully prepares his wife and goes in unto her resulting in the yield of good offsprings.
Here the analogy conveyed by the use of the word tilth (harth) perfects the diction, since a well cultivated wife in every sense of the word is analogous to a piece of land prepaed for cultivation.
The words ‘So approach your tilth as to when and how’ refers to the timing of sex and the method used in effecting it. For abundant harvest a good farmer chooses the time when he plants the seed to coincide with the onset of rains. Secondly, he also uses the most appropriate method to carry out planting of the seeds. In sexual terms these translate as follows: that sex carried out regularly during the ovulation period is most likely to result in pregnancy.
OVULATION
The ovulation period corresponds to the time when the female releases the egg called ovum, which is marked by a sudden and unusual rise in the body temperature which you can easily feel. To detect it with pin-point precision and accuracy, continuously measure the body temperature of the wife for thirty days in the course of one menstrual cycle.
This is done by inserting the thermometer into the mouth, underneath the tongue or in the armpit. After five minutes take it, read the value registered and record it. At the end of the thirty days plot your values of temperature on the y-axis versus days on the x-axis.
From the plot you realise that on one of the days, there is an unusual rise in the temperature (D1) technically call spike. It remains at that high value for some number of days then suddenly falls down to the normal body temperature on a particular day (D2). (See the fig.1).
The two days marked D1 and D2 on the graph is the ovulation period in which pregnancy is likely to result if sex is carried out.
Concerning the position adopted during the act that is left to the choice of male and female with the exception that the female, who is at the receiving end, must not be made to feel any pain. On the objective of marriage says Allah, the All-knowing, in the Quran: ‘It is made lawful to go in unto your wives on the night of the fast.
They are a sort of garment for you and you are a sort of garment for them’ (Quran 2:188).. A garment (Libas in Arabic) is worn for its beauty and also to protect us against heat and cold. So is marriage contracted to protect us against scandals, diseases in addition to embellishing couples.
Semen
Semen emitted from the penis of the male is analogous to the seed planted by the farmer in the soil. Little wonder in the above philosophical explanations the Quran has likened the female to a piece of well prepared soil (tilth). In effect semen plays the decisive role in the creation of offspring; hence the Quran pays a lot of attention to it using appropriate words to describe the significance of its role. In Quran 76:3 we read: ‘we have created man from a mingled sperm’.
The words “mingled sperm” which is “Nutfat Amshaaj” means a sperm drop which is composed of many things. This is fully corroborated by science which has disclosed that a sperm drop is composed of the sperm itself, fructose and watery (aqueous) substances. Sperms therefore contribute only 1% of semen. When injected in their billions into the female vagina they have to travel all the way from the vagina to the fallopian tube to fertilise the female egg (ovum). Because the uterus can be acidic the greater majority of the sperms dies on the way, leaving an infinitesimally small fraction to reach the ovum, out of which only one is needed to enter it.
For this reason the Wise Creator, Allah, has created them in billions that by the end of their ordeal journey the few that survived may carry out fertilisation. As a rule a sperm drop should contain 30 million sperms per mililiter to cause fertilization. A male with sperm count of 20 millions sperms per mililiter cannot fertilise since all of them would be dead by the time they reach the ovum.
Elsewhere says Allah, the All-knowing: ‘And He began the creation of man from clay. Then we made his progeny from an extract of an insignificant liquid’ (Quran 32:8-9). Meaning that the first man was created from clay, while his progenies were created from sperm. The idea of sperm comes from the words ‘An extract of an insignificant liquid’. The word extract which is Sulaala actually means the best part of a thing. And the best part of semen is the sperms.
Another important factor in the emission of the sperms in the semen is speed and that is that they must be made to travel at top speed to enable them reach the ovum in good time before they expire, Says Allah, the All-knowing: ‘He (man) is created of gushing liquid’ (Quran 86:7-8). The words gushing liquid is ‘Maain Daafiqin’, meaning liquid ejected with force. The force can be tremendously boosted during copulation by vigorous action.
From the above discussions it becomes cryptal clear that the laws governing childbirth is controlled by probability. This is for the fact that out of the billions of sperm all swimming competively to be the first to cause fertilization, you need only one sperm to do so.
Hence there is a chance of one out of billions for each sperm to achieve that. Remember that each microscopic sperm that swims so vigorously towards its coveted target is a different character; hence there are bound to be saints and human monsters among them. If therefore the birth of offsprings is governed by probability, then certainly you need divine intervention to give you good and pure offsprings.
PRAYER
The Prophet of Islam, on whom be peace, has taught Muslims the following prayers offered before sexual act: ‘Oh our Lord distance us from satan and distance satan from that which you have provided us (sex)’ (Bukhari, Muslim) Meaning that the great enemy of man, satan should not have any part in the desired offsprings. Once accepted, then He Allah, the Merciful and Acceptor of prayers (Mujib, Mpaebo Tiefoo) brings into operation cause and effects to select the best sperms out of the bad ones to enable them effect fertilizations.
All Prophets of God prayerd for the birth of good offsprings, like Zachariah who prayed: ‘My Lord, grant me from thyself pure offspring, surely, Thou art the hearer of prayers’ (Quran 3:39). In consequence of which God blessed him with John the Baptist (Yahya), a Prophet of God.
Sex during menstruation is expressly forbidden in accordance with the verse: ‘And they ask thee about menstruation. Say, ‘It is harmful, so keep away from women during menstruation, and go not unto them until they are clean’ (Quran 2:223). Accordance to
One possible reason why sex should be avoided during menstruation is that the mouth of the womb becomes wide open during the period. If sex is carried out there is a high risk of harmful microorganisms being introduced into the womb.
Let me end the discussion on the following correction. From Quran 23:13-15 we read:
“ (13)Verily we created man from an extract of clay. (14) Then we placed him as a drop of sperm in a safe depository. (15) Then we fashioned the sperm into a clot; then we fashioned the cloth into a shapeless lump; then we fashioned bones out of this shapeless lump; then we clothed the bones with flesh”.
Commenting on the verse we read: “We created man from an extract of clay, mention the process of man’s creation from the earliest stage when he lies dormant in the form of dust, and the inorganic constituents of the earth through a subtle process of change becomes converted into the life-sperm by way of food which a human being eats” (Our Commentary).
As pointed out in a previous article the comment has failed to distinguish between the two different processes used by Allah to create man which the true meaning of the verse seeks to convey. Thus verse (13) is about how God created the first man from clay, while verse (14) is about how God created his progeny from sperm as the starting material.
The comments as it stands convey the sense that God, using clay, dust and inorganic constituents of the earth first created sperms that evolved to become clot, then shapeless lump, then bones, then finally flesh. This is not its true meaning. Quran 32:8-9 makes Quran 23:13-15 clearer: “And He (Allah) began the creation of man from clay.
Then He made his progeny from an extract of an insignificant fluid (semen): Quoting Hadrat Ahmad, on whom be peace, on this changed process we read.” Then by the will of God the law of nature suffered a change, namely that after transformations, man’s birth began to take place through the uterus of the mother.
The first transformation was called water spasmodically ejected, or semen “(Minan Rahman, P 124)”. Meaning that instead of creating man from synthesis using clay as starting material, God easily and reproducibly began creating man from the second mode, namely through sperm introduced into the mother’s uterus!
SCIENTISTS
More than 1,400 years ago when the microscope had not yet been invented to give scientists a microscopic view of matter, the Holy Quran was discussing such things with high precision and accuracy as if revealed only yesterday. Oh Allah bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad!
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