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Musahaqa

Priority: c, Quality: b
From wikishia

Musāḥaqa (Arabic: المُساحَقَة) or tribadism is the rubbing of a woman's genitals against another woman's genitals as a method for pleasure-seeking for which severe punishment in the hereafter is mentioned in narrations. In Shi'a narrations, "musahaqa" is considered "greater adultery" and those engaging in musahaqa are cursed. Shi'a jurists, based on narrations from the Infallibles (a), have declared musahaqa forbidden and its punishment as one hundred lashes. According to the fatwa of most of them, the method of proving musahaqa is the testimony of four just men or four times of confession by the woman who has committed it. Of course, if the woman repents before it is proven, she will not be punished. According to the fatwa of most jurists, if a woman is punished three times, the fourth time she will be stoned [to death].

Meaning and Position of Musahaqa in Religious Law

Shi'a jurists have defined "musahaqa" as the rubbing of a woman's genitals against another woman's genitals.[1] Musahaqa is one of the methods used by some homosexual and lesbian women for sexual pleasure.[2]

Position and Background

In some Shi'a narrations, "musahaqa" is considered the "greater adultery",[3] and those who engage in it have been cursed,[4] and severe punishments in the Hereafter have been mentioned for them.[5] According to a narration from Imam al-Sadiq (a), the first women to practice musahaqa were the women of the people of Lot, because among this people, men had relations with men, and the women were left without men. Therefore, the women did what their men did.[6] In another narration, the companions of al-Rass mentioned in Qur'an 50:12 are considered as those who engaged in musahaqa.[7]

Musahaqa in Jurisprudence

In Shi'a jurisprudence, the ruling regarding "musahaqa" is its prohibition, along with the methods of proving it and its prescribed punishment.

Prohibition

According to al-'Allama al-Hilli, a Shi'a jurist of the 8th/14th century, all Shi'a jurists have considered "musahaqa" forbidden.[8] In a narration from Imam al-Rida (a), the reason for the prohibition of same-sex sexual relations, which includes musahaqa in women, is stated to be the natural structure of women and the innate inclination of men toward women.[9] Also in this narration, relations with the same sex lead to the destruction of the human race, the disruption of society's order and management, and the destruction of the world.[10]

Method of Proving

Based on the fatwa of most Shi'a jurists, "musahaqa" is proven by the testimony of four just men or four times of confession by the woman who has committed it.[11] In contrast, al-Muqaddas al-Ardabili, a jurist of the 10th/16th century, considered the testimony of two just men or two times of confession by the woman to be sufficient.[12] Based on articles 172 and 199 of the Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran, musahaqa is proven by the testimony of four just men or four times of confession.[13]

Punishment for Musahaqa

All Shi'a jurists have considered "musahaqa" to have a prescribed punishment (hadd).[14] According to their "fatwa", the punishment for each of the two women engaging in musahaqa is one hundred lashes, and there is no difference between Muslim and non-Muslim.[15] Also, according to the author of Jawahir, a Shi'a jurist of the 13th AH/19th century, most jurists have not made a distinction in this ruling between muhssana (married woman) and non-muhssana (unmarried woman).[16] In contrast, Shaykh Tusi,[17] Ibn Barraj,[18] and Ibn Hamza Tusi,[19] jurists of the 5th/11th century, have considered the punishment for a muhssana who engages in musahaqa to be stoning [to death].

Based on articles 239 and 240 of the Islamic Penal Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the punishment for musahaqa is one hundred lashes, and there is no difference between Muslim, non-Muslim, musahaqa, and non-musahaqa.[20]

According to the fatwa of Shi'a jurists, if a woman repents before musahaqa is proven, she will not be punished.[21]

According to the Sayyid Ali al-Tabataba'i, a Shi'a jurist of the 12th/19th century, most Shi'a jurists have issued fatwas that if a woman's musahaqa is proven three times and she is lashed each time, the fourth time she should be killed.[22] Ibn Idris al-Hilli, a jurist of the 6th/12th century, considered the death penalty to be applied to the third instance.[23]

Notes

  1. ↑ See: Ḥillī, Taḥrīr al-aḥkām, vol. 5, p. 333; Shahīd al-Thānī, al-Rawḍat al-bahīyya, vol. 2, p. 361; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Rīyāḍ al-masāʾil, vol. 16, p. 5.
  2. ↑ Kimmel, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Aging, p. 73-79.
  3. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 11, p. 274.
  4. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 11, p. 267, 274.
  5. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 5, p. 257; vol. 11, p. 273.
  6. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 11, p. 273.
  7. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 14, p. 83.
  8. ↑ Ḥillī, Taḥrīr al-aḥkām, vol. 5, p. 333.
  9. ↑ Ṣadūq, ʿIlal al-sharāʾiʿ, vol. 2, p. 547.
  10. ↑ Ṣadūq, ʿIlal al-sharāʾiʿ, vol. 2, p. 547.
  11. ↑ See: Ṭūsī, al-Nihāya, p. 706; Shahīd al-Awwal, al-lumʿat al-Dimashqīyya, p. 257.
  12. ↑ Muqaddas Ardabīlī, Majmaʿ al-fāʾida, vol. 13, p. 127.
  13. ↑ Islamic Penal Code (Persian).
  14. ↑ See: Ṭūsī, al-Nihāya, p. 706; Muqaddas Ardabīlī, Majmaʿ al-fāʾida, vol. 13, p. 120; Mufīd, al-Muqniʿa, p. 787.
  15. ↑ See: Ṭūsī, al-Nihāya, p. 706; Muqaddas Ardabīlī, Majmaʿ al-fāʾida, vol. 13, p. 120; Mufīd, al-Muqniʿa, p. 787.
  16. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 41, p. 388.
  17. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Nihāya, p. 706.
  18. ↑ See: Ibn al-Barrāj, al-Muhadhdhab, vol. 2, p. 531; Ṭūsī, al-Nihāya, p. 706.
  19. ↑ Ibn Ḥamza, al-Wasīla, p. 414.
  20. ↑ Islamic Penal Code (Persian).
  21. ↑ See: Ṭūsī, al-Nihāya, p. 708; Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 41, p. 390.
  22. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Rīyāḍ al-masāʾil, vol. 2, p. 477.
  23. ↑ Ḥillī, Kitāb al-sarāʾir, vol. 3, p. 467.

References

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  • Kimmel, Douglas C. & Rose, Tara & David, Steven. Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Aging: Research and Clinical Perspectives. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006.
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  • قانون مجازات اسلامی (Islamic Penal Code (Persian)). Accessed: 2025/07/19.
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