Copulation: Difference between revisions

'''Copulation''' or '''al-Jimāʿ''' (Arabic: {{ia|الجِماع}}) is sexual intercourse between a human being and another human being or an animal. In [[Islamic jurisprudence]], the words «jima'», «muwaqa'a», «waty» and «dukhul» are used to refer to copulation. The jurisprudential rulings of copulation are incumbent when penetration of the penis has occurred – at least to the size of circumcision. The [[mujtahid|jurists]] categorize copulation into three types: [[Halal (fiqh)|lawful]], such as through [[marriage]]; [[forbidden]], such as in [[adultery]]; and suspicious (by mistake), and propose different rulings for each. According to their [[fatwa]], copulation, on the front or in the back, causes [[janaba]], and to be cleansed from it, the person must perform [[ghusl al-janaba]]. The [[Haram (fiqh)|prohibition of copulation]] between two men ([[sodomy]]), two women ([[musahaqa]]), a human and an animal, as well as the [[makruh|reprehensibility]] of copulation with one's wife from behind, are among the [[Religious rulings|rulings]] regarding copulation.

In jurisprudence, copulation is referred to by titles such as «jima'», «muwaqa'a», «waty», and «dukhul», which refer to the sexual intercourse of a human being with another human being or with an animal. The rulings of copulation are discussed in many parts of «jurisprudence,» such as [[purity]], [[fasting]], [[i'tikaf]], [[hajj]], [[marriage]], [[divorce]], [[zihar]], [[ila']] and [[hudud]].<ref>Shāhrūdī, ''Farhang-i fiqh muṭābiq bā madhhab-i Ahl al-Bayt'', vol. 1, p. 161.</ref> Of course, these rulings are specific to the copulation in which penetration of the penis has occurred – at least to the size of circumcision.<ref>Banī Hāshimī Khomeinī, ''Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil-i marājiʿ'', vol. 1, p. 267.</ref>

According to [[jurisprudence]], copulation is categorized into three types: lawful, suspicious, and [[Haram (fiqh)|forbidden]], which have different rulings.

Copulation that takes place after the provision of its Islamic requirements is lawful. Religious requirements of lawful copulation are one of the following: [[permanent marriage]], [[term-based marriage]], ownership (owning a [[slave girl]]), or legalization (making sexual enjoyment of one's slave girl lawful for another).

The copulation between a man and a woman, under the assumption that the religious requirements for copulation have been fulfilled, is called «suspicious copulation» or, in jurisprudence terminology, «waty by suspicion» (sexual intercourse by mistake), like when a man mistakenly copulates with a woman he thinks is his wife.<ref>Shāhrūdī, ''Farhang-i fiqh muṭābiq bā madhhab-i Ahl al-Bayt'', vol. 1, p. 161.</ref>

According to the fatwa of the jurists, there is no [[hadd]] (prescribed punishment) for suspicious copulation. Also, in it, the woman must wait the [['idda]] period,<ref>Banī Hāshimī Khomeinī, ''Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil-i marājiʿ'', vol. 1, p. 267.</ref> and she is entitled to receive the [[dowry]].<ref>Ṭabāṭabāʾī Yazdī, ''al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā'', vol. 2, p. 808.</ref> Of course, according to [[Muhammad Hasan al-Najafi]], if the mistake is only on the part of the man, that is, if the woman knows that she is not [[mahram]] with him, then she is not entitled to receive «mahr al-mithl»<ref>Najafī, ''Jawāhir al-kalām'', vol. 32, p. 378- 379.</ref> (mahr of counterparts).<ref>If at the time of the permanent marriage, no agreement is made on the mahr, or the determined mahr is invalid. There was sexual intercourse between the wife and the husband; then a mahr will be determined as equal to the mahr of women of the same status according to common sense, concerning the place and other conditions such as family, education, age, job, and the like will be determined. This type of mahr is referred to as Mahr al-mithl.</ref>

Copulation that takes place without the realization of religious requirements and is done knowingly and voluntarily is called forbidden copulation.<ref>Shāhrūdī, ''Farhang-i fiqh muṭābiq bā madhhab-i Ahl al-Bayt'', vol. 1, p. 162.</ref> Some examples of forbidden copulation are [[adultery]], [[lawat]], [[musahaqa]], copulation with an animal,<ref>Shahīd al-Awwal, ''al-Qawā'id wa al-fawāʾid'', vol. 1, p. 175.</ref> and copulation during periods such as [[menstruation]], [[nifas]], [[fasting]], and [[ihram]].<ref>Shāhrūdī, ''Farhang-i fiqh muṭābiq bā madhhab-i Ahl al-Bayt'', vol. 1, p. 162.</ref>

According to the fatwa of the jurists, copulation, whether on the front or in the back, causes janaba.<ref>Banī Hāshimī Khomeinī, ''Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil-i marājiʿ'', vol. 1, p. 267.</ref> Copulation between two men and with animals also causes «janaba.»<ref>Banī Hāshimī Khomeinī, ''Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil-i marājiʿ'', vol. 1, p. 267-268.</ref> Copulation and becoming «junub» has [[religious rulings|rulings]]; among them, it is forbidden to touch the words of the [[Qur'an]], the name of God, and the names of [[Imams (a)]], staying in a [[mosque]] and reading the [[sura|suras]] of the Qur’an that require [[obligatory prostration]].<ref>Banī Hāshimī Khomeinī, ''Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil-i marājiʿ'', vol. 1, p. 269.</ref> A person who has had copulation, if he has penetrated at least to the size of circumcision,<ref>Banī Hāshimī Khomeinī, ''Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil-i marājiʿ'', vol. 1, p. 267.</ref> must perform [[ghusl al-janaba]] for performing [[prayer|daily prayers]] and [[fasting]].<ref>Banī Hāshimī Khomeinī, ''Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil-i marājiʿ'', vol. 1, p. 273.</ref>

* It is forbidden to abstain from copulation for more than four months in a permanent marriage.<ref>Ḥillī, ''Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām'', vol. 2, p. 214; Shahīd al-Thānī, ''al-Rawḍat al-bahiyya'', vol. 5, p. 104.</ref>

* Copulation with an animal is forbidden and demands [[ta'zir]] punishment.<ref>Shahīd al-Awwal, ''al-Qawā'id wa al-fawāʾid'', vol. 1, p. 175.</ref>

* Copulation with a woman who has not reached the age of [[puberty]] is forbidden.<ref>Ḥillī, ''Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām'', vol. 2, p. 214.</ref>

* Copulation between two men, which is called [[lawat]] (sodomy), and copulation between two women, which is called «suhq» ([[musahaqa]]), are forbidden and demand [[Hadd|prescribed punishments]].<ref>Ḥillī, ''Mukhtalif al-shīʿa'', vol. 9, p. 189; Ḥillī, ''Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām'', vol. 2, p. 146. </ref>

* If a man copulates with another man, it becomes forbidden to marry that man's mother, sister, or daughter.<ref>Banī Hāshimī Khomeinī, ''Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil-i marājiʿ'', vol. 2, p. 611.</ref>

* It is permissible to copulate with the wife from behind, but it is strongly [[disliked]].<ref>Ḥillī, ''Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām'', vol. 2, p. 214. </ref>

* Copulation at the beginning, middle, and end of every (lunar) month is disliked, except for the eve of the first day of the [[month of Ramadan]].<ref>Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, ''Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa'', vol. 20, p. 129.</ref>

* Copulation is [[recommended]] on the eves of [[Monday|Mondays]], [[Tuesday|Tuesdays]], [[Thursday|Thursdays]], and [[Friday|Fridays]] and at noon on Thursdays.<ref>Ṭabāṭabāʾī Yazdī, ''al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā'', vol. 2, p. 801.</ref>

* Copulation at night and on the day when the moon or the sun is eclipsed, as well as when the sun is setting when it is rising until sunrise, and after «[[ihtilam]]» in sleep is disliked.<ref>Ṭabāṭabāʾī Yazdī, ''al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā'', vol. 5, p. 482.</ref>

* Copulation is disliked for a traveller who has arrived at night.<ref>Ṭabāṭabāʾī Yazdī, ''al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā'', vol. 5, p. 482; Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, ''Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa'', vol. 20, p. 131.</ref>

* Copulation facing and backing the Qibla is disliked and with a full stomach.<ref>Ṭabāṭabāʾī Yazdī, ''al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā'', vol. 5, p. 483.</ref>

* Copulation with one's wife causes eternal prohibition of the marriage of the husband (stepfather) with the daughters ([[rabiba]]) and granddaughters of that woman from her former and future husbands.<ref>Najafī, ''Jawāhir al-kalām'', vol. 29, p. 349.</ref>

==See Also==

* [[Masturbation]]

* [[Ihtilam]]

* Banī Hāshimī Khomeinī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥasan. ''Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil-i marājiʿ''. 8th edition. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī affiliated to Jāmiʿa-yi Mudarrisīn-i Ḥawza-yi ʿIlmīyya-yi Qom, 1424 AH.

* Ḥillī, al-Ḥasan b. Yūsuf al-. ''Mukhtalif al-shīʿa fī aḥkām al-sharīʿa''. 2nd edition. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī affiliated to Jāmiʿa-yi Mudarrisīn-i Ḥawza-yi ʿIlmīyya-yi Qom, 1413 AH.

* Ḥillī, Jaʿfar b. al-Ḥasan al-. ''Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām fī masāʾil al-ḥalāl wa l-ḥarām''. Edited by Muḥammad ʿAlī Baqqāl. Second edition. Qom: Muʾassisa-yi Ismāʿīlīyān, 1408 AH.

* Ḥurr al-ʿĀmilī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. ''Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa''. Qom: Muʾassisat Āl al-Bayt, [n.d].

* Najafī, Muḥammad al-Ḥasan al-. ''Jawāhir al-kalām fī sharḥ sharāʾiʿ al-Islām''. 7th edition. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1404 AH.

* Shāhrūdī, Sayyid Maḥmūd. ''Farhang-i fiqh muṭābiq bā madhhab-i Ahl al-Bayt''. 3rd edition. Qom: Muʾassisat Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif al-Fiqh al-Islāmī, 1392 Sh.

* Shahīd al-Awwal, Muḥammad b. Makkī. ''Al-Qawā'id wa al-fawāʾid''. 1st edition. Edited by: Sayyid ʿAbd al-Hādī Ḥakīm. Qom: Kitābfurūshī-yi Mufīd, 1400 AH.

* Shahīd al-Thānī, Zayn al-Dīn b. ʿAlī. ''Al-Rawḍat al-bahiyya fī sharḥ al-lumʿat al-Dimashqiyya''. 1st edition. Edited by Muḥammad Kalāntar.  Qom: Kitābfurūshī-yi Dāwarī, 1410 AH.

* Ṭabāṭabāʾī Yazdī, Muḥammad Kāẓim al-. ''Al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā fīmā taʿummu bih al-balwā''.2nd edition. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1409 AH.