“Homosexuality in Islam” ch4 -Kugle

Trigger/Content Warning: sex, consent, genitalia

Notable in this chapter was the discussion of how sex should be strictly for procreation rather than pleasure. What was particularly interesting about this topic was the connection it had back to the Mosque in Morgantown film. The female journalist noted how women were to be satisfied sexually, whereas in this book, it is the opposite. The ways in which interpretation and practices shift through time are incredibly vast. This chapter, for example, Kugle wrote that “premature withdrawal is a crime to a man’s people and an abomination to the land.” Justified through the argument of premature withdrawal being wasteful… what is it that makes it wasteful? While age is relevant to the effectiveness of sperm, men can generate millions of new sperm per day. And further, if the pleasure of either consenting party weren’t important, why would there be a clitoris or sensitivity on the foreskin?

(It would be helpful if there were more context around sex in Islam and practicing Muslims rather than just the criticism’s and mandates on sex in Islam.)

As related to care feminism, in this chapter there was a quote noting the importance of intention behind every action. For instance, in the films discussing polygamy that were assigned in class, each wife taken on by a man must be treated or given the same care as the other. In the context of pleasure and sex, what is the relationship between consent and reproduction? Pleasure is defined as a feeling of enjoyment. Without a feeling of enjoyment or happiness, what does that mean for consent? In present day, consent is defined as an enthusiastic agreement to something. If sex is strictly for reproductive purposes with the absence of pleasure, couldn’t sexual relations construct sexual relations as a form of prostitution or violence?

Prostitution is the exchange of sex for something in return, in this context, a baby. Violence is defined as a destructive force. An example of violence could be destructive sex that is non-pleasurable. The ways in which consent and pleasure construct sex and ultimately relationships becomes all the more complex when mingled with the intricacies religion.