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Quran expert says nonmarital sex is allowed in Islam. He now has second thoughts after conservative backlash
The dissertation hinges on the term milk al-yamin (what one's right hand possesses), which has been traditionally interpreted to mean household slaves. Several verses in the Quran allow men to have sexual intercourse with “what [their] right hand possesses" in addition to their wives.
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An illustration of sex (Shutterstock.com/File)
D
oes the Quran allow Muslims to have sex outside of marriage? Sunan Kalijaga Islamic State University (UIN Sunan Kalijaga) doctoral candidate Abdul Aziz’s answer to that question seemed to be yes, but following an uproar from conservative Muslims, he has backed off his stance.
Aziz’s dissertation, which argues that nonmarital sex is permitted under Islamic law, caught media attention after he completed his doctoral defense last Wednesday.
“Sexual intercourse, both marital and nonmarital, is a sexual human right that is protected by the state. In Islamic legal tradition, however, it is marital intercourse that is legal, while nonmarital intercourse is not,” Aziz wrote in the dissertation’s abstract. “This study is aimed to discover a new theory that can be used to justify the legality of nonmarital intercourse.”
Initially, the dissertation seemed to gain a positive response, with Aziz’s examiners giving him a “very satisfactory” grade. The public attention, however, has attracted critics, and the examiners instructed him to revise his dissertation on Friday.
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has also weighed in, saying that the dissertation “fell into the category of distorted thinking” and should be rejected because it could “damage the [Muslim] community’s and the nation’s morals.”
“[We] ask all people, particularly Muslims, to not follow that opinion because it could lead to acts that are forbidden by religious law,” MUI secretary-general Anwar Abbas said in a statement on Tuesday.
Aziz himself has agreed to revise the dissertation and “remove several controversial sections.”
