QUESTION:

What do the scholars and muftis of the mighty Shari’ah say regarding this matter: is it permissible to have anal sex with one’s wife?

Questioner: Amaan from UK

ANSWER:

بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم
الجواب بعون الملک الوھاب اللھم ھدایۃ الحق والصواب

Having intercourse via the back passage of a woman is known as anal sex and this is definitely Harām [Harām Qat’ī], the one who deems it permissible is a Kāfir and the perpetrator [of anal sex] is a transgressor and a sinner; after mentioning the prohibition of the front region [vagina] of woman in the state of menstruation, Allāh (Most High) states,

{فَاِذَا تَطَہَّرْنَ فَاۡتُوۡہُنَّ مِنْ حَیۡثُ اَمَرَکُمُ اللہُ}

So when they become pure, approach them from where Allāh has commanded you.”

[Sūrah al-Baqarah, verse 222]

Meaning that enter women in the place where Allāh (Most High) has commanded you and that is the vagina.

It has been mentioned in a Blessed Hadīth,

“عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، قَالَ ‘ مَنْ أَتَى حَائِضًا أَوِ امْرَأَةً فِي دُبُرِهَا أَوْ كَاهِنًا، فَقَدْ كَفَرَ بِمَا أُنْزِلَ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ'”

“On the authority of Abū Hurayrah, the Prophet of Allāh (may the peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) said, ‘The one who has intercourse with the menstruating woman, or has intercourse through her back passage or goes to a soothsayer, has disbelieved in what was revealed to the Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him).’”

[Sunan al-Tirmidhī, vol 1, pg 185, Hadīth 135]

‘Allāmah ‘Abdul Mustafā A’zamī states that it means that the one who carries out these acts and he considers them permissible, then without doubt, he has become a Kāfir [disbeliever] because considering Halāl that which Allāh (Most High) has made Harām is Kufr [disbelief] and if these acts are carried out whilst considering them Harām, then he is a major sinner, and whilst being a Muslim, he has committed an act of [the people of] Kufr.

[Jahannam ke Khatrāt, pg 122]

It is mentioned in Jawharah that,

وَأَمَّا الْوَطْءُ فِي الدُّبُرِ فَحَرَامٌ فِي حَالَةِ الْحَيْضِ وَالطُّهْرِ لِقَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى { فَأْتُوهُنَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَمَرَكُمْ اللَّهُ}أَيْ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَمَرَكُمْ اللَّهُ بِتَجَنُّبِهِ فِي الْحَيْضِ وَهُوَ الْفَرْجُ{ وَقَالَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ إتْيَانُ النِّسَاءِ فِي أَعْجَازِهِنَّ حَرَامٌ}”

“As for intercourse in the back passage, so it is Harām in the states of menstruation and purity because Allāh (Most High) stated, ‘approach them from where Allāh has commanded you’ i.e. from where He prohibited you to approach them in the state of menstruation and that is the vagina.”

[Jawharah Nayyīrah, vol 1, pg 86]

This act is referred to in Badā’i al-Sanā’I as Lūtiyyah al-Sugrā (the lesser sodomy),

وَلَا يَحِلُّ إتْيَانُ الزَّوْجَةِ فِي دُبُرهَا۔۔۔ وَعَلَى ذَلِكَ جَاءَتْ الْآثَارُ مِنْ الصَّحَابَةِ الْكِرَامِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُمْ أَنَّهَا سُمِّيَتْ اللُّوطِيَّةَ الصُّغْرَى

“It is impermissible to have intercourse with the wife in her back passage… and upon this the narrations of the Prophetic Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) have come stating that this act is called the lesser sodomy.”

[Badā’i’ al-Sanā’i’, vol 5, pg 350]

Muftī Ahmad Yār Khān Na’eemī states that anal sex is prohibited [Harām] in all religions and in Islām it is undoubtedly prohibited [Harām Qat’ī], and its denier [i.e. the one who considers it Halāl] is a Kāfir and its perpetrator is a transgressor and sinner.

[Mirāt ul-Manājīh, vol 5, pg 104]

Furthermore, this evil act has been strictly prohibited in the blessed Hadīth,

“عَنْ خذیمہ بن ثابت  قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:’إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَسْتَحْيِي مِنَ الْحَقِّ ثَلَاثَ مَرَّاتٍ لَا تَأْتُوا النِّسَاءَ فِي أَدْبَارِهِنَّ”

“It is narrated from Khuzaymah bin Thābit that he said that the the Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) said three times that: ‘Indeed, Allāh (Most High) does not hesitate to mention the truth – do not have intercourse with women in their back passages.’”

[Sunan ibn Mājah, Hadīth 1924, vol 2, pg 450]

واللہ تعالی اعلم ورسولہ اعلم صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم
کتبہ ابو الحسن محمد قاسم ضیاء قادری

Answered by Mufti Qasim Zia al-Qadri

Translated by Zameer Ahmed

Read the original Urdu answer here – [Q-ID0255] Is it permissible to perform anal sex in Islam?

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