Peace
In short, it is argued that within the Quran there is a class of people known as Ma malekat Aymunkum (MMA) which literally means those whom your oaths possess and that sex with this group is permissible by the Quran as implied by certain verses:
23:5-6 (We can unguard our private parts to the MMA)
4:23-25 (We cannot marry the Muhsinat or Fatayat women unless/until they are MMA)
4:23 begins by saying who are forbidden for marriage.
4:23
Forbidden for you are your mothers, and your daughters, and your sisters, and the sisters of your father, and the sisters of your mother, and the daughters of your brother, and the daughters of your sister, and your foster mothers who suckled you, and your sisters from suckling, and the mothers of your women, and your step-daughters who are in your lodgings from your women with whom you have already consummated the marriage; if you have not consummated the marriage then there is no sin upon you; and those who were in wedlock with your sons who are from your seed, and that you join between two sisters except what has already been done. God is Forgiving, Merciful.
Then it forbids the muhsinat women unless they are of MMA status
4:24
And the independent (muhsinat) from the women,
except those maintained by your oaths (MMA); the book of God over you; and permitted for you is what is beyond this, if you are seeking with your money to be independent, not for illicit sex. As for those whom you have already had joy with, then you shall give them their dowries as an obligation. There is no sin upon you for what you agree on after the obligation. God is Knowledgeable, Wise.
4:25 And whoever of you cannot afford to marry the independent female believers,
then from those maintained by your oaths of the believing young women.
From the above verses alone, I conclude that MMA at least entails something like a fianc? or girlfriend of some sort. Specifically when we look at how a Muhsinat must be of MMA before being permitted for marriage.
The strongest proof against MMA exclusively meaning fianc? or girlfriend in my opnion is the following (which i have quoted from Aalmakto?s post)
This is what he posted:
Quote33:53 O you who believe, do not enter the homes of the prophet unless you are invited to a meal, without you forcing such an invitation. But if you are invited, you may enter. And when you finish eating, you shall leave, without staying to wait for a narrative. This used to bother the prophet, and he was shy to tell you. But God does not shy away from the truth. And if you ask his wives for something, ask them from behind a barrier. This is purer for your hearts and their hearts. And it is not for you to harm the messenger of God, nor that you should marry his wives after him. This is indeed a gross offence with God.
33:54 If you reveal anything, or hide it, God is fully aware of all things.
33:55 There is no sin upon them before their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or the sons of their brothers, or the sons of their sisters, or their women, or those who are maintained by their oaths. And be aware of God, for God is witness over all things.
Basically what I am getting at is. It is not pure for men to ask the Prophet's wives "something" unless behind a barrier....EXCEPT for the Prophet's Wives fathers, sons etc. and MMAs (see the Arabic, it is clearly about them). So verse 33:55 is implying that the Prophet's wives had MMAs!
Looking at this, I don?t think that it would make sense for MMA to exclusively mean a girlfriend/boyfriend or fianc?. That would then mean that the prophet's wives had boyfriends, which appears to make no sense. It has been suggested that MMA has multiple meanings. I agree and i think that a finace or boyfriend/girlfriend could be one of the meanings it entails. I think this because I cannot see MMA to mean gf/bf in 33:53-55 whilst I cannot see it to mean anything other than gf/bf when we look at 4:23-24 with regards to the muhsinat.
In short, MMA can mean various things. A girlfriend/boyfriend is amongst the possible things that an MMA can entail. All things with an MMA are possible, so long as it does not count as lewdness (fahisha)
Another verse that was posted as an objections was 24:33 More specifically this part:
24:33 ?....And let those who are not able to marry continue to abstain until God enriches them of His Bounty.?
What someone takes as abstain here is another limitation of MMA. If you take abstain as sex, then no sex with MMA. This is subjective and some may have a stricter view such as minimal physical contact or possibly a less strict view than sex such as abstaining from the kind of sex that leads to kids (unprotected sex).
Savage_carrot suggested that only those who have the means to marry, can marry thus the abstaining here refers to something other than marriage since the individual who lacks the means for marriage cannot marry and it is thus impossible.
The verse is referring to those who don't have the means for marriage. Is the word means in this verse referring to necessary requirements for marriage such as witnesses and a relevant authority to enforce the marriage or is it referring to something like wealth? I think that it refers to something like wealth since witness and other conditions are almost always available and so marriage is possible as opposed to impossible. This is further implied by the following 24:33 "...until God enriches them of His Bounty" I don't think one's increase in bounties corresponds to witness, documentation and so on.
If abstain understood as not referring to marriage, an answer needs to be given with regards to what it is that we are supposed to abstain from. If we say sex, then it must be asked then what exactly is the purpose of un-guarding one's private parts to their MMA. Is it just to show one another? Is contact allowed? how much?
Another verse to consider is 2:237:
And if ye divorce them before
tamassūhunna, but after the fixation of a dower for them, then half of the dower (Is due to them), unless they remit it or (the man's half) is remitted by him in whose hands is the marriage tie; and the remission (of the man's half) is the nearest to righteousness. And do not forget Liberality between yourselves. For Allah sees well all that ye do.
The root of tamassuhunna:
Miim-Siin-Siin = To meet or touch or feel a thing with the hand, touch a thing without intervention or interference, strike or smite, afflict or befall, be distressing or difficult of accomplishment.
You might also want to check out the following links for more details on the potential meanings of this root:
http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000239.pdf (start at the far right of this page when it begins with Mim-Siin)
http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000240.pdfIn 2:237 the word tamassuhunna is important. If the word means touch, then we need to determine what kind of touch is being talked about here. It would be highly unreasonable to think that any sort of physical contact is constituted as tamassuhunna in the context of 2:237. Here is a cross-reference of the term in the Quran:
http://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=mss#(2:237:6)In 3:47 it is clear that Mary is referring to the sort of touch that potentially leads to a child:
?She said: "My Lord, how can I have a son when no human hasyamsasnī (touch(ed)) me?" He said: "It is thus that God creates what He wills, when He decrees a command, He merely says to it 'Be,' and it is.??
Thus from this we might say that in 2:237, tamassuhunna refers to the sort of touch that leads to a child. This means unprotected sex. However since protected sex does not 100 percent guarantee to prevent potential pregnancies and is thus not 100 percent protection, then it
might be the case that it is not a sufficient measure.
Despite 2:237, it can still be argued that sex is not exclusive to marriage. This verse highlights that should it be the case that one marries, then these considerations and guidelines will enter. If one however does not marry, then these consideration to not apply. But I think it more reasonable to place the limit of 100% protection on sex with MMA then not and 2:237 can be used to defend this.
Another issue that came up was on how to distinguish who the Quran was addressing when the term nisa occurred rather than zawj:
For example:
2:222 And they ask you about the menstruations? Say: "It is harmful, so keep away from the women (nisa) during the menstruations, and do not approach them until they are cleansed. When they are cleansed, then you may approach them as God has commanded you." God loves the repenters and He loves the cleansed.
Is this verse exclusive to marriage or does the usage of the general women instead of zawj mean that it also applies to MMAs? I can't see how this would
not also apply to MMAs. It would be absurd to say that we can approach our MMAs during their mensturation but then once they become our wives we cannot approach them during their mensturations.
then later on you have:
2:226 For those who yu'lūna (swear (off)) from their women (nisa), they shall be given four months. If they cease, then God is Forgiving, Merciful.
Here instead of zawj or some other like term that establishes the exclusivity of this verse for married relations only, the term nisa is used again which. Does that mean that those who are in an unmarried relationship should also wait for four months before separating? The words
I think based on earlier discussions, marriage is not something that is done overnight. By the time one finds the right person and verifies that they fit the purposes for marriage in relation to themselves, it is something that takes a while and there is an implication that that relationship wherein which the individual is ready to prepare for nikah is one where the bond is close. Thus it would make sense here to have a four month waiting period to make sure that the decision being made is the right one and not one out of haste. I don't think this can be applied to say a short relationship with an MMA. Now whether there was any sex during that short time or not, may change things.
Perhaps the term yu'lūna (swear (off)) can better clarify in what context, based on what action, and what conditions and relationship status between the man and woman, is the man supposed to have a waiting period of 4 months before seperating then later on:
2:230 So if he
divorces her again, then she will not be lawful for him until after she has
married a different husband (zawj); if he divorces her; then there is no sin that they come back together if they think they will uphold the boundaries of God. These are the boundaries of God, He clarifies them for a people who know.
Here the word talaq and zawj is used as well as nikah. I'm not sure why zawj is used here since they don't qualify for the status of zawj until after the marriage has taken place and not before.
Either way 2:230 seems to establish that it is with regards to zawj and marriage. The question is
which of the verses that lead up to this were also referring to a married relationship. I think that 2:226 is with regards to marriage but 2:222 i don't think so mainly because it would be absurd unless we assume that that kind of approach which is prohibited during the mensturations is exclusive to marriage. If so then we need to like outline what exactly constitutes that kind of approach towards the women.
Johan suggested that the purpose of marriage is inheritance. With marriage everything is documented and thus it is obvious to whom a child belongs to. Thus to whom goes the inheritance of a father or mother.
In conclusion it appears that sexual acts are permitted with MMAs so long as they do not result in children. Further questions: What constitutes an oath when we talk about those whom your oaths possess. An implicit agreement like that of a girlfriend and boyfriend? a promise? or must there be documentation?
Please do not discuss anything in this thread. If anything important has been missed from the original thread that should be part of the summary, then please add it in this summary thread.
If anyone wants to discuss anything from the above, then please post your points in the following thread:
http://free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9599777.0This summary in this thread is an outcome of the discussion that took place in the other thread.
Also for a more detailed look at certain points (such as Johan's proposal of inheritance as the main purpose of marriage (pages 46-50 of the thread)) then follow the link to the original thread.
For more info:
IAMOP's point of view on the relation of zina and MMA:
http://free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9599777.460 and Bigmo's points of view on MMA in light of past scriptures:
http://free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9599777.420Peace
