-------

•Ideology of the Future, Dr. Muhammlltl R&fi11d\<lm, l111t :\fuhamm .. di ~re.~s. Karachi, 1956, pp, [^180] -~08.

170 hi11 life a. moment before the appointed decree. Belief in Islam blesses the faithful with complete serenity and contentmen~. The believer knows that wealth belongs to God and He gives t~ whom He pleases. Power, honour, reputation and authority are all bestowed according to His will and it is man’s duty only to striv~ according to His law. Succt>ss or failure tlepend antirely upon the will of Cod ; if He wills to !,!UCC1·e\<l, no poWl’I in the world can prevent Him from doing so and if He does not will it, no power can force Him while a.theists and polytheist! think th~t RUccess and failure depend upon their own unaided a1forta or the help or opposition of worldly forces. eonse· quently, they become enslaved to jealousy and frequently resort to sordid practices to try to gain what th\Y want. Thus it can be seen that Islam is not only the sole effeciive prescription for righteousness but the most potent medicine for manta.I health as well.

Let it be known to all that we MusJims are not prudee, that we a.re not ashamed of our bodies or its physical functions. Sex is a. natura.l and necessarv function like ca.ting, elimina· tion, and sleeping. But it is in~ompatible with human dignity unless done in private. Now there is npt;hing wrong with answering the calls of nature, for if the ‘b6dy did not rid itself of its toxic waste products, it would soon die. Therefore elimination is necessary and vital to the preservation of l~fe. But when one answers his natural calls, he does it alone behind closed doors, is careful to clean the parts and wash bis han~s ‘t JD afterwards. He doesn’t talk about it or brag a.bout [^1] public, or write about it (except in medical works), much less display it in pictures in books and periodicals, films and on television and if that was done, it wouTd be dirty and obscene. Islam is opposed to celibacy and self.mortificati._on and d~ not regard abstinence in itself as any virtue. Every Musli~ (with the possible exception of those seriously defective in mind and body) is expected to marry soon after puberty and raise a family.

Sex in the context of married lovo anti pa.rcn.thood is not only necessary but a. positive virtue. Jf husband and wife tleriv~ phvs·rn! r [^1]’l ‘U “• from their intimacies.

171 thia ia a good thing which helps strengthen the marriage bond, for if the couple were unsatisfied, this could menace their whole relationahip and shatter family life to pieces. But we also maintain that sex belongs in the bedroom -not on the 1treet. Public displays of nudity, promiscuity, eroticism, rapee, homosexuality and sodomy we declare without reservation as filthy, disgusting and degrading and that unrepentant tranegreqora deserve the harshest penalites society can inftict and the wrath of God in this wor Id and in the next.

Proof that · a feeling of “shame” about aex and nudity is innate in the very nature of the human being and not acquired artficially through education. or puritanfoal , child-rearing is home out by the observations of a trained anthopologist’a 1tudy of a Kibbtuz (Jewish collective farm settlement) in Israel:

“In Kiryat Yedidim, school-age children live in bi-sexual dormitories and thus have ample opportunies to witneu the nudity or eemi-nudity of other· children. The struotural aapeot of dormitory life in the children’s houses contributes to the permissive sexual environment.· There is a great deal of bodily oontaot in the form of wrestling, sham-fighting, horseback riding and various gymnastic exercises among all the children. Boys and girls like to wrestle in bed either in the nude or in their underwear covered with a sheet. The dormitory nurse ia confident that boys and girls often get into bed with each other at night, but she does not know how frequently this occura, nor does she know what they do.

These children frequently play ‘doctor,’ a game in which the ooys ‘examine’ the girls who are nude. Moreover boys and girls often lie on top of each other and hug and kiss each other in pubJic, even in the classroom in the presence of the teacher.

“As the children approach adolescence, ho~ ever, sexual iihame increases quite conspicuously. In both the second and fourth grades, boys and gi rla take their showers and baths together, seemingly enjoying the activity as they run about, laugh and joke. The children of the sec&n”d grade ignored my presence when they showered and showed no signs of eml:arassment h11t in the fourth grade, the girls became shy 172 when I appeared, running behind the door to conceal their rna\<tity. ‘rhe m11·se Axplainoo t.hat. t.he girls had no foeliag1 11.hnut appenring nncfo before their peerR hut WAre shy in [^1]li[^11]prm~en\<·A of ~trnngerR. Tn t.he Ri :xth grn.de, tho chil1lren- ,,sp11cinlly tho girls-are t.Shamod to be seen nude by ibe1r o111 JlllOrs nf tho opposite sex and boy& and girls insist on takit~ tlwi r ehowera separately. The nur,ae informed mo that prior to a year heforo this study, the sixth grade boys and girla had Hh\<>wf’re1l together without sh~me. Then a refugee girl from J>c1la.nd wa.11 admitted to their group who not only refused honelf to shower with the boys but sho persuaded the other girls lO imitate her behaviour and soon all of them refused to shower with the boys.

‘!’.heir shame grew so extreme that if one~tl cnme to the door of the bathroom while another girl was taking her shower, the latter would scream. They &fill decided to post a guard at the door to prevent thia ffOll happening. To the dismay of the authorities, one of the girb rnfused to undress in the presence of other children ; she would rot11rn io the dormitory in the evening before the rest ofl~I chiltlron arrived so that she could be in her pyjamas and [^11] bed when the latter returned.• “Mo.n knows that the obscene exists and yet he instinc· ti vely desires it to rema.in hidden. Why he behave• so i.s’ mystery of human nature. It seems as if God ia protecting man by providing him with some distinctive facilities of IOU!. whicl.i are cxolusivoly human in the entire creation of lifing beings. ‘l’hose protocti ve elements of human nature are Fest• Ha.to and Shame.

“Our knowledge about sex exhibits exactly eimil&r progres· sive characteristics.

The gradual evolution of sex and ael know}p,dge within a man’s Ji fetime is eternal and inherent io the very structure of huma.n nature. The question, however rP-muins whether this God gifted shroud should remain and .:_:greilsively fall off with the advancing atage.11 of life or would

•, ‘hildren of the Kibbutz,

~li.lford E. Spiro, Scbocken Books, Ntf Y o rk, 19~8. pp. 278-279.

173 it be io our interest to discard it by oTer-zealoua sophistioa.- tion f “There is clearly noticed tho supreme Divine Wist.lu111 in 11l1rouding human sexual bel1aviour behind a. curt.urn of Rhame.

To preserve the creative potency of tbe sexual urge , it is absolutely necessary to keep it out of sight and out of mind and sublimate it through other spheres of our worldly activity. If our minds and sight are left unrestrained to tho existence off sex, then man, the only self-conscious and im11.ginative species, under shoer concupiscence’, fools inclined to reckless d1asipation which is almost t11.ntamouut tu suicidti. Hence the need of proper clothing and proper expro.iSJou iu languago to screen off sex mentally and physically. Alt.hough \\ithin the clothing we know it. is and behind the convent.iou1il 01.pressions in language, we know there are other word1:1, wc deliberately. keep them hidden to protect ourselves from suicidal overindulgence and at the same time conserve and intensify our creative urge for actual procreative functions. The recent modification of our clothing to expose physical features intentionally for sex-appeal and broadcasting the secret expressions in language-as for example the •four-letter words’ in English-does thrill or shock ua momentarily but soon ti.it> whole thing loses its attractiveness and we feel disgust.

“Some people feel a. great. urge to express their views about sex in literature and art and even in the Phallic cult of Divine worship. The worship of the Phallus of Shiva among certain sections of the Hindus in India has actually culminated in the moat morally dapraved society. Some of the images at. the Jagannath Temple at Puri, Orissa which I personally had the opportunity to see, are far beyond any liter11.turo to depict. obscenity in human sex. Chaitanya Dev, a great Hindu holytnan of Bengal in his rapture of Divine feeling, stoou befor11 the images at t.he Jaga.nna.th Temple long enough to crealo restlessness among his disciples. When asked to como a.Ion;;, he repled, “Wait, wait a bit an\<l let me see to my heart’s contont. the myateriea of the Oreat Lord.’ 174 “What then is wrong with these scholars, philosophers and divines t

All the theories appear to be correct at first sight but what appears to be missing in them is definitely the second sight ; otherwise, how could the results be so diaastrous1 In the absence of any other suitable terminology known to me, I venture to give it the name of •Relativity of View’ which they lack.

These philosophers in their mature age, view things, particularly sex, in their own mature way. Thia means they view life from the top downwards. But what is the view from’ the bottom upwards t How does a man growing from childhood through adolescence to maturity in lifo look at sex t uonce I saw a Hindu girl about 20 years old and a boy who appeared the ea.me age, if not younger, and certainly not huabe.nd or wife, looking at those images at the Jagannath Temple while I wae standing at a distance unnoticed by them and with nobody else nearby. The girl bit her tongue in snauie, Indian fashion, and then both of them sniggered, pinched and pushed each other. Certainly that indicated anything but awe and reverence a~ the revelation of Divine myster!.

“Of all the pornographic literature, the book in our time which created the most sensation in England and wherenr English is spoken, is LadyChatterley’s Lo~r, by D .H . Lawrence. A general review of this book and how it passed out of the London courts as ‘not guilty’ will .suffice for the entire porno· graphic literature of the world. Lawrence, with his exquisite literary talent, has portrayed the sex behaviour between man and woman exposing practically everything. Still at the court of Old Bailey, :London, the jury gave a unanimous verdict of ‘not guilty.’ “One wiineas, Mr. Hopkinson, said he would be glad if his children read the book and discussed it with him and even with their mother. He gave the book to hi1 young son to read and on finishing it, when the father asked him how he liked it, he simply answered that it was dull. Why dull t It is so interesting and morally instructive from a top-downwards view &a taken by the mature faiher but to the growing boy, taking a 175 view of it bottom-upwards, it is not ao. His mind waa not yet opened up enough to grasp it. The son may aJso h•ve played

the hypocrite with hia father. If his sex knowledge had

developed by that time, the stirring of hia emotions, the titiJJa. tion of libido in him was still shrouded with the protective elements of fear, hate and shame and therefore he did not W&nt to discuss the matter with his father.

“Sex education must be given to children-this has become ths wild cry of the day, pa.rtioularly in the West. The W01tern intellect seems to be ca.ptiva.ted by unbridled aentiments to go to extremes.

Thus the wise men of the

West at once call out to children what can be paraphrased ·

Tu

•

. me boys a.nd girls, here we expose everything I No more [^1]naane t&boo about sex !

Here we do things before you to see &nd learn !’•

Thus it is tha.t in the Kibbutzim or collective farm aettlernonta in Israel, free love is the rule. Children are taken from their mothers when a. week old and ra.iaed in nursuries. Consequently the formalities of ~arriage are dispensed with •nd family life eliminated.

In Sweden, sex instruction ia begun in the first year of elementa.ry sohoo 1 with the official •im of preventing any ta.int of sin from being assooia.ted with the subject in the children’s minds.

Adoleacents are taught in achoo! that there ia nothing wrong with aexual relations ontaide of marriage so long as the boy and girl love eaoh other and are prepared to assume the responsibility for the children. In the ninth grade, fourteen year-olda are routinely taught the lateat contraceptive methods including the uae of the diaphram. Contraoeptivea are [^80]cheap and freely available, they can be purchased from atreet pedlara and vending machines. Thia, however, does not prevent at least a third of the Swediah h&biee born from being conceived out of wedlock. Swedes defe.nd their moral standards by insisting that they are juat u