Abstract:
In this short issue, we pay attention to four religious sexual areas and exploit some related verses from Quran: The Birth of the Sexuality (Taha: 116-117; Araf: 12-25), Husband (Al-Nisa: 34), Wife (Rum: 21) and Sexual Relation (Baghare: 223). Then we use the Communicational Model of “Meaning source” (Mohsenian Rad’s Model) to analyze and interpretation these verses. My conclusions shows that (1) the verses of the Suras of Taha and Araf indicated that after forbidden fruit was eaten by Adam and Eve, their virginity converted to sexual desires. So their position and environment should be changed. However in this evolution, the sender is God or the Satan (based on the kind of interpretation), the receivers are Adam and Eve and the message is the Sexualization. I think this is the most influential communicational process which Human kind has experienced. (2) If we assume the family as a communicational System, then we confront the verses such as Al-Nisa-34 which define its parties with different statues. According to the Verse, the Quran take a priority to the men. And there is a necessity for receiver (women) to accept the sender’s message (husbands’ message), which aren’t concerned to the main meaning of wives’ mind. (3) The Islamic treatment of Wife is very similar to Catholic understanding. (4) The Islamic Sexuality is structured with different dimensions: Biological, Cultural, Economic, and Politic which reproduce its society in all of these roots. (5) Sexual Relations have two stages: Biologic and Communicational. The majority of Communicational Mechanisms is Non-Verbal form, which use from the Touch as the main Canal for sending the messages. I mean that the Kissing, the Caressing, the Smiling, the embracing, the Wooing, the Penetration… are Communicational methods which send emotions as messages from men to women, or inverse.
Keywords: Sexuality, Sexual Relations, Quran, Wife, Husband
The Story of the Birth of the Sexuality:
“When We told the angels to prostrate before Adam they all obeyed except Iblis (Satan) who refused.” (Taha, 116)
When the God order to angels to prostrate before human, he want to force them to form a special communicational process in front of His new Creature. In this way, the angels should send their spiritual respect as a message to the human and confirm his priority. But the Satan wasn’t a suitable sender which can sent such a message for the new creature, because he has a specific Meaning in definition the priority. I mean he thought that the reason of priority is the “Material of the Creation”. So he said: “I am better than Adam, for You have created me out of fire and Adam out of clay.” (Araf: 12) But this argument caused to recognize the Satan as the Enemy of Human by God and so he warned to His new Creature: “We said," Adam, this (Satan) is your enemy and the enemy of your spouse. Let him not expel you and your spouse from Paradise lest you plunge into misery.” (Taha, 117)
Then God expel the Satan from his Heaven, but give His previous dignified slave a new important role: “The Lord ordered Satan to get out (of Paradise) saying," This is no place for you to be proud. Get out of this place, for you are worthless"(13) Satan asked the Lord to give him respite (keep him alive) until the Day of Resurrection. (14)
The Lord told him," We will grant you this respite."(15) Then Satan said," Because you have made me go astray, I shall certainly try to seduce people into straying from the right path. (16) I shall attack them from all directions and You will not find many of them giving You thanks". (Araf: 13-17)
So Satan reformed himself as the Adam’s enemy. But for this new meaning and intention, he look up a way for awake a very special phenomenon: The Sexuality: “Satan tempted them to reveal that which was kept private from them (Sexual Organs) and said," Your Lord has not prohibited you to eat the fruits of this tree unless you want to be angels or immortal."(Araf, 20)
In this way, If the Islamic story of creation is adapted with the basical model of the communication, I mean the sender, the receiver and the message, then its sender is the Satan or God (based on the kind of interpretation); the receiver is the Adam and Eve; and the message is Sexualization which had been covered under the forbidden fruit: “When they had tasted (fruits) from the tree, their private parts (The Sexual Organ) became revealed to them. (Araf, 22)
After melting the virgin primitive Humans to Sexual Beings, A specific emotion is formed: Sexual Shame: “they began to cover their private parts with leaves from the garden.” (Araf, 22) And the Conclusion of this process is exiting from the Heaven of Virgins and Enter to the World of the Sexuality: “The Lord told them to leave the garden as each other's enemies and go to earth to dwell and benefit from the means therein for an appointed time. (24) He told them that, on earth, they would live, die, and be resurrected. (Araf: 24-25)
So, indeed this is a real Communicational Process, because ‘the Sender’ could change completely the meaning of ‘his receivers’ about themselves by his message. And transit them to a new position which is needed a new and different environment. I mean the God or Satan (based on interpretation way) as the sender with some specific meanings which included his intentions send the Sexualization as a message to his audiences, Adam and Eve. Then they are changed completely, because after eating the forbidden fruit, their virginity converted to sexual desires. So their position and environment should be changed: They descent to the Ground of the Sexuality: The Earth.
The Wife:
In the Sura of Al-Rum, Allah after explanation the creation of Human with the clay: “Among His signs is [the fact] that he has created you from clay; then you were propagated as human beings. (Rum, 20)” and before treatment the differentiation of Languages and Colors of Humans as a Special privilege: “Among His signs are the creation of Heaven and Earth, as well as the diversity in your tongues and colors.” (Rum, 22) He said that: “Among His signs is [the fact] that He has created spouses for you from among yourselves so that you may console yourselves with them. He has planted affection and mercy between you; in that are signs for people who think things over.” (Rum, 21)
Fazl ebne Tabarsy in interpretation of the verse and explanation the kind of creation spouse said that: this verse means “Eve was created by one of the Adam’s ribs or the Feminine was created from the sperm of Masculine.” (Majmaol Bayan, V 8, P 470)
In other hand, Mohammad Moghnyye in his interpretation, Al- Kashef, said: “Certainly, the Quran define the goal of the marriage as the mean for form affection and mercy between the family members.” (Moghnyye, Vol 6: 136) In other hand, According to the text of sura of Rum (21), we can say: “God has created spouse for Man from himself so that he may console himself with her.”
This understanding is touching to the Christian belief: “The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (Gen, 2: 18) But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman, for she was taken out of man. (Gen, 2: 20-23)”
The Husband:
Men are in charge of women, since God has given some persons advantages over others, and because they should spend their wealth [on them]. Honorable women are steadfast, guarding the Unseen just as God has it guarded. Admonish those women whose surliness you fear, and leave them alone in their beds, and [even] beat them. If they obey you, do not seek any way [to proceed] against them. God is Sublime, Great. (Al- Nisa: 34)
If we assume the family as a communicational System, then we confront such verses which define its parties with different statues. According to this Verse (Al-Nisa, 34), the Quran take a priority to the men “since God has given some persons advantages over others, and because they should spend their wealth (on the Women.)” So in this religious context, we have an institutionalized priority in family Communication: the advantages and wealth of the men take him a higher position in the process. I mean, the man is the main Sender, who sends the main message, because they are in charge of women.
In other hand, God define the Honorability for the Women: “Honorable women are steadfast, guarding the Unseen (Husband’s Rights & Properties) just as God has it guarded.” Mr. Tabatabaee in interpretation of this sentence said: “It refers to the guardianship of husbands in relation with wives. So the wives should obey from her husbands.” (Almizan, Vol 4: 343) So, the wife as the main receiver in family should obey from her husband’s messages and intentions, to be an Honorable woman.
At the End, God prescribe to men a Kind of Communicational collection in front of ill-behaved women which include one verbal solution (Advice) and two non verbal ways (Abandonment their Sexual Relationship & Corporal Punishment), But this Prescribes are reliable until they accept the obedience: “If they obey you, do not seek any way [to proceed] against them. God is Sublime, Great. (Al-Nisa: 34)
So in Islamic model of family communication, we have some specific positions which are related to Sender and Receiver. And there is a necessity for receiver (women) to accept the sender’s message (husbands’ message), which aren’t concerned to the main meaning of wives’ mind. And if they don’t accept the messages, the verbal and non-verbal ways are used to convince them.
Your wives are as fields for you. You may enter your fields from any place you want. Reserve something good for your souls (for the life hereafter). Have fear of God and know that you are going to meet Him. (Muhammad) give the glad news to the believers. (Baghare: 223)
This verse similize the women to fields and the men to farmers, and so take an advice to the men (or men & women): “Reserve something good for your soul.” According to Almizan interpretation, it refers to Human reproduction. (Almizan, Vol 2: 214) In other hand, I think it means that the sexuality is a system of Humans’ Society Reproduction, which is structured with different dimensions: Biological, Cultural, Economic, Politic and reproduce society in all of these roots. I mean the Bio-Sexuality reproduces the bodies of people and extend them with their children. In other hand, Cultural-Sexuality with its process of socialization regenerate the stereotypic Sex-roles and define the Good and the Bad in Sexual Intercourse, Gendered Relations and its sexual preferences. Also Economic-Sexuality expands economic patterns with the help of sexual collection such as family, kinship system and others. But the relation of Policy and Sexuality is more complicated and has a lot of results. The Policy for reproduction its dominance, manage the sexuality system and make some convincements in Sexual and Family Planning. (Rezaee, 2007 A: 10)
In a religious society, all of these dimensions of Reproduction are religious. So God’s Advice leads us to an Islamic Bio-Sexuality which reproduces the Muslims, An Islamic Cultural-Sexuality that use from socialization process to reproduce the Islamic common senses, traditions, and sex roles, An Islamic Economic-Sexuality that regenerate Islamic economic network, systems and regulations. And The Islamic Policy reproduces itself with Islamic goals. This is the real meaning of God’s device: “Reserve something good for your souls (for the life hereafter). Have fear of God and know that you are going to meet Him.”
In other hand, This Verse has an important role in the sayings of sacred leaders of Shiah. For example, Abdullah ebne Yaghfour asked about the legitimacy of Anal Sex in Shiite thinking, Imam Sadegh responded him: “Your wives are as fields for you. You may enter your fields from any place you want. (Baghare, 223)” And he underline on ‘from any place you want.’ (Vasayelo Shiah, Vol 20: 148) Mr.Tabatabaee in interpretation of this verse, said that “the purpose of this part of the verse is enrich and development the freedom of marriage and sexual relations in the fields of (Sexual) place and time (Except in the Catamenia time).” (Almizan, Vol l: 226)
The Expansion of religious limitations of sexual behaviors, cause to the development of the touching area in sexual communication. Indeed Sexual Relations have two stages. One of them is Biologic which its goal is gratification of sexual organs and gets the biologic orgasm. But the other is Communicational Stage. In this dimension, we have several complicated communicational processes which are included the Verbal and Non-Verbal kinds, but the majority of Mechanisms is Non-Verbal form, which use from the Touch as the main Canal for sending the messages. The Kissing, the Caressing, the Smiling, the embracing, the Wooing, the Penetration… are Communicational methods which send emotions as messages from men to women, or inverse. In these Communicational mechanisms, the positions of sender and receiver are changed, frequently. Also, the collection of meanings of man and woman about him/her self, their sexual partner, their situation… are changed, frequently… In other hand the messages of this special communications may be senses and emotions such as Security, Love, Self Confidence, Priority, and Humility…
This Analyze of Sexual Relations is only a beginning point. I want to continue it in my future book, Sexuality and Religion, which I am writing it, nowadays.
1. If the Islamic story of creation is adapted with the conventional model of the communication, I mean the sender, the receiver and the message, then its sender is the tree (the Satan or the God); the receiver is the Adam and Eve; and the message is Sexualization: “When they had tasted (fruits) from the tree, their private parts (The Sexual Organ) became revealed to them. (Araf, 22) Then they are changed completely, because after eating the forbidden fruit, their virginity converted to sexual desires. So their position and environment should be changed. Then they descent to the Ground of the Sexuality: The Earth.
2. If we assume the family as a communicational System, then we confront the Quran verses such as Al-Nisa-34 which define its parties with different statues. According to the Verse, the Quran take a priority to the men “since God has given some persons advantages over others, and because they should spend their wealth (on the Women.)”. So in Islamic model of family communication, we have some specific positions which are related to Sender and Receiver. And there is a necessity for receiver (women) to accept the sender’s message (husbands’ message), which aren’t concerned to the main meaning of wives’ mind. And if they don’t accept the messages, the verbal and non-verbal ways are used to convince them.
3. According to the text of Sura of Rum (21), we can say: “God has created spouse for Man from himself so that he may console himself with her.” This understanding is touching to the Christian belief: “The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (Gen, 2: 18)… Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh (Gen, 2: 22-23)
4. The Sexuality is structured with different dimensions: Biological, Cultural, Economic, Politic and reproduce society in all of these roots. When we assume a religious society, all of these dimensions of Reproduction the sexuality are religious. So God’s Advice leads us to an Islamic Bio- Sexuality which reproduces the Muslims, An Islamic Cultural-Sexuality which use from socialization process to reproduce the Islamic common senses, traditions, and sex roles, An Islamic Economic-Sexuality that regenerate Islamic economic network, systems and regulations. And The Islamic Policy reproduces itself with Islamic goals.
5. Sexual Relations have two stages: Biologic and Communicational. In Communicational Stage, we have several complicated communicational processes which are included the Verbal and Non-Verbal kinds, but the majority of Mechanisms is Non-Verbal form, which use from the Touch as the main Canal for sending the messages. The Kissing, the Caressing, the Smiling, the embracing, the Wooing, the Penetration… are Communicational methods which send emotions as messages from men to women, or inverse. In these Communicational mechanisms, the positions of sender and receiver are changed, frequently. Also, the collection of meanings of man and woman about him/her self, their sexual partner, their situation… are changed, frequently…
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[1] Arabic Lunar Year
[2] Iranian Solar Year
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