Sex education is unIslamic, says academy

The Delhi based Islamic Fiqh Academy (IFA), the apex body that interprets Islamic law or Shariat, on Monday passed a set of major decrees, one of which ruled that sex education was not compatible with Islam. The other decrees govern ‘roza’ or fasting during the month of Ramzan, one of the five pillars of Muslim faith.

The academy comprises clerics coming out of three of the country’s most important Islamic institutions — Darul Uloom in Deoband, apart from Nadvatul Ulama and Firangi Mahal in Lucknow.

The edicts were issued in consultation with three theological experts invited from the middle-east — two from Qatar and one from Iran — who are camping in the Capital.

The government’s recent attempts to introduce sex education in Indian schools are being resisted by both Muslim and Hindu organisations. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has stated that it would not allow sex education in the 26,000-odd schools that the RSS runs.

In what is nearly an echo of the RSS stand, Mufti Nadir Ali of the IFA told the Hindustan Times: “Sex education with explicit pictures and explanation of sexual procedures can lead to permissiveness and destroy Islamic culture.”

Muslim intellectuals, however, have reacted with caution, saying banning sex education could have far-reaching effects on a community already blighted by illiteracy.

“Sex education within decent limits cannot be incompatible (with Islam). Two seminal books — one by noted scholar Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi of the Deoband School and the other by Maulana Amjad Ali — written almost a century ago have already underscored the importance of sexual health for Muslim women,” Akhtarul Wasey, head of the department of Islamic Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia said.

The other edicts issued by the IFA have allowed use of intravenous live-saving injections during fasting but said such a medicine should not be taken merely to gain stamina.