Quotes from Abdelwahab Bouhdiba

The Islamic view of sexuality, then, is a total one. Its aim is to integrate the sexual as everyday experience. Islam is a recognition, not a misapprehension of sexuality.

And yet circumcision is an act that, according to the fiqh, is in no way compulsory. It is a sunna act, that is to say, one that is strongly recommended. The excision of girls is even less obliga­tory. It is a makruma: a pious practice, like removing a stone from the road, clearing a public drain or maintaining a collective watertap.

Excision of girls, as we have said, was a widely tolerated prac­tice. In principle, it ought to concern only the removal of the lower part of the cap. In fact, as we know, what is involved, except in abnormal cases, is only the semi-prepuce, which covers only the lower part of the clitoris. The excision of girls (khif??) must not therefore be confused with clitoridectomy. The former is tolerated, the latter strictly prohibited. Indeed it is the only indication provided by tradition.

Circumcision, like excision indeed, is more a practice of Muslims than a practice of Islam.

Tradition has it that four categories of person incur the anger of God: 'Men who dress themselves as women and women who dress themselves as men, those who sleep with animals and those who sleep with men.' Homosexuality (liw??) incurs the strongest condemnation. It is identified with zin? and it is advocated that the most horrible punishment should be applied to those who indulge in it.

Paradise is the time of suspended pleasure. It is also the place of perpetual erection and orgasm that lasts for twenty-four years. If earthly orgasm gives some foretaste of paradise, one must admit that life in paradise is an infinite, eternal orgasm.

A new danger lies in wait for the Arabo-Muslim societies: the ethical void, cretinization through sex, systematic infantilization. The negation of traditional references is certainly a necessary stage in our history, but the negation of those references is still a reference. The great risk is precisely non-reference. The easy models of sexual behaviour, imported from North America or Europe, relentlessly diffused through all the mass media, do not help us to find much meaning in sexuality.

When impure, man is moving dangerously towards evil. The protecting angels desert him. He is no longer permitted to pray, to recite the Quran, to touch the sacred Book, even to enter a mosque. He is no longer safe. Purification is a security technique. One should resort to it as soon as possible in order to reestablish the disturbed order and to chase away the shaytans (devils), which, as we have seen, lie in wait for the slightest show of weakness.

The beard is a male prerogative. It must be the object of scrupu­lous and continuous attention. Indeed five things are defined as 'natural' (mianl fi?ra): circumcision, mourning, shaving of the armpits, cutting of the fingernails and wearing a beard. Another hadith adds shaving of the pubic hair and the trimming of the moustache. On the other hand, men must not have tattoos.

In this set of prescriptions, the beard enjoys a privileged position. It is indeed the symbol of virility, just as the veil is the symbol of feminity. But whereas the veil, as is normal, must conceal femi­ninity, the beard is intended on the contrary to draw attention to itself and in some sense exhibit virility. The beard is a form of masculinity. There is therefore a canonical duty to wear a beard.

Total nudity is very strongly advised against, even when one is 'alone'. This is because absolute solitude does not exist in a world in which we share existence with the djinns and angels.

The voice of a Muslim woman is also 'aura. Not only because the sweet words coming from her mouth must be heard only by her husband and master, but because the voice may create a disturbance and set in train the cycle of zin?.

Islamic civilization is essentially feminist. One ought to be able to deduce from this that a Muslim cannot be a misogynist. Islam and 'hatred' of women appear to be incompatible de jure.

Islamic theology distinguishes between four sorts of creatures: the mal?-ika (angels), the ins (men), the j?nn (djinns) and the shai??n (devils). All are animated, responsible (mukallafa) and, with the exception of angels, sexual beings.

This is another aspect of nik??, the obligation to satisfy one's spouse. Nik?? and unconsummated marriage are mutually exclusive. Abstinence of a hundred and twenty days is a maximum not to be exceeded in any circumstances.

Male supremacy is fundamental in Islam. Nevertheless the Quran does not ignore the eternal feminine.

Circumcision is a great deal more than a matter of hygiene, or of mere custom. It is deeply rooted in Islamic mores and certainly corresponds to something fundamental.