Sexuality in Islam

(Paperback)

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In this classic work, Abdelwahab Bouhdiba asserts that Islam is a lyrical view of life in which sexuality enjoys a privileged status. Drawing on both Arabic and Western sources and seeking to integrate the religious and the sexual, Bouhdiba describes the place of sexuality in the traditional Islamic view of the world and examines whether a harmony of sexuality and religious faith is achieved in practice. Beginning with the Quran, Bouhdiba confronts the question of male supremacy in Islam and the strict separation of the masculine and the feminine. He considers purification practices; Islamic attitudes towards homosexuality, concubinage and legal marriage; and sexual taboos laid down by the Quran. Bouhdiba assesses contemporary sexual practice, including eroticism, misogyny and mysticism, and concludes that the ideal Islamic model of sexuality has been debased.

Reviews

'Readable and informative ... an imaginative and off-beat sourcebook' Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

Author Bio

Born in 1932 in Kairouan, Tunisia, Abdelwahab Bouhdiba is Professor of Islamic Sociology at the University of Tunis, where he is also Director of the Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Economiques et Sociales. He has served as an adviser for international organisations such as the UNESCO and the UN, and for the Tunisian government, on issues dealing with development and human rights. He was awarded the Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture in 2004. Author location: Tunisia