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RIGHTS TO SEXUAL HEALTH AND SEX EDUCATION
This following section argues that Islam provides both women and men the right to proper sex education, good sexual health, and sexual enjoyment.

Reproductive Health and Sex Education in Islam
At the time of the Prophet, sex education was given side by side with other teachings of Islam. The followers (men and women) used to ask about their sexual problems, and the Prophet used to clarify what was obscure. In addition, women used to ask 'Aisha', the Prophet's wife, about some aspects of reproductive health. Sex education is mentioned in the Quran and the Hadith as follows:

• Sexual Positions. Any position in sexual intercourse may be taken namely, sitting, standing, and leaning on one side:
  According to the Quran: “Your wives are as a tilth* unto you so approach your tilth when or how ye will." (Sura 2:223).
  (* Tilth literally means a farm).
• Family Planning. Abu Sa'd Al-Khudrei says:
  We got female captives in the war booty and we used to do coitus interruptus with them. So we asked Allah's Apostle about it and he said, "Do you really do that?" repeating the question thrice, "There is no soul that is destined to exist but will come into existence, till the day of Resurrection." Al Boukhari.
• Extreme forms of Sexual Behaviour. Ibn Abbas narrates:
  A man came to the Prophet and said: Verily I have got a wife who does not retract the hand of a toucher [nymphomania?]. The Prophet said: "Divorce her". He said : "I love her". The Prophet said: "Keep her in that case." (Al Boukhari).
  It is worth to noticing that the Prophet did not punish the woman.
• The Importance of Foreplay. Jabir bin Abdullah narrates:
  When I got married, Allah's Apostle said to me, "What type of lady have you married?" I replied, "I have married a matron." He said, "Why, don't you have a liking for the virgins and for fondling them? Jabir also said: Allah's Apostle said, "Why didn't you marry a young girl so that you might play with her and she plays with you?" (Al-Boukhari)

Rights and Duties in Sexual Relations
All scholars indicate that the right to sexual enjoyment is one of the rights of a wife (Omran, 1992). They do not deny her right to sexual fulfilment. Sexual fulfilment for women was understood to depend on the completed act of intercourse, something which withdrawal was not (Mussallam, 1978).

Accordingly, some scholars disallow withdrawal without the consent of the wife as they believe that it would interfere with her enjoyment of the act.

However, these rights are balanced by women's duties. Many Hadiths state that a woman should not refuse her husband. The Prophet said: "If a man invites his wife to sleep with him and she refuses to come to him, then angels send their curses on her till morning." Al Boukhari. Also, he said: "If a woman spends the night deserting her husband's bed [does not sleep with him], then the angels send their curses on her till she comes back [to her husband]." Al Boukhari.

Islam and Sexual Health
Islam forbids all acts which are believed to be harmful to sexual health, such as castration, sex during menstruation, and anal intercourse. It is believed that applying these teachings will help in maintaining sexual health and prevent sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS.

Sex Outside Marriage: Islam forbids all types of sexual relations outside marriage, whether premarital or extramarital. Islam advocates a number of specific measures to reduce the temptations that may lure one into such relationships.

1. The Prophet encourages all followers (especially the youth) to get married if they can, so that their natural desires are legitimately fulfilled:
   "Whoever is able to marry, for that will help him lower his gaze and guard his modesty (i.e. his private parts from committing illegal sexual intercourse)." Al Boukhari.
2. Polygamy is allowed by Islam in a bid to reduce the number of unmarried women in a society.
3. There are clear instructions to women to cover themselves and to appear in a modest way so as not to attract men.
4. Boys are not allowed to associate with girls after puberty. This tends to limit the boy/girl friend (dating) practice.
5. Alcohol consumption, parties, dancing involving both sexes – practices and settings which can lead to sexual relations outside marriage - are forbidden.
6. Meetings between a man and a woman where they are without other company is forbidden.
7. Islam restrains women from the kind of speech which may stimulate sensual passion - "If ye fear God, be not too complaisant of speech, lest the man of unhealthy heart should not lust after you." (Quran Sura 33:32). The restraint also extends to posturing and the manner of walking - "And let them not strike their feet together, so as to discover their hidden ornaments" (Quran Sura 24:31). Indecent exhibition is also prohibited : "And that they display not their ornaments except those which are external" (Quran Sura 24:31).

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