Scientific Wisdom Behind Prohibitions: Extramarital Relations

“وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا الزِّنَا ۖ إِنَّهُ كَانَ فَاحِشَةً وَسَاءَ سَبِيلًا” (الإسراء:32).

“Nor come near to adultery, for it is a shameful deed and an evil way” (Qur’an, 17:32).

Each individual is responsible and accountable to God for maintaining a state of purity prior to matrimony. The virginity of male and female Muslims is emphasized and any pre- and extra-marital relations are prohibited in Islam (Qur’an, 17: 32, 24: 26, 25: 68). Extramarital relations are also prohibited in both Christianity and Judaism (see, for example, Exodus 20:14; Lev. 20: 10; 20: 10).

So what is the Divine wisdom behind forbidding adultery and fornication?

 Negative social and psychological effects

Adultery or fornication has multiple negative social, psychological and physical consequences.

• A person after adultery would suffer from a feeling of guilt and shame and he would need to seek God’s forgiveness.
• The relationship between partners after infidelity would suffer from a deep scar of a break in trust, and lack of intimacy, both of which need a long and painful recovery and the marriage may end up in divorce.
• If pregnancy happens, the unwanted child might be aborted.
• Children suffer from a deep disappointment and bewildering.
• Recent studies suggest that premarital cohabitation has consistently been found to be associated with increased risk for divorce and marital distress in the United States.

Women who have had more non-marital sexual partners are less likely to be in a stable marriage.

The risk of acquiring infections

• There is a risk of acquiring one of more than 30 different bacterial, viral, and parasitic sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
• Most STDs are initially asymptomatic, which further increases the risk of their transmission.
• STDs are caused by different types of microbes and parasites.
• Bacterial infections like chlamydia, gonorrhoea, and syphilis.
• Viral infections like HIV (AIDS), genital HSV1 (genital herpes), HBV (hepatitis B) and HPV (human papillomavirus).
• Fungal infections like candidiasis (a yeast infection).
• Parasitic infections like crab louse, scabies, and trichomonas.
• Some infections can be spread by non-sexual contact with contaminated blood and tissues, breastfeeding, or during childbirth.
• Some viral infections, like HSV, HBV, HIV, and HPV are difficult to cure ad could be fatal.

From the left; pubic lice, trichomonas protozoa, and papillomavirus.

Babies may acquire certain sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhoea (left) and herpes (right) during delivery.Bacterial infections are becoming more resistant to antibiotic treatment.

• Some infections may cause infertility as in the case of chlamydial infections.
• Some infections may cause cervical cancer in women like infection with Herpes simplex virus-2 and human papilloma virus.

STDs are causing a global problem

According to the World Health Organization :

• More than 1 million sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are acquired every day worldwide.
• Each year, there are an estimated 357 million new infections with 1 of 4 STIs: chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and trichomoniasis.
• More than 500 million people are estimated to have genital infection with herpes simplex virus (HSV).

Chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted disease. It is estimated that between 4 and 8 million people are infected in the United States by chlamydia every year.

Healthy reproductive system (left) and a reproductive system with pus and abscess due to chlamydia infection (right).

• More than 290 million women have a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection.
• Chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the world. WHO’s estimates in 2012, suggested that among women aged 15–49 years, the global prevalence was 4.2%. However, though, chlamydia infections may cause women infertility, it is often symptomless and goes untreated.