Re: Chasity for men and women

This is an excerpt from my posting on the Islamic site. It is very hard core and not for the weak minded but I am in hopes that you will see that Islam dictates that both men and women should be chaste.

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Nasir Malik
First let me clarify a couple of myths. It is a myth that chastity applies to only
unmarried women. Chastity is a virtue that is as essential for the married as it is
for the unmarried, both men and women. It is also a myth that chastity is a
personal and physical choice. Chastity is a necessity for the physical, emotional,
moral and spiritual well being of not only the individual but his or her family and
ultimately the society at large.
Now, what is chastity? The root word for chastity in Arabic is iffa which means
purity, modesty, decency, virtue, abstinence, and continence (that is self-restraint,
especially from sexual intercourse).
CHASTE primarily implies a refraining from acts or even thoughts or desires that
are not virginal or not sanctioned by the marriage vows.
PURE differs from CHASTE in implying innocence and absence of temptations
rather than control of one’s impulses and actions.
MODEST and DECENT apply especially to deportment and dress as outward
signs of inward chastity and purity.
The Promised Messiah
as
explains chastity as ihsuan (with a suad). He writes:
This expression connotes the virtue that is related to the faculty of
procreation of men and women. Those men and women would be called
chaste who refrain altogether from illicit sex and all approaches to it, the
consequence of which is disgrace and humiliation for both parties in this
world and chastisement in the hereafter, and dishonor and grave harm for
those related to them.
ii
Explaining the significance and criticality of chastity in his Commentary on Surah
Al-Noor, Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih II
ra
writes:
Chastity as a moral virtue holds a very high place in the code of Islamic
laws that govern relation between sexes. This Surah has laid down
comprehensive commandments to safeguard and protect it. Islam views
even the slightest breach of these laws with extreme disapprobation.
iii
Sexual urges are natural just like any other human urge, and no urge is inherently
good or bad; it is how we react to it that determines our goodness. And, the criteria
for goodness and the proper response to all natural urges are determined by our
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