My first post over at NewsWeek/The Washington Post, God Made Me Do It..., is up. (http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/pamela_k_taylor/ for those who haven't seen it yet.)

I'm posting here some references for the hadith and Qur'anic passages cited in the entry there.


On sex as an act of worship:

Muslim Book 005, Number 2198:

Abu Dharr reported: (...) The Prophet said: Enjoining good is a charity, forbidding evil is a charity, and in sexual intercourse there is charity.” The companions, surprised, asked: “O Messenger of God! When one of us satisfies his desire, does he also get a reward?” Muhammad replied: “Do you not see that if he were to do it in a unlawful manner, he would be punished for that? So if he does it in a lawful manner, he will be rewarded.”


On the desirability of foreplay:

Aisha reports that the Prophet used to indulge in French kissing...A'isha narrates that the Messenger of Allah would kiss her while he was fasting and he would suck her tongue." (Sunan Abu Dawud, no. 2378)

Anas ibn Malik reported that the Messenger of Allah said: "None of you should fall upon his wife like an animal; but let there first be a messenger between you." "And what is that messenger?" His companions asked, and he replied: "Kisses and words." (Musnad al-Firdaws Of al-Daylami, 2/55)

Imam Ibn al-Qayyim reports in the "Tibb al-Nabawi" that the Messenger
of Allah forbade engaging in sexual intercourse before foreplay. (See: al-Tibb al-Nabawi, 183, related by Jabir ibn Abd Allah)


On Creation in Pairs/Mates (Zauj)

Qur'an, 78:8: And We have created you in pairs

Qur'an 36:36: Glory be to God who created in pairs everything from that which the earth produces, and from yourselves, and from that which you know not.

Qur'an 51:49: And all things We have created by pairs, that haply you may reflect.

Qur'an 26:7 Do they not look at the earth and how We have produced therein everything in noble pairs?

Qur'an 4:1 O mankind! reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single soul, created, of like nature, its pair/mate, and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women;- reverence Allah, through whom you demand your mutual (rights), and (reverence) the wombs (That bore you): for Allah ever watches over you.


On Humanity's Inborn Nature (The Fitrah)

30:30 So set thou thy face steadily and truly to the Faith: (establish) Allah's handiwork according to the pattern on which He has made mankind: no change (let there be) in the work (wrought) by Allah; that is the standard Religion, but most among mankind understand not.

This pattern, or inborn nature, can be gleaned from the pages of the Qur'an and hadith.
Among its characteristics are:

• An inherent knowledge and yearning for the divine. (13:28 "It is only with the remembrance of Allah that the hearts find rest." Also 7:172 which talk about the Children of Adam all acknowledging before their birth that God is their sustainer.)
• The ability to tell right from wrong. (2:256 Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error. Also, The Prophet on various occasions (such as in his Farewell Sermon) spoke of the heart knowing right and wrong.)
• The inclination to do right. (There is a hadith in which the Prophet says people can tell right from wrong because their hearts feel glad at the good deed, and they feel uneasy at the bad one.)
  
  
  God as Loving Merciful
  
  The phrase "In the Name of God, The Merciful, the Compassionate" is repeated 114 times in the Qur'an. The name ar-Rahman (Most Merciful) appears an additional 56 times. ar-Raheem (The Compasionate) is used another 121 times. Among the names for God mentioned in the Qur'an are: al-Wadud (The Loving), al-Ghaffur (The Forgiving), Al-Muhaymin (The Protector), Ar-Razzaq (The Giving/The Provider), Al-Wahhab (The Caring), Al-Karim (The Generous), Al-Mujib (The Responsive), Al-Wali (The Protecting Friend), etc.

¶ 12:32 AM