❖ Source:
This fatwa is extracted from the book “500 Questions & Answers for Women”, a compilation of the verdicts by the Scholars of the Ḥaramayn, translated by Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbdullāh Salīm.✿ Question:
What are the prescribed boundaries for a husband to physically enjoy his wife's body?
✿ Answer:
The guideline for physical enjoyment with one's wife is as follows:
❖ A husband must refrain from:
① Engaging in anal intercourse (intercourse through the rear/private backside).
② Engaging in intercourse through the front private part (qubul) during:
— Menstruation (ḥayḍ)
— Postnatal bleeding (nifās)
— Any condition where such intimacy causes physical harm or pain to the wife.
These limitations are based on the following divine injunction:
﴿وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ حَافِظُونَ ﴿٥﴾ إِلَّا عَلَىٰ أَزْوَاجِهِمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ غَيْرُ مَلُومِينَ ﴿٦﴾ فَمَنِ ابْتَغَىٰ وَرَاءَ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْعَادُونَ﴾
"And they who guard their private parts, except with their wives or those their right hands possess, for indeed, they will not be blamed — but whoever seeks beyond that, then those are the transgressors."
[Sūrat al-Mu’minūn: 5–7]
Hence, everything apart from these prohibited situations is permissible for a husband to enjoy with his wife. There is wide scope and allowance in the Shariah for lawful pleasure between spouses, as long as it remains within these defined boundaries.
[Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn رحمه الله]