Source: Fatāwā Amunpūrī by Shaykh Ghulām Muṣṭafā Ẓahīr Amunpūrī
What is the meaning of the verse:
"Your wives are a tilth for you, so come to your tilth as you wish"?
﴿نِسَاؤُكُمْ حَرْثٌ لَّكُمْ فَأْتُوا حَرْثَكُمْ أَنَّى شِئْتُمْ﴾
“Your wives are a tilth for you, so come to your tilth however you wish.”
(Sūrah al-Baqarah: 223)
Sayyidunā Jābir ibn ʿAbdillāh رضي الله عنه narrated:
The Jews believed that if a man had intercourse with his wife from behind (but in the front private part), the child would be cross-eyed.
In refutation of this false belief, Allah revealed the above verse.
He further clarified:
“One may approach his wife from the front or the back, but only in the vaginal canal (i.e., the birth passage).”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1435, Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān: 4197 – Authentic)
“This verse refers specifically to the vaginal canal (الفرج) only.”
(Sunan al-Dārimī: 1164 – Authentic)
“One may have intercourse with his wife while standing, sitting, or in any position — **as long as it is not in the back passage (anus).”
(Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah, 4/228 – Authentic)
The Jews used to mock Muslims, saying: ‘You’re only allowed one way to approach your wives.’
So Allah revealed this verse to remove that restriction and reject their superstition.
(Sunan al-Dārimī: 1165 – Authentic)
The verse refutes the Jewish claim about back-entry resulting in deformity.
The purpose is to confirm that any angle of approach is permitted, as long as intercourse is in the vagina.
(Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 4/230 – Authentic)
“A man may approach his wife from the front, back, lying down, standing, tilted, etc., as long as it is in the vaginal canal.”
(Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī: 3/747 – Sound Chain)
“You may approach your tilth however you wish, but in the vaginal canal only — never in the anus.”
(Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī: 3/747 – Sound Chain)
“Allah meant that your wives are the field for bearing your children, so come to them where the seed is sown (i.e., the vagina), however you wish.”
(Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī: 3/745 – Sound Chain)
﴿فَإِذَا تَطَهَّرْنَ فَأْتُوهُنَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَمَرَكُمُ اللَّهُ﴾
“Once they (women) have purified themselves, then go into them as Allah has commanded.”
(Sūrah al-Baqarah: 222)
In his masterwork Zād al-Maʿād, he extensively discusses this issue and enumerates around twenty harms and evils of engaging in anal intercourse, including:
① It violates Allah’s command to approach the wife only where childbirth occurs (the vagina).
② It resembles the act of Lūṭ’s people and leads to moral perversion.
③ It can lead to infertility, which goes against the goal of marriage.
④ It can become a gateway to homosexuality.
⑤ It does not fulfill the wife’s right to pleasure, causing emotional and physical harm.
⑥ It contradicts natural anatomy and divine wisdom.
⑦ It causes medical complications, including incomplete release, strain, and infections.
⑧ It leads to psychological and emotional alienation between spouses.
⑨ It results in darkness on the face, loss of spiritual light, and exposure to divine anger.
⑩ It destroys modesty (ḥayāʾ), which is the essence of faith and human dignity.
⑪ It flips human disposition upside down, leading to corrupted speech, behavior, and perception.
⑫ It brings shame, disgrace, and humiliation — spiritually and socially.
⑬ It brings about divine wrath, curse, and deprivation of Allah’s mercy.
⑭ A person who persists in it becomes deprived of goodness and plunged into evil.
(Zād al-Maʿād, Vol. 4, p. 257)
"تُؤْتَى مُقْبِلَةً وَمُدْبِرَةً فِي الفَرْجِ"
“One may approach his wife from the front or from behind — but only in the vagina.”
(Al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī: 7/197 – Authentic Chain)
✔ The verse does not allow anal intercourse (دُبُر).
✔ The phrase "however you wish" refers to various positions and angles — front, back, standing, lying down, etc. —
✦ But always in the front passage (vagina), not the back.
This is supported by:
☑ Qur’anic context
☑ Authentic Prophetic traditions
☑ Statements of Companions and Early Scholars
☑ Logical and moral wisdom
هَذَا مَا عِندِي وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ
This is what I hold to be correct, and Allah knows best.
❖ Question:
What is the meaning of the verse:
"Your wives are a tilth for you, so come to your tilth as you wish"?
❖ Answer:
◈ The verse in question is:
﴿نِسَاؤُكُمْ حَرْثٌ لَّكُمْ فَأْتُوا حَرْثَكُمْ أَنَّى شِئْتُمْ﴾
“Your wives are a tilth for you, so come to your tilth however you wish.”
(Sūrah al-Baqarah: 223)
❖ Background and Explanation from the Sunnah:
Sayyidunā Jābir ibn ʿAbdillāh رضي الله عنه narrated:
The Jews believed that if a man had intercourse with his wife from behind (but in the front private part), the child would be cross-eyed.
In refutation of this false belief, Allah revealed the above verse.
He further clarified:
“One may approach his wife from the front or the back, but only in the vaginal canal (i.e., the birth passage).”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1435, Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān: 4197 – Authentic)
❖ Interpretation by the Salaf (Pious Predecessors):
✔ ʿIkrimah رحمه الله:
“This verse refers specifically to the vaginal canal (الفرج) only.”
(Sunan al-Dārimī: 1164 – Authentic)
✔ Narration in
“One may have intercourse with his wife while standing, sitting, or in any position — **as long as it is not in the back passage (anus).”
(Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah, 4/228 – Authentic)
✔ Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī رحمه الله:
The Jews used to mock Muslims, saying: ‘You’re only allowed one way to approach your wives.’
So Allah revealed this verse to remove that restriction and reject their superstition.
(Sunan al-Dārimī: 1165 – Authentic)
✔ Murrah ibn Sharāḥīl al-Hamdānī رحمه الله:
The verse refutes the Jewish claim about back-entry resulting in deformity.
The purpose is to confirm that any angle of approach is permitted, as long as intercourse is in the vagina.
(Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 4/230 – Authentic)
✔ Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī رحمه الله:
“A man may approach his wife from the front, back, lying down, standing, tilted, etc., as long as it is in the vaginal canal.”
(Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī: 3/747 – Sound Chain)
✔ Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Suddī رحمه الله:
“You may approach your tilth however you wish, but in the vaginal canal only — never in the anus.”
(Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī: 3/747 – Sound Chain)
✔ Imām Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī رحمه الله:
“Allah meant that your wives are the field for bearing your children, so come to them where the seed is sown (i.e., the vagina), however you wish.”
(Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī: 3/745 – Sound Chain)
❖ Additional Supporting Verse:
﴿فَإِذَا تَطَهَّرْنَ فَأْتُوهُنَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَمَرَكُمُ اللَّهُ﴾
“Once they (women) have purified themselves, then go into them as Allah has commanded.”
(Sūrah al-Baqarah: 222)
❖ Commentary by Imām Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله (d. 751 AH):
In his masterwork Zād al-Maʿād, he extensively discusses this issue and enumerates around twenty harms and evils of engaging in anal intercourse, including:
① It violates Allah’s command to approach the wife only where childbirth occurs (the vagina).
② It resembles the act of Lūṭ’s people and leads to moral perversion.
③ It can lead to infertility, which goes against the goal of marriage.
④ It can become a gateway to homosexuality.
⑤ It does not fulfill the wife’s right to pleasure, causing emotional and physical harm.
⑥ It contradicts natural anatomy and divine wisdom.
⑦ It causes medical complications, including incomplete release, strain, and infections.
⑧ It leads to psychological and emotional alienation between spouses.
⑨ It results in darkness on the face, loss of spiritual light, and exposure to divine anger.
⑩ It destroys modesty (ḥayāʾ), which is the essence of faith and human dignity.
⑪ It flips human disposition upside down, leading to corrupted speech, behavior, and perception.
⑫ It brings shame, disgrace, and humiliation — spiritually and socially.
⑬ It brings about divine wrath, curse, and deprivation of Allah’s mercy.
⑭ A person who persists in it becomes deprived of goodness and plunged into evil.
(Zād al-Maʿād, Vol. 4, p. 257)
❖ Statement of ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنه:
"تُؤْتَى مُقْبِلَةً وَمُدْبِرَةً فِي الفَرْجِ"
“One may approach his wife from the front or from behind — but only in the vagina.”
(Al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī: 7/197 – Authentic Chain)
Summary of the Ruling:
✔ The verse does not allow anal intercourse (دُبُر).
✔ The phrase "however you wish" refers to various positions and angles — front, back, standing, lying down, etc. —
✦ But always in the front passage (vagina), not the back.
This is supported by:
☑ Qur’anic context
☑ Authentic Prophetic traditions
☑ Statements of Companions and Early Scholars
☑ Logical and moral wisdom
هَذَا مَا عِندِي وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ
This is what I hold to be correct, and Allah knows best.
