Al-Baqarah 2:223

The issue

This verse views women as farms (or tilth, meaning “tilled earth or soil”) that men plow. In the commentary by al-Tabarī, al-Suddiy describes a woman as “a farm that can be plowed” by a man. It also allows Muslim men to have sexual relations with no limits (annā shi’tum), which can be interpreted to mean when, where, or however he desires. The verse also gives the Muslim man the right to do whatever he pleases with the body of a woman.

But the question regarding this verse is not concerned with whether the Qur’ān gives men the right to treat a woman’s body as they please, because this issue is not disputed among Muslim scholars. Rather, the question is, what does the expression, “so come into your tillage how you choose,” mean?

To understand this expression, we have to determine what is meant by annā shi’tum, translated in the English above as “how.” Does annā shi’tum mean “however, whenever, or wherever?” The scholars offered divergent views:

A. Some scholars believed this expression means a Muslim man may have intercourse in any position he prefers. Some Jews criticized the Muslims for having different sexual positions during intercourse. A Jew also said, “You are like the animals, for we only approach her in one position,” so this verse came in response to him.

B. A Muslim man may have intercourse whenever he desires, except during her menstrual period.

C. A Muslim man may have intercourse whenever and wherever he desires. And some believe that the verse permits anal intercourse. Ibn ‘Umar commented on this verse: “[I]t came down regarding approaching women in their anuses.”

Concerning the above viewpoint, several stories are told about why this verse was handed down (revealed). One story relates “that a man approached a woman in her anus and was not settled in his soul about it.” Therefore, this verse was revealed.

Another story tells of “a man who had anal intercourse with his wife…but the people considered it munkar (meaning “abhorable, abominable”)…so Allah sent down” this verse.

The legal scholars of Medina felt that anal intercourse should be allowed. Purportedly, in one of Mālik’s books, Kitāb al-Sirr [The Book of the Secret], he is said to have agreed as well. There are other reports that indicate several of Muhammad’s Companions also supported this view. In addition, Ibn al-‘Arabī, in his book Ahkām al-Qur’ān [The Rulings of the Qur’ān], states that a group of scholars supported anal intercourse. He adds that a scholar named Ibn Sha‘ban collected opinions supporting this viewpoint in a book titled Jimā‘ al-Niswān wa Ahkām al-Qur’ān [Intercourse with Women and the Rulings of the

Qur’ān]. Ibn al-‘Arabī “found support to its permissibility among a noble group of the Companions and the followers of Mālik in several stories.”

Regardless of the sources that gave credence to the various viewpoints, it is undeniable that an argument emerged among the followers of each opinion. It is said that Ibn al-Jawzī authored a book titled, Tahrim al-Mahal al-Makrūh [Forbidding the Detestable Spot], in which he objects to the opinion allowing anal intercourse. Despite all these scholarly arguments, this verse gives the man the right to take any sexual position he desires and allows him to satisfy his sexual yearning at any time, regardless of the woman’s physical and psychological state. The reality remains that, even with a more moderate interpretation, this verse does away with the personhood of a woman.

Question: If the “divine” permission in the verse means “allowing a variety of sexual positions but not anal intercourse,” why does the Qur’ānic revelation come in such an ambiguous way that it would allow those leaning towards deviant sexual practices to fulfill their desires?