Sexual Regulation In Islam

Throughout the Islamic empire there were many forms of regulation used to keep society civilized and organized in a manner that benefited those in power--whether they be Christian or Muslim. The more obvious forms of regulation include political, social and religious, all of which are easily identified in the sources studied this semester. One of the more uncommon forms of regulation that was not touched upon is sexuality; examples of sexual regulation can also be found in the poems and documents in all of the sources analyzed throughout this course. Sexual regulation is when those in power use specific laws to reinforce certain societal norms regarding sexuality, and in many cases the patriarchal dividend. Laws were created that specifically targeted and restricted the private lives of Jews, women, and children, and in turn benefited Muslim and Christian men alike. Similar to political, social and religious restrictions, sexual restrictions kept minorities in their place in the social hierarchy that Islam had cultivated across its empire. This essay will discuss the various regulations, their effects as well as the advantages they awarded Muslim and Christian men. …show more content…
The major impact that sexual regulation had on both Islamic and Christian empires was the furthering of religious inequality between Christians, Muslims, and Jews. In Chapter 66 of Olivia Constable’s, Medieval Iberia there is a source that recounts the legal status of Muslims and Jews in Castile, Spain. This source highlights the disparity of equality between Jews and Muslims at least under Christian rule. The source states that when a Moor has sexual intercourse with a Christian women he should be stoned, but is only stoned to death if he has sex with a married Christian woman or has had sex with a common unmarried woman more than