Allaah says in the Quran:
"And come not near unlawful sex. Verily, it is a fahishah (i.e. a great sin) and an evil way."(Q 17: 32)
This verse is one of the very many verses where Allaah has warned us Muslims about Zina (illegal sexual intercourse). The world will be a better place if many of us would heed this warning of Allaah. However, it has in fact become abnormal for a teenager not to have a girlfriend or boyfriend with whom he or she commits this evil. One of the things that Allaah has naturally put in everybody is the instinct of being attracted to the opposite sex. This is especially the case when we get past the age of puberty.
This stage is a critical one that we must be very careful about. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in one of his most important advice to the youth as narrated by Abdullah bn Umar who said "We were with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while we were young and had no wealth whatsoever. So Allaahs Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"O young people! Whoever among you can marry, should marry, because it helps him lower his gaze and guard his modesty (i.e. his private parts from committing illegal sexual intercourse etc.), and whoever is not able to marry, should fast, as fasting diminishes his sexual power." (Bukhari).
From this hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has given us two things that we can do in order to check this sexual instinct in us.
Either we go and get married if we can afford it, or we take to fasting. Another thing that leads to this evil is peer pressure. The kind of company that we keep influence the way we look at a lot of things and the issue of premarital sex is not an exception. A teenager will easily succumb to the things (good or evil) that are seen as correct or fashionable by his group. That is why the issue of company can not be looked at as something trivial. Therefore, we must ensure that our company are the people who are committed to the religion and have good morals and not corrupt people. The third thing that contributes to this evil is the Mass Media (i.e. the television, radio, internet, newspaper e.t.c). Some of the things that are shown to us on T.V or that we see on the internet promote immorality; yet its promotion leads to teenagers (and others) to want to practice what they see. The antidote is that, we should stay away from watching programmes like that. Rather, we should spend our time doing things that are more beneficial to us e.g. reciting the Quran and attending gatherings where we can learn about the religion. Also, we should avoid being in seclusion with people of the opposite sex as this may lead to temptation. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"Whenever a man is alone with a woman the Devil makes a third. "(Tirmidhi)
The Evils In It
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever can guarantee (the chastity) of what is between his jaw-bones and what is between his two legs [(i.e. his mouth, tongue and private parts (from illegal sexual intercourse)], I guarantee Paradise for him. (Bukhari)
What this means is that if a person does not guard his private part, then he is not assured of Paradise according to the hadith. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
When an adulterer commits illegal sexual intercourse, then he is not a believer at the time he is doing it.:" (Bukhari)
We can see from the above statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that if a person dies in the process of committing this sin, he is has died committing minor Kuit (minor disbelief). (may Allaah protect us from that) Staying away from zina is one the things Allaah used in describing the true believers. Allaah says:
"...nor do they commit illegal sexual intercourse- and whosoever does this shall receive the punishment."(Q2S:68)
May Allaah count us among those who will be able to protect their private part from illegal intercourse.(Aameen)
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited