Wife Beating in Islam - The Rules.

 

Originally posted by Hellios In Islam, is a spouse allowed to say "no" to having sex?  In my country, a spouse can refuse any time.  If the other doesn't like it, he or she can leave.

excellent question which I'm not 100% sure about its answer. I can say for now (will search more) that the general rule, you cannot physically force your wife to have sex, to convert....etc. However, that does not mean necessary that there is no punishment for it in hearafter. To give you an example, say a wife was mad on her husband and she obstained from having sex with him for a while to punish him. Though he cannot force her into bed physically, I believe some interpretations state that her conduct is a sin where she is forcing her husband to not release his sexual energy, hence, forcing him after a while to seek other alternatives out of the marriage circle, which means furnication which defeats the whole purpose of marriage. So State law giver her that right, but in a religious standard, she has committed a sin unless there is a justified reason for her action. That also applies to a husband who obstains his wife from sex, travels for long periods disregarding her personal needs.

Of course this is not a rigid rule. It is subject to case by case review. For instance, I was told of a case in which a wife was not only granted the right to obstain from co-habitating her husband, but also later a divorce action against her husband. Simply because he changed to be smelly and dirty , thus, sexually not applealing to her and unsuitable to co-habit.