Mutane sukan yi wannan tambaya cikin wasa: me ya sa tuƙi yake buƙatar lasisi, amma mutum zai iya haihuwar yara ba tare da lasisi ko wani irin takardar shaida ba? Sau da yawa magana ce ta wasa, amma idan aka yi tunani sosai, tambaya ce mai ma'ana. Idan tuƙi ko koyarwa a makaranta, aikin likita ko lauya, har ma da aikin famfo, na buƙatar takardar shaida, to me ya sa ba za a yi haka ba ga abu mai muhimmanci da hankali kamar haihuwar yara da renon su? Bayan haka, yara su ne makomarmu, kuma yanayin al'ummarmu gaba ɗaya ya dogara ne da yadda ake renon yara: ɗabi'unsu, jin nauyin da ke kansu, halayensu, da sauransu. Ba asiri ba ne cewa yaran da suka girma ba tare da kulawar iyaye ta dace ba sun fi shiga harkar miyagun ƙwayoyi da laifuffuka, su fuskanci rashin aikin yi, kuma su kasa zama membobin al'umma masu amfani da mutane nagari. Wannan kuwa yana cutar da kowa, dukkan membobin al'umma.

People sometimes jokingly ask, why is it that driving requires a license, but you can have children without a license or any kind of certification? It’s often a lighthearted remark, but, when you think about it, it’s a legitimate question. If driving or teaching at a school, practicing medicine or law, or even being a plumber requires certification, then what about something that is far more sensitive, far more significant like having children and raising them? After all, children are our future and the state of our society as a whole depends on how children are brought up — their morals, their sense of responsibility, their character, and so on. It’s no secret that children who grow up without proper parental influence are far more likely to become involved in drugs and crime, to face unemployment, to fail to become productive members of society and upright human beings. This, then, has a toll on all of us, on all members of society.

Idan muka yi la'akari da wannan hatsarin, mutum zai yi mamaki yadda kowace al'umma mai wayewa za ta bar mutanenta su haifi 'ya'ya ba tare da wata doka da za ta tabbatar da cewa dukkan yara suna da iyaye masu iya renonsu ba. Ashe ba haƙƙin yaro ba ne ya sami gida mai zaman lafiya da iyaye masu iya tarbiyyar sa yadda ya kamata? Ashe ba haƙƙinmu ba ne a matsayinmu na membobin al'umma mu tabbatar da cewa mutane marasa iya aiki da marasa kula ba sa haifar 'ya'ya da za su yi watsi da su, 'ya'yan da suka fi iya zama nauyi ga al'umma?

Given these high stakes, one has to wonder how any civilized nation could allow its people to have children without having some kind of regulations to ensure that all children have competent parents. Isn’t it a child’s right to have a stable household and parents who are capable of properly raising him? Isn’t it our right as members of society to make sure incompetent, irresponsible people in our midst aren’t having children that they will neglect, children who will be more likely to become burdens on society?

Islama, hakika, yana buƙatar irin wannan izini — wato nikah. Idan an yi shi yadda ya kamata, bisa shiriyar Annabi ﷺ, nikah yana tabbatar da cewa ma'aurata suna cikin mafi kyawun yanayi na renon iyali, tare da cikakken goyon bayan dangi da al'umma baki ɗaya.

Islam, of course, does require just such a license — a nikah. Properly done, according to Prophetic guidance, a nikah ensures that a couple is in the best position to raise a family, with the full support of the extended family and the community at large.

Shekaru da dama, masu sukar akida da masu ra'ayin sassaucin zamani sun ci gaba da sukar tsarin ɗabi'ar jima'i ta Musulunci, suna cewa dokar Musulunci tana hana 'yancin jima'i da cin gashin kan mutane ta hanyar haramta zina kafin aure. Akasin haka, wannan haramcin yana kare 'yanci da cin gashin kan mutane, domin yana rage yawan yaran da ake haifa ga iyaye mata marasa aure da ma'auratan da ba su da halin kula da su yadda ya kamata. Wannan kuma yana amfanar muradun yara, don haka yana amfanar al'umma baki ɗaya. Saboda haka, ko da mutum ba addini yake yi ba kai tsaye, amfanin hankali na haramta zina kafin aure ya fi bayyana. Kuma duk shaidun ilimin zamantakewa suna goyon bayan hakan.

Yet, Islamic sexual ethics have been the target of unrelenting criticism from modernists and liberals for decades, who argue that Islamic law stifles the sexual freedom and autonomy of individuals by prohibiting premarital sex. To the contrary, this prohibition protects people’s freedom and autonomy because it effectively curbs the amount of children being born to single mothers and couples who are not in a position to take adequate care of them. This in turn benefits the interests of children and hence, the interests of society at large. So, even if one is not religious per se, the rational merits of prohibiting premarital sex are more than clear. And all the sociological evidence supports this.

Wata hanyar daban, zina kafin aure ba laifi ce marar cutar da kowa ba, kamar yadda wasu ke tunani.45 Laifi ne babba wanda yawancin ƙasashen zamani suka bari ya yi yawo ba tare da hani ba. Wannan kuma yana shafar yawan laifuffuka, yana shafar yawan al'ummar da ke buƙatar taimakon gwamnati ta hanyar walwala, alawus-alawus na rashin aikin yi, da sauransu. A takaice, yana sa mutane su dogara da gwamnati sosai, ta haka yana ƙara ikon jiha sosai. Ba abin mamaki ba ne cewa ƙasashen zamani ba su nuna sha'awar kiyaye ɗabi'un jima'i da al'ummomin ɗan adam na dukkan addinai suka dogara da su tsawon dubban shekaru ba.

Put differently, premarital sex is not a victim-less crime, as some believe.45 It is a major crime that most modern nations have allowed to run rampant. This in turn affects the crime rate, it affects the percentage of the population that requires government assistance through welfare, unemployment benefits, etc. — in effect, it makes people far more dependent on the state, thus increasing state power exponentially. It is no wonder that modern nation states have shown no interest in upholding the sexual ethics that human societies of all religions have depended on for thousands of years.

Gabaɗaya, za mu iya gabatar da hujja mara kakkautawa cewa ɗabi'un Musulunci game da jima'i sun fi na zamanin 'yanci na sakulariya bisa hankali da ɗabi'a. Saboda haka, idan hujjar addini game da abubuwa kamar soyayya ta ɗan lokaci (dating), saduwa ta ɗan lokaci (hooking up), da makamantansu ba ta gamsar ba, to hujjar hankali za ta wadatar wajen kafa hujjar ɗabi'a. Aƙalla, ko da mutum bai yarda da wannan dalili a ƙarshe ba, zai iya yarda cewa yana da ma'ana. Kuma hakan ya isa a siffanta ɗabi'un Musulunci game da zina a matsayin masu hankali, ba kawai "masu tsoro," "masu tunani kunkuntar," "koma baya," "zalunci," da sauran kalmomi marasa tushe da ake amfani da su wajen raina dokar Musulunci ba.

In sum, we can make an unimpeachable case for why Islamic sexual ethics are rationally and ethically superior to the secular liberal alternative. So, if a religious argument against things like dating, hooking up, etc., is not convincing, then the rationalistic argument should suffice to make the moral case. At the very least, even if someone does not ultimately agree with this reasoning, he can admit that it is reasonable. And that is enough to characterize Islam’s sexual ethics concerning zina as rational and not simply “prudish,” “close-minded,” “backwards,” “cruel,” and all the other cheap adjectives used to denigrate Islamic law.