The phrase “an act” is much too limiting and potentially degrading an
imputation, because the act of conjugal union is merely what signifies the
metaphysical communion intended to transcend mundane carnality and lead
us by its gestalt deen to everlasting bliss in the Hereafter. Remove the moon
or shield the earth from her influence and so also stops the swell and ebb of
our seas as well as the unseen forces that call animals to breed and plants to
sprout forth in season – affecting even the menstrual cycles of women.
Remove the light of the sun and the moon has little reason to exist. Yet in the
perfect cosmic balance in which they are placed, the earth thrives and cycles
of regeneration with sexual coupling and embryogenesis are regulated. For
this analogous reason, every major Prophet of durable influence was married
and most polygamously so.
“Marriage is my tradition; Then whoever does not favor my tradition
is not with me.”^44Mating in the animal kingdom is a straightforward affair. Roles are well
defined and though there appears to be a kind of ritual courtship whereby
males display their wares, it is little more than the divinely imprinted instinct
that assures survival of the fittest. Monogamous paring is reserved for about
3% of the millions of species, while the rest go about independent
ruminations without a hint of emotional concern after the act that joins their
seed. Lions, with which both Prophets Iesa and Mohammad have been
compared in scripture,^45 are polygamous and remain aggressively faithful to
their Pride for life. Eagles and doves, on the other hand, are faithfully
monogamous. There is room for both types of joining within the range of
what is naturally normal in the realm of reproduction.
The roles of male and female in the animal worlds are, for the most part, well
defined. Tigers, for example, are solitary carnivores and after mating the male
leaves the tigress never to return, after which she protects, provides-for and
raises the cubs on her own. A Lion generally does not hunt but remains
faithfully diligent and aggressive towards intruders as his females catch their
prey and collectively rear the offspring. Quarrels between male and female
44
Bukhari, vol. 007, Book 62, #001
(^45) Isaiah 21:5