بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Question: How do we reconcile the ruling on al-ʿādah al-shaytāniyyah al-sirriyyah [the secret satanic habit] with Imām Ahmad’s statement regarding it?
Answer: Al-ʿādah al-sirriyyah [the secret habit] is munkarah [Shaykh ul-Islām ibn Taymiyyah said: “al-munkar encompasses every repugnant act; and repugnant acts are evil deeds, which are the forbidden things.”].
Allah, The Majestic and Most-High, says:
وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ حَافِظُونَ, إِلَّا عَلَى أَزْوَاجِهِمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ غَيْرُ مَلُومِينَ, فَمَنِ ابْتَغَى وَرَاءَ ذَلِكَ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْعَادُونَ
“And those who guard their private parts. Except from their wives or what their right hands possess — for indeed, they are not blameworthy. But whoever seeks beyond that, those are the transgressors [al-ʿādūn]” [Al-Muʾminūn: 5–7].
Whoever seeks other than his wife or his concubine is a transgressor [ʿādī], a wrongdoer [dhālim]. And al-ʿādah al-sirriyyah falls outside of [what is permitted in] that — it is the emission of semen by the hand or similar means.
Q: And how should Imām Ahmad’s statement be interpreted?
A: I do not know. Is Ahmad a scholar or a prophet?!
Q: A scholar.
A: The scholar — some of what he says is taken and some is left; some of it accords with the truth and some of it contradicts the truth.
The questioner asks: What is the ruling on the practice of al-istmnāʾ [masturbation]… [known as] the secret habit?
The Shaykh: We have no doubt whatsoever regarding the prohibition of this practice of al-istimnāʾ [masturbation], which they have named “the secret habit” as a cover for its wretchedness and sinfulness. This is so for two reasons:
The first of them: the statement of Allah — The Most-High — in the explicit text of the Qurʾān, in His description of the believers:
قد أفلح المؤمنون الذي هم في صلاتهم خاشعون, والذين والذين والذين والذين, والذين هم لفروجهم حافظون إلا على أزواجهم أو ما ملكت أيمانهم فإنهم غير ملومين فمن ابتغى وراء ذلك فأولئك هم العادون
“Certainly the believers have succeeded — those who are humbly submissive in their prayers”— “and those who,” “and those who,” “and those who,” “and those who” —”and those who guard their private parts, except from their wives or what their right hands possess, for indeed they are not blameworthy; but whoever seeks beyond that, those are the transgressors.” [Al-Muʾminūn 1-7]
It is also — among the virtues of Imam al-Shāfiʿī, may Allah have mercy on him — that he drew attention likewise to using this verse as evidence for the prohibition of al-istimnāʾ, because Allah — The Blessed and The Most-High — described the true believers with characteristics, among them His saying:
والذين هم لفروجهم حافظون إلا على أزواجهم أو ما ملكت أيمانهم
“And those who guard their private parts, except from their wives or what their right hands possess.”
Thus He assigned to the true believers two paths for the fulfilment of their desire: either marriage to free women, or enjoyment of slave women and concubines — naturally, this was in former times when there was jihād in the way of Allāh, when there was a share [taken] from the disbelievers, and when there was an organised system for distributing these captives among those who had taken spoils. At that time, a man would also enjoy the slave woman assigned to him by the Commander of the Faithful [Amīr al-Muʾminīn] just as he enjoyed his free wife.
Then Allāh — The Most-High — said:
فمن ابتغى وراء ذلك فأولئك هم العادون
“But whoever seeks beyond that, those are the transgressors“
— meaning: the aggressors [al-bāghūn], the wrongdoers [al-dhālimūn]. Whoever seeks a means to satisfy his desire other than the path of marriage or concubinage — those are the aggressors, the wrongdoers. This is the first reason for the impermissibility of al-istimnāʾ.
The second reason: it has been established medically that the consequences for those who engage in this secret habit include very severe harm to their health — particularly those who become addicted to it morning and evening, repeating it to such an extent that the outcome for them is that instead of emitting white semen, they emit red blood. And the Prophet — (ﷺ) — said in the comprehensive and all-encompassing hadīth:
لا ضرر ولا ضرار
“There shall be no harm inflicted nor harm reciprocated“. [Ibn Mājah 2431 and others]
It is therefore not permissible for a Muslim to engage in anything that harms himself or harms others. This person who engages in this vile habit harms himself physically, and therefore it is not permissible for him to engage in this secret habit.
And there is a third matter that must [be mentioned]: those who engage in this bad habit, the statement of Allah — The Mighty and Majestic — applies to them:
أتستبدلون الذي هو أدنى بالذي هو خير
“Would you exchange that which is lower for that which is better?” [al-Baqarah: 61]
What is the better option for these young men? It has come from the Prophet — (ﷺ) — that he said:
ما تركت شيئًا يقرِّبكم إلى الله إلا وأمرتكم به ، وما تركت شيئًا يُبعِّدكم عن الله ويقرِّبكم إلى النار إلا ونهيتكم
“I have not left anything that draws you closer to Allāh except that I have commanded you with it, and I have not left anything that distances you from Allāh and draws you closer to the Fire except that I have prohibited you from it.” [al-Sahīhah 2866]
The Messenger of Allāh — (ﷺ) — provided the remedy in advance for young men such as these, because he knew — whether by his wisdom or by his revelation — that not all people can have marriage made easy for them in their youth, in the peak of their vigour and their desire. He therefore said — (ﷺ):
يا معشر الشباب ، من استطاع منكم الباءة فليتزوج ؛ فإنه أغض للبصر ، وأحصن للفرج ، ومن لم يستطع ؛ فعليه بالصوم ؛ فإنه له وجاء
“O assembly of young men, whoever among you is able to [fulfill] al-bā’ah [means of marriage such as ability, dowry, marriage expenses], let him marry — for it is more effective in lowering the gaze and more protective of the private parts; and whoever is unable, let him fast, for it is a shield for him.” [Agreed upon]
If these young men were to resort to this prophetic remedy that was prescribed for them — namely fasting — and the best of fasting, as you know, is the fast of Dāwūd — peace be upon him — who would fast one day and break his fast the next; they would find in this lawful means sufficiency [to keep them] from falling into that vile means that contradicts the Qurʾān and is harmful to health, as we have mentioned.”
(Shaykh Al-Albānī, https://www.al-albany.com/audios/content/4649/%D9%85%D8%A7-%D8%AD%D9%83%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9)
Fawāids |Qur'ān | Authentic Sunnah 
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