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Preliminaries to intercourse (muqaddimat al-jima')

مُقَدِّمات الجِمَاع

Preliminaries to intercourse are the kissing, touching and close contact that come before it. The jurists rule on them where they bear consequences: in the pilgrimage, in fasting, in revocable divorce, in zihar and in affinity. A husband is recommended to caress his wife before intercourse so that her desire rises with his. In usul the word muqaddima also means the precondition of an obligation, on which the usul appendix has the detail. 1 2 3

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Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
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Family, marriage and kinshipWorship and the pillars

Summary

Preliminaries to intercourse are kissing, touching and close contact before it. The jurists rule on their consequences. 1

Pilgrimage and fasting

The Hanafis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold that whoever does a preliminary of intercourse in ihram owes a sacrifice, and his pilgrimage is not void. For the Malikis, if he ejaculates the rule is that of intercourse. In fasting, kissing and touching do not break the fast unless they cause ejaculation, which breaks it by agreement. 2

Revocation, zihar and affinity

Touching or kissing without desire is not a revocation of divorce. The Hanafis and Malikis hold that revocation may be made by intercourse or its preliminaries with desire, the Shafi'is deny it altogether, and the Hanbalis allow it only by intercourse. In zihar the Hanafis, most Malikis and one report of Ahmad forbid the preliminaries before expiation, while the Shafi'is in the sounder view allow them. In affinity only the Hanafis hold that kissing and touching with desire create it. 2 3

Recommendation to the husband

A husband who wishes to have intercourse with his wife is recommended to caress her first, so that her desire rises and she gains as much pleasure as he does. 3

People and things also explored

The sacrifice for a newborn (aqiqa): its ruling, age, animals and manner· Childhood (sighar: its stages, the rights and duties of the minor, guardianship, the minor in worship and contracts, marriage, testimony and penalties)· Shahwa (desire: its effect on touch and ablution, on fasting and pilgrimage, on looking, on marriage by touch and on the breaking of the marriage bond)· The male organ (dhakar) in the rulings· Shakk (doubt in law: its kinds, the rule that certainty is not removed by doubt, and its effect on worship, contracts, penalties and evidence)· Expiation (kaffara)· Para Pencari Tuhan· Taj Mahal

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.14917
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.14918
  3. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.14919
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Preliminaries to intercourse (muqaddimat al-jima')”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/muqaddimat-al-jima/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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The sacrifice for a newborn (aqiqa): its ruling, age, animals and manner

In the lexicon, aqiqa is the hair a child is born with, and it names the animal sacrificed for a newborn; as a term it is what is slaughtered for a newborn in thanks to God. It differs from the festival sacrifice in its time and place: it is slaughtered when the child is born, at any time of the year, whereas the sacrifice is made on the days of sacrifice. The Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold it a confirmed sunna and the Malikis recommended; the Hanafis allow it as a voluntary act in thanks. The Shafi'is ask it from a father who can afford it, and the majority hold it for a girl as well as a boy. The Hanafis and Malikis fix the time at the seventh day, while the Shafi'is and Hanbalis count from the child's complete birth; the Shafi'is and Hanbalis require livestock, two sheep for a boy and one for a girl, while the Hanafis and Malikis give one for each. It is recommended to cook it without breaking its bones, eat from it, give it as gifts and charity, and to pronounce the reported formula at slaughter.