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Married persons reading erotic material to enhance sexual desire

Question

Is it wrong for husband and wife to read any erotic writings (without pictures) to increase the desire to make love?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

It is not permissible to read any books about erotic stories in order to arouse one's desires even if these books do not contain pictures. Such books generally contain obscene and vulgar words and other prohibited things in Islamic legislation and literature. A person does not need such things to arouse desires. Allaah has put in our natural predisposition the tendency to lean towards the other sex without the need for reading such books. However, if a husband is sexually impotent or suffers from any abnormality that prevents him from enjoying his wife in a normal way, then he can solve this within permissible means by consulting trustworthy doctors and specialists in the field, and vice versa for the wife.

Allaah knows best.

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