Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
Sexual intimacy in Muharram is not haram in Islam. The Qur’an and Sunnah place no restriction on marital relations during this sacred month, except during fasting hours, such as on the 9th and 10th of Muharram. Cultural practices that discourage sex or marriage in this month are not rooted in authentic Islamic teachings and should be critically reassessed.
In responding to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
Is Sex in Muharram Haram? The Islamic Ruling
There is nothing in the sources of Islam to forbid Muslims from engaging in sexual intercourse with their spouses during the month of Muharram.
However, no sexual intercourse is permissible while we are fasting, and it should be common knowledge that we should fast on the ninth as well as the tenth of Muharram.
In Islam, it is not allowable for anyone to declare things as haram (forbidden) based on pure whims and fancies without the sanction of revelation.
What About Marriage in Muharram?
There is nothing in the Quran to indicate that we should not get married or forge marital unions during the month of Muharram; nor there is anything in the Prophet’s traditions or in the traditions of pious forbears or in the teachings of the authentic schools of jurisprudence to that effect. If there had been such a thing, it would have been definitely transmitted to us in a clear way.
Cultural Misconceptions Around Muharram
Therefore, if anyone still persists in such beliefs or practices, they are doing so based solely on customs and conventions that have no basis in authentic religious knowledge. It is high time that we isolate such customs from the pristine religious beliefs and practices.
In conclusion, there is no ban on sexual intercourse during the month of Muharram except during the day time if and when we are fasting.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.