Ahmad ibn Abd Allah al-Salihi informed us; Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Hayri informed us; Hajib ibn Ahmad al-Tusi informed us; Abd al-Rahim ibn Munib informed us; Ibn Uyaynah informed us, from Ibn al-Munkadir, that he heard Jabir ibn Abd Allah say: “The Jews used to say of a man who approached his wife from behind, into her vagina, that the child would be cross-eyed.” Then this was revealed: “Your wives are a tilth for you; so approach your tilth as you wish.” (1)
Mujahid narrated from Ibn Abbas, who said: It was the practice of the People of the Book to approach women only in one position, for that was the position in which a woman was most covered. This clan of the Ansar had adopted this from their practice. But this clan of Quraysh took pleasure with their women whether face-to-face, from behind, or while they lay on their backs. When the Emigrants came to Medina, one of them married a woman from the Ansar and sought to do this with her. She objected and said, “We used to be approached only in one position. If you wish, then do that; otherwise, leave me alone.” Their matter then became widely known, and it reached the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. So Allah, Most High, revealed: “Your wives are a tilth for you”—meaning, the place of the child—“so approach your tilth as you wish”: whether face-to-face, from behind, or while they lie on their backs.
Anna is an interrogative particle that may inquire about manner or place; its meaning is: however you wish and wherever you wish, provided it is in a single opening. Ikrimah said: “As you wish” refers only to the genital passage. The same was narrated from al-Hasan. It was also said that “a tilth for you” means a field and a place where children grow, like land that is cultivated. This is evidence that anal intercourse is forbidden, for the place of tillage and sowing is the genital passage, not the anus.
Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib said: This refers to withdrawal: if you wish, withdraw; and if you wish, do not withdraw. Ibn Abbas was asked about withdrawal and said: “It is your tilth: if you wish, let it go thirsty; and if you wish, water it.” It is also narrated from him that he said: “A free woman must be consulted regarding withdrawal, but a slave-girl need not be consulted.” Ahmad held this view. A group disliked withdrawal and said: “It is hidden infanticide.”
It is narrated from Malik, from Nafi, who said: I used to hold the copy of the Quran for Ibn Umar. He recited this verse, “Your wives are a tilth for you,” and said, “Do you know concerning what this verse was revealed?” I said, “No.” He said, “It was revealed concerning a man who approached his wife in her anus. This troubled him, and so this verse was revealed.” (2)
It is related from Malik that he permitted this, but his companions rejected that attribution. It is narrated from Abd Allah ibn al-Hasan that he met Salim ibn Abd Allah and said to him, “Abu Umar, what is this hadith that Nafi narrates from Abd Allah: that he saw no harm in approaching women in their anuses?” He replied, “That servant has lied and erred. Abd Allah only said: ‘Women may be approached in their private parts from behind.’”
The evidence for the prohibition of anal intercourse is what Abd al-Wahhab ibn Muhammad ibn al-Khatib informed us: Abd al-Aziz ibn Ahmad al-Khallal informed us; Abu al-Abbas al-Asamm informed us; al-Rabi informed us; al-Shafi'i informed us; his paternal uncle Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Shafi'i informed me; Abd Allah ibn Ali ibn al-Sa'ib informed me, from Amr ibn Uhayhah ibn al-Julah, from Khuzaymah ibn Thabit, that a man asked the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about having intercourse with women in—