Fornication Totally Explained

Fornication, or simple fornication, is a term which refers to consensual sexual intercourse between two persons not married to each other. In contrast adultery is consensual sex where one or both of the partners are married to someone else. The origin of the word derives from Latin. The word fornix means "an archway" or "vault" (in Rome, prostitutes could be solicited there). More directly, fornicatio means "done in the archway"; thus an euphemism for prostitution.
Fornication is dealt with differently in various religions, societies and cultures.

Religions

For a broad overview, see Religion and sexuality.

Laws

The laws on fornication have historically been tied with religion and the legal and political traditions within the particular jurisdiction. In the common law countries (England, USA, Canada, Australia, etc.), the Courts were never interested in punishing subjects for purely private moral deviations - even incest - although sodomy was an exception. What laws did exist were purely statutory. In many other countries, however, there have been attempts to secularize constitutions, and laws differ greatly from country to country. Most Western countries and some secular Muslim countries like Turkey and Azerbaijan have no laws against fornication if both parties are above the age of consent.

Jurisdictions within the United States of America

At common law, fornication was viewed as a private moral deviation and, as such, was never a criminal offence. This legal position was inherited by the United States from England. Later, some jurisdictions, a total of 16 in the South and East and also Wisconsin, passed statutes criminalising fornication, generally defined as (vaginal) sexual intercourse between two unmarried persons of opposite sex. Most of these laws either were repealed, were not enforced, or were struck down by the courts as unconstitutional. See also State v. Saunders, 381 A.2d 333 (N.J. 1977), Martin v. Ziherl, 607 S.E.2d 367 (Va. 2005).
   With respect to fornication between same-sex persons, or sodomy, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas rendered the states' remaining laws unconstitutional.
   Some states though, continue to enforce laws on fornication and adultery. In Utah, fornication is a class B misdemeanor.
   In recent years the morality of premarital sex has become a politically divisive issue in the United States, and discouraging premarital sex is the basis for the types of "abstinence-only" sex education programs supported by President George W. Bush and many conservative members of the United States Congress. The policy is opposed by groups such as Planned Parenthood, most liberal members of Congress, and citizens who believe that sexual freedom is a right. The debate over abstinence-only education has brought the issue of premarital sex to the forefront of the Culture Wars.

Fornication in Islam

Islam teaches that the greatest thing that destroys the guard of chastity is fornication, so it's one of the biggest sins and greatest transgressions. Ibn Al-Qayyim said,
   "In His book, Allah specifically labelled the association of partners with Him, fornication and homosexuality with impurity and filth. No sin is worse for the heart and religion than those two great sins, fornication and homosexuality, and for them is a characteristic in distancing the heart from Allah. If the heart acknowledged them, it's distanced from Allah."
   Islam teaches that Allah has warned muslims against fornication and described its awful description and its result of utter destruction. There are many sayings from Allah about fornication, some of which are the following:
"And those who invoke not any other god along with Allah, nor kill such person as Allah has forbidden, except for just cause, nor commit illegal sexual intercourse and whoever does this shall receive the punishment. The torment will be doubled to him on the Day of Resurrection, and he'll abide there in disgrace. Except those who repent and believe (in Islamic Monotheism) and do righteous deeds." (Quran: Al-Furqan 25:68)
   "And come not near to the unlawful sexual intercourse. Verily, it's a transgression of Allah’s limits, and an evil way." (Quran: Al-Israa 17:32)
   "The adulterer marries not but an adulteress or a Mushrikah (polytheist woman) and the adulteress none marries her except an adulterer or a Mushrik (polytheist man). Such a thing is forbidden to the believers." (Quran: An-Noor 24:3)
   Prophet Muhammad has also given narrations about fornication. Some of the most well known ones are,
   "My nation will remain well as long as there isn't a prevalence of children born out of wedlock, and if there's such a prevalence that'll be on the point of receiving Allah’s punishment."
   "If there's a prevalence of fornication and usury in a nation, they've legitimised for themselves the punishment (of Allah)."
   Prophet Muhammad once talked about when he was taken by the Angel Jibrail to see the hellfire and its inhabitants. Prophet Muhammad narrated to his companions,
   "...and so we set out and came to something like a kiln narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, there came from it sounds and voices. He said, 'We looked inside, and there were naked men and women and there would rise up fire from beneath them and when it reached them, they screamed.' I said, 'Who are these people, O Jibrail?' He said, 'These are the fornicators."

Islamic Countries

Fornication is a crime in some Muslim countries, and is often harshly punished. However, there are some exceptions. In Pakistan, for example, occasionally a charge is filed in order to prevent the accused from leaving the jurisdiction (for instance it's often used against drug smugglers, against whom it may not be possible to show a prima facie case for trial, but a charge of fornication, which requires a lower threshold, can be filed in the interim as the investigation unfolds.) In certain countries where all Islamic laws are enforced, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, fornication of unmarried persons is punishable by lashings. This is in contrast to adultery, in which one (or both) of the parties is married, where the punishment would be death by stoning.
Historically speaking, corporal punishment is used for sexual crimes in the Abrahamic faiths. Fornication towards someone else's woman (not a wife or a couple) is treated as a violation of property right, the equivalent of rape or stealing.

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