Australian Muslims Learn Sex Education: Between Taboos Or Islamic Education

Illustration (nea.org)

JAKARTA - The importance of sex education for Muslims is still blocked by many restrictions, especially in Indonesia. As one of the countries with the largest number of Muslims, Indonesia still considers sex education as taboo. But that notion doesn't seem to apply to Muslims in Australia.

Australian Sex Education and Muslim Opposition

Muslims in Australia are apparently a few steps ahead of Muslims in Indonesia regarding sex education. Some Muslims in Australia think sex education is part of worship. This is as revealed by Steven, a designer, and the Islam lecturer.

"We shouldn't think of sex as disgusting, we should see it as something witnessed by God", he said again, quoted by abc.net.au.

Fida Sanjakdar in her paper entitled Teachers' struggle for an Islamically appropriate sexual health education curriculum at their school said sex education as an Australian school health education curriculum was widely opposed. The opposition came from Muslim parents and students in Australia.

On the other hand, many people in Australia's Islamic community agree with sexual education, they judge that Muslim students need to understand the nature of their sexual development. In fact, it became a source of discord in many Muslim parents and students.

The Role of Sexuality in Marriage

Monash University lecturer Fida Sanjakdar said the notion that sex life should not be talked about was wrong. Even that opinion is very detrimental to society.

"One of the biggest misconceptions is that [sex] shouldn't be talked about ... and I think it's quite detrimental to those who hear it", he explained.

It refers to the hadith that encourages deeper excavation of all aspects of life, including sex in marriage. On the other hand, the taboo theme of sexuality keeps Muslims away from discussions about sex in marriage.

Many parents worry that deep sexual education is actually 'damaging' their teenage children, leading them to extramarital sexual behavior which in Islamic teachings is haraam.

Dr. Sanjakdar also explained that sex is very important in Islamic marriage so that if there is a dissatisfied partner can lead to divorce.

"Both have the right to feel safe and enjoyment, both have the right to give their opinion on this", he said.

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