Does Islam encourage celibacy

Answer 1

Absolutely no...on the contrary Islam encourages marriage & the prophet Muhammad PBUH were always encouraging the youth to marry because as he said it's best & a pure manner to preserve eye from staring "with lust" & preserves & prevents prostituation." p.s. I've tried to translate al-hadeeth's illustration not al-hadeeth itself due to my limited ability, so I'm sure it can be better to translate al-hadeeth itself, anyway that was the concept of it exactly"

This is not only one hadeeth about this topic , but there are many others.... all in all the prophet Muhammad encouraged marriage, & advised to favor marrying the religious woman upon other women (beautiful, rich,well born...etc), & encouraged having children & raising them on Islamic great morals, & he clearly stated that no celibacy in Islam.

Note that the celibacy itself is against the natural demand of humans & it's really truthful that Islam is the religion of primitiveness/nature.

Also, Islam is the religion of moderation & reasonableness , for example in this topic , there is no neither deprivation nor unlimited open desires ( And it's well-known that the two cases can lead to catastrophic results! ) so that everything is regulated by Allah who created us & does know what is the best & most suitable for us.

Eventually, I'll provide you with the verse in the Holy Quran that is related to your question :

Allah says :

".....We sent after them Jesus the son of Mary, and bestowed on him the Gospel; and We ordained in the hearts of those who followed him Compassion and Mercy. But the Monasticism which they invented for themselves, We did not prescribe for them: (We commanded) only the seeking for the Good Pleasure of Allah. but that they did not foster as they should have done. Yet We bestowed, on those among them who believed, their (due) reward, but many of them are rebellious transgressors."

[Quran, Surat Al-hadeed, chapter 57, verse 27]

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Some meaning English translation of saying of prophet Muhammad (hadith) are quoted below in support of of the answer above:

"We were with the Prophet (peace upon him) while we were young and had no wealth whatsoever. The Prophet (peace upon him) said: "O assembly of youths; whoever among you possesses the physical and financial resources to marry should do so, because it helps him guard his modesty, and whoever is unable to marry should fast, as fasting diminishes his sexual power."

Also, prophet Mohamed said:

"O group of youth! Whoever from among you can marry should do so because it keeps the gaze low and it protects the private parts. And he who cannot marry should make it compulsory upon himself to fast because it breaks lust."

refer to related questions below for more information.