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Last Update: 10:51 GMT, Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009

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Name of Questioner

Ali & Nora   - Egypt

Title

Married, But We Are Still Virgins!

Question

As salamu ‘alaykum…


Thanks a lot for your efforts.

We are seeking some enlightenment on our marital life from experts. With du’aa’, we believe that we should look for wise advice and insha-Allah we will be able to find our way through any difficulties… 

Brief Background: We have been married for two years, al hamdu Lillah, happily and in harmony. We are from two different cultures, but we are glad that our diversity is a source of enrichment rather than troubles. We live alone in a separate house, and we are both degree holders and working. We share, talk and discuss all issues frankly regarding our marriage and intimacy and we don't have many barriers in this regard.

The issue: From the beginning of our marriage until today, we have not been able to successfully perform full sexual relations - we are still virgins. We have nice, lovely, romantic times, but we have not been able to achieve full sexual intercourse. We don't know why. My attitude in the beginning was "with love, time and more sexual experience, we would be able to manage it. I thought we could learn it from each other on each other in a funny and loving way… My wife's attitude was, (I give her the credit here)… She has been patient, understanding and cooperative and made great effort to prepare wonderful romantic scenes and so we have had lovely times every time. She is beautiful with her quality of patience.

With time we both started to get worried… Being aware of the importance of successful sexual relations for a successful family life and my wife's right to have full and intimate relation, I started to worry. I started to worry if I’m providing for her the love and intimacy she should find in marriage. Sexual satisfaction is her right as much as it's mine in the marriage... I wanted to know if she was happy; she kept telling me "women desires are different to men’s”... "…when I see you are happy I feel happy”... "I get pleasure by giving you the pleasure".

I don't know if women can and do get satisfaction without full sexual relations ( this is the first question ). My wife, she thinks that she can't give me what each husband wants. With her getting more worried, and the 'take-it-easy attitude' I have, have combined to make her think sometimes that I’m selfish, careless or have no desire for full relations. To add to it, there are more worries about pregnancy and having babies. I really don't know why we can't have intimate relations. Every time we trying we just don't do it well, how to say, it just doesn’t happen (I don’t know how to phrase it more than that! )

We have made fun a million times of ourselves, and how this ‘operation’ is so difficult. Many times we hear about teenage-pregnancy, and we then laugh a lot about our stupidity.

Recently, i noticed that the light-sexual relations we have are not of any concern to my wife. I do understand her, and I don't blame her. From time to time she says "What have I got from this - nothing”... "How will we get babies like that”… "What on earth is this ‘operation’ "... "I can't believe how all married couples do it".

I love my wife very much, and I really think I’m getting a red light, and that I need to do something more than that just having a positive attitude. I have tried to read, downloaded the IOL marriage guide, try different positions, it just didn't work. We both don't go for the "ah it is magic/jinn" hypothesis.

My wife convinced me to go to doctor, she told her “…everything is fine, and that your husband should make more efforts… I don't know what effort I should make (this is the second question). Many times I see my wife's face in pain, and she is tense, and I don't see that more force is the solution!

We started recently to develop an attitude that " ok fine, we can live and survive like that and there is no harm". Can this be done - a successful and loving marriage without full sexual intercourse (that is the third question). Can we opt for artificial tube babies, will this be harmful to my wife’s spirit and her psychology, because she can't have babies in a normal sexual marital relations?

The fourth question... and finally, what we can do to be able to overcome this test?

I hope the info provided here is enough to shed light on the issue.. If any info is missing please let me know.

Thanks -  may Allah best reward you, and guide you for the rest of us, here and in the Hereafter…

Date

02/Jun/2009

Name of Counsellor

Karima Burns

Topic

Love & Intimacy

Answer

Dear Brother, with any healing situation it is never a good idea to let the situation continue. Learn to deal with it. When people do choose to do this they find that the situation only grows worse. If a person does not fix a broken leg immediately then the break heals wrong and the leg must be re-broken. If someone has pre-diabetes symptoms and they “learn to deal with them” they may find themselves in a situation where they need to take insulin shots daily. If someone takes medication for depression, heart disease, anxiety or any other health situation, and does not deal with the underlying causes of the problem, they it will only get worse. You could, theoretically, try to compensate your situation by any of the solutions you listed above, such as test-tube babies. However, this would be damaging to your wife’s emotional health, to your wife’s physical health, to your marriage and to your health in general.
 

It is helpful that you provided information, and details on your situation. However, it would help to know some more details. It would also help to hear what your wife says about the situation. It is hard to try to help a couple’s situation when there is only information from one person. I am also unsure of the exact nature of the problem.

•Are you able to complete the act of intercourse with her and choose not to, are you unable to complete the act of intercourse because you cannot maintain an erection. 



•Are you unable to complete the act of intercourse because you do not ejaculate? Or is there another reason? 

I did understand from what you said that in the beginning the situation may have been mutual, however at this point it sounds like your wife is ready to move forward, and you have not been able to. However, I also understood that according to the doctor you have seen that you do not have any physical problems.

Since I am not sure as to the exact nature of the problem I will suggest some solutions in each category.

If you are unable to “perform” in some way you could benefit from herbal therapy. Many men who do not have any visible physical problems have found herbs beneficial. Achieving an erection is complex. It involves psychological impulses from the brain, adequate levels of testosterone, a functioning nervous system, and healthy vascular tissue of the penis. If a doctor has stated that you are physically OK, then we can assume that you have been tested for testosterone levels, and that your vascular tissue is healthy. However, I always recommend that people get a second, and perhaps even a third opinion when dealing with life altering health problems.

Couples have been using herbal therapy for centuries to enhance physical relations.

Yohimbe bark, damiana, ginseng, sarsaparilla, gingko and horny goat weed are all helpful in this area.

Take capsules or tinctures of one of these herbs three times daily for 6 weeks. You should see improvement within ten days. Please check the contraindications for each of these herbs before taking them to make sure they are safe for you to take.

You may also benefit from acupressure or reflexology.

You can, as a couple, give each other reflexology treatments. When you are massaging each other’s feet your wife should focus on putting pressure on the areas just below your ankle bones. This is the area of sexual stimulation for men. A session should last at least 15-30 minutes. When you are giving your wife a treatment you can also massage the entire foot, and focus on the ankle areas.

Another effective treatment is massage therapy.

Instead of meeting for intercourse, you can have your wife give you a therapeutic massage and you can give her one as well. This usually works best if you give these on alternate days so you each have time to focus on the other person, and are not spending time thinking about when it is your turn, or so the effects of the therapy are not lost when the person who has been massaged has to suddenly get up and work at massaging the other person. A massage session should last at least 30 minutes. If you add massage oils like sandalwood or ylang-ylang, this will help increase the effectiveness of the massage.

•Are you currently taking any medications? Many medications can also cause trouble in this area. You may want to consider alternative therapies or an alternate medication.

•If you are unable to perform in some way, and the doctor’s only advice was “you need to try harder” then you need to change doctors – it is not a mechanical process!

If you are able to perform, but for some reason you do not enter your wife during intercourse, then you need to seek couple’s therapy at this point (paid counseling, through a free clinic, or a faith-based counselor). Your wife will also need to be involved in any solution you seek as, after two years, there will be a lot of issues that have been avoided for long enough that it would be a difficult task for a couple to tackle alone. Help from a third party who can speak to both of you together will help.

However, if you are unable to find or afford any counseling you will need to take some time each week that you set aside for each of you to talk about the situation. However, you will need to change the formula of the discussions you have been having because it is not effective. You will need to set a timer and allow each person time to talk about the situation for an equal amount of time. Anger and criticism should be avoided. The topic should be focused on problems, and possible solutions. If you seek help on the Internet your wife should be with you during this time. This time together could be spent reading books on the topic, and discussing them or simply on discussing how your wife feels or how you feel about the situation. I strongly suggest, however, that you have a third party help you through some of the first discussions - even if you can only afford a few sessions.

What may have started out as a physical problem now involves emotions and psychological problems as well, so it will be more difficult now than before. It may be hard to understand why “after all this time” things are not better. However, it is actually the opposite. It is because of the time that has elapsed that it has become harder and harder to solve the problem.

Because of this you will both need to adapt an attitude about this issue that is new. You both cannot think of this issue as the same one that you had two years ago. It is not. You both cannot say you are “tired of dealing with this issue for two years” because you have not. What you are dealing with now is more complex. You will need to get very serious about solving the problem, and deal with it on an emotional, physical and psychological level with all the options you can find. Herbs, reflexology, acupuncture and therapy can all help. However, the time to do something is now, before any more time passes.

For further guidance, please try the following link(s):
Love and Intimacy 

 

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