Salam, dear questioner.

Thank you very much for this creative question.

Islam provides the laws of necessity to cater for all types of people, especially those who have special needs that could not be handled and accommodated otherwise.

More Allowances Than Prohibitions

The existence of the law of necessity is one of the reflections of the universality of Islamic Shari`ah and its caring humanity.

One of the unique features that expound this aspect of universality is the fact that Allah has made lawful all things that are beneficial for the body and subjected to man what can be of use for him.

Allah says in the Qur'an what means:

*{He it is Who created for you all that is in the earth.}* (Al-Baqarah 2: 29)

This meant that the space of halal (permissible) things is really vast and covers a variety of things that can be of use for man in all life situations. In other words, it indicates that the space of haram (prohibited) is so limited and well-defined in Islam, which leaves no space for anyone to declare that something is unlawful without having clear evidence from the Qur'an or Sunnah.

The right of declaring things lawful or unlawful belongs only to Allah and His Messenger, who is conveying a message from Allah in the end.

This understanding of Shari`ah becomes clear when we realize that scholars based upon it a rule that served people very widely and efficiently. It reads: "The default state of things is permissibility, unless a text of Shari`ah indicates otherwise."

This leaves no space for human whims and temperament in assessing or defining the status of things and complicating the lives of people accordingly.

As Islam acknowledges the humanity of people and their subjectivity to error, it gives exceptions to the well-defined rulings and the clear-cut rules, so as to accommodate the people with special needs, conditions or problems.

Necessity: The Mother of Exceptions

Muslim scholars have followed the line of Shari`ah texts and discovered that with every hardship, Islam provides a concession or an easy solution to make the life of people easier and brighter.

Based on this, Muslim scholars formulated legal maxims that read: "Hardship brings ease" and "necessity dictates exceptions".

To elaborate on this, we can quote a plethora of examples: the permissibility of eating dead animals if a person is subject to starvation and is on the brink of death, and the concession given to a pregnant woman to break her fast if it causes danger to her health or the health of her fetus.

In all these, and many similar cases, Shari`ah provides alternatives which still fall within the frame of reasonability and acceptability to the effect that we can say that the solution is given as exactly as needed by the situation and the alternative should be resorted to according to a set of guidelines established by Shari`ah.

With this in mind, our eminent jurists have formulated another legal maxim that goes: "Necessity is judged according to its severity".

This gives a hint that necessity and its rules are not a space for play or baseless judgments. Rather, they are well defined and explained.

Alternative Shari`ah?

This means that the alternatives are as defined and well-established as the default solution or ruling itself.

Therefore, it is not up to a human being just to invent something of his own and call it an alternative.

As much as the permissible and the prohibited are defined and decided, the lines bordering the space of alternative solutions are drawn and clearly highlighted, simply because these alternatives are still Shari`ah-guided solutions, and therefore fall within the jurisdiction of the Law-Giver and are governed by His authority.

Islam stipulates one core concept when speaking about alternatives that they should serve the individual benefit and secure the welfare of the society as well.

This means that no one is allowed to seek or invent an alternative that causes harm to others, simply because it will not be acceptable by Shari`ah as it caters for the welfare of all people.

To exemplify this, we can say that no one is allowed to claim that under a state of extreme necessity of sexual urge and inability to get married, he can try some other solutions like raping a lady or sleeping with a prostitute or committing adultery.

This constitutes an aggression against the honor of another being and thus falls outside the boundaries of the alternatives.

All this indicates that Islam stresses the fact that your freedom ends where the freedom of others starts.

In other words, you are free as long as you are not going to transgress the limits and choose alternatives that are decided by you.

Even in case of alternatives (exceptions) which are dictated by necessity or special circumstances, Shari`ah has the final say and it is only the Law-Giver that draws the lines and shows the way.

Social Solutions

Having said that, it is clear that in case of necessity or extreme uncontrollable sexual urge, a person who is unable to get married should try other alternatives given by Shari`ah such as observing fasting and utilizing this energy in a constructive way.

If there is a lack of proper solutions for those who need them, this does not mean that Shari`ah fails to provide solutions. It is the society which fails to help or may be the people themselves who fail to see other alternatives.

When Islam gives certain solutions to certain problems, it aims at solving them whether under normal or under cases of necessities, simply because it caters for the well being of its followers in all cases.

When under a situation of necessity, they can still find Shari`ah-based alternatives that give them relief and never lead to corruption in the surrounding society.

I hope this answers your question. Please keep in touch.

Salam.

Useful Links:

The ABCs of Islamic Law

The Importance of Shari`ah

Wisdom of Shari`ah