Note: The Department of Social Jurisprudence, Ethics, and Education at the Research Institute for Contemporary Jurisprudential Studies explored a novel and sensitive topic in Islamic education titled “Sexual Education of Children from a Jurisprudential Perspective.” Scholars in Islamic jurisprudence and educational sciences defined sexual education as a structured set of actions aimed at familiarizing educators and children with religious norms and fostering internal motivation to adhere to these norms. They emphasized that this should be addressed at three jurisprudential levels: extracting an educational system from religious sources, addressing religious legal issues, and incorporating educational approaches into jurisprudential reasoning. The session also highlighted the importance of understanding gender identity, emotional relationships, and criteria for marital life, the necessity of establishing a cohesive research network, and the development of social soft technologies in this field, while critiquing existing shortcomings. This session marks the beginning of expanding discussions on sexual education grounded in Islamic jurisprudence, offering a localized and effective alternative to Western models.
The Research Institute for Contemporary Jurisprudential Studies, continuing its series of specialized sessions, held its 221st session on Sunday, September 21, 2025, addressing a novel and sensitive topic in Islamic education.
This session, titled “Sexual Education of Children from a Jurisprudential Perspective,” organized by the Department of Social Jurisprudence, Ethics, and Education, explored the theoretical and practical dimensions of sexual education within the framework of Islamic jurisprudence. It aimed to address the contemporary needs of Islamic society in designing educational systems based on religious principles as an alternative to imported models.
At the start of the session, the session chair, Hujjat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen Dr. Hassan Bousliki, Assistant Professor of Moral Education at the Research Institute of Islamic Sciences and Culture in Qom, welcomed the scholars and participants, emphasizing the importance of sexual education in Islamic education as a fundamental axis for social and religious policymaking. Referring to Islam’s approach to sexuality, he stressed that this domain is not neglected but rather considered a significant and sensitive topic.
Dr. Bousliki defined sexual education as “a set of planned actions to familiarize the learner with sexual norms and strengthen internal motivations to adhere to these norms,” describing it as a fundamental and modern dimension of Islamic education that requires precise jurisprudential clarification. He outlined three main levels for addressing sexual education from a jurisprudential perspective:
- Jurisprudence of Sexual Education in the Cognitive Sense (Broad Understanding): Extracting an Islamic sexual education system from authentic religious sources such as the Quran, Sunnah, and the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them), and designing a comprehensive educational system based on religious principles.
- Jurisprudence in the Sense of Rulings (Five Jurisprudential Rulings): Providing jurisprudential responses to questions and issues related to sexual education and determining relevant religious rulings.
- Educational Jurisprudence as an Educational Approach in Jurisprudential Reasoning: An approach that incorporates educational considerations into the process of deriving rulings, even in matters not directly related to sexuality.
One of the key themes of the session was the role of Islamic jurisprudence as a localized and religious alternative to international educational documents such as the 2030 Agenda. The session chair emphasized that while these documents are based on secular and Western value systems, Islamic jurisprudence has the capacity to design educational models rooted in divine and innate values. Thus, scholarly activities in the field of the jurisprudence of sexual education go beyond addressing societal needs and represent an effort toward civilization-building and reconstructing the Islamic social system.
Following this, Hujjat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen Dr. Ali-Naghi Faqihi, Full Professor of Educational Sciences at the University of Qom, presented his remarks. Citing a hadith from Imam Musa Kazim (peace be upon him): “Seek understanding in the religion of Allah, for understanding is the key to insight, the perfection of worship, and the cause of attaining lofty and noble ranks in religion and the world,” he emphasized the necessity of religious understanding. He stated: “Becoming a jurist leads to gaining deep and comprehensive insight that elevates a person to the ranks of perfection.”
Referring to the Quranic verse “I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me,” he described the purpose of creation as establishing a relationship of servitude between humanity and the Creator. He added: “Jurisprudential understanding is not limited to apparent rulings but encompasses everything related to religion and inherently has an educational dimension.”
Dr. Faqihi defined sexual education as a set of planned actions to familiarize learners with sexual norms and strengthen internal motivations to adhere to these norms, clarifying that: “Sexual education is not limited to issues of sexual desire but encompasses all stages of gender identity from childhood to adulthood and even after marriage.”
The Professor of Educational Sciences at the University of Qom emphasized that sexual education is not confined to sensory matters but includes understanding gender identity, emotional relationships, and criteria for communication and marital life. He added: “Every obligated individual must recognize their true identity as a man or woman and adhere to criteria in their emotional relationships to form a desirable social and spiritual life in pursuit of proximity to Allah.”
Dr. Faqihi also stressed the need to consider educational rulings and responsibilities at all stages of life, from childhood, adolescence, youth, post-marriage, and even in the realm of Islamic governance.
In another part of his remarks, he defended the principles of sexual education from an Islamic perspective, stating: “The principles of sexual education, like other educational principles, are based on innate disposition (fitrah), reason, and instinct, and guidelines must be derived based on the realities of human existence to outline the educational path.”
Hujjat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen Faqihi emphasized the role of reason, noting that reason has emotional and behavioral dimensions beyond its cognitive aspect and should not be limited to theoretical knowledge. Referring to the hadith of “The Soldiers of Reason and Ignorance,” he added: “Reason has emotional attributes such as compassion, and completely separating reason and emotion is incorrect.”
In conclusion, the Professor of Educational Sciences at the University of Qom described the role of jurisprudence as extending beyond individual and family spheres, stating: “Jurisprudence forms the basis for determining the duties of youth at individual, social, and even governance levels. In confronting global arrogance, we must not submit to unquestioning obedience but guide all political, cultural, and economic dimensions of society toward lofty goals.”
He emphasized: “Shiite jurisprudence is a comprehensive science for policymaking, managing life, and nurturing the human soul, and it should not be limited to traditional jurisprudential discussions but encompass all human dimensions.”
Following this, Hujjat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen Dr. Seyed Naqi Mousavi, Assistant Professor of Educational Sciences at Farhangian University in Qom, presented virtually. While introducing one of his authored works in this field, he discussed the mechanisms of policymaking in the area of children’s sexual education and, with a strategic perspective, emphasized the need to clarify overarching educational policies in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Dr. Mousavi began his remarks with a strategic question: “Is establishing educational jurisprudence, particularly the jurisprudence of sexual education, necessary and appropriate in a world that has distanced itself from religion and, in the modern context with humanistic notions, has experienced the collapse of sexual ethics?”
The Assistant Professor of Educational Sciences at Farhangian University in Qom, referring to the failure of religious frameworks in managing sexual ethics in both the Christian and Islamic worlds, added: “In such a context, is the emphasis of religious seminaries on establishing educational jurisprudence and conducting jurisprudential research on education, particularly in the sexual domain, a rational step in the realm of scientific policymaking and knowledge governance?”
Dr. Mousavi identified the first reason for the necessity of addressing the jurisprudence of sexual education in the nature of modern civilization. He stated: “Modern civilization is shaped based on psychological notions—particularly with the dominance of Freudian and aggression-based psychology. In such a context, sexuality inevitably becomes a central component of education.”
Hujjat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen Mousavi, referring to international documents such as the 2030 Agenda, emphasized that sexual education is seriously pursued in modern educational systems, indicating that: “The formal and school-based education system cannot neglect the issue of sexual education.”
The Assistant Professor of Educational Sciences at Farhangian University in Qom believes that Islamic education, both in theory and practice, has the capacity to offer effective perspectives on sexual education, provided this capacity is actualized. He noted: “Sexual education can be both a point of strength and a point of weakness for Islamic education theory. It is a strength because our tradition has never neglected the issue of sexuality and has even addressed its details, and it is a weakness because we have not transformed this capital into theorization.” He added: “If we compare Islamic education theory with modern and secular education, in certain domains such as rational education or sexual education, we have both greater points of contact and a higher potential for advantage.”
Dr. Mousavi stated: “Islamic jurisprudence possesses unique legal and legislative capacities that can aid the science and practice of education.” He cited several examples, such as the jurisprudential perspective on concepts like “neutral gender,” “complex gender,” “gender reassignment,” and even “the right to gender reassignment from public funds,” concluding: “These legal capacities are useful both in policymaking for sexuality and in governing sexual and gender education.”
Hujjat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen Mousavi, referring to the emergence of developmental psychology within empirical psychology, emphasized that religious sources can also assist in this field. He stated: “Given the abundance of narrations on sexual matters—from marriage to sexual care and related education—if the authenticity and epistemic value of these texts are established, educational jurisprudence, through its mechanism of ijtihad, can apply them in the process of sexual education.”
He also highlighted the possibility of extracting a developmental psychology of sexuality from hadiths, stating: “Within its own framework, it is possible to describe the stages of moral and sexual development of a child from a religious perspective, without imposing terminology, and based on discovering meanings from texts.”
Dr. Mousavi also emphasized the importance of a “jurisprudential approach” and stated: “The jurisprudential perspective on gender, sexuality, and related concepts can open new horizons for the philosophy of sexual education and gender philosophy, whether through progressive or regressive implications, serving as a platform for new philosophical research to advance the flow of religious science in this field.”
One of the serious critiques by Hujjat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen Mousavi regarding the experience of governance in the Islamic Republic over the past 40 years was the lack of production of “soft social technologies” in the field of sexual education.
He asserted: “We face a serious weakness in social constructs, methods, structures, platforms, and social software for sexual education and gender-sexual education.” In this regard, Dr. Mousavi introduced the concept of a “network of horizontal educational guardianship” as a novel theory, based on the vertical and horizontal guardianship of parents, rulers, scholars, and the public, aimed at reform, support, and effectiveness in the realm of education.
The Assistant Professor of Educational Sciences at Farhangian University in Qom concluded by referencing efforts in the field of the jurisprudence of sexual education, including the valuable book by Professor Faqihi, stating: “While these efforts are commendable, they are not sufficient. We have not had a research network. Researchers have been scattered and uncoordinated islands.”
He concluded by emphasizing the necessity of establishing a research network in the field of the jurisprudence of sexual education, stating: “This session and similar sessions can serve as a prelude to forming an active scientific association in this field, as some areas have been neglected, and some efforts have been repetitive.”