Chapter: What the Muhrim (a person in the state of Ihram) should avoid, and what is permitted for him.

568 - Issue: Abu al-Qasim said: "In his state of Ihram, he shall avoid what Allah has forbidden him: refath (lewd talk), which is sexual intercourse; fusuq (immorality), which is reviling; and jidal (arguing), which is disputation."

By his saying "what Allah has forbidden him," he refers to the saying of the Almighty: "Hajj is during the well-known months, and whoever resolves to perform Hajj in them, there is no refath, no fusuq, and no jidal during Hajj" (1). The form used here is a negation intended to imply prohibition, as in His saying: "No mother shall be harmed on account of her child" (2). Refath is sexual intercourse; this has been narrated from Ibn Abbas, Ibn Umar, Ata ibn Abi Rabah, Ata ibn Yasar, Mujahid, al-Hasan, al-Nakha'i, al-Zuhri, and Qatadah (3). It is also narrated from Ibn Abbas that he said: "Refath is having intimacy with women, kissing, caressing, and suggesting lewdness to her in speech" (4). Abu Ubaydah said: "Refath is idle/vulgar speech." He recited the verse of al-Ajjaj (5):

• From idle talk and the refath of speech *

It is also said: Refath refers to what is alluded to by mentioning intercourse. It is narrated from Ibn Abbas that he recited a verse containing an explicit mention of that which is alluded to as intercourse while he was in a state of Ihram (6), and he was questioned about this.

569 - Issue: He said: "And it is recommended for him to speak little, except for that which is beneficial. It has been narrated from Shurayh that when he entered the state of Ihram, it was as if he were a deaf serpent."