Ahmadiyyat or The True Islam — Page 192
192 'Some people have devised celibacy and monas- ticism to keep their passions in check. We did not prescribe these things for them, they are their own inventions and (being contrary to the natural in- stincts) they were not able to observe them as they should have been observed. ' 105 This shows with what consummate wisdom Islam has regulated the working of this instinct. On the one hand, it has provided a legitimate means of satisfaction through marriage, and on the other it has prohibited its satisfaction outside lawful wedlock. It disapproves of celibacy, for a strict observance of it would amount to a total suppression of this instinct, whereby the object for which this instinct was created, namely the propagation of the human species, would be defeated. If celibacy were to be adopted generally, the human race would become extinct in the course of a generation. As the practice is contrary to nature, those who devised it were not able to act strictly up to it. As to those who cannot find suitable matches, Islam exhorts them to preserve their chastity till they succeed in finding a mate but does not permit them to destroy the instinct altogether. Is there any other religion which regulates the working of this instinct common to man and all species of animals, including insects, so as to convert it into a high moral quality, based on deep psychological truths? 105 Al- H ad i d, 57:28.