Chastity in Acts of Worship

Among the very significant principles and virtues emphasized in the religious teachings is that of chastity. In addition to the commands given with regard to observing chastity, Islamic precepts deal with the relation between chastity and other precepts in such a way that performing the latter would result in observing the former in both individual and social dimensions. While expounding essentials of chastity as well as its effects and consequences, various precepts that contain it are extracted and explained. The relation between chastity and religious precepts is either that of conditioned-by-something, or that of negatively conditioned, or that of unconditioned. Searching various jurisprudential chapters and different religious precepts, especially with regard to acts of worship, in such subjects as purification, prayers, pilgrimage, marriage, divorce, etc., we found no single case of the relation of negatively conditioned. On the other hand, so many instances of manifestations of chastity in the jurisprudential precepts can be found in different parts of jurisprudence, including those dealing with acts of worship, in which the condition of chastity is taken into consideration. Such cases are often those in which the difference between man and woman plays a role. Although some other religious precepts are void of manifestations of chastity, they are not void of necessity of observing chastity.