Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Question
Do the elect servants (awliya’) have sexual desires?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate,
I hope you’re doing well, insha’Allah. The righteous servants of Allah (awliya’) are not perfect, nor sinless. Like most others, they too have sexual desires. Generally, they would be successful in controlling and restraining them from sinful expression. If they do sin, they hasten to repent and rectify.
The Messenger of Allah (peace & blessings be upon him) said, “The one who truly repents from sin is like one who never sinned.” [Ibn Maja]
A righteous servant of Allah is one who has successfully ‘elected’ Allah in life—though consistent faith and good deeds prevailing over their sins and errors—so Allah ‘elects’ them above other. [Ibn ‘Allan, Dalil al-Falihin Sharh Riyad al-Salihin]
And Allah is the giver of success and facilitation.
[Shaykh] Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of: Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.