A timely reminder:
The process of thighing (مفاخذة, mufākhadhah) refers to rubbing (the penis) between the legs (of an infant).
General permission for Child Marriage in Islamic Law has the longstanding consensus of legal scholars.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s famous publication, Tahrir al-Wasilah:
Passage on “Thighing”
(Mufa’khathat) with InfantsThis comes from Tahrir al-Wasilah, Volume 4, Issue/Problem #12 (page 241 in some editions/translations). Khomeini discusses permissible sexual acts with prepubescent girls, including infants, as long as full vaginal penetration doesn’t occur until age nine.
The direct quote (from English translations cited in multiple sources):
“A man can have sexual pleasure from a child as young as a baby. However, he should not penetrate vaginally, but sodomising the child is acceptable. If the man penetrates and damages the child, then he should be responsible for her subsistence all her life. This girl, however, does not count as one of his four permanent wives. The man will not be eligible to marry the girl’s sister… It is not illegal for an adult male to ‘thigh’ or enjoy a young girl who is still in the age of weaning; meaning to place his penis between her thighs, and to kiss her.”
This is explicitly allowing “thighing” (rubbing the penis between the thighs) even with suckling infants, framing it as halal under certain conditions.
Passage on Sex with Animals
From the same book (Tahrir al-Wasilah, Volume 4, in the section on ritual purity and permissible acts), Khomeini addresses bestiality and its aftermath:
“A man can have sex with animals such as sheep, cows, camels and so on. However, he should kill the animal after he has his orgasm. He should not sell the meat to the people in his own village, but selling the meat to a neighbouring village is reasonable.”
These rulings are part of broader discussions on what renders meat halal or haram after such acts, emphasizing the need to slaughter the animal post-orgasm and avoid local sale to prevent impurity issues.
Note: These quotes are from widely circulated English translations (e.g., by Ali Reza Naqavi or others), but the original Arabic/Persian text is available in full editions of the book.
Some apologists claim miscontextualization or mistranslation, but the passages are consistently reproduced across critical sources, including Shia forums discussing them.