A Turkish televangelist has warned male Muslims away from masturbation - because it may leave their hands pregnant in the afterlife.
Mücahid Cihad Han supposedly made the claim in response to a call from a man who "kept masturbating, although he was married, and even during the Umrah", a pilgrimage similar to the Hajj.
Hearing the man's plight, Han stated that masturbation is forbidden in Islam and went on to say: "Moreover, one hadith states that those who have sexual intercourse with their hands will find their hands pregnant in the afterlife, complaining against them to God over its rights".
The self-styled televangelist simply told the caller to "resist Satan's temptations"
Tweeters took the opportunity to mock Han, with one asking: "Are there any hand-gynaecologists in the afterlife? Is abortion allowed there?"
Masturbation is a controversial topic in Islam, as the Qur'an makes no mention of it, leaving Muslim scholars and clerics to make their own interpretations.
A limited number of rulings condemn the act as haram (forbidden), while many simply put it in the category of makruh, or "disliked". Some interpretations also allow masturbation under certain circumstances, with a 14th century scholar ruling: "If a man is turned between continued desire or releasing it, and if this man does not have a wife and he fears he will suffer because of this (someone like a prisoner, or a pauper), then it is permissible for him to masturbate."
Feel free to follow Mücahid Cihad Han's interpretation, but we think it's a risk worth taking.