What does it mean to “hate” (bughd) something in the religion? When I found out that it is permissible for a man to suck his wife’s breasts and drink her milk, I thought that was disgusting, but then, right afterwards, I was afraid that thinking it was disgusting was “hating,” so I changed my mind and decided to like it. I said the shahada again, I regretted it and I resolved never to think this permissible thing is disgusting again. But the truth is that I only repented just to be on the safe side because I didn’t know whether this was “hating” or whether it was something normal. I was just afraid that all of my deeds would be lost.

My question: Is it permissible to think something is disgusting if it is permissible, just because you prefer something else?

My final question: Was my repentance correct and valid according to Shari`ah?

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful,

All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessing be upon the Messenger of Allah, upon his household, his companions and those who have followed him. To proceed:

The natural and instinctive distaste a person may feel for a certain thing is allowed, and there is nothing wrong with that. What is wrong is to hate the fact that Allah has permitted it. Whenever the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) didn’t like something, he would simply leave it, so he had his likes and dislikes. When he refrained from partaking of the roast lizard meat [in the well known hadith], his action was not a prohibition, but rather because it was not from among his people’s food, so he did not have any desire for it.

As for the issue of repentance, renewing one’s repentance is a good thing, but it appears that you suffer a certain degree of waswasah (whisperings) – may Allah help you to get over this problem, and may He keep you free of them.

And Allah Almighty is the Most High, and He knows best.