The article covers a lot of intellectual ground, but it should be noted that Islam is far from the first spiritual tradition to put emphasis on sexuality. Egyptians were buried with their wives, slaves, horses and riches because they believed they would be waiting for them on the other side if they were buried with them. The Bible is filled with references to sexuality, good and bad. So is the Talmud. Hindus are famous for the Kama Sutra which is part of their tantric tradition of raising everyday activities to the heights of spiritual ecstasy including sex. In the mystical tradition of Sufism, practitioners would spin in circles, sometimes for hours at a time, and chant to God. The famous Sufi poet, Rumi, composed hundreds of poems (written down by those around him) while he was spinning in circles that were love poems to God. Many of them referred to God as one would refer to a lover - they were intimate and passionate. Sounds more to me like a good recruitment speech for martyrs anyway than a truism of the Islamic spiritual practice.
