Islamic views on homosexuality are as varied as those of most other major religions and have changed throughout history. Traditionally, Qur'anic verses and hadith have been seen as condemning sexual acts between members of the same sex. The Qur'an cites the story of "people of Lot" (also known as the Sodomites) who were destroyed because they engaged in homosexual acts. The legal punishment for sodomy has varied among juristic schools: some prescribe capital punishment; while other prescribe a milder discretionary punishment. Homosexuality is a crime and forbidden in most Islamic countries, Saudi Arabia, Iran, etc. In some relatively secular or multi-religious Islamic countries, this is not the case, Algeria, Malaysia, Indonesia and Turkey being examples. Despite this, homoerotic themes were present in Muslim poetry and other literature which celebrated male love, and were more common than expressions of attraction to women.
Some liberal Muslims, such as the members of the Al-Fatiha Foundation, accept and consider homosexuality as natural, either regarding these verses as obsolete in the context of modern society, or pointing out that the Qu'ran speaks out against homosexual lust, and is silent on homosexual love. Writer Irshad Manji, a lesbian, has expressed the view that homosexuality is permissible within Islam; however, this remains a minority viewpoint. Within Shi'a Islam, thinkers such as Ayatollah Khomeini have argued for the legality of sex-change operations if a man is homosexual, and feels effeminate.
Islamic law
Homosexuality is traditionally deemed forbidden by Islamic law. The Qur'an, the central text of Islam believed by Muslims to be the revelation of God,[2] is explicit in its condemnation of homosexuality.[3][4] The Qur'an proclaims Islam as the "religion of nature," and sanctifies and encourages sexual intercourse within marriages. Specific verses include:
And Lut, when he said to his tribe: "Do you commit an obscenity not perpetrated before you by anyone in all the worlds? You come with lust to men instead of women. You are indeed a depraved tribe." The only answer of his tribe was to say: "Expel them from your city! They are people who keep themselves pure!" So We rescued him and his family—except for his wife. She was one of those who stayed behind. We rained down a rain upon them. See the final fate of the evildoers! ” — Qur'an, 7:80–84
The people of Lout (Lot) (those who dwelt in the towns of Sodom in Jordan) belied the Messengers. When their brother Lout (Lot) said to them: "Will you not fear Allah and obey Him? "Verily! I am a trustworthy Messenger to you. "So fear Allah, keep your duty to Him, and obey me. "No reward do I ask of you for it (my Message of Islamic Monotheism), my reward is only from the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists). "Do you go in unto the males of the 'Alamin (mankind), and leave those whom Allah has created for you to be your wives? Nay, you are a trespassing people!" They said: "If you cease not. O Lout (Lot)! Verily, you will be one of those who are driven out!" He said: "I am, indeed, of those who disapprove with severe anger and fury your (this evil) action (of sodomy). "My Lord! Save me and my family from what they do." So We saved him and his family, all, Except an old woman (his wife) among those who remained behind. Then afterward We destroyed the others. And We rained on them a rain (of torment). And how evil was the rain of those who had been warned. Verily, in this is indeed a sign, yet most of them are not believers. And verily! Your Lord, He is indeed the All-Mighty, the Most Merciful. ” — Qur'an 26:159–175
The hadith, which are statements ascribed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, also contain numerous statements about homosexuality. According to one report, Muhammad said that "Doomed by God is who does what Lot's people did." Another report reads: "No man should look at the private parts of another man, and no woman should look at the private parts of another woman, and no two men sleep [in bed] under one cover." One narrative, attributed as part of Muhammad's farewell speech, says that "Whoever has intercourse with a woman and penetrates her rectum, or with a man, or with a boy, will appear on the Last Day stinking worse than a corpse; people will find him unbearable until he enters hell fire, and God will cancel all his good deeds."[5] Many scholars of Shari'a, or Islamic law interpret homosexuality as a punishable offence as well as a sin. There is no specific punishment prescribed, however, and this is usually left to the discretion of the local authorities
Pederasty
The practice of pederasty in the Middle East seems to have begun, according to surviving records, sometime during the 800s and ended, at least as an open practice, in the mid-19th century. Throughout this era, pederastic relationships, poetry, art and spirituality were found throughout cultures from Moorish Spain to Northern India. The forms of this pederasty ranged from the chaste and spiritual adoration of youths at one extreme, to the violent and forcible use of unwilling boys at other. Sodomy was considered a major sin in Islam. The seeming co-relation of pederasty with the rise of Islam has been commented on by modern historians, who see a link between the love of boys and the protective attitude of Islam towards women, leading to their removal from public life, together with the tendency of Sharia law to accommodate within the domain of "private behavior" inevitable activities, as long as they do not interfere with public order.[7][verification needed] The topos of "ishq" – passion – which could have as object a beautiful beardless boy as easily as a woman, is prominent in literature.[citation needed]
The manifestations of pederastic attraction vary. At one extreme they are indeed of a chaste nature, incorporated into Islamic mysticism (see Sufism) as a meditation known in Arabic as Nazar ill'al-murd, "contemplation of the beardless," or Shahed-bazi, "witness play" in Persian. This is seen as an act of worship intended to help one ascend to the absolute beauty that is God through the relative beauty that is a boy. Modern Sufi thought asserts that this contemplation uses imaginal yoga to transmute erotic desire into spiritual consciousness.[citation needed] However, in a tradition from the Arabian nights, Muhammad was said to have warned his followers against staring at youth because of their beauty: "Do not gaze at beardless youth, for they have eyes more tempting than the huris." [8]
[edit] Legal status in modern Islamic nations
Homosexuality is a crime and forbidden in most Islamic countries, Saudi Arabia, Iran, etc. In some relatively secular or multi-religious Islamic countries, this is not the case, Albania, Indonesia and Turkey being examples. However, the governments of Albania, Indonesia, and Turkey are presidential representative democratic republics and are not Islamic Republics, like in the case of Iran.
Same-sex intercourse officially carries the death penalty in several Muslim nations: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mauritania, northern Nigeria, Sudan, and Yemen. [9] [10] It formerly carried the death penalty in Afghanistan under the Taliban. The legal situation in the United Arab Emirates is unclear. In many Muslim nations, such as Bahrain, Qatar, Algeria and the Maldives, homosexuality is punished with jail time, fines, or corporal punishment. In some Muslim-majority nations, such as Turkey, Jordan, Indonesia or Mali, same-sex intercourse is not specifically forbidden by law. In Egypt, openly gay men have been prosecuted under general public morality laws. (See Cairo 52.) On the other hand, homosexuality, while not legal, is tolerated to some extent in Lebanon, which has a significantly large Christian minority, and has been legal in Turkey for decades.
In Saudi Arabia, the maximum punishment for homosexuality is public execution, but the government will use other punishments—e.g., fines, jail time, and whipping—as alternatives, unless it feels that homosexuals are challenging state authority by engaging in LGBT social movements.[11] Iran is perhaps the nation to execute the largest number of its citizens for homosexuality. Since the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, the Iranian government has executed more than 4,000 people charged with homosexual acts[12]. In Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban, homosexuality went from a capital crime to one that it punished with fines and prison sentence.
Most international human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, condemn laws that make homosexual relations between consenting adults a crime. Since 1994, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has also ruled that such laws violated the right to privacy guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. However, most Muslim nations (except for Turkey, which has been ruled by secular law since 1923 and recently has modernized its laws in order to meet the requirements of entry to the European Union) insist that such laws are necessary to preserve Islamic morality and virtue. Of the nations with a majority of Muslim inhabitants, only Lebanon has an internal effort to legalize homosexuality.
LGBT movements within Islam
Some liberal Muslims, such as the members of the Al-Fatiha Foundation, accept and consider homosexuality as natural, either regarding these verses as obsolete in the context of modern society, or pointing out that the Qu'ran speaks out against homosexual lust, and is silent on homosexual love. However, this position remains highly controversial even amongst liberal movements within Islam, and is considered beyond the pale by mainstream Islam.[14] The Imaan is a social support group for Muslim LGBT people and their families in the UK. [13]
There are also a number of Islamic ex-gay groups. The StraightWay Foundation is a UK based ex-gay organization which works with homosexual Muslims to eliminate their same-sex attractions and convert them to heterosexuality.[15] Al-Tawbah is an internet based ex-gay group[16], and The Straight Struggle is an ex-gay blog for Muslims.
In addition to the aforementioned groups, Muslim writers like Irshad Manji express the view that homosexuality is permissible within Islam; however, this remains a minority viewpoint. Within Shi'a Islam, thinkers such as Ayatollah Khomeini have argued for the legality of sex-change operations if a man is homosexual, and feels effeminate. [17] Khomeini's original fatwa has since been reconfirmed by the current Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and is also supported by many other Iranian clerics.[18]The law remains in force in Iran, where the state will pay a portion of the cost for a sex-change operation. However, many Muslims in Iran did not and still do not view Khomeini's words or actions positively. Many, in fact, despised him and his rule.
See also: Transsexuality in Iran
Homosexuality and Islam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
