Homosexuality and Islam

Indeed, on LGBTQ Muslim affirmation in Islam, Hussein and I have had to address not just the story of the people of Lut, but also the Hadith texts on liwat, the mukthannathun (effeminates), the Hadith texts on ityan bil dubur (anal sex), the Hadith on awrah (nakedness of private parts), texts on the Companions and the successors, juristic discourse on liwat, and the various arguments made by fiqh minded Muslims that include those based on fitrah (nature), obedience without question, consensus, whims, slippery slope, trials and tests by Allah and also procedural issues on marriage, divorce, iddah (waiting period), polygamy et al. We also had to deconstruct that arguing for the case for same-sex unions is not apostasy. In essence, our work, based on years of discussions with fiqh minded Muslims, while motivated by the quest for justice to affirm intimacy, affection and companionship for LGBTQ Muslims, has been mostly based on the nitty gritty of Islamic law.

Link: https://themaydan.com/2020/10/hacking-islamic-law/

In recent years, Western nations have been opening up to the granting of rights and freedoms to the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community. Along with these rights have come a major push to normalize homosexual practices, pass legislation to allow ‘same-sex’ marriages, introduce LGBT propaganda in school curricula and force others in society to accept sexual deviance as being ‘morally legitimate’. This controversial shift over the past decade has left some Muslims living in the West in quite the dilemma, feeling it is those same rights and freedoms granted to them in liberal secular societies now being granted to the LGBT community. This has led several Muslim leaders and Imams in the West to ally with LGBT leaders, to openly endorse gay marriages and to support the gay rights movement in the West. This paper aims to critique this stance and clarify the correct stance of Islam on this issue, highlighting the story of Lut (AS) and his wife.

This study critically examines the place of homosexuality within Islam. It studies the theological understanding of homosexuality in the Quran, focusing on its interpretation by exegetes and the juridical history from the time of the Prophet Muhammad to the modern era. It also dedicates special attention to modern progressive calls for revisionist approaches to homosexuality, and the counter-narratives.

In his 2006 article in the Journal of the Islamic Medical Association of North America (JIMA), Dr. Ahmed qualified the predominant psychiatric view on " homosexuality " by recourse to opinions prevalent within reparative therapy circles. Conservative Muslim thinkers, online counselors and other professionals continue to hold opinions similar to those delineated by Dr. Ahmed in his journal article. We use his paper as a focal point to critique the general opinions upheld by conservative Muslim thinkers by alluding to the harms associated with reparative therapy and by rejecting the unreasonable prescription of permanent celibacy. We critique Dr. Ahmed's association of " homosexuality " with mental health issues, fatal diseases, alcoholism and illicit sexual intercourse. Investigating the Muslim tradition, we encourage conservative Muslim leaders to facilitate Muslim gays and lesbians in their legitimate human need for intimacy, affection and companionship.

This lesson plan is intended for a college undergraduate audience. The objective of this lesson is to shed light on emerging Islamic scholarship that affirms Muslim same-sex unions in contrast to the neo-traditional stance on the prohibition of homosexual acts.

Commentary on the hifz furuj (protection of private parts) verse and derived juristic principle (the default status of accessing the female pudenda is prohibition). Orienting the discourse to that of a legal contract where the principle is that of permissibility, and anchoring the case for same-sex marriage through verse 4:28.

Reformist authors in the West, most notably Scott Kugle, have called Islam’s prohibition of liwāṭ (sodomy) and other same-sex behavior into question. Kugle’s “Sexuality, Diversity, and Ethics in the Agenda of Progressive Muslims” (Progressive Muslims: 2003) and Homosexuality in Islam (2010) serve as the scholarly center for those who advocate sanctioning same-sex acts. Kugle traces the heritage of the Lot narrative’s exegesis to al-Tabari (d. 310/923), which, he contends, later exegetes came to regard as theologically axiomatic and thus beyond question. This study argues that Kugle’s critical methodological inconsistencies, misreading and misrepresentation of al-Tabari’s and other traditional works, as well as the anachronistic transposition of modern categories onto the classical sources, completely undermine his argument.

The objective of this paper was to streamline the case for Muslim same-sex unions that was comprehensively made in Jahangir and Abdullatif (2016). Additionally, we try to address same-sex unions on the basis of non-binary gender, gender expression and sexual orientation. Based on our work, we argue that the case for Muslim same-sex unions can be made on the basis of broad principles of human dignity and affection and therefore through marriage or through the specific arguments of repelling harm and legal authority. In this regard, going beyond the overarching Islamic value of human dignity, we specifically argue that the case for same-sex unions can be anchored on verse 4:28 on facilitating a legal outlet for sexual expression.

Altogether, with its emic perspective, the book provides an extensive reference source on the inner-Islamic discussion for gay and lesbian Muslims and can be used as a strong base for an argumentation that situates same-sex unions within Islamic law tradition. For scholars of gender, sexuality and religion the book is an interesting source for studying a queer-religious argumentative strategy developing a progressive-positive Islamic understanding of homosexuality and same-sex unions.

In the backdrop of increased political and social visibility of LGBTQ Muslim groups, conservative Muslim scholars have begun to engage with progressive Muslim scholarship on homosexuality. Most recently, they have supported a rebuttal, thirteen years after the publication of Scott Kugle’s seminal essay “Sexuality, diversity and ethics in the agenda of progressive Muslims” and six years after his book Homosexuality in Islam. Mobeen Vaid’s critique emboldens conservative Muslim leaders to equate LGBT Muslims with Lot's people and downplay the legitimate human need for affection, intimacy and companionship as mere urges and whims. The objective of this article is to deconstruct the salient points made in that critique and to address the misconceptions that Muslims generally have on homosexuality.

Among the salient points made in this article, it is argued that any consensus on homosexuality does not hold, permanent celibacy violates Islamic values, medieval knowledge should be updated in jurisprudence and oppression in Allah’s name still constitutes oppression. It is emphasized that the issue at hand is not the permissibility of sexual acts but that of the validity of a legal contract for same-sex couples.
 
Dispelling misconceptions, it is asserted that sexual abuse or watching pornography do not determine sexual orientation and that Muslim health professionals don’t necessarily support sexual orientation change efforts. Finally, it is underscored that conservative leaders and scholars should be open minded enough to recognize that others who have a greater stake in the issue may be better suited at finding a legal accommodation of gay Muslims in Muslim society.

En este trabajo se va a tratar el tema de la homosexualidad en el mundo árabe e islámico, dedicando una especial atención al Líbano, país objeto de estudio. Para poder desarrollar el tema han sido consultadas numerosas investigaciones sobre la homosexualidad en el mundo árabe, y fuentes específicas sobre el Líbano.
En el trabajo se ha estudiado la terminología que se utiliza en árabe para referirse a la homosexualidad y se ha investigado sobre los diferentes movimientos asociativos activos actualmente en Líbano a favor del colectivo LGBTQI. A raíz de la revolución de 2019 están siendo siempre más frecuentes las protestas del pueblo libanés, así como las protestas del colectivo homosexual que pide y demanda más derechos.
El trabajo ha precisado del uso de una metodología cualitativa, llevando a cabo unas entrevistas para conocer la realidad de la situación. Todos los datos de la entrevista han sido recopilados, y las entrevistas han sido enteramente transcritas. Las personas entrevistadas son todas de origen libanesa y uno de los requisitos más importantes es que no hayan dejado el país hace más de 5 años y que sigan teniendo contacto con su país de origen. Todos los entrevistados confirman una hipótesis que yo tenía y es que aún falta para que los homosexuales puedan tener derechos esenciales en Líbano.
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This paper will deal with the issue of homosexuality in the Arab and Islamic world, with a special focus on Lebanon, the country under study. In order to develop the topic, numerous research studies on homosexuality in the Arab world and specific sources on Lebanon have been consulted.
The work has studied the terminology used in Arabic to refer to homosexuality and has researched the different associative movements currently active in Lebanon in favour of the LGBTQI community. In the wake of the 2019 revolution, protests by the Lebanese people are becoming more and more frequent, as well as protests by the homosexual community asking for and demanding more rights.
The work required the use of a qualitative methodology, conducting interviews to get to know the reality of the situation. All the interview data has been collected, and the interviews have been entirely transcribed. The interviewees are all of Lebanese origin and one of the most important requirements is that they have not left the country for more than 5 years and that they still have contact with their country of origin. All the interviewees confirm a hypothesis I had, which is that homosexuals still have a long way to go before they can enjoy basic rights in Lebanon.

This paper addresses the question whether homosexuality is acquired or inherent? The author finds that homosexuality is a choice, that is it is acquired. The paper references various sociological and psychological researches to come to the conclusion. The author also proposes solutions to eradicate homosexuality.

Liebster Sascha(Beck) Habibi = Geliebter, Liebling, mein Süßester (Xylitol - Gewöhnlicher Zuckeraustauschstoff oder Wundermittel auf academia(punkt)edu) (und auch für alle Anderen),

hier meinem Auszug vom Academia-Text "Homosexualität in arabisch-islamischen Gesellschaften von Linda Hewitt in einfacher Sprache mit persönlichen Hervorhebungen und Ergänzungen (gut 14 aus 48  Seiten.

Und ergänzend noch im Anhang ein Auszug aus Arno Schmitt: Schwule? Islamisches Recht? Ein Aufklärungsgespräc,h  geschrieben in ziemlich derber, rüder Sprache, so dass der Eindruck entsteht, dass der Autor ein schwuler Macho-Orientalist oder Islamwissenschaftler ist (( 4 von 18 Seiten):

YOU ARE IMPORTANT TO ME
I NEED YOU TO SURVIVE
DIR sendet vratlichst nach Kilchberg
LOVE

YOUR
Ravi

Homosexual sex between men is predominately reduced to and understood as the act of liwāṭ, which is expressly defined as “inserting the tip of the penis into the anus of a male” (Islam Q&A 2009, par. 10). Traditionally, it has been viewed as resulting from excessive desire or disease. Being outside the folds of a legal contract, defined through nikāḥ (marriage) or mulk yamin (legal authority/ownership), homosexual sex is deemed prohibited. However, it stands to reason that if same-sex nikāḥ were to be accommodated in jurisprudence, then homosexual sex would become permissible and regulated in ways similar to those set for heterosexual couples (Jahangir and Abdullatif, 2016).

El objetivo del presente artículo es analizar la casuística homoerótica y pederasta en el islam clásico, a través de la antología poética Basṭ al-a‘ḏār ‘an ḥubb al-‘iḏār [Exposición de los pretextos sobre el amor de los aladares] del jatib al-Minhāŷī (m. 1585). Se parte de una introducción al concepto de homoerotismo en la legalidad islámica y se presentan los factores principales acuñados por los poetas árabes sobre esa pasión platónica-homosexual por muchachos adolescentes, imberbes y barbipungentes.

Strict regulations concerning sexual intercourse turn problematic when a devout Muslim man discovers he is sexually attracted to men only, or a pious Muslim woman is solely attracted to women. In such cases the unvarnished,  sexual regulations of religion, in this case Islam, cannot be put into practice in this case. What should be done then? Well, the Islamic teaching makes it very clear that sexual intercourse between Muslim men is forbidden and despite a gap in the jurisprudence regarding sexual intercourse between two women, it may be evident that homosexual Muslim women equally are confronted with a thorny dilemma. This essay treats this and related questions and presents them in one and the same PDF; the text being in English, Turkish, Dutch and Arabic.

The struggle of Muslim homosexuals in Pakistan, South Asia, or as expatriates is not just about LGBTQ rights but part of the larger fight for inclusion and pluralism within Islam. My essay published in The Boston Globe Ideas section (July 31, 2016)  on South Asian and Muslim attitudes towards homosexuality, reproduced here with additional links, info and photos, as well as parts not included in the final published version. The attack in the Orlando gay nightclub put the spotlight not just on the perpetrator, but his victims — Muslim gay (queer) folk who are particularly vulnerable to homophobia besides facing as Islamophobia in the West, and receiving little or no support from the Muslim community at home and abroad. Additionally, they are now increasingly targeted by extremists claiming legitimacy from Islam.

Those readers accustomed to the tropes of Islam's inflexibility and its severity when it comes to sex might be surprised by the unhibited and daring nature of the texts presented in this article. Today, it would be almost impossible to read by a muslim author, texts such as those by Abu Nuwas (died 815) al-Raghib al-Isfahani (died 1108) or al-Tifashi (died 1253). In this chapter, we explore this receptive and playful attitude through the homoerotic practice of dabb or "unforeseen penetration of a dormant mate". Firstly, we briefly explain the main reasons for the homoerotic presence in Arab and Islamic literature and the most famous cases of homosexuality in the islamic court. Secondly, we focus on the characteristics and context of the practice of Dabb by analyzing some of the most licentious texts on the issue.

Islamic Law and Muslim Same-Sex Unions is necessary reading for anyone who has an interest in the subject of sexual diversity and the Islamic tradition. ... The authors are exceedingly competent in engaging with the source material and providing a comprehensive examination of the relevant qur’anic verses, the Tafsir and Hadith literature and the works of Muslim scholars – past and present – on the issue of same-sex desire and sexual conduct. They demonstrate a notable ability to move seamlessly between various works, and to weave a specific representation from the source material and at the same time bring forth elements they build upon to support their argument.

In his 2006 article in the Journal of the Islamic Medical Association of North America (JIMA), Dr. Ahmed qualified the predominant psychiatric view on "homosexuality" by recourse to opinions prevalent within reparative therapy circles. Conservative Muslim thinkers, online counselors and other professionals continue to hold opinions similar to those delineated by Dr. Ahmed in his journal article. We use his paper as a focal point to critique the general opinions upheld by conservative Muslim thinkers by alluding to the harms associated with reparative therapy and by rejecting the unreasonable prescription of permanent celibacy. We critique Dr. Ahmed's association of "homosexuality" with mental health issues, fatal diseases, alcoholism and illicit sexual intercourse. Investigating the Muslim tradition, we encourage conservative Muslim leaders to facilitate Muslim gays and lesbians in their legitimate human need for intimacy, affection and companionship.

"The hopefulness of the authors appears deliberately contagious ... Without the efforts of scholars such as these, the same will never be sanctioned within religious circles. Their work is meaningful, timely and breathes life and hope into weary rhetoric. Queer-positive Islam is not only possible, it is here." ~ Brenda Anderson

Between the 20th and the 21st centuries, hundreds of fatwās  and articles on homosexuality were published, especially on religious websites and magazines across the entire Islamic world. Over the same period, homosexual acts started to become important in Egypt from a legal standpoint, with male homosexuality beginning to be criminalised even though in the country there is no law against it. A law against prostitution, which in the former years was not used to criminalise homosexual acts, was used for this purpose. There is a close interrelation between these two phenomena, because fatwās and verdicts are both products of the same dominant discourse. I build here on Foucault’s definition of discourses not only as linguistic signs, but also ‘as practices that systematically form the objects of which they speak. Of course, discourses are composed of signs, but what they do is more than use these signs to designate things’ (Foucault 1972, 49; Diaz-Bone et al. 2007). Talking about discourse does not merely involve talking about a description of things, because the way we speak about objects creates them and has discursive, as well as non-discursive consequences. In this case, the non-discursive consequences can be traced to the actual imprisonment of homosexuals. In this paper, I analyse this dominant anti-homosexuality discourse in Egypt, looking at both religious and judicial sources, and I will show how this discourse is shared by different categories of actors. My primary sources are contemporary fatwās and articles published on different leading religious websites and magazines and religious books starting from the end of the 20th century and coeval Egyptian judicial verdicts.

3. Ndzovu, Hassan J., (2016): ‘Un-natural’, ‘un-African’, and ‘un-Islamic: The Three Pronged Onslaught Undermining Homosexuals Freedom in Kenya. In: Religion and the Politicization of Homosexuality in Africa, Eds. Adriaan van klinken and Ezra Chitando. New York: Routledge. 80-93 pp.

Dans une société mondialisée et globalisée, le conflit entre la culture traditionnelle, dans la majorité de cas liée aux religions, et la modernité, qui semble éloigner les pratiques traditionnelles des celles qui sont quotidiennes est encore présent. Certaines pratiques continuent à survivre grâce au soutien des institutions religieuses, des associations, des groupes de citoyens et virtuels qui veulent les maintenir actuelles; c'est le cas des rites chrétiens ou musulmans, mais aussi d'autres religions. Ce concept peut être mis en connexion avec la volonté de moderniser certaines idées, conceptions, doctrines, religieuses ou philosophiques, qui semblent être des anachronismes par rapport à la société médiatisée et globale dans laquelle nous vivons. C'est vrai que la majorité des états a le pouvoir de faire respecter des règles et des pratiques au delà des institutions séculaires, mais c’est autant vrai que dans un certain nombre de pays il est possible la prédominance de la loi religieuse. Dans ces réalités qui peuvent être jugées comme des états pas modernes au niveau de l'organisation du pouvoir par ceux qui se trouvent de l'autre coté, il n’existe pas une division entre la loi religieuse et la loi de l'état. La doctrine et la loi se fondent et il devient impossible de diviser ces deux éléments. Aujourd'hui on se demande quelle est la frontière entre le soutien de la tradition et, par conséquence, la religion, et la nécessite de respecter les droits de la personne, de l'être humain avec toutes ses nuances et ses idées. Ce que nous voulons faire dans ce dossier est d’analyser quelle est quelle est la conception des limites, des tabous dans le cadre de la religion islamique dans la
société mondialisée, en approfondissant le cas des homosexuels de religion musulmane. Dans la première partie, nous allons faire une étude de la doctrine contenue dans le Coran et les  Hadiths,  c'est  à  dire  les  pratiques  acceptées  et  interdites,  les limites  qu'un  « bon musulman » ne doit pas surmonter. Après cet excursus, nous allons voir la position de l'Islam doctrinaire par rapport à l'homosexualité. Dans la deuxième partie de ce dossier l'accent sera mis sur le rapport entre le tabou de l'homosexualité et la loi islamique.