On Banning Disney's 'Lightyear' Over an Innocuous Kissing Scene
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
20 June
2022
Judaism,
Christianity and Other Faiths Don't Cast Opprobrium on Homosexuality and
Lesbianism Any Longer, Islam Still Condemns It Unambiguously
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“It is
perhaps his treatment of sexuality that has the potential to offend the
sensibility of a modern (Muslim) reader. In his poetry, Bulleh Shah regularly
refers to his Murshid as his beloved. Some of these references are loaded with
sexual innuendos. For example at one point Bulleh Shah says:
Inayat will come to my nuptial couch;
I am in great delight.
And:
Bullah has fallen in love with the Lord.
He has given his life and body as earnest.
His Lord and Master is Shah Inayat
Who has captivated his heart.
(From
Haroon Khalid's, “From Bulleh Shah, Shah Hussain to Amir Khusrau, same-sex
references abound in Islamic poetry", Jun 17, 2016)
This
pertains to the news that Disney's 'Lightyear' banned in Malaysia, Muslim
countries over same-sex kissing scene. Homosexuality (Humjinsiyat) has
always been an uncomfortable subject in all faiths, esp. in Judeo-Christian
traditions and tributaries.
Beginning
with Leviticus 20:13 in Jewish tradition, “ If a man lies with a man as one
lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall
surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them,” and Sodom (the word
sodomy, Liwaat in Arabic, stemmed from it) and Gomorrah, two biblical
cities, getting destroyed by god for their utter depravity and indulgence in
homosexuality, condemnation of same-sex percolated down to Islam which still
has an unyielding stand on it (homosexuality). While Judaism, Christianity and
other faiths don't cast opprobrium on homosexuality and lesbianism any longer,
Islam still condemns it unambiguously. You may have read how ISIS and Al-Qaeda
guys torture and decapitate homosexuals in public.
Now The
Question Is: Is Islam Indeed Unequivocally Against It?
Before
zeroing in on Islam and homosexuality, it's advisable to know that
homosexuality is not an aberration or anomaly. In other words, homosexuals and
lesbians aren't nature's freaks. They're normal humans with an alternative (or
say, 'different') sexual orientation. Homosexuality is a part of psycho-sexual
evolutionary process and is not just limited to humans. Dolphins are by nature
homosexual just for fun and male and female dolphins mate to reproduce. Mind
you, dolphins are quite intelligent creatures. Homosexual proclivities have
been found among the primates, sperm whales and many species of deer.
One of the
greatest living minds and a nominal Jew (one should call him an atheist), Yuval
Noah Harari is of the opinion that all religions have accrued a sense of shame,
sin and stigma to homosexuality. He himself is an avowed gay who lives with his
male partner.
The same
premise has been raised and analysed in the magnum opus ' Homosexuality in
Islam: Critical Reflection on Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Muslims' by Scott
Alan Kugle. The Semitic aversion to homosexuality is a psychological defence
mechanism against all Pagan practices prior to the three Semitic faiths,
Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The Pagan Greeks and Romans considered homosexuality
as Numero Uno Jucunditas (Ultimate Pleasure). In fact, homosexual
activities were known as Greek Pleasure in Pagan Greece. Greek poetess Sappho
was a bisexual. So were Ovid and Virgil, the classical Latin poets. But the
formation of monotheistic Semitism tried to abolish all which even remotely
related and belonged to the Pagan past. So, the axe fell on homosexuality in a
manner that it was seen as the violation of god's commandments.
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But can any
religion completely kill fundamental human instincts? NEVER. That's the reason,
there've been homosexuals, lesbians and bisexuals in all faiths and in all
eras. Why was Shams Tabrizi killed by Rumi's son? Shams, the elder friend and
mentor of Rumi, was rather uncomfortably close to the latter which Rumi's son
and other disciples didn't approve of. They got Shams killed. Rumi lamented and
called it the Departure of his 'Beloved' Soulmate.
The great
Hafiz Shirazi, who wrote exquisite poetry on love, was a confirmed gay and
wrote: Agar Aan Turke-Shirazi, Badastayad Dile-Maara/Bakhaale-Hinduash Bakhsham
Samarkando-Bukhara (I can give away cities like Samarkand and Bukhara in
preference to the black mole on your face; Khaal means Til or a
mole and Hindu means a black in Persian). Who was the object of his intense
love: A 16-yr-old young lad (Beresh Launda in Urdu) from Shiraz!
Great
Persian poet Nizami twice tried to commit suicide when his young lover, a
21-yr-old boy from the present-day Herat, threatened to leave him for another
man! What's Baccha-Bazi (a slang term for young catamites; a catamite is
a bottom or a passive partner in a homosexual activity, a sodomite is an active
one) of Afghanistan and NWFP, which's so popular among the virile and priapic
Pathans of that region?
Ismat
Chughtai's controversial short story ' Lihaaf ' (The Quilt), based on two
lesbians, was written in 1942 and appeared in Adab-e-Latif. She gave the
dialectical euphemism, 'Chapti Khelna' for lesbian sex to Urdu
literature.
Babar's
autobiography Tuzuk-e-Babri (translated and deleted in parts by the great
moralist Abdurrahim Khankhana in his Persian rendition as Babarnama) was full
of references to homosexuality. Babar was very fond of young boys. The Turkish
word Seraglio for a Harem was actually a harem, full of pre-pubescent boys for
obvious purposes.
The Arabic
word Gulma used in Islamic literature is a boy used for amorous
purposes. So, when homosexuality is
prevalent, if not rampant, in all cultures, faiths and civilizations, why
should ban a movie based on the theme of same-sex? Why on earth should a
religion decide what its followers should watch? Let them watch anything and
stop this totalitarianism.
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A
regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative
religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to
world's premier publications in several languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/banning-disney-lightyear-kissing-/d/127275
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