Let’s End the Prejudice Against LGBTQ Plus Muslims
By Junaid Jahangir,
New Age Islam
15 October
2020
New Age
Islam recently re-posted an article from 2017 that offers a conservative
perspective on the issue of homosexuality in Islam. Here are a few observations
on that article.
1) Over
Reliance on Tafsir Is Problematic
The author
of the article extensively relies on the Tafsir (exegesis) of Ibn Kathir that
projects homosexual conduct as “something unheard of in the history of mankind”
until the time of the people of Lut.
The first
issue that arises is that why is Ibn Kathir, who was taught by Ibn Taymiyyah,
given precedence over other Islamic exegetes. One explanation is that a lot of
Islamic education through madrassas is funded by Saudi petro-dollars, which are
heavily invested in branding Islam through the works of Ibn Taymiyyah and his
disciples Ibn Qayyim and Ibn Kathir.
The second
issue is that over reliance on Tafsir sometimes leads to more conundrums than
we can solve. For instance, based on the Biblical calendar, the people of Lut
are dated to be around 1712 BCE and according to archaeological dating the
destruction of the cities of Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira, conjectured to be the
sites of Sodom and Gomorrah, is dated about 2300 BCE.
However,
there is extensive evidence of homosexual conduct much before these timelines.
For instance, homosexual practice was an accepted part of Mesopotamia as far
back as 3000 BCE. Additionally, historical record traces same-sex conduct as
far back as 10,000 years in the Melanesian region and 40,000 years ago among
aboriginal people of all racial lines. All of this weakens the position of
using Ibn Kathir’s commentary to further one’s perspective.
Also
Read:
The Holy Quran: Why Were The Verses On The People Of Lut
Revealed?
2) The
People Of Lut Inflicted Oppression Not Affection
The author
also offers an inappropriate translation for verse 11:79. He presents the
people of Lut stating that “we have neither any desire nor any need of your
daughters.” However, the word used in verse 11:79 is min haqq (claim or right)
and not irba (desire). This indicates that the issue is not one of desire but
one of right and claim to do as one sees fit. This point gets substantiated by
the subsequent verse 11:80 that depicts Lut responding “If only I had against
you some power ...” It is clear from both verses 11:78 and 11:79 that the
people of Lut demanded the guests and Lut felt powerless to protect them.
The author
also mentions that the people of Lut “came and gathered … intending to violate
the guests” and that Lut knew that “it would be hard to protect them … and his
people had already told him not to host anybody.” This raises the question that
how in the world does this aggressive assault connect with the LGBTQ+ concerns
on intimacy, affection and companionship?
3)
Bukhari and Muslim Do Not Report On Liwat
The author
also presents information that weakens his case. For instance, he mentions a
Hadith classified as authentic by the conditions of Bukhari and Muslim but
neither reported it. In fact, the Hadith on Liwat
(male anal intercourse) are not found in the books of Bukhari and Muslim. Many
of these texts on Liwat emerge from
other Hadith compilations and have been branded as inauthentic by various
Hadith experts of the past. The one who seemed to have classified them as
authentic was the Salafi scholar al-Albani. This allows one to question, why
should Muslims follow the methodology of al-Albani over the other Hadith
experts?
Also
Read:
To Sustain an LGBTQ Affirming Islamic Discourse, Lateral
Violence Must End
4)
There Is No Religious Consensus on Homosexuality
The author
also states that the “People of the Book are agreed” on the “rulings of
homosexuality.” However, Reform and Conservative Jews along with the United
Church and the Episcopalians fully support same-sex marriage in the respective
denominations of their faith.
5) The
Islamic Position on Anal Sex Is Diverse
The author
claims that “a reasonable-minded person will come to the conclusion that the
rectum/anus of a man is not the place where the seeds of reproduction are to be
sown” and that “if homosexuality is seen as normal within humans then the end
result would be the extinction of the species.”
However, on
both counts, the author ignores the diversity of perspectives in Islam. For
instance, the minority Maliki position and the Shia position specifically is
that of the permissibility of anal sex with the permission of the wife. This
position amongst Shias is upheld by the likes of Ayatollahs Sistani, Fadlullah
and Lankarani, some of whom deem the act as Makruh
(detestable) or counsel to avoid it as a precaution but yet argue that there is
no textual prohibition behind the act. As for the claim on reproduction, it is
not always necessary within a marriage, which is why the Prophet married many
women without having children and which is also, why elderly women and sterile
couples are allowed to marry in Islam.
Also
Read:
Why Gay Muslims Are Upheld To Standards That Not Even
Prophets Fulfil?
6) LGBTQ+ Folks Experience Stigma from Society
And Family
The author
claims that “most men who engage in homosexual activity (initially at least)
feel a strong sense of guilt and sinfulness” and that “people who travel to
Europe (and the West in general) from war-torn countries, after losing their
entire families … still have far, far fewer incidents of suicide than
homosexuals and transgender people.”
However,
this only proves how much stigma is wreaked on LGBTQ+ people by society at
large, their own families and friends that they internalize so much hatred only
to end up harming themselves. This is not the case for refugees who grew up in
strong families, had love and support from family and friends, and who find new
families in the West, all of which protects their mental health to a
considerable extent. The issue is family and societal stigma that harms the
individual and not the sexual orientation of the person.
7)
Sexual Orientation Is Innate and Cannot Be Wilfully Changed
The author
claims that “homosexuality is … fashionable or adopted a result of traumatic
sexual abuse experienced as children” and that “homosexuality can be
unlearned.” However, what fashionable trend would explain that religious
figures in the history of Islam like Dawud al Zahiri of the Zahiri School of
jurisprudence struggled with same-sex desires and others like al-Kisai, who
gave Muslims one of the seven canonical readings of the Qur’an, openly
confessed to same-sex relations? Additionally, something as beautiful as love
and affection for another human being cannot arise from something as ugly and
painful as sexual abuse. Finally, the scandals of all these ex-gay movements
and married men who seek out secret sexual encounters should be a lesson to
those who believe that sexual orientation can be wilfully changed.
Indeed, the
Lebanese Medical Association for Sexual Health (LebMASH) released a position
statement in 2013 indicating:
“Stigma,
peer rejection, discrimination, … place homosexuals at a higher risk for
psychological problems. … Efforts to change sexual orientation are not based on
any sound scientific evidence. On the contrary, this practice has been
abandoned due to proven failure and serious harmful effects.”
8) We
Cannot Quote From The Bible And Believe It Is Corrupted Simultaneously
The author
claims that “no sincere heart would believe the fabrications introduced into
the Biblical records” but still goes on to quote Leviticus 20:13 that, “if a
man has sexual relations with a man … They are to be put to death and their
blood is upon them.”
It seems
the author picks and chooses from the Bible what supports his claims. The Bible
also contains the death punishment for necromancy, sacrificing to other gods,
blasphemy, contempt of court, amongst other “crimes.” However, the Islamic
position is clear. The Hanafi School of jurisprudence rejects the capital
punishment for Liwat on the basis of
the argument that Qiyas (analogy)
cannot be applied to Hudud
punishments and that the analogy between Zina
and Liwat does not hold for various
reasons including the absence of reproduction in the latter.
Instead of
quoting Leviticus, the author should note Ezekiel 16:49, “Now this was the sin
of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and
unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.”
This text
makes much more sense, as while there is difference of opinion on same-sex
relations across religious denominations; all of them have a consensus that
arrogance is one of the cardinal sins.
In essence,
we ought to focus on addressing the stigma and prejudice that families and
societies inflict on LGBTQ+ Muslims instead of getting offended by the love and
affection shared between same-sex couples.
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Junaid Jahangir is an Assistant Professor of Economics at MacEwan University. He is the co-author of Islamic Law and Muslim Same-Sex Unions. With Dr. Hussein Abdullatif, a paediatric endocrinologist in Alabama, he has co-authored several academic papers on the issue of same-sex unions in Islam. He contributed this article to NewAgeIslam.com.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/let’s-end-prejudice-lgbtq-plus/d/123154
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