Homosexuality In Islam

Some of the main questions that the younger generation Muslims are struggling with is that why does Islam hold such a strict stance towards homosexuality? why is it haram? why would Allah criminalize something that might be natural or what’s the big deal in what two consenting adults do in the privacy of their bedroom. These questions has raised out in the mind of younger generation Muslims to the point that they are considering Islam to be an invalid religion based upon it’s stand on LGBTQ+. Because of this Islamic scholars have an extremely important task of answering these questions in an Islamic way. Since this topic is vastly misunderstood there’s a lot of discrimination and hatred towards LGBT community in Muslim majority countries like Pakistan or Saudi Arabia.

Since the time its creation, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has been impacted by different Islamic belief systems originating from various governments. Because of this the whole society is intensely affected by religion, homosexuality stays a forbidden. All the significant sects of Islam have totally illegalized homosexuality yet the presence of a LGBTQ+ populace can’t be denied in Pakistani society. To explain what people of homosexual orientaion has to deal with in Pakidtan I am going to use the story of a young gay man from Lahore, Pakistan. Haseeb Rathore is a youthful gay man from Lahore, Pakistan who felt unique in relation to others at an extremely youthful age, yet was not permitted to communicate his emotions. Like other gay young men, Haseeb attempted his best to be acknowledged yet nothing at any point worked for him. During grade school, school and even in his expert life, he felt cornered, presented to harassing by relatives, schoolmates, and associates, (Il Grande Colibri, 2018). When he was asked in an interview by Il Grande Colibri that how do gay men spend their life in Pakistan?, he replied:

“Most gay men spend their life in guilt, carrying a burden of sins. In our society they only have two options: one is to come out of the closet and live a horrible life and being bullied; the other is to conceal their sexuality for the rest of their lives. People usually choose the second option. They get married and start living a dual life: one for the family and society, the other for their own satisfaction. This makes life very pathetic and a under continuous threat of being caught. Very few men come out and even when that happens, they get very little support from family and society.”

This shows us that Muslims in these countries have very little knowledge on the topic of homosexuality and what Islam says on how to treat them. Many extremists tend to treat people with homosexual orientation in ways that often goes against the core priciples of Islam.

Treatment of gay people by authorities and by society in general is likewise very unforgiving in Saudi Arabia. Homosexuality is unlawful in Saudi Arabia and those saw as liable are dependent upon death punishment (Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, 2007). The accompanying data was given to the Research Directorate by the Executive Director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia (CDHR), located in Washington, DC, in correspondence dated 23 January 2007:

“Homosexuality is considered anti Islamic…. Homosexuals are beaten, incarcerated and could face the death penalty. They are called Makhaneeth which could mean many things including the scum of the earth.”

For Muslims to treat other Muslims with such contempt just because of their sexual orientation demonstrates that this is a topic that needs to be discussed multiple times. Islamic scholars need to discuss and people should seek out more knowledge on how we can promote an inclusive environment for all, while still staying true to our beliefs and values as a community.

To discuss what Islamic scholars say about the topic of Homosexuality, I am going to be using information I learned from leactures of Dr Yasir Qadhi who is a Muslim preacher and Islamic scholar since 2001. Those of us who believe in the Quran, it is very clear from the Quran that one of the many sins that a Muslim should not do is that of engaging in intercourse in sexual relationships ourside of marriage and Islam has frobidden extra-maritial and pre-maritial intercourse, than how can anybody believe that same sex intercouse is something that is ethical and moral in the eyes of Allah. If even premarital intercourse is considered to be something that is considered to something that is immoral and worthy of sin, then surely engaging in same sex, is a similar if not worse a crime in the eyes of Allah. So there’s really no controversy in the fourteen and half centuries of Islamic Ummah, no scholar has ever justified this act as being moral and Islamically permissible. And the story of Prophet Lut is very clear in the Quran, there is no question that the people of Lut were guilty of multiple crimes but their predominant crime that is associated with them multiple times is that of same sex relations. The story is explicit and the Quran is very clear and there is unanimous consensus in this regard. However, with all of this we also need to be very clear on what is forbidden in Islam is th action of intimacy outside of marriage. What is not forbidden, that sharia does not forbid the feeling of the heart. The Sharia does not encourage, but doesn’t forbid, what your heart lusts after, i.e. what your sexual persuasions might be, what your fancy might be, what you lust after. The Sharia will not punish you based on the feeling of the heart. So if a Muslim finds himself or herself having same-sex impulses or attractions, we say to them you are no less of a Muslim simply because you must feel this way. So simply because a person has same sex desires does not deminish their Eman (faith) or their status in Islam. If they act upon it, we say to this brother or sister that you have committed a sin and repent to Allah, leave your way Allah will forgive you. And even if they are persistent in this sin, we keep on making dua for them that Allah guides them, there’s no point in being harsh or mean or cruel, we don’t want to cause them to leave faith. Every Muslims commit sins, maybe his sins are of a different nature than mine but in the end we are all sinners. And as long as they want repentance and they’re coming to the Masjid for spiritual guidance, then we must always accept their coming to the Musjid just like we would a drug dealer or an alcoholic. (Dr Yasir Qadhi, 2016)

As a Mulims who grew up in Pakistan, it is sad to see how people with homosexuals orientation are living in Pakistan or any any other Muslim country per say. As a practicing Muslim I feel responsible to educate other Muslims on this topic and speak out against all the discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community. Now where do we draw the line, where do I draw the line? I draw the line at somebody who wants to spread this idea and wants other people to follow him. We say to this person, brother or sister that we don’t allow this in our Musjid. We do not approve of people coming and preaching to other the understanding of Islam where homosexuality is legal in our Musjid. If they’re doing it in their private lives, it’s between them and Allah. If you find out about it, give them personal advice but there’s no need to treat them any harshly or differently. Why should people judge others for their sins, it’s between them and Allah. We Muslims should not tolerate anyone of our community physically harming homosexuals. We should speak out against it, because that is not what our Sharia (Islamic law) requires us to do.