Homosexuality In The Light Of Islam.

[SAFAH]

Taken from www.ask-imam.com

Extracted from Morality in Islam, Acadiaville

The aim of natural sexuality is procreation. Lawful and natural sexual relations between man and woman has been designed by Allah to preserve the human race here on earth. Homosexuality is negatory of the natural role and aim of sexual activity.

 

The experts on homosexuality and other forms of sexual deviation advance a series of groundless assumptions in their discussion on the causes of such unnatural sexuality. They attribute it to hereditary taints, genetic causes, environmental influences, animal instincts in man, etc. In certain cases, e.g. 'transiet homosexuality' where men are separated from women such as prisons, same sex institutions, etc., they argue that the criminal's blame will be considered as diminished in view of his circumstances.
Islam does not accept any type of justification for the unnatural sin of homosexuality regardless of any biological, psychological or environmental factors which may influence a man to indulge in this type of grossly unnatural immorality. This should not be interpreted to mean that Islam does not recognize the reality or validity of the existence of the various factors which influence man to commit homosexuality. However, the presence of any destructive influences which lead man towards this unnatural and bestial act of immorality does not constitute a valid excuse for indulgence in acts of deviation and inhumanity. Just as fornication, rape and other criminal acts of immorality cannot be condoned because of biological, psychological, environmental factors, etc, which may be the causes which occasion the crime, so too, can these factors not be cited in favour of diminished blame for the act of homosexuality. In spite of the existence of the factors (described as causes) of adultery, human culture does not permit man and woman to indulge in this crime notwithstanding the naturalness of heterosexuality. They are required to restrain themselves and behave within the bounds of chastity and morality.

 

In like manner man is required to exercise restraint and overcome his emotional, biological demands, etc. and manage the disturbances within him. He, as a member of the highest species of Allah's creation, is under moral obligation to control the dictates of his lust - whether such lust directs him towards unnatural or natural avenues - and refrain from smearing his soul and intellect in such loathsome indulgence.

 

Modern studies and the many consequent theories regarding the crime of homosexuality tend to convey a blurred conception of the biological disturbances as well as some environmental factors are even tendered as mitigating circumstances to reduce the stigma and the blame from the homosexual. This idea has made homosexuals daring and revengeful of their unnatural crimes. They have come to regard their misdirected lust as morally acceptable. They, as well as the 'experts' who have undertaken research in homosexuality, have deceived themselves into believing in the idea of diminished blame and moral acceptance, of this unnatural act. As long as man's intelligence is not inflicted with insanity, he is held responsible for his actions and he is Islamically under compulsion to restrain his perverted cravings so that he does not descend into a sub-human level of existence.

 

Man's gratification of his sexual appetite with another man has a long history of its own. The Qur'an bears testimony to the fact that the people of the prophet Lut (Alayhis salaam), the nephew of Ibriham (Alayhis salaam), sent as a warning to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, were those who initiated this heinous practice. Before them it was unknown. In this connection the Qur'an mentions:

 

"We also sent Lut. He said to his people, 'Do you commit indecency such as no people in creation (ever) committed before you? For you practise your lusts on men in preference to women; you are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds.'"

 

These Sodomites even indulged in their homosexual orgies publicly. Their wickedness had attained the level where the mere sight of a handsome young man made them so agitated that they pounced upon him as famished people would fall on food. Even honoured guests did not enjoy immunity or any privileged position. They did not hesitate in even resorting to violence in achieving their lustful object.
The Qur'an has depicted the scene when the angels of punishment [came to] Lut (Alayhis salaam) as his guests in the guise of handsome young men. Hadrat Lut (Alayhis salaam) did not recognized them in the first instance. But he knew the shameless habit of his people. He was extremely distressed and he apprehended that his people would certainly demand unnatural and shameful sexual activity. His apprehension was correct. They could not sit silently at the news of such "boys" of excellent beauty.

 

These sodomites recklessly rushed to the home of Lut (Alayhis salaam) to gratify their unnatural desires. Lut (Alayhis salaam) found himself in a difficult situation. He prompted them to legally satisfy their sexual appetite with women even offering his daughter in lawful marriage to the most gentle of them, and not insisting on this unnatural outlet. Then he very effectively appealed to them, in the name of the Almighty, that they should abstain from disgracing him by dishonouring his guests.
The Qur'an states:

 

 

"And his people came rushing towards him, and they had been long in the habit of practising abominations. He said: 'O my people! Here are my daughters: they ore purer for you (if you marry)! Now fear Allah, and cover me not with shame about my guests! Is there not among you a right-handed man?'"

 

But the accursed people inflamed with evil passions turned a deaf ear to all his reasoning with them. They had lost all sense of morality and were blind in their voluptuous sentiments. On this occasion they even taunted him for his frequent protests in the past against their sins. Hadrat Lut (Alayhis salaam) seemed helpless in the situation in which he found himself, - alone against a rabble of people inflamed with lustful passions. He wished he had the strength to suppress them himself or had some powerful support to lean on! But the powerful support was there, though he had not realized it till then. It was the support of the Almighty. His guests were not ordinary men, but Angels who had come to test the people before they inflicted punishment. They now declared themselves and gave him directions to get away before the morning, when the punishment would descend on the doomed cities. Even in Lut's (Alayhis salaam) household was one, i.e. his wife, who detracted from the harmony of the family. She lagged behind and looked back, i.e. one whose mental and moral attitude, in spite of association with the righteous was to hark back to the glitter of wickedness and sin. Finally, the wrath of the Almighty descended upon them, their cities were turned upside down and showers of stone rained on them. Regarding this the Qur'an mentions:

 

"Then when Our decree came to pass. We turned the cities upside down, and We rained thereon stones of baked clay, piled up."

 

 

The punishment of turning upside down given to this people resembles outwardly their shameless deed of homosexuality. The shower of stone was very thick so as to form layers. It is also said that the name of each man was written or engraved on those stones which were the cause of their annihilation. The inversion of cities by way of punishment was the task which was assigned to Jibra'il (Alayhis salaam). Homosexuality is also a form of sexual inversion, hence the type of punishment was most befitting in that it also symbolized their unnatural acts of immorality. Showers of stones (not hail-stones, but real stones) are not a normal occurrence. So too, the punishment of the inversion of the cities (was quite rightly justified). Thus, unnatural forms of punishment were prescribed by Allah for the unnatural sins of the homosexual community.

 

The community of Lut (Alayhis salaam) was a prosperous nation materially and they inhabited five cities: Sodom, Gamurah, Udmah, Laboobem and Sughar. The Qur'an refers collectively to these five cities with the term Mu'tafikaat (the inverted cities). The cities are so designated because of the perverted crimes of sexual inversion of their inhabitants and because they were physically inverted and eliminated by the command of Allah.

 

Before the people of Sodom, never did this evil even enter the mind of mankind, let alone practicing it. The Umayyad Khalifah "Abdul Malik said that if this episode of the homosexuals was not mentioned in the Qur'an, he would not have conceded the reality of this crime since it was unthinkable that man will descend to such a degenerate level and debase himself in a type of act which is not indulged in by even the overwhelming majority of lowly beasts."

 

Nevertheless, even after the community to which prophet Lut (Alayhis salaam) was sent as cautioner, met their catastrophic end, sodomy continued and even sometimes flourished. It is now known that homosexuality existed before the pre-Christian era among the so-called 'civilised' nations of the world especially the Greeks and Romans. It was not only confined to common masses, but even legendary and prominent figures such as Socrates, Aristotle, Julius Caesar and many others practiced it. (Miftahi)
In thirteenth century France, homosexuality was the great craze of the day and the government of the country had to enact a law that those found guilty of this unnatural crime will be put to death. And Germany was not far behind in the pursuit of this craze. Before Nazi Germany there was a famous person, Dr. Magnus Herschefield, (who had been the president of the Society for the Reformation of Sexual Behaviour), who launched powerful propaganda in favour of sodomy for six years. Finally 'democracy' acceded to this demand and the strictly forbidden became approved. It was decided by majority vote that homosexuality among the males was no longer an offence provided it was indulged in with mutual consent of the parties involved and in case of the object of the unnatural love being a minor, his guardian had to give his consent. In the Orient, Iran has been notorious and Persian poetry amply supports it. Karachi has also been named in this regard. It is said there were three centres there, where eunuchs carried on that unnatural business. Afghanistan (then under Communist influence) has also been mentioned. India, too, is not so clean in her records in this field, although the common people are involved in it to a limited extent. It is the educated and the sophisticated people who take to it as a diversion. The educational institutions, schools, colleges and centres of oriental studies too are not free from this curse.

 

Islam strictly forbade this detestable deed and prescribed the severed punishment, relenting not in the least in making it a deterrent. The Qur'an cautions that once people take to homosexuality, they sink to the depths of moral degradation. The admonitory punishment meted out to these transgressors was described in such a moving way that those reciting the Qur'an may learn the harsh consequences of this evil, and may protect themselves from this outrageous crime. To deter the Muslims from evil, the Qur'an initially declared to those participating in this perversion:

 

"If two men among you are guilty of indecency, punish them both."

 

Once Prophet Muhammad (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) expressed his anticipated fear by stating that among the evils that his ummah can take to, he feared sodomy most. In fact, this was a forewarning measure that the ummah may guard against, realizing that the prophet himself had forbidden it. On one occasion Prophet (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) declared:

 

"Whoever gratifies his sexual urge with another (individual) of his own sex, Almighty will not so much as look at him."

 

Undoubtedly, sodomy is one of the most repulsive acts, even observed among beasts. Therefore, the sight of a homosexual will be so disgusting to Allah that it will intensify His anger to heights where He will not even consider glancing at a sodomist. Through this act, man degrades his humanity and announces extermination as his policy. Moreover, it implies wretchedness and misery of the womenfolk and he himself is prone to so many diseases: the basic organs of his body, brain, heart, liver and kidneys become deficiently immune (AIDS), his face lacks the sparkle of health and he looks off-colour and melancholy, with the result that such an incapacitated criminal becomes worthless to women. This wretched outcast deprives himself of the bounty of procreation and the priceless jewel of morality.

[ummtaalib]

Homosexuality

 

Q: Is it allowed in Islam for a girl to fall in love with another girl or a boy to fall in love with another boy?

A: It is really unimaginable and inconceivable to imagine a woman in love with a woman or a man in love with a man. Any normal person who is sound in his mind will never ever think of asking whether lesbianism and homosexuality has any place in Islam. These are such disgusting and detestable sins that one feels ashamed to expose before people. Even if the president of any country has a gay partner, he will never wish to publicly announce the filthy relationship he has with his gay partner or inform the people of his so called marriage to him. Rather, he would conceal this embarrassment and disgrace knowing that these filthy and disgusting acts goes against the very fiber of humanity. This abnormal behaviour is generally created through one coming into contact with these types of dirty literature, associating with these types of filthy people or viewing these types of disgusting scenes. The Qur'an has outlined the position of people who commit these major crimes. Allah Ta'ala destroyed the entire nation of Hazrat Loot (Alaihis Salaam) due to them being involved in the sin of homosexuality. For further details refer tohttp://muftionline.co.za/node/6560

And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.

وَذَروا ظـٰهِرَ الإِثمِ وَباطِنَهُ إِنَّ الَّذينَ يَكسِبونَ الإِثمَ سَيُجزَونَ بِما كانوا يَقتَرِفونَ﴿الأنعام:١٢٠﴾

أَتَأتونَ الذُّكرانَ مِنَ العـٰلَمينَ ﴿١٦٥﴾ وَتَذَرونَ ما خَلَقَ لَكُم رَبُّكُم مِن أَزوٰجِكُم بَل أَنتُم قَومٌ عادونَ ﴿١٦٦﴾ قالوا لَئِن لَم تَنتَهِ يـٰلوطُ لَتَكونَنَّ مِنَ المُخرَجينَ ﴿١٦٧﴾ قالَ إِنّى لِعَمَلِكُم مِنَ القالينَ ﴿١٦٨﴾ رَبِّ نَجِّنى وَأَهلى مِمّا يَعمَلونَ ﴿١٦٩﴾ فَنَجَّينـٰهُ وَأَهلَهُ أَجمَعينَ ﴿١٧٠﴾ إِلّا عَجوزًا فِى الغـٰبِرينَ ﴿١٧١﴾ ثُمَّ دَمَّرنَا الـٔاخَرينَ ﴿١٧٢﴾ وَأَمطَرنا عَلَيهِم مَطَرًا فَساءَ مَطَرُ المُنذَرينَ ﴿١٧٣﴾ إِنَّ فى ذٰلِكَ لَـٔايَةً وَما كانَ أَكثَرُهُم مُؤمِنينَ ﴿١٧٤﴾ وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ العَزيزُ الرَّحيمُ ﴿الشعراء:١٧٥﴾

( ولا يجوز للرجل مضاجعة الرجل وإن كان كل واحد منهما في جانب من الفراش ) قال عليه الصلاة والسلام لا يفضي الرجل إلى الرجل في ثوب واحد ولا تفضي المرأة إلى المرأة في الثوب الواحد وإذا بلغ الصبي أو الصبية عشر سنين يجب التفريق بينهما بين أخيه وأخته وأمه وأبيه في المضجع لقوله عليه الصلاة والسلام وفرقوا بينهم في المضاجع وهم أبناء عشر وفي النتف إذا بلغوا ستا كذا في المجتبى

قال الشامي : قوله ( مضاجعة الرجل ) أي في ثوب واحد لا حاجز بينهما وهو المفهوم من الحديث الآتي وبه فسر الإتقاني المكامعة على خلاف ما مر عن الهداية وهل المراد أن يلتفا في ثوب واحد أو يكون أحدهما في ثوب دون الآخر والظاهر الأول يؤيده ما نقله عن مجمع البحار أي متجردين وإن كان بينهما حائل فيكره تنزيها اه تأمل قوله ( بين أخيه وأخته وأمه وأبيه ) في بعض النسخ وبين بالواو وهكذا رأيته في المجتبى قال في الشرعة ويفرق بين الصبيان في المضاجع إذا بلغوا عشر سنين ويحول ين ذكور الصبيان والنسوان وبين الصبيان والرجال فإن ذلك داعية إلى الفتنة ولو بعد حين اه وفي البزازية إذا بلغ الصبي عشرا لا ينام مع أمه وأخته وامرأة إلا بامرأته أو جاريته اه فالمراد التفريق بينهما عند النوم خوفا من الوقوع في المحذور فإن الولد إذا بلغ عشرا عقل الجماع ولا ديانة له ترده فربما وقع على أخته أو أمه فإن النوم وقت راحة مهيج للشهوة وترتفع فيه الثياب عن العورة من الفريقين فيؤدي إلى المحظور وإلى المضاجعة المحرمة خصوصا في أبناء هذا الزمان فإنهم يعرفون الفسق أكثر من الكبار وأما قوله وأمه وأبيه فالظاهر أن المراد تفريقه عن أمه وأبيه بأن لا يتركاه ينام معهما في فراشهما لأنه ربما يطلع على ما يقع بينهما بخلاف ما إذا كان نائما وحده أو مع أبيه وحده أو البنت مع أمها وحدها وكذا لا يترك الصبي ينام مع رجل أو امرأة أجنبيين خوفا من الفتنة ولا سيما إذا كان صبيحا فإنه وإن لم يحصل في تلك النومة شيء فيتعلق به قلب الرجل أو المرأة فتحصل الفتنة بعد حين فلله در هذا الشرع الطاهر فقد حسم مادة الفساد ومن لم يحط في الأمور يقع في المحذور وفي المثل لا تسلم الجرة في كل مرة (رد المحتار 6/ 382)

Answered by:

Mufti Zakaria Makada

Checked & Approved:

Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)

[ummtaalib]

Q. Can a person be gay and Muslim?

 

A. It is not permissible to engage in homosexual activities in Islam. However, the question, "Can you be gay and Muslim" has three levels to it:

 

1) A person has homosexual desires, but does not act on them: This person is still a Muslim and will be rewarded for staying away from sins.

2) A person engages in homosexual acts, but considers it impermissible: This person is a major sinner, but still a Muslim. Taubah and Istighfaar are required.

3) A person considers homosexual acts to be permissible: Such a person is not a Muslim as they have legalised what Allah and his Rasool Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam have forbidden. Such an act removes one from the fold of Islam. This ruling applies whether a person engages in such activities or not.

 

And Allah Ta’ala Knows Best

 

Mufti Ismaeel Bassa

Mufti Moosa Salie

 

(The answer hereby given is specifically based on the question asked and should be read together with the question asked. Islamic rulings on this Q&A newsletter are answered in accordance to the Hanafi Fiqh unless otherwise stated.)

Fatwa Department
Jamiatul Ulama (KZN)