HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE LIGHT OF
ISLAM
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 lend 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 t 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'aan has depicted the scene when the angels of punishment
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 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 Almighty descended upon them, their cities were turned
upside down and showers of stone rained on them. Regarding this the
Qur'aan 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 Jibraaell (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 punuhment 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’aan 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 'civihilised' 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 of 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'aan 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’aan
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.
[ morality in Islam, Acaciaville]
Last modified:
January 10, 2007
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