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Islam and Homosexuality: Difference between revisions
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The four [[Sunni]] [[Madhab|schools of jurisprudence]] all agree that practicing homosexuality is an egregious crime that earns an especially harsh [[Punishments|punishment]], although the schools vary regarding what exactly this punishment should be. In the Hanafi school, the practicing homosexual is to be beat harshly and then executed if they persist. In the Shafi'i school, the practicing homosexual is punished in the same manner as one who engages in [[Zina|illegal intercourse (''zina'')]] - that is, they are lashed 100 times if unmarried and stoned to death if married. Some scholars, referencing the practices of the four [[Rashidun Caliphs|Rightly-Guided (''Rashidun'') Caliphs]], hold that the practicing homosexual should be thrown off of a tall building.<ref>[http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503545556 Fatwa Bank: Death Fall as Punishment for Homosexuality] - Islam Online, July 22, 2002</ref> Others, referencing the Quran, maintain that the homosexual should be imprisoned until they die. Still others, also referencing the Quran, maintain that practicing homosexuals should in all cases be stoned to death.<ref>"''So when Our punishment came upon the people of Lut, We turned the city upside down and showered them with stones of baked clay, one after another.''" - {{Quran|11|82}}</ref> Yet another view is that while the passive party in the male homosexual act should be killed in all cases, the active party escapes execution if unmarried and is to be lashed 100 times.<ref>See the chapter on "hudud" in Sharaya and Sharh Lum'a also al-Khu'i, Takmilah, p. 42-44.</ref> Some scholars also suggest that homosexuals, when executed, should be beheaded rather than stoned. | The four [[Sunni]] [[Madhab|schools of jurisprudence]] all agree that practicing homosexuality is an egregious crime that earns an especially harsh [[Punishments|punishment]], although the schools vary regarding what exactly this punishment should be. In the Hanafi school, the practicing homosexual is to be beat harshly and then executed if they persist. In the Shafi'i school, the practicing homosexual is punished in the same manner as one who engages in [[Zina|illegal intercourse (''zina'')]] - that is, they are lashed 100 times if unmarried and stoned to death if married. Some scholars, referencing the practices of the four [[Rashidun Caliphs|Rightly-Guided (''Rashidun'') Caliphs]], hold that the practicing homosexual should be thrown off of a tall building.<ref>[http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503545556 Fatwa Bank: Death Fall as Punishment for Homosexuality] - Islam Online, July 22, 2002</ref> Others, referencing the Quran, maintain that the homosexual should be imprisoned until they die. Still others, also referencing the Quran, maintain that practicing homosexuals should in all cases be stoned to death.<ref>"''So when Our punishment came upon the people of Lut, We turned the city upside down and showered them with stones of baked clay, one after another.''" - {{Quran|11|82}}</ref> Yet another view is that while the passive party in the male homosexual act should be killed in all cases, the active party escapes execution if unmarried and is to be lashed 100 times.<ref>See the chapter on "hudud" in Sharaya and Sharh Lum'a also al-Khu'i, Takmilah, p. 42-44.</ref> Some scholars also suggest that homosexuals, when executed, should be beheaded rather than stoned. | ||
==In the Muslim world== | ==In the Muslim world== | ||
Some modern academics have argued that the blame for the Islamic hostility towards homosexuality is due to "the adoption of European Victorian attitudes by the new Westernized elite."<ref>El-Rouayheb, 2005, p. 156</ref> For more than a thousand years, however, the Islamic tradition has drawn its views on homosexuality from the accounts of Muhammad's perspective found in the hadith, for Muhammad is described in the Quran (the word of Allah) as [[Uswa Hasana|'the perfect example' (''uswa hasana'')]] for all of humankind. Muhammad instructed, "''If you find anyone doing as Lot's people did, kill the one who does it, and the one to whom it is done.''”<ref>"''Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: If you find anyone doing as Lot's people did, kill the one who does it, and the one to whom it is done.''" - {{ | Some modern academics have argued that the blame for the Islamic hostility towards homosexuality is due to "the adoption of European Victorian attitudes by the new Westernized elite."<ref>El-Rouayheb, 2005, p. 156</ref> For more than a thousand years, however, the Islamic tradition has drawn its views on homosexuality from the accounts of Muhammad's perspective found in the hadith, for Muhammad is described in the Quran (the word of Allah) as [[Uswa Hasana|'the perfect example' (''uswa hasana'')]] for all of humankind. Muhammad instructed, "''If you find anyone doing as Lot's people did, kill the one who does it, and the one to whom it is done.''”<ref>"''Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: If you find anyone doing as Lot's people did, kill the one who does it, and the one to whom it is done.''" - {{Abu Dawud||4462|darussalam}}</ref> He also condemned the mere “appearance” of homosexuality, when he cursed effeminate men and masculine women and ordered his followers to ''"Turn them out of your houses."''<ref>"''Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: The Prophet cursed effeminate men (those men who are in the similitude (assume the manners of women) and those women who assume the manners of men, and he said, "Turn them out of your houses ." The Prophet turned out such-and-such man, and 'Umar turned out such-and-such woman.''" - {{Bukhari|||5886|darussalam}}</ref> This ruling on homosexuals was naturally adopted by his later successors. The father of [[Aisha]] and Muhammad’s first successor, [[Abu Bakr Abdullah ibn Uthman|Abu Bakr]], had a homosexual burned at the stake. The fourth Rightly-Guided [[Caliph]], Muhammad’s son-in-law [[Ali ibn Abi Talib|Ali]], ordered homosexuals to be stoned, and even had one thrown from the minaret of a mosque.<ref>Serge Trifkovic - [http://97.74.65.51/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=20145 Islam's Love-Hate Relationship with Homosexuality] - FrontPageMag, January 24, 2003</ref> These events pre-date any sort of Western influence on Islamic thought and have since shaped the Islamic perspective on homosexuals in religious contexts. This said, the individual and even societal perspectives of Muslims, irrespective of the views and practices of the Islamic establishment, have, of course, varied through time. | ||
According to Saudi scholar Shaykh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid: "''The spread of homosexuality has caused man diseases which neither the east nor the west can deny exist because of them. Even if the only result of this perversion was AIDS – which attacks the immune system in humans – that would be enough.''"<ref>Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid - [http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/10050 Why does Islam forbid lesbianism and homosexuality?] - Islam Q&A, Fatwa No. 10050</ref> Even among the 3% of the world's Muslims living in "more-developed regions",<ref>''"As of 2010, about three-quarters of the world’s Muslims (74.1%) live in the 49 countries in which Muslims make up a majority of the population. More than a fifth of all Muslims (23.3%) live in non-Muslim-majority countries in the developing world. About 3% of the world’s Muslims live in more-developed regions, such as Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan."'' - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.pewforum.org/The-Future-of-the-Global-Muslim-Population.aspx|2=2012-12-02}} The Future of the Global Muslim Population], The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, January 27, 2011</ref> homosexuality is generally held to be unacceptable, though there is a trend towards more socially liberal views. A Gallup survey carried out in early 2009, for instance, found that British Muslims have zero tolerance for homosexuality - not a single British Muslim interviewed believed that homosexual acts were morally acceptable.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/may/07/muslims-britain-france-germany-homosexuality|2=2011-11-30}} Muslims in Britain have zero tolerance of homosexuality, says poll] - The Guardian, May 7, 2009</ref><ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.euro-islam.info/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/gallup_coexist_2009_interfaith_relations_uk_france_germany.pdf|2=2011-11-30}} The Gallup Coexist Index 2009: A Global Study of Interfaith Relations] - Section 2: Public Perceptions Toward Integration, p. 31</ref> A more liberal trend is apparent in an Ipsos-MORI review of poll data conducted in 2016. According to their analysis, while 52% of British Muslims polled thought homosexuality should be illegal in Britain, 28% of younger British Muslim respondents aged 18-24 said instead that homosexuality should be legal compared to 18% of British Muslim respondents overall.<ref>[https://barrowcadbury.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/IPSOs-Mori-Muslim-report.pdf A review of survey results on Muslims in Britain] - Ipsos-MORI - February 2018</ref> | According to Saudi scholar Shaykh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid: "''The spread of homosexuality has caused man diseases which neither the east nor the west can deny exist because of them. Even if the only result of this perversion was AIDS – which attacks the immune system in humans – that would be enough.''"<ref>Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid - [http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/10050 Why does Islam forbid lesbianism and homosexuality?] - Islam Q&A, Fatwa No. 10050</ref> Even among the 3% of the world's Muslims living in "more-developed regions",<ref>''"As of 2010, about three-quarters of the world’s Muslims (74.1%) live in the 49 countries in which Muslims make up a majority of the population. More than a fifth of all Muslims (23.3%) live in non-Muslim-majority countries in the developing world. About 3% of the world’s Muslims live in more-developed regions, such as Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan."'' - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.pewforum.org/The-Future-of-the-Global-Muslim-Population.aspx|2=2012-12-02}} The Future of the Global Muslim Population], The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, January 27, 2011</ref> homosexuality is generally held to be unacceptable, though there is a trend towards more socially liberal views. A Gallup survey carried out in early 2009, for instance, found that British Muslims have zero tolerance for homosexuality - not a single British Muslim interviewed believed that homosexual acts were morally acceptable.<ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/may/07/muslims-britain-france-germany-homosexuality|2=2011-11-30}} Muslims in Britain have zero tolerance of homosexuality, says poll] - The Guardian, May 7, 2009</ref><ref>[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.euro-islam.info/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/gallup_coexist_2009_interfaith_relations_uk_france_germany.pdf|2=2011-11-30}} The Gallup Coexist Index 2009: A Global Study of Interfaith Relations] - Section 2: Public Perceptions Toward Integration, p. 31</ref> A more liberal trend is apparent in an Ipsos-MORI review of poll data conducted in 2016. According to their analysis, while 52% of British Muslims polled thought homosexuality should be illegal in Britain, 28% of younger British Muslim respondents aged 18-24 said instead that homosexuality should be legal compared to 18% of British Muslim respondents overall.<ref>[https://barrowcadbury.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/IPSOs-Mori-Muslim-report.pdf A review of survey results on Muslims in Britain] - Ipsos-MORI - February 2018</ref> | ||