Islam does not condemn homosexual men, says Emory University academic

[mota bhai 2,675]

Does this make Islam more progressive than Christianity on the subject of rights for homosexuals? It would seem so.

Christians, tell me why I'm wrong.

...

Earlier Islamic societies were less hardline. An 11th-century Persian ruler advised his son to alternate his partners seasonally: young men in the summer and women in the winter. Many of the love poems of the eighth-century Abu Nuwas in Baghdad, and of other Persian and Urdu poets, were addressed to boys. In medieval mystic writings, particularly Sufi texts, it is unclear whether the beloved being addressed is a teenage boy or God, providing a quasi-religious sanction for relationships between men and boys. Austere European chroniclers fumed at the indulgent attitudes to gay sex in the Caliphs' courts (now the censure is the other way).

Like liberal Jewish and Christian scholars in recent decades, some Muslim thinkers are now finding theological latitude. “The Koran does not condemn homosexuality,” says Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle, an American Muslim convert who teaches Islamic studies at Emory University in Atlanta. The story of Lot, he argues, deals with male rape and violence, not homosexuality in general. Classical Islamic theologians and jurists were mostly concerned with stifling lustful immorality, he says. Koranic verses describe without condemnation men who have no sexual desire for women.

...

http://www.economist.com/node/21546002

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I see a fatwa forthcoming.

[mota bhai 2,675]

I see a fatwa forthcoming.

What do you mean?

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Homosexuality is ok as long as you don't perform the sex act.

[mota bhai 2,675]

Homosexuality is ok as long as you don't perform the sex act.

Is that the Bible's position? The Bible specifically refers to the sex act of a male homosexual couple?

[duraaraa 203]

I don't know enough about detailed Islamic principles to judge whether or not it is acceptable in that particular religion. I do know, however, that homosexuals do not have an easy life in many countries with Islamic law.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Is that the Bible's position? The Bible specifically refers to the sex act of a male homosexual couple?

Men laying with men. And this carries the same weight as drunkenness, adultery, etc. I think it's ok to be gay as long as there is no sexual pleasure going on.

[duraaraa 203]

Men laying with men. And this carries the same weight as drunkenness, adultery, etc. I think it's ok to be gay as long as there is no sexual pleasure going on.

Maybe it would mean that it's ok to be gay and have sexual pleasure going on, but you must do all of this while standing or sitting... you know, if you follow it to the letter.

[mota bhai 2,675]

I don't know enough about detailed Islamic principles to judge whether or not it is acceptable in that particular religion. I do know, however, that homosexuals do not have an easy life in many countries with Islamic law.

Claiming to follow a religion but not really doing it is hardly unique to the Muslim world.

[duraaraa 203]

Claiming to follow a religion but not really doing it is hardly unique to the Muslim world.

Well, with so many religions divided into so many sub-religions, and so many denominations of the sub-religions, is it even possible to actually follow one?

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

Does this make Islam more progressive than Christianity on the subject of rights for homosexuals? It would seem so.

Christians, tell me why I'm wrong.

There are no real Muslims that are homosexual.. Confirmed in Iran right? Their president said so...

[cybernco 1]

Is the Qur'an not the basis of Islamic faith? The opinion of Islamic society seems irrelevant if their book of faith condemns the act of homosexuality.

Qur'an 7:80-81 says, "We also sent Lut : He said to his people : "Do ye commit lewdness such as no people in creation (ever) committed before you? For ye practice your lusts on men in preference to women: ye are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds."

and

Qur'an 26:165 says, "What! Of all creatures do ye come unto the males, and leave the wives your Lord created for you? Nay, but ye are forward folk."

[Sarah Elle-Même 660]

Is the Qur'an not the basis of Islamic faith? The opinion of Islamic society seems irrelevant if their book of faith condemns the act of homosexuality.

The Torah is the basis of the Jewish faith and the Bible (Old + New Testament) the basis of Christian faith. Do all Jews and Christians follow their books to the letter? Certainly not. Same is true of Muslims, much as that is inconvenient for some people to believe. Culture plays a big role too. Most of the Muslims I know here in the US and my Muslim friends in Europe are tolerant of homosexuality and can accept the idea of a gay or lesbian Muslim (they recognize sexual orientation is something you're born with and not a choice), in MENA countries not so much but it varies.

My fiance is not the most open minded guy in that regard but he's made a lot of progress after living in the US and going to a "hippy" college. He actually finds it crazy and hypocritical that in the US we claim to be a democracy that gives its citizens equal rights and self-determination and yet gay marriage isn't legal in most states. Me? I'm a UU so I love the GLBTQ community. I also buy into the Bible selectively.

Edited April 17, 2013 by Sarah and Adnan

[sandinista! 1,816]

I see a fatwa forthcoming.

[cybernco 1]

The Torah is the basis of the Jewish faith and the Bible (Old + New Testament) the basis of Christian faith. Do all Jews and Christians follow their books to the letter? Certainly not. Same is true of Muslims, much as that is inconvenient for some people to believe. Culture plays a big role too. Most of the Muslims I know here in the US and my Muslim friends in Europe are tolerant of homosexuality and can accept the idea of a gay or lesbian Muslim (they recognize sexual orientation is something you're born with and not a choice), in MENA countries not so much but it varies.

My fiance is not the most open minded guy in that regard but he's made a lot of progress after living in the US and going to a "hippy" college. He actually finds it crazy and hypocritical that in the US we claim to be a democracy that gives its citizens equal rights and self-determination and yet gay marriage isn't legal in most states. Me? I'm a UU so I love the GLBTQ community. I also buy into the Bible selectively.

The basis of faith cannot be abandoned or modified for individual tastes. Individual and public opinion is irrelevant. People that do not practice their faith are not believers of the religion of which they claim affiliation.

The Qur'an and the Bible both condemn homosexuality. It is God who sets the standards of right and wrong, not man.