Islam's position on homosexuality

Homosexuality and lesbianism have been dubbed 'alternative
life-styles', 'personal preference', 'natural variation', etc. In the
West today, where homosexuality was once considered an illness by the
Association of Psychiatrists, it has now been removed from the list
and replaced by homophobia (the dislike of homosexuals and
homosexuality). Consequently, Islam and Muslims are considered
intolerant and biased due to their continued opposition. Arguments
infavour of tolerance towards homosexuals arebased on the assumption
that homosexual behaviour is biologically based and not merely learned
from society.
1. Early opposition to homosexuality was basedon the argument
that such behaviour was unnatural. Sodomy cannot produce children,
which is one of the main natural consequences of sexual relations.
'Mother Nature' did not make us that way, it was argued. To counter
such arguments, homosexual researchers scoured the earth until they
found supposed homosexual behaviour among the animal kingdom. They
found that the males of some species of exotic fishes off the coast
ofJapanimitated the behaviour of females of the species in order to
prevent other males fromimpregnating their mates, and some rare
butterflies from islands off the coast ofAfricaalsohad males
exhibiting female behaviour during mating season, etc. However, if the
animal kingdom is to be used to justify human behaviour, there also
exists a spider inSouth Americawhose female is much larger than the
male. When mating is complete, the female eats her mate.
2. During the 1980's it was claimed that a gland in the base of
the brain which is small in women and large in men was found to be
small among homosexuals. However, this evidence, while seeming
incontrovertibleto the layman, was immediately refuted by scientists.
The data was taken from cross-sectionsof the brains of dead adult
humans whose sexual preference was identified prior to death.
Consequently, the reduced size of that gland among homosexuals could
have been a result of the practice and not its cause. That is, they
could have been born with normal-sized glands which then became
smalldue to their deviant lifestyle.
3. Recently, genetics has become the most commonly used
foundation for the pro-gay argument. In 1993 Dr. Dean Hamer, a
researcher at the National Cancer Institute, claimed to have
discovered 'the first concrete evidence that 'gay genes' really do
exist.' Homosexual orientation was supposedly transmitted to males on
the X chromosome from the mother. Hamer's findings,published in the
prestigious journal 'Science', transformed hiscolourless career as a
government scientist intoa dynamic media personality and he penned his
memoirs. He gave expert testimony to the Colorado Supreme Court that
formed the basis of the victorious decision striking down anti-gay
propositions. However, a replication ofhis study at
theUniversityofWestern Ontariofailed to find any linkage whatsoever
between the X chromosome and sexual orientation. It wasalso found that
Hamer's study lacked a control group; a fundamental principle of
scientific research.
Furthermore, in June 1994, the Chicago Tribune reported that a junior
researcher in Hamer's laboratory who assisted in the gene mapping in
the homosexuality study, alleged that he selectively reported his
data. She was then summarily dismissed from her post-doctoral
fellowship in Hamer's lab.But a National Institute ofHealth
investigation substantiated her claims and gave her another position
in a different lab. Though Dr. Hamer was coy about his own sexuality
in his memoirs, he later admitted in his lectures that he was gay.
4. It should be noted that Islam, in its final form, did not
introduce anti-gay legislature to the world. The texts of the Torah
are replete with clear condemnations of such practices.
5. The consequence of AIDS is enough to prove that homosexuality
is eviland dangerous to society. The early spread of AIDS was
concentratedamong the homosexual community. It later spread to the
heterosexual and the so-called bisexual community through blood
transfusions and intravenous drug usage. Its spread continues on a
rampage among promiscuous heterosexuals.
6. Islam considers homosexuality to be the result of a choice. It
is inconceivable that God made people homosexuals then declared it a
crime and prescribed punishments for it in both this life and the
next. To accept such aproposition is to accept that God is unjust.
Inclinations can exist within humans for a variety of natural and
unnatural acts, from fornication to rape and from necrophilia to
bestiality. These inclinations may come from jinn-suggestions, media
influence, or even from human whisperingsor direct contact. Sodomywas
common among the people of Prophet Loot (Lot)who lived in Sodom,
Palestine; after they had rejected his advice to give up this
evilpractice, Allaah Almighty crushed and then annihilated their city.
TheQuran describes that punishment in the verse which means:"So when
Our commandment came, We made the highest part [of the city] its
lowest and rained upon them stones of hard clay in succession."[Quran:
11:82]
Human beings are not like robots who only do what they are programmed
to. Humans choose and God holds them responsible for their choices.
Were homosexuality a product of genetic destiny, it would be unfair
for God to criminalise it and punish those who practice it. Currently,
some scientists are even claiming that murder is of genetic origin. To
accept that would mean to excuse murderers and tolerate murder.
7. Islam instructs parents to separate their children in their
beds by the age of ten in order toavoid sexual experiences which may
result from childhood experimentation. Such experiences may be
reinforced by contacts in schools and through abuse from adults. Also,
the distinctions between male and female are strongly made in Islamic
teachings.
Prophet Muhammadcursed men who imitate women and women who imitate
men. Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "The Messenger
of Allaahcursed the man who wears women's clothes and the woman who
wears men's clothes." [Abu Dawood & Ibn Maajah]