Religion. Supposedly the guiding word of the masses, yet to the LGBT+ community it’s a constant source of hate and rejection. But what do two of the world’s biggest religions really have to say about being gay? This week Jonny Marsh looks at Islam…
Few topics generate such heated response from the gay community than religion. Often seen as a final bastion of bigotry and intolerance, hypocrisy and double standards rife through to the very top levels of some faiths in the UK, religions can seem as if they seek to impose on our lifestyles, to tell us we are wrong, and instruct us to change our ways.
As another homophobic Pope takes control of the Vatican, influencing 1.2 billion Catholics around the world, the direct impact it can have on our lives cannot be more obvious. But Christianity is not the only major faith to make the news for perceived homophobia. Islam also has a controversial name for itself, a religion seen as totally incompatible with homosexuality and gay people. But, what is the reality?
GAY PATROL
“Get out of here you fag… Don’t stay around here any more,” says one man. “You’re dirty mate. Don’t you know this is a Muslim area? What’s wrong with your face? You’re walking through a Muslim area dressed like a fag, mate.”
These are the words you would dread as you walk London’s streets at night. But in January this year YouTube videos surfaced showing just that – a lone man threatened and intimidated for the way he looks, for his supposed sexuality. This portrayal of Islam as homophobic is all too common in popular media. But are they the most visual element of a widespread condemnation of homosexuality, or a rare and extreme faction within the Islamic faith?
However disturbing they are to watch, the ‘patrols’ were quickly and rightly condemned by the Muslim community and its scholars and leaders. I spoke to several Muslims who instantly denounce such actions. Naseer Muhammad, a British Pakistani Muslim who happens to be gay, argues that these “ill-informed” individuals “need to claim their homophobia instead of using their misinterpretation and ignorance of Islam as justification: Islam is not intrinsically homophobic. The Quran is ambiguous at best concerning homosexuality.”
In fact there is no word in the Qur’an for “gay” or “homosexual”, and no mention of lesbians at all. So with no mention of homosexuality within the Quran, where do homophobes find their justification?
“Islam is not intrinsically homophobic. The Quran is ambiguous at best concerning homosexuality.”
“Homophobic text is not found in the Quran but the Hadith,” says Naseer. “The Hadith is attributed to the actions and thoughts of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him). However, the Hadith was written decades if not hundreds of years after the death of the prophet. Furthermore, the Quran clearly states that it should be the only source of instruction and guidance for all Muslims.”
So, this makes it a contentious link and very much open to interpretation. One could argue that the homophobia is an added construct, an invention by later scholars who used some creative license or imagination to create these additional rules – not conformed to universally across the Muslim world.
And even if these later additions to the holy canon are to be held true, it is unnecessary for such hateful behaviour as demonstrated by the bigots in East London. Rasheed Eldin, editor of the Eye on Gay Muslims website, tells me that it is a “fundamental teaching of Islam that a person is not blamed for their feelings, thoughts or even intentions so long as they do not act upon them. Even concerning those who openly practise homosexuality, Muslims must make clear their principled disagreement, but ultimately one must live and let live. One may only teach and advise on matters of morality, then respect the law and authorities.”
OUT & PROUD?
Gay marriage is another contentious issue. As the majority of Muslim MPs voted for gay marriage, counter meetings have taken place, to address what Muslims must do to oppose the ‘huge controversy’. Several extremist clerics have issued ‘Fatwas’ against the politicians who voted in favour of equality. Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell argues this isn’t representative of the population.
“The people making the threats are a tiny extreme Islamist minority,”’ he says. “They do not represent most Muslims in Britain. The clerics who issued these fatwas are preaching hatred. Islam encourages love and marriage. Religious leaders should welcome the fact that gay couples love each other and want to get married.”
So if we are to suppose this more moderate, live and let live, Islam is adopted, could one live as an out and proud gay Muslim man or woman amongst the community of their faith? Unfortunately even the most moderate of Muslims would probably say, no. That would be “definitively contrary to Islamic teachings,” says Rasheed. What’s needed is further dialogue on the matter.
“The problem is that very little help is available to them, and people are too quick to condemn ‘homosexuality’ with all its meanings, not distinguishing between actions and attractions. When the Muslim community is allowed space to breathe from political pressures of the day, perhaps some serious internal dialogue will take place on our own terms.”
Naseer agrees that there needs to be more discussion. “There has never been an open and honest debate about homosexuality and Islam amongst British Muslims,” he tells me. “This is very much needed, if common sense is to overcome cultural bigotry. Having experienced homophobia, xenophobia and Islamophobia, I have come to the conclusion that bigotry has no friends. I always strive to respect the individual. An increasing number of British Muslims are coming out, but I suspect that many do not. Cultural bigotry and misinterpretation of their faith leaves many in the shadows. They are sadly living a double existence.
“The sad reality is that if Muslims followed the teaching of the Quran, homophobia would not be condoned in the Islamic world.”
• Visit Naseer’s blog at www.braki.co.uk and Eye on Gay Muslims at www.gaymuslims.org
NEXT WEEK: CHRISTIANITY
