Being gay and muslim is NOT a mistake from God
The following is a powerful posting from ‘The Gay Muslims Listserv’
Being gay and muslim is NOT a mistake from God and indeed it CAN be accomplished. WE are living and breathing examples of this? I refuse to believe that Allah (swt) would create us like this, which I think He did and then make us suffer in this world. Thus, the whole theory that homosexuality is a test from God to see if you can control your will power and ‘submit’ to His desires (ie. a heterosexual way of life) makes NO sense to me.
Think about it logically. So its OK for a heterosexual couple to get married and have sex “legally” but Allah (swt) condems this sort of interaction for members of the same sex? Is this the loving and merciful God that we all know and believe in? In my opinion NO!
The fact of the matter is that the issue(s) are deeper than that. YES the Quran speaks of homosexuality. But as many members on this list have expressed over and over again, the ayat (verses) in the Quran DO NOT explicity condemn homosexuality per se. But they speak of men who acted out their lusts on other men, and the reason that the nation of Lut (pbuh) was destroyed was for other reasons as well (ie. inhospitability, looting of caravans, etc.)
Did you know that there are a # of nations that have been destroyed, that are mentioned in the Quran, one especially being the Tribe of Madan. They were destroyed for doing bad business and cheating in their business dealings? So my question then becomes? If they were destroyed, just like the nation of Lut (pbuh) was, then why is it that cheating is not viewed with such hate as homosexuality?
The fact of the matter is that the issue is not so black and white. Did you know that NO WHERE in the Quran does Allah (swt) explicity state that homosexual sex has a punishment. Yet when it comes to heterosexual intercourse, outside of marriage, and before marriage, He (swt) states that the couple should be punished… stoning to death and public whip lashing respectively.
So if you look at it that way, Allah (swt) doesn’t even say that its wrong… And in Islamic law, the only way something can be haraam (forbidden) is if it is explicity stated, either in the Quran or by the Rasul (pbuh), for example, pork, alcohol, etc.
The only ayat and the only hadith that mention same-sex acts, mind you they are actual sex, not the identity of being gay (which is a very new and Western phenomenon, and a discussion for another time), are the following:
Allah (swt) says in the Quran: “If you find them (two men) engaging in unnatural acts, punish them both.” What unnatural acts is Allah (swt) talking about though? The specific acts are NEVER mentioned, thus the act itself that is forbidden, if any, becomes questionable. But another ayat in the Quran contradicts the first in stating, “…leave them alone, if they repent..” For Allah is Oft-Merciful and Every-Forgiving.
Additionally, the Rasul of Allah (pbuh) stated in several hadith, the following:
“Kill the one that is doing it, and the one that it is being done to.” Again, what act is he talking about? Sodomy, or oral sex, or what? Scholars have debated (gay scholars mind you) that the act that was forbidden was only sodomy, ie. anal sex… but that too is up in the air, because one can argue that during the time of the Rasul (pbuh) the act was viewed as degrading and given the fact that Arabs are big into ‘power’ and control issues (no generalization), they used anal sex as a form of control on someone else.
Long story short! Of course we will find hadith and ayat that seemingly go againt our innate desires, and yes this will make us feel angry, upset, depressed, etc.
But NO ONE, NO ONE, no matter what anyone says, will make me lose my faith in the one and true God. And this is what we are all about. Reclaiming our faith. It is sad to think of how many of us have left Islam, understibly so though, because we feel that we have no place within the religion.
But our sexuality is just a small part of who we are. Why don’t we realize that the first question Allah (swt) will ask on the Day of Judgement, is whether we followed the five prayers or not. If we don’t even pass this test, then there is no further reckoning. So I wonder why our sexuality becomes such a big deal.
Of course the reasons are that our social and cultural comminities make it a big deal. NOT OUR RELIGION!
The solutions are not very easy, and yes the battles are yet to be fought. But as I so often say, the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) Muslim movement has begun, and there is no stopping it now.
We have this listserv as a start, with more than 200 people on it from more than 20 countries around the world. We have the highest support from all spheres of the GLBT community at large. I can’t tell you how many people I have spoken to, who are exhilirated that we exist and we are uniting and forming a community of GLBT Muslims. They are on our side!
And now we have the creation of an international organization, named Al-Fatiha, which hopes to address the social and political issues that face GLBT Muslims around the world.
We are working towards tolerance and soon acceptance. But first we must accept ourselves. We are worthy beings… worthy of Allah’s love and His Mercy! He IS on our side!
May Allah (swt) lead us all on the path that is most favored by Him!