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Using as springboard the religious and historical background that led to the formation of the شَريعة Sharī‘a Law in Islam, in this work I explore how exegesis and, particularly eisegesis, of Islamic holy texts (Qur’ān and أحَادِيثAhādīth of the Prophet Muhammad) are used to justify a forced and biased heuristic discourse that fits the needs of certain groups—hailing from diverse regions and nations of the world—that, in the name of Islam (Sunni as well as Shī‘ī) and the entire Muslim community (أُمَّةummah), discriminate against, disenfranchise, and, most of the time, severely penalize members of the LGBTQIA+ community living in their midst. Human rights violations against members of the LGBTQIA+ community living in the Islamic world from the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa to the Middle East and Southeast Asia will thus be analyzed within the framework of biased Islamic hermeneutics and rhetoric aimed at controlling its own citizens.
Visiting Scholar, Language Center, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
Collegiate Visiting Scholar in Residence, Moon Chun Memorial College, University of Macau, Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (MSAR), Macau, China
*Address all correspondence to: josephlevi21@yahoo.com
1. Introduction
Throughout history, heuristic analyses of holy texts, divine and/or divinely inspired, have been the result of a multifaceted approach to urgently address and solve problems of interpretation(s) when it came to unclear, obscure, and/or non-existent passages on a specific (at the time contemporary) topic, thus allowing for the formulation of fixed rules of conduct within a given a society.1 Heuristic reasoning was particularly useful when dealing with issues not discussed in holy texts simply because they did not exist at the time of their composition and/or simply because, for whatever reason, the holy texts, through their (at times divinely-inspired) writers, were silent about these matters.
Indeed, heuristic is knowledge acquired through an investigative process whereby scholars, by the painstaking act of discovering,2 devise a method to create yet, never tangibly prove, a theory that can be transformed into, adapted for, and eventually added to an existing law or canon (religious and/or secular).
Religious heuristics, in oral (through oral tradition) as well as written form, have accompanied humankind since the appearance of the first societies, based on a centralized power, around the world, namely, in the pre-Columbian and pre-Cabraline3 Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific islands.
Of the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), Islam is by far the most interesting to examine when it comes to heuristic analyses and, perforce, the dichotomy exegesis vs. eisegesis.4 Indeed, by its very nature, given that chronologically it is the last of these three monotheistic faiths that took their first steps in the Middle East, Islam benefitted from the discourse of Late Antiquity (3rd–7th CE), particularly the philosophical and juridical approach and discourse practiced in the Hellenic (507 BCE–323 BCE) and Hellenistic worlds (323–31 BCE). It is no surprise, then, that during the first four centuries after the death of Prophet Muhammad (c. 570–632), Islam was receptive of the speculative tradition of performing heuristic discourse of Late Antiquity, though imbued with and transformed by a vast array of traditions hailing from the Islamic world, then in the making. Indeed, as Islam was spreading physically and religiously in the Middle East, the Maghreb, West and East Africa, Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia it also absorbed the mores of the conquered lands (provided that they did not contradict the Islamic tenets), including the speculative reasoning and approach to religious and legal texts.
Prior to delving into this matter further, it is necessary to introduce a few key concepts related to Inner Faith, Outward Religion, Sharī‘a law, and Islamic Religious Jurisprudence.
2. Inner Faith (إِيمَان Īmān) vs. Outward Religion (دِين Dīn)
In Islamic Law, fiqhفِقْه (religious jurisprudence),5īmānإِيمَان is the “inner faith,” or rather, it is the “heart,” qalb قَلْب, also referred to as the internal world or (human) conscience (ضَمِيرḍamīr). Outward Religion (دِينdīn) and fiqh are thus two separate entities; yet, they are mutually compatible because they have a common goal: the welfare of humankind (ألْبَشَرَal-Bashara), or rather, those who possess an “earthly nature,” i.e., human beings.
Īmān is therefore the intimate counterpart—judged only by God—of the external manifestations of faith, i.e., al-Islām الإِسْلاَم, which are governed and assessed by the Sharī‘a شَرِيعَة, the Divine Law, a set of social/legal beliefs, practices, and rules which all Muslims must follow and respect; hence, the necessity of abiding by, to the letter, its religious, communal, and legal precepts, lest the reproaches and/or penalties imposed upon the believers by the قَاضٍqādi, or rather, the Islamic judge, the إِمَامimām (imam in English), the عَالِم‘ālim,6 and/or the مُفْتٍ mufti7 of the local Muslim community, area, region, and/or nation where Islam is the dominant religion.
Inner Faith (Īmān) is very intimate and personal; hence, the Law (Fiqh) has no jurisdiction over it. In other words, Inner Faith (Īmān) cannot be judged by human laws and regulations. On the other hand, human actions are the focus of the Law (Fiqh) because they are external (fi al-zahīri في الَّظهِيرِ), they are physically tangible, or rather, they are observable; hence, the need to be judged, if and when necessary.
Indeed, in Islam there is no clear-cut separation between the secular and the religious worlds, between the sacred (حَرَامHarām)8 and the profane (دُنْيَوِيّDunyawiyy, literally, the “things of the world”). Technically speaking, there is no profane world, since everything emanates from God. Likewise, the secular aspect of our lives, as believers, is being preempted or occupied by the religious conduct that we, as believers, are expected to follow. This is an absolute must if we want to succeed on Earth (أَلأَرْضal-Arḍ) as well as in the Afterlife (الآخِرَةal-Ākhirah).
All aspects of life are then connected; hence, they are all ruled by a single set of laws, and integrated into a common axis, in which all Muslims must believe, follow, and practice, inwardly as well as outwardly, though only God can judge the innermost desires, feelings, and thoughts of each believer. As for the rest, then, there is a specific modus operandi that has to be obeyed and followed since any transgressions will have to be legally punished; hence, the need for the introduction of the Sharī‘a.
Literally “a watering place,” and/or “the road;” the شَريعةSharī‘a is the social and religious “path” that all believers have to follow on Earth. As such, the religious law of Islam (fiqh) can only rule over human behavior that is directed at or that has consequences on earthly matters. All other actions, even if deplorable or unadvisable, fall outside the jurisdiction of human judgment and cannot be punished/enforced in a court of law.
Among the external manifestations of Inner Faith (Īman), and by far the most important ones, there are the الأَرْكَان الإسْلاَمArkān al-Islām, or rather, the five “Pillars of Islam.”9 The external forms of religious practice in Islam are also known as عِبَادَات‘Ibādāt, literally “worship,” or إِحْسَانIhsān, or rather, the “highest form of worship.” Literally “making [something] beautiful/good” or “doing [things] beautifully,” the term usually carries the meaning of worshiping God for His Essence, as if we could actually see Him and, at the same time, recognize as a fact that He can indeed see us. In this respect, Ihsān should be considered as the quintessence of worship which has at its core the Qur’ān and the أَحَادِيثAhādīth of Prophet Muhammad, collectively known as سُنَّةSunnah:
The ihsānī intellectual tradition begins with the teachings of the Qur’ān and the Prophet Muhammad, who told his companions that “God has ordained ihsān for everything.” In perhaps his most famous teaching on the subject he said: “Ihsān is to worship God as if you see Him, and if you do not see Him, He nonetheless sees you” [5].10
In the early years of Islam there was no clear cut-division between the Religious Law (Fiqh) and the External Religion (Dīn). As a matter of fact, the term Sharī‘a was introduced at a later date, replacing the multipurpose Fiqh (literally, understanding) as the latter word was indiscriminately applied to both the study of the Law proper and Theology as such. ‘Ilmعِلْم (Knowledge), on the other hand, was first used to describe the collection of the أَحَادِيثAhādīth of the Prophet Muhammad.11
One way to avoid confusion, then, given the many meanings of the word fiqh, was letting the term fiqh be followed by an analytical form; thus the creation of two expressions came to be, namely: فِقْه فِي الِّدينِFiqh fī al-Dīn, the religious side of the Law, in other words, “the insight into the religion,” and فِقْه فِي الْعِلْمِFiqh fī al-‘Ilm, i.e., its secular counterpart, or rather, “the insight into the knowledge.”
On the other hand, the Sharī‘a was the exegesis of the Holy Law contained in both the Qur’ān and the Ahādīth of the Prophet Muhammad. Only later then, the Sharī‘a was seen as an encircling corpus of laws which governed all aspects of Islamic life, from conception and birth to death and the Afterlife.
4. Usūl al-Fiqh أُصُول الْفِقْهِ (The Roots of Islamic Religious Jurisprudence)
[…] the Islamic value system […] comes from God and not merely human forms of knowledge which are based by definition upon human reason and the five external senses, and specifically deny any other possible avenue for authentic knowledge [11].
Islamic juridical methodology is usually denominated أُصُول الْفِقْهِUsūl al-Fiqh, or rather, “the roots (sources) of Islamic Religious Jurisprudence.” Let us look at Figure 1. Starting from the right side of the page, we can thus imagine a drawing of a tree (شَجَرَةshajarah) with five big, long roots (أُصُولusūl), the first of which being the Qur’ān, followed by the سُنَّةSunnah of the Prophet Muhammad, once again, the collection of written and oral sayings (Ahādīth) legitimately attributed to Prophet Muhammad. The other three roots are: إِجْمَاعIjmāh, the general consensus, or rather, the vox populi, the voice of the people, almost always represented/carried out by a religious leader; the قِيَاسQiyās (deduction, analogical/syllogistic reasoning) orرَأْيray (insight/practical and free reasoning); and the عُرْف‘Urf or عَادَة‘Ādat (local customs). The فُرُوعfurū’ (branches), instead, are the seat for the abovementioned Arkān al-Islām (Five Pillars of Islam), the Madhāhab, or rather, the canonically recognized, four Schools of Islamic Law (Sunnah), the ‘Ibādāt,12 and the Mu‘āmalāt.13
Figure 1.
Islamic Law. Usūl al-Fiqh. Image created by the author [12].
In Islam, the theologians responsible for the sociopolitical and religious welfare of the Muslim community, the أُمَّةummah,14 are the عُلَمَاء ‘ulamā’ (singular: عَالِم‘ālim), literally “the learned men,” or better yet, “those who possess the عِلْم‘Ilm,” i.e., Knowledge:
[…] of things as they are in themselves, a knowledge in which everything is given its proper place because everything is seen in relation to God, and the relations between things are understood on the basis of their relationship to God [5].
Hence, the ‘ulamā’ are the (religious) teachers, or rather, the learned instructors; whereas the فُقَهَاءfuqahā’ are the lawmakers, at the service and for the benefit of the entire Muslim community, once again, the ummah.
These scholars and religious learned men alike are in charge of the Divine Law (Sharī‘ah). Given the complete absence of priesthood and of an accompanying religious hierarchy in Islam, the ‘ulamāh and fuqahā’ are the custodians, in a sense, of both the secular and religious aspects of the Divine Law (Sharī’ah).
Logic, mathematics, metaphysics, and natural science form the عَقْلي‘Aqlī, or rather, the philosophical and intellectual sciences than can be acquired naturally by all Muslims through the use of instinctive reason and intellect. However, believers cannot learn any of these sciences by themselves, since they entail deep understanding and extensive training.
Conversely, the opposite can be said for the نَقْليNaqlī, the “transmitted sciences,” which all Muslims can acquire through “transmission” (simply put, teaching/learning), or rather, investigating the original sources, and, as for the religious sciences, studying the Divine Revelation (وَحِي Wahy) itself. The Naqlī comprise many sources, though their three pillars are the Qur’ān,15 the Ahādīth of the Prophet Muhammad (the Sunnah), and ألَّصرْفُal-Sarf, or rather, Grammar, obviously, the grammar of the Arabic language. Indeed, Arabic is the language of the uncreated and eternal Holy Qur’ān, the language of God; hence, there is a necessity to truly understand the exact meaning of all the words which, in its turn, will also help believers appreciate the spiritual, social, and religious messages and signs (آيَاتĀyāt) contained in the sacred text: “[s]ince the grammar of the Arabic language is the grammar of the language which God used in transmitting his final revelation, it was taken to represent formally the structure of what can be said and how it can be said.”[14].
As Figure 2 clearly shows, exegesis is solely based on what the text conveys, whereas eisegesis is solely based on what the reader of the text inserts into the text, or rather, it is a personal and most of the time biased interpretation of the (secular and/or sacred) text.
Figure 2.
Exegese Eisegese [15].
Throughout Islamic history then, Muslim scholars and religious learned men alike have been in charge of the Divine Law (Sharī‘ah). Their deliberations on religious matters, as well as secular issues that intersect with and/or are regulated by religion, require their heuristic interpretations that, in theory, should be based on purely unbiased, exegetical analysis. Alas, most of the time, exegesis transforms itself into eisegesis, or rather, into a personal, biased, and deliberately constructed reading that forces an interpretation that was never intended in the original sacred texts.
Unfortunately, using as a springboard verses from the Qur‘ān and the Ahādīth of the Prophet Muhammad, these Muslim scholars and religious learned men alike forge a narrative that is historically and contextually erroneous. As mentioned above, the lack of knowledge of the populace when it comes to historical and religious matters allows imams, ayatollahs, muftis, mullahs, ‘ulamāh, and/or fuqahā’ to emit and perpetuate (anachronous) non-truths so that they can then present them as facts. The “other” who happens not to be liked, who is misunderstood, and/or who is seen as a “threat,” is thus “divinely” punished by the eisegetical and anachronistic interpretation of these learned men.
For instance, while living in دَار الإِسْلامdār al-Islām (Muslim soil), the أهْل الكِتَابAhl al-Kitābi “people of the book” are to be considered ذِمّيdhimmi, i.e., protected, because of their monotheistic faith. The People of the Book include Jews, Christians, Sabians, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Sikhs, Samaritans, and Mandeans [14]. The Qur’ān and the Ahādīth of the Prophet Muhammad either mention or allude to their monotheistic religion.16 Additionally, the term “people of the book” should also be applied to any community during the pre-Islamic era, contemporaneous to the birth of Islam, or who will be met later by Muslims as they brought the word of Allah outside the Arabian Peninsula, who had monotheistic beliefs and “who base(d) their religion on a holy book, as in the case of the Hindus” [17, 18].
Throughout the centuries, Muslim religious leaders adhered to the law and treated the “people of the book” with respect and, upon payment of the جِزيةjizyah (dhimmi tax), granted them full protection [Qur’ān 9:29]. For instance, during the Golden Age of Islam,17 Jewish communities flourished in the Muslim world, from الأنْدَلُسal-Andalus (Muslim Iberia, 711–1492) and the Maghreb to Central Asia, whereby they actively contributed to the economic welfare of the Islamic caliphates while also contributing with significant advancements in the humanities (particularly philosophy) as well as in the physical and biological sciences.18
Far from being idyllic, the protection enjoyed by the “people of the book” (ذَمَّةdhimmah), particularly Jews and Christians, guaranteed a peaceful coexistence and collaboration among Muslims and monotheistic non-Muslims living in dār al-Islām. Understandably and unfortunately, there were and, as of late, there are cases in which imams, ayatollahs, muftis, mullahs, ‘ulamāh, and/or fuqahā’ performe(d) eisegesis of the holy Islamic texts in order to conveniently penalize, ostracize, and eventually punish the monotheistic “other” (particularly the Jewish community) living in their midst. Using as a cornerstone verses of the Qur’ān and of the Ahādīth of the Prophet Muhammad, taken out of context, these Muslim leaders construct(ed) a narrative that justified/justifies the ill treatment (including death) of and outright discrimination against the (monotheistic) “other.”19
Barring Jews and Christians, the LGBTQIA+ community is perhaps the group against which—unilaterally acting on behalf of Islam (Sunni as well as Shī‘ī) and the entire Muslim community, the ummah—Muslim religious men launch their innumerous attacks solely justified by supposedly, unbiased, purely exegetical (sic) analyses of the holy texts so that they can discriminate against, disenfranchise, and, most of the time, severely penalize them while they are living in their midst in dār al-Islām.
7.1 What do the Qur’ān and the Ahādīth of the Prophet Muhammad say about LGBTQIA+ matters?
Qur’ān 7:80–84 refers to an episode also found in Genesis 19:1–13, though slightly different, namely: the male messengers (angels) sent by God to لُوط (Lūṭ) Lot:
Elsewhere in the Qur’ān (Qur’ān 54:37), it is also repeated that these lewd men “even sought to snatch away” Lot’s visitors in his house so that they could have sexual intercourse with them. They were male messengers (angels) sent by God who blinded the would-be aggressors who lusted after these men:
Quite a few Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scholars, among others hailing from several religious denominations and regions of the world, commented on these passages, some in support of, some against God’s condemnation of homosexuality, while others placed the episode into a (purely) historical context, thus concentrating on the fact that most likely lusting after these male messengers was a way of disregarding and disrespecting Lot’s leadership and not a homosexual desire per se since the modern concepts of sexual orientation and identity were nonexistent at this time [30, 31]. Similar approaches have been made for references to same-sex relations in the Old and New Testament which, as those found in the Qur’ān, could be referring or alluding to something else rather than a strict condemnation of homosexuality; yet, not all scholars share the same point of view [32, 33, 34, 35].
In the Ahādīth of the Prophet Muhammad, references to homosexuality are explicit and they refer to sodomy as well as slander for accusing someone of being homosexual, as in this case:
If one man says another: “O effeminate one!, give him twenty lashes. And if one man says to another: “O homosexual!, give him twenty twenty lashes” [36].
Also in this case, witnesses are needed in order to substantiate the veracity of such alleged acts and, consequently, punish the culprits or transgressors, if you will:
وَعَنْ اِبْنِ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِيَ اَللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا; أَنَّ اَلنَّبِيَّ - صلى الله عليه وسلم -قَالَ: {مَنْ وَجَدْتُمُوهُ
Ibn ‘Abbas (RAA) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “Whoever you find doing as the people of Lot did (i.e., homosexuality), ill the one who does it and the one to whom it is done, and if you find anyone having sexual intercourse with animal, kill him and kill the animal.” Related by Ahmad and the four Imams with a trustworthy chain of narrators [37].
In the situation below, found in Qur’ān 4:15, if women commit lewd acts, they have to be punished; yet, four (male)21 witnesses are needed in order to corroborate the veracity of the accusation and then proceed with the punishment:
Conversely, as attested in Qur’ān 4:16, if two men commit lewd acts, they also have to be punished, provided that four (male) witnesses can testify as to the truthfulness of the alleged accusation:
Additionally and more importantly, though, the Qur’ān also mentions that, should they repent, these two men are to be left alone since only God can judge human beings and, most importantly, God is forgiving and merciful. In other words, the Qur’ān implies that, in the absence of proof (i.e., four male witnesses), human beings are not in a position to judge other human beings.
As we can see then, the Qur’ān does not really state in detail the punishment of homosexual acts. As for the Ahādīth of the Prophet Muhammad, besides the passages mentioned above, there are some verses that address female and male homosexuality, as in the case of the hadīth below reported by بن أحْمَد بن أيُوب بن مُطيِّر اللخمي الشَّامِي الطَّبَرَاني أبُو القَاسِم سُليمَان Abū al-Qāsim Sulaymān ibn Aḥmad ibn Ayyūb ibn Muṭayyir al-Lahmī al-Shāmī al-Ṭabarānī (874–971), a Sunni jurist and scholar, of the Sunni Hanbalī law school, renowned for his multi-volume edition of the Ahādīth of the Prophet Muhammad who, in his turn, quoted from أبُو مُوس الشَّعْري Abū Musā al-Ash‘arī (602-c. 662/c. 672), one of the companions of Prophet Muhammad; hence, his source is (presumably) very trustworthy:
From أبُو مُوس الشَّعْري Abū Musā al-Ash‘arī, the Prophet states that: “If a woman comes upon a woman, they are both adulteresses, if a man comes upon a man, then they are both adulterers.”22
It is clear that the emphasis here is on adultery, not on the gender and/or the sexual orientation of the offenders. The four Muslim scholars whose names are used to denominate each of the four Sunni Law Schools (مَذَاهِبmadhāhib)23 all had different opinions on male homosexuality, ranging from the most lenient (حَنْبَليِ Hanbalī) to the most draconian (مَالِكِي Mālikī) punishment for those who acted upon their lustful feelings towards the same sex, particularly (young) men [38, 45].
Muhammad’s close friend, son-in-law, and third caliph (r. 644–656) of the first four caliphs that ruled after the death of Prophet Muhammad (الخُلفاء الرَّاشِدُونKhulafā’ al-Rashidūn, the Rightly Guided Caliphs, 632–661), عُثْمَان بن عفَّان ‘Uthmān bin ‘Affān (c. 573–656), stated that:
Al-Hasan ibn Dhakwan, may Allah have mercy on him, said, “Do not sit with young boy singers, for their appearance is like that of women. They are an even greater temptation than young virgin girls” [46, 47].
This ḥadīth acknowledges that (supposedly) heterosexual adult men found young boys/men very attractive; hence, it is implying that at this time it was a known fact and that it was (very) common for adult men to find young boys/men attractive. Moreover, it implies that adult men (usually) succumbed to the temptation and indeed had intimate contacts with young boys/men, or else there would not have been a need to utter this statement/prohibition. Needless to say, interesting parallels can be drawn from the Greek tradition, among many other ancient cultures in Europe, the Middle East, and other parts of the world, whereby adult/older men enjoyed the presence of (very) young lads [48, 49].24 Additionally, this ḥadīth reinforces what is stated in Qur’ān 24:30, namely:
Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: and God is well acquainted with all that they do [29].
The “gaze” here refers to staring at anyone, women and/or men. Abdullah Yusuf Ali (1872–1953), one of the finest English language translators, commentators, and exegetes of the Qur’ān, utilized the word “modesty” since a “brazen stare by a man at a woman (or even at a man) is a breach of refined manners.” For Abdullah Yusuf Ali, when it comes to sex, men, allegedly “the stronger sex,” are indeed the “weakest sex” when it comes to refraining from acting upon their lustful, sexual desires. Hence, “modesty” was the key to guarding “the spiritual good of the stronger sex” [29].
Once again, the emphasis was on behavior, not sexual orientation/identity per se since, at this time in European and Middle Eastern history, the sexual orientation/identity of the offender(s) was not an issue simply because there was no concept of sexual orientation and/or sexual identity, regardless of how they might have felt inwardly. Indeed, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people at this time did not have the opportunity to explore and negotiate their identity and sexual role within their own society [51, 52].
The ultimate intention (نِيَّةniyyah) is thus the key. Indeed, it appears that God understands that human beings have feelings. Yet, they should refrain from putting them into action. This is what some scholars believe is the meaning of some Ahādīth of the Prophet Muhammad, whereby same-sex attractions among men were allowed because they were considered “natural,” lest men took action and succumbed to their lustful wishes [53, 54, 55].
Undeniably, in a number of Ahādīth Prophet Muhammad appears to acknowledge this “natural” attraction; yet, he advises not to fall into temptation and then act upon it. Hence, his best advice was to not look at young boys/men in the first place. In other words, he was advocating for avoidance:
Do not gaze at the beardless youths, for verily they have eyes more tempting that the houris [56, 57].
Islamic scholar إِسْمَاعِيل العجْلوني Ismā‘īl al-‘Ajlūnī (1676–1749), hailing from present-day Syria, in his famous كتاب: كشف الخفاء ومزيل الإلباس عما اشتهر من الأحاديث على ألسنة الناس (Unveiling the Hidden Truth and Removing the Confusion about the Aḥadīth that are Widespread upon the Tongues of the People), lists in alphabetical order Aḥadīth that have been attributed to Prophet Muhammad, most of them erroneously, including ḥadīth number 2997:
لا تنظروا إلى المردان فإن فيهم لمحة من الحور 2997
Do not glaze at beardless young boys, for they have the glimpse of the houris [intense white and black] [58, 59].
Another ḥadīth also warns against staring at young men, despite the ultimate intention (niyyah) since, no matter what, the end result would be the same, i.e., lust and/or lascivious behavior winning over restraint:
Ibn Taymiyyah said, “Looking at the face of a beardless youth with passion is like looking at the face of a forbidden or an unrelated woman with passion, whether it is done with the passion of intercourse or the passion of arousal” [46].
Certainly, as renowned Islamic scholar Pinhas Ben Nahum stated, Prophet Muhammad saw homosexuality “with philosophic indifference.” This is because the punishment was “not indicated—it was probably some public reproach or insult of a slight nature—but mere penitence sufficed to escape the punishment” [60].
7.2 Female and male homoeroticism, same-sex attraction, lust vs. homosexuality, sexual orientation, and sexual identity
Indeed, it would be anachronistic to state that sexual orientation played a role in the condemnation and prohibition of homosexuality (male and female) since at this time in European and Middle Eastern history (pre-Islamic era through the end of the 18th century) the issue was the age and/or the position of power that one person had over the person with whom he or she was being sexually intimate, not their sexual orientation and/or identity.25 In the case of men, as it often was, it was a matter of power, or rather: the (allegedly masculine, sic) adult man taking advantage of and acting upon his lustful feelings for the (assumed weaker and effeminate) boy/(very) young man.
Once again, the attraction was conceived in terms of lust, sexual prowess, power, and dominance; it was not associated with one’s sexual orientation and/or identity. In Ancient Greek, μαλακοὶ malakoi was the word used to denote the (perceived) effeminate/soft/weak boy or young man. In the pre-Islamic Arabian Peninsula, the term مُخَنَّثوُنmukhannathūn (the effeminates; singular: مُخَنَّثmukhannath, from the first and fifth Arabic verb forms خَنِثkhanitha and تَخَنَّثtakhannatha respectively) [62], denoted men who were perceived as being, or who indeed were, effeminate, who looked like women, whose sexual features were ambiguous, including being bisexual, and/or who oftentimes assumed the sexual role of women [63, 64, 65, 66]. تَكَسُّرTakassur (broken, from the fifth Arabic verb form تَكَسَّرtakassara and تَثَنّيtathannī (bent, wobbly, from the fifth Arabic verb form تَثَنّيtathannī [62]) were the euphemisms for a mukhannath. In general, the term mukhannathūn was used when referring to men associated with dance, music, and/or entertainment (e.g., comedians) [65, 67].
Figure 3 clearly shows the more than friendly farewell kiss between أبُو زَيد Abū-Zayd and الحَارث al-Hārith, also known as الحَريري al-Ḥarīrī (the silk merchant) of Basra (1054–1122). Al-Ḥarīrī was a very famous poet, scholar, and government official working for the Seljuk Empire (1037–1194).
Figure 3.
Ms Ar 3929, f.122. Farewells of أبُو زَيد Abū-Zayd and الحَارث al-Hārith before the return to Mecca [68].
Indeed, contrary to the current discourse against the LGBTQIA+ community in the Islamic world, in pre-Islamic times and for many centuries during the ensuing dynasties that reigned, at some time or another, from the Iberian Peninsula, the Maghreb, and West Africa to the Middle East, East Africa, Central Asia, and the Indian Subcontinent from the death of Prophet Muhammad (632) to the end of the Abbasid Caliphate (750–158, 1261–1517), actors, musicians, and singers were referred to as (i.) mukhannathūn, (ii.) مِيمَهmīmah, from the first and fourth Arabic verb forms وَمَاwamāah and أوْمأawmāh, to gesticulate, (iii.) مُحَاكيmuḥākī, from the third Arabic verb form حَاكّىḥākkāh, he who imitates, and/or (iv.) مُضْحِكmuḍḥik (an adjectival form denoting he who performs comedy or a buffoon, from the tenth Arabic verb form إِسْتَضْحَكistaḍḥaka, to induce someone to laughter [62]):
In Thesaurus Syriacus the Greek term mimos is given in Syriac according to Ibn Bahlūl (c.963 CE) as mīmas and mīmsā with their Arabic meaning as al-mukhannath almuḥākī al-maskharī (the imitating comedian mimic), as well as mukhannath, muḥākī, almuḍḥik (mime, imitator, comedian), a clear indication that the term mukhannath also became an established term for comic actors [67].
As time went by, though, the term mukhannathūn denoted passive men in a man-to-man relationship. In the Arabian Peninsula, the word mukhannath was and is still used interchangeably with the term خَنِيثkhanīth—from the fifth Arabic verb form تَخَنَّثtakhannatha with the meaning of behaving in an effeminate way, being effeminate, or becoming effeminate—i.e., an effeminate man who often faints; hence it also connotes the idea of being impotent and/or weak [62]. As of late, despite its negative connotations, the word has been reclaimed by some members of the LGBTQIA+ who now use khanīth (also transliterated as Xanīth) to self identify themselves as transsexual men and women [69].
Let us look at the some verses from Qur’ān 24:31, whereby it is stated:
Qur’ān 24:31 is about teaching rules of conduct (modesty) for Muslim women. As we can see, there is a specific mention to أَيْمَـٰنُهُنَّ أَوِ ٱلتَّـٰبِعِينَ غَيْرِ أُو۟لِى ٱلْإِرْبَةِ مِنَ ٱلرِّجَالِ “male servants free of physical needs [of women].” Hence, we are dealing with either asexual or homosexual men. There is no condemnation for their natural desire or lack of interest in women. As Dr. Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle keenly suggests:
[t]hese “men who are not in need of women” might have been gay or asexual, but by definition they were not heterosexual men. They are not judged or condemned anywhere in the Qur’an [70].
Even if Prophet Muhammad never mentioned the mukhannathūn, he did allow هِيت Hīt (or, according to some scholars, هِنْب Hinb), a mukhannath, to frequent the harem (women’s quarters). Prophet Muhammad later expelled Hīt because he told a (straight) man all about the attributes of a woman’s body: “go after Ghaylān’s daughter; for she comes forward with four and goes away with eight!”26 Hence, Hīt was banished from the harem not for being a mukhannath, but rather, for describing the physical parts of a woman; hence, for having made كَلِمَة فاحِشkalima fāḥisha, i.e., an “obscene remark” [65, 66]. Prophet Muhammad’s tacit acceptance of a mukhannath in his midst is a clear indication that he thought nothing about it, or rather, that he had no problem being surrounded by an effeminate man.
The heart of the matter, then, was زِناzinā, or rather, prohibited pre- and extra-marital intimate contact (fornication) with physical penetration (احْتِرَاقihtirāq)—including لِوَاطliwāṭ, sodomy—not sexual orientation and/or identity, though, as mentioned above, the four Sunni Law Schools were not in accord as to the type of punishment to be bestowed upon the “transgressors.” Indeed, non-intercourse activities/transgressions, where penetration did not occur, were considered either مَكْرُوهmakhrūh (borderline sinful/reproachable) or a minor offense; hence, it was all in the hands of the exegete. For some exegetes, female same-sex intimacy, سِحَاقsihāq, was not considered zinā since there is no physical penetration; therefore, it did not fall within Sharī‘ah’s حُدُودhudūd category (religious punishment) which range from public lashing and crucifixion to amputation of hands/feet and/or stoning.27
Hence, according to some scholars, Muslim as well as well non-Muslims, in order to prevent sin or, better yet, to prevent men from falling victims of their own libido, the prohibition to gaze at young boys (and women) came to be (Figure 4) [55].
Figure 4.
Amorous (female) couple [74].
Absence of references to same-sex attraction and intimacy among women in the Qur’ān is not proof that it was unheard of in pre-Islamic times as well as during 7th -19th century Islam [75, 76]. Indeed, there are numerous references in Islamic literature, including the One Thousand and One Nights, to same-sex attractions, temporary relations (euphemistically called “situational homosexuality”), and same-sex encounters among women whereby women choose other women to love, to please, and to be pleased.
The arts, including poetry, the secluded world of the حَرَامharām (harem) and of the سرای (sarāy, seraglio) of the Ottoman Empire (c. 1299–1922), offered plenty of opportunities for women to express and act out these feelings and behaviors towards other women, from what we would call today homosexual feelings to de facto life choices due to the physical lack of male companions. Indeed, as a late 19th-century translator of the One Thousand and One Nights stated, harems: “are hot-beds of Sapphism and tribadism. Every woman past her first youth has a girl who she calls “Myrtle” ” [77, 78].
Similar to their male counterparts, homosexual women (lesbians, سُحَاقِيَاتsuḥāqiyyāt) kept silent about their feelings and actions because of taboos and of the unspoken but ever-present decorum (i.e., their role as daughters, future child bearers, and mothers) [49, 79]. For men, instead, the decorum translated itself into shame of being penetrated and dominated, thus being seen as the ones playing the role of the “weaker sex” (sic).
Gleaning from the Islamic holy texts and historical documents it appears that, as mentioned above, Prophet Muhammad acknowledged the attractiveness of younger men. Yet, he advised not to fall into temptation. According to some Islamic scholars, including عُمَر بن علي الفَارِض ‘Umar ibn ‘Alī al-Fārid (1181–1234), a renowned Arab mystic poet, Prophet Muhammad had deep feelings for another man, مُعَاذ بن جَبَل Mu‘ādh ibn Jabal (605–639), one of his early and faithful companions [80].
Alas, throughout the centuries, eisegeses of passages extrapolated from the Qur’ān and the Aḥadīth of the Prophet Muhammad performed by Islamic scholars have served as a means to perpetuate biases and, consequently, justify physical chastisement in the name of God against members of the LGBTQIA+ community. The type of punishment for the transgression was based on how the Muslim scholar interpreted the law. In other words, eisegesis, and not exegesis, was the norm when it came to perform a willfully biased heuristic approach to a holy text and extrapolate a final, prejudiced legal ruling, i.e., a فَتْوىfatwā, against members of the LGBTQIA+ community living in dār al-Islām.
8. Human rights violations vs. the LGBTQIA+ community in the middle East and surrounding areas
Table 1 herewith reproduced depicts the current (as of June 2023) situation in the Middle East and surrounding areas where LGBTQIA+ rights are severely repressed (death penalty, imprisonment, fines, and/or whipping) vs. where same-sex activities are considered legal [81]. Some countries/areas of the Muslim word or where parts of their population are composed of Muslims appear in more than one category, since the penalty might depend on the circumstances (represented in the chart with an asterisk *). Additionally, in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Northern Cyprus, and Turkey, notwithstanding the fact that same-sex relations are legal, there are many instances in which subterfuges are used in order to penalize members of the LGBTQIA+ community, as in the case of (i) “indecency” and “immorality” laws (sic) in Bahrain, (ii) “disrupting public morality” (sic) in Jordan; (iii) Article 534 of the Lebanese Penal Code in Lebanon; (iv) indiscriminate arrests in Northern Cyprus; (v) Iraq [82]; and (vi) Turkey where members of the LGBTQIA+ community do not enjoy protection guaranteed by law [83, 84, 85]. Indeed, Article 534 of the Lebanese Penal Code forbids sexual relations that “contradict the laws of nature” [86]. In most cases, there are arrests and even degrading physical examinations to determine if a man has had anal intercourse. In all these countries and areas of the world where Islam is the major religion, human rights violations against members of the LGBTQIA+ community are constant. Even if most of the times the anti-LGBTQIA+ laws are not enforced, as in the case of the death sentence, the fact that these laws are in force poses a constant threat to the physical and mental integrity of the LGBTQIA+ community living in these countries/areas of the Islamic world and surrounding areas. This table also highlights the fact that there is no unifying pattern when it comes to criminalizing same-sex activities, let alone same-sex unions based on love. While biased eisegeses of holy texts are responsible for most of these laws, negative attitudes towards, and discrimination against members of the LGBTQIA+ community, the colonial legacy of strict laws against same-sex activities and homosexuality also contributed to the present state of repression and abuse. Anglophone and Francophone countries in the Maghreb, West and East Africa, the Middle East, and surrounding areas all share the repercussions of having had strict laws against homosexuality implemented during the colonial rule but that later were abolished in the respective metropolises: e.g., the British anti-sodomy law28 and the 1810, French Penal Code criminalizing homosexuality. For instance, even if article 330–340 of the 1810, French Penal Code did not contemplate sodomy, in Egypt (not a Francophone country), Lebanon, and Tunisia, sodomy was included along with adultery, indecent exposure, polygamy, and rape. The quote below best describes the irony of it all:
The current situation in the middle East and surrounding areas where LGBTQIA+ rights are severely repressed vs. where same-sex activities are considered legal.
Table composed by the author.
It appears as though Muslim (and Hindu) conservatives, without knowing it, are actually copying the Victorian mores of 19th century colonialism, while ignoring their own history. This at a time when even Western European cultures have pulled up their socks and gone on to ensure that human rights are available to their people irrespective of random externalities such as the gender they happen to be attracted to [88].
As for transgender rights, the decision usually rests either with the State and/or the religious leaders on whether to allow them to live as their chosen sexual identity or to punish them for feeling and wanting to live a life as the opposite sex (gender expression). In other words, transgender people have only one choice, or rather, they are forced to undergo hormone and surgical treatment, usually accompanied by sterilization, in order to be gender reassigned. Islamic scholars who admit and recommend gender reassignment justify it under the medical (sic) category of “psychological hermaphroditism.” Indeed, according to these scholars, transgender people are human beings who were born transgender; hence, through surgical correction, they can be gender reassigned (Iran, Lebanon, and Turkey).29 Any other form of sex change would be against God’s will as expressed in Qur’ān 4:119, whereby it said that the devil misleads humans and creates false desires:
Eisegeses of Qur’ān 4:119 have been used widely in the Islamic world to condemn sex reassignments based on the transsexual’s desire to undergo gender reassignment. Homosexuality, instead, is seen as حَرَامharām (prohibited), i.e., a sin; hence, homosexuals have to be punished (sic).
The data analyzed in my research and herewith presented clearly show that there is indeed a disconnect between historical facts—i.e., evidence that supports without a shadow of doubt that also in Islam themes that we, today, would put, for lack of a better term, under the all-encompassing LGBTQIA+ category—and hermeneutics of holy texts conveniently construed to fit the homophobic discourse of Muslim religious leaders [92]. Indeed, their eisegeses of the Qur’ān and the Aḥadīth of the Prophet Muhammad are willfully and maliciously construed to discriminate against their fellow believers and, ultimately, annihilate their humanity, emotionally as well as physically. Hence, it is no surprise that the next step is committing blatant human rights violations against members of the LGBTQIA+ community on a daily basis. As we have seen, Sharī‘a Law is more than faith. Sharī‘a Law is an unbiased interpretation of the word of God, either directly or indirectly.
Even if the (modern) concepts of homosexuality, gender identity, and sexual orientation, later coupled with the idea of belonging to a local, national, and international LGBTQIA+ community that demanded to be heard, respected, and accepted by society (their own and global) only began to exist at the end of 19th century,30 in the Muslim world, as well as elsewhere, there have always been ways of manifesting one’s desires when it comes to intimacy with and love for someone of the same sex. In other words, despite the fact that these concepts were not verbalized for lack of awareness of their very existence, members of what later would be known as the LGBTQIA+ community still lived sexual identity and expressed their feelings covertly or overtly as constituents of their respective societies.
Oral traditions and written texts, particularly poetry and dramas, testify to the presence of members of the LGBTQIA+ community and, generally, their recognition and inclusion since they fulfilled a specific role within their respective society. Pre-Colombian and pre-Cabraline American cultures, Chinese, Japanese, African, Middle Eastern (as in the case of pre-Islamic Iran and Mesopotamia), Indian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific civilizations—though to different degrees and subject to specific circumstances—welcomed members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
In the Middle East, the advent of Judaism, Christianity, and particularly Islam changed the equation when it came to acceptance of the “other” in their midst; yet, there is overwhelming evidence of approval, implicit or explicit, of same-sex feelings, love, homoerotic, and/or homosexual behaviors that later were vehemently condemned.
As for Islam, the exegete had and has all the power to perform eisegesis as a way of punishing and ostracizing members of the LGBTQIA+ community despite the fact that, as I have shown, there is abundant evidence of the existence of covert and overt approval of female and male homoeroticism and same-sex attraction (and even love!) that has gone uninterrupted from pre-Islamic times to the present.
Members of the LGBTQIA+ community and allies from dār al-Islām as well as elsewhere in the world have to urge for biased-free hermeneutics in order to reconcile Shari‘ā law and the “modern concepts” of expressing one’s sexual orientation and identification. Impartial exegeses vs. partial eisegeses are the answer to finally curtail and eventually annihilate human rights violations against members of the LGBTQIA+ community living in predominantly Muslim countries and areas of the world.
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Notes
For further information on the evolution of heuristics through time, see: [1].
From Ancient Greek εὑρίσκωheuriskō, or rather, "to find, to discover."
The term pre-Cabraline applies to all the native tribes and nations of present-day Brazil. Pedro Álvares de Gouveia Cabral (c. 1467-c. 1520) was the Portuguese nobleman, military, explorer, and navigator who on April 22, 1500, "discovered" Brazil. For further information on pre-Cabraline Brazil, see: [2].
For a comprehensive study on the Abrahamic religions in Late Antiquity, see: [3, 4].
The فَتاَوىfatāwā (singular: فَتْوَىfatwā), legal/religious opinions issued by a Muslim scholar, are primarily derived from the Qur’ān and the Ahādīth (traditions) of the Prophet Muhammad. Most of the times, the nature of the fatāwā will lead fiqh (religious jurisprudence) to different, new, and extremely diversified legal circumstances specific to a particular Muslim community, geographical area, region, and/or country of the world. Though accepted by most members of the local communities, in Sunni Islam the fatāwā are non-binding, since the believer’s acceptance relies upon the actual legal/religious knowledge of the scholar and/or his reputation as an honest, pious, and fair man.
‘Ālim, plural عُلَمَاءُ‘ulamāh, is a learned scholar/teacher of Islamic Studies. Oftentimes the term ‘Ālim also bears the connotation of jurist; in this case it is synonymous with فَقِيهfaqīh, plural فُقَهَاءfuqahāh, the lawmaker or expert in Islamic Law. However, it is also true that all learned scholars in any or all of the Islamic Sciences can in a sense be considered ‘ulamāh. In some parts of the Muslim word, in the past as well as today, these men were/are also called by their Persian (Farsi) equivalent مُلاَّmullah—from the Arabic مَوْلىًmawlā, "protector, master," and "supporter"—or rather, "guardian" and/or "vicar." Today, as in the past, especially in Afghanistan, Central Asia, Turkey, and India, a mullah is the local/regional Muslim cleric or, at times, even the mosque leader.
A mufti is a Muslim scholar who, after proper training, schooling, examinations, and scrutiny, is granted authority to interpret or expound the Sharī‘a, i.e., the Divine Law that governs the external actions of all Muslims in a given geographical area, region, and/or country.
Incidentally, the word harām means both "sacred" and "prohibited."
The Arkān al-Islām are the foundation of Islam. They are: (1) the شَهَادَةshahādah, or rather, attesting to the Unity of Allah, "there is no god but God," followed by belief in God’s last messenger: "and that Muhammad is his messenger;" (2) performing the ritual prayer, صَلاَتsalāt, five times a day; (3) paying the زَكَاةzakāt, "annual tithe" on one’s wealth; (4) fasting, صَوْمsawm, during the holy month of Ramadan; (5) performing the حَاجّhājj, pilgrimage, to Mecca, only if personal health and wealth allow it. The shahādah is the first and foremost obligation because, without belief in God, all human actions and works are completely vain. See: Qur’ān 18:105; 24:39. Besides this basic, yet extremely fundamental profession of faith, there are six additional traditional articles of Islamic faith, which cover: i. أللهُ Allah; ii. the Angels, مَلاَئِكَةAl-Malā’ikah; demons شَيَاطِينshayātin, singular shaitānشَيْطَان, or iblīs, إِبْليِس,; and jinn, جِن, singular: جِنِّي, jinny; iii. the Holy Scriptures: i.e., the Torah, ألتَّوْرَاةُ, (Al-Tawrāh), the Psalms, ألَّزبُور, (Al-Zabūr), the New Testament, أَلإِنْجِيل, (Al-Injīl), and the Qur’ān, ألْقُرْآنُ; iv. prophets, رُسُلrusul, singular: rasūl, رَسُول, and messengers أَنْبِيَاءanbīyā’, singular: nabī, نَبِيّ; v. Resurrection, ألْقِيَامَةAl-Qiyāma, and judgment, ألْحِسَاب, Al-Hisāb; and vi. Predestination, ألْقَضَاء, Al-Qada’.
For further information, see: [6, 7, 8, 9].
Hadīthحَدِيث, plural أَحَادِيثAhādīth, literally "tradition." The Ahādīth is a selected collection of Muhammad’s sayings, actions, tacit approvals, and general lifestyle attributed directly to him or witnessed by an uninterrupted chain of documented and trustworthy eyewitnesses (إَسْنادisnād) that go back to the Prophet himself or, in some cases, to those who were near him. Second only to the Qur’ān, the Ahādīth is the main legal source for uncovering information that can in its turn be applied to the secular as well as the religious life of all Muslims. The عِلْم الْحَدِيث‘Ilm al-Hadīth, or rather, the "Science of the Hadīth, covers both the exegesis and the hermeneutics of the text(s). As for the hermeneutics, it strives to discover the truth, by: (1) performing a biographical analysis of the narrators; (2) examining the chronological accuracy of the events; (3) performing a physical analysis of the language, the history, the geography, and the sociopolitical background of each narrator/narration; and (4) checking the authenticity of oral and written records attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, his family, and/or his close friends who (most likely might have) witnessed a saying and/or a practice later believed to be and formally accepted as canonical. Usually, the text of the tradition, the مَتْنmatn, is followed by the إِسْنَادisnād, or rather, the chain of support, the uninterrupted chain of witnesses; the رَاوِيrawy, i.e., the teller/narrator of the tradition; the اِتِّصَالittisāl, the non-interrupted, continuous chain of witnesses; and the صَحِيحsahīh, or rather, the final stage when the hadīth is eventually "accepted," thus deemed "valid" to be included in the Ahādīth of the Prophet Muhammad [10].
These are the five categories of actions regarding external manifestations of Faith which, by their very nature, are meant to guide the believer’s relationship with God, though only those actions that violate the religious law can be judged, since some actions, though deplorable, but allowed by the religious law, cannot be judged by humans, but by God alone. The five categories of actions are: the فَرْضfard or وَاجِبwājib, mandatory, for everyone (فَرْض عَيْنfard ‘ain), as well as for the entire community (فَرْض كِفَايَةfard kifāyah); the مَنْدُوبmandūb, recommended; the حَلاَلhalāl, مُبَاحmubāh, or جَائِزjā‘iz, legal or allowed; the مَكْرُوهmakrūh, deplorable; and the حَرَامharām, forbidden.
These are the laws that govern the relationship among human beings; hence, they can be judged.
Though generally applied to the "Muslim community," ummah is a Qur’ānic term that refers to any group of people and/or to all the (then known) nations of the world. Indeed, in the Qur’ān it is stated that, throughout the centuries, God has sent a messenger/prophet to every ummah so that it can worship Him accordingly, thus ending its جَاهِلِيَّةjāhiliyyah, "state of ignorance," and corrupt ways. The word "ignorance" is found in the Qur’ān as jāhiliyyah (3:154; 5:50; 33:33; and 48:26), as well as جَهْلjahl, جَهَلَةjahalah, جَاهِلُjāhil, جَهِليِنَjahilīna, and جَهِلُونَjahilūna (2:273; 4:17; 6:35; 7:199; 11:46; 12:33; and 39:64). For further information on the theory of jāhiliyyah, see: [13].
تَجْويِدTajwīd, from جَوَّدَJawwada, literally, to "make things excellent," is the memorization of the Qur’ān learned at the Qur’ānic school, the مَدْرَسَةmadrasah. As for the revelation, or rather, the timeframe and content of its chapters, the Qur’ān is divided into four periods, namely: Meccan I (c. 612–615), Meccan II (c. 615–619), Meccan III (c. 619–622), and Medinan (c. 622–632).
Roughly between the 8th–13th centuries of our era, though some scholars also include the Timurid Renaissance (1370–1857), while others propose the end of the 16th century. For further information, see: [19, 20, 21, 22, 23].
The physical sciences include Astronomy, Chemistry Physics, and Earth sciences. The biological sciences, instead, include Biology and Medicine. For further information on the Jewish contributions during the Golden Age of Islam, see: [24, 25, 26, 27].
As for references, positive and negative, to Christians and Jews in the Qur’ān, see: Qur’ān: 2:40-86, 88, 91, 93, 96, 100, 122, 138-140, 246-251; 4:153-161, 171; 5:13-14, 44-45, 67, 73-74, 85; 7:138-141, 161-171; 14:16-17; 17:4-8; 20:80-82; 26:197; 32:23-25; 40:53-54. References, positive and negative, to Christians and Jews in the Ahādīth of Prophet Muhammad are extensive. For a complete list, see: [28].
Qur’ān 54:37. Other references to this episode can be found in Qur’ān 11:77-83; 21:74; 22:43; 26:165-175; 27:56-59. 29:27-33.
The witness of a woman counts as half of that of a man; hence, two women who witnessed something count as one man witnessing something. See: [38].
English translation available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_people_and_Islam. For the Urdu original text, see: [23]. For the Arabic original, see: [39, 40].
"There are four main Sunni Muslim schools of thought, مَذَاهِبmadhāhib, singular مَذْهَبmadhhab. The Arabic meaning of madhhab is not "school" per se, but rather "creed, doctrine, and ideological denomination" and, by extension, "movement." However, within Sunni jurisprudence, madhhab stands for any of the four, canonically recognized law schools, namely, the Hanafī, the Hanbalī, the Mālikī, and the Shāfi‘ī, all named after their founders even if it was only their students/disciples and followers who actually either founded the school or kept the tradition of its founder alive, thus resuming where it was left at the death of their leader. On the other hand, most Shiite Muslims follow the Ja‘farī school of thought, from Ja‘far al-Sādiq (702–765)" [41, 42, 43, 44]. There was a fifth Sunni Muslim school of thought, ظاهِريّ Ẓāhirī, that eventually merged with the Ḥanbalī school. Yet, as of the middle of the 20th century, the Ẓāhirī school has resurfaced in many parts of the Islamic world. Hence, some say that there are five Madhāhab. Perhaps my solution "four plus one" better fits the reality of the Sunni Muslim schools of thought.
For information on transgender in the Ancient Mediterranean, see: [50].
Pre-Columbian and pre-Cabraline Americas, as well as pre-Islamic and pre-1500 European contact Africa, Asia, and Oceania enjoyed "a more tolerant and, at times, even encouraging attitude towards the role of women, gays/lesbians, androgynous, cross-dressers, and transgendered people, assigning to all of them specific roles so that they could participate in and, most of all, contribute to the welfare of the entire nation" [61].
Four here refers to her "belly wrinkles (‘ukan), four in front, whose ends can be seen wrapping around on the two sides of her back when she walks away, thus appearing to be eight" [65].
For additional information, see: [38, 45, 71, 72, 73].
The Buggery Act 1533, also known as An Acte for the Punishment of the Vice of Buggerie (25 Hen. 8 c. 6), was a law promulgated during the reign of Henry VIII (r. 1509–1547) [87].
These assumptions are based on the status of the خُنْثىkhunthā (hermaphrodite), also known as مُشْكِلmushkil (dubious, uncertain) in Islamic Law. For further information, see: [38, 63, 66, 89, 90, 91].
The poem "Two Loves" by Lord Alfred "Boise" Douglas (1870–1945), published in the magazine The Chameleon (December 1894), and the 1897 founding of the Wissenschaftlich-humanitäres Komitee, WhK (Scientific-Humanitarian Committee) in Berlin are considered by many as being the two episodes that spearheaded the modern LGBTQIA+ movements worldwide.
Written By
Joseph Abraham Levi 雷祖善博士
Submitted: 24 June 2023Reviewed: 25 June 2023Published: 25 August 2023
Open access peer-reviewed chapter
