We all know what the Qu’ran say about Homosexuality and for those of you who don’t, here’s a verse from the Qu’ran that expains:
Sura 4:20-21: “Against those of your women who commit adultery, call witnesses four in number from among yourselves; and if these bear witness, then keep the women in houses until death release them, or God shall make for them a way. And if two (men) of you commit it, then hurt them both; but if they turn again and amend, leave them alone, verily, God is easily turned, compassionate.”
Basically, lesbians should be locked up until death and if they keep re-offending kill them. Gay men should be killed unless they repent for their sins.
I know most Muslims believe this, in fact i’ve yet to meet a Muslim, British or not who disagrees with this. Yet, i myself, do not agree with this view. Am i not a Muslim? But the thing is i am and when making this decision i had two choices really:
-
Listen to scripture that is over 1000 years old but nonetheless holy and paramount to my faith and believe every single word that it says no matter how much i fundementally disagree with it.
-
Or- Use my common sense, formulate my own views based on my real experiences and hope that Allah who is all- loving and merciful will reward me for being true to myself.
Naturally i chose the latter option. Like many, i grew up in a strict Muslim household in which the words “homosexuality” and “lesbians” should never be uttered as it was a tremendous taboo. I don’t think i even knew what homosexuality really was until i was about 13. I certainly didn’t think that any Muslim could be homosexual, that concept seemed completely alien to me. Then i watched a program that changed my mind.
When i was around about 16, i remember watching a program on Channel 4 called “Gay Muslims”. Now the programme was nothing profound and wasnt even greatly made. It’s the people that appeared on them that had the real impact on me. I remember watching the pixulated face of an 18 year old girl who was disowned by her parents because she’d fallen in love with a woman. I heard her crying and instead of feeling disgust at her sexual deeds, i felt sympathy and admiration for this girl. It was then that i realized that homosexuality was not a choice that someone makes, like what colour shoes to buy, but it’s inherently in the core of their being, like the way i know i’m heterosexual, like the way i know that murder is wrong.
I know it’s not a choice because no one would actively chose to be disowned by their family and face abuse and ostricisation from their community. In fact i can’t think of anything worse, so i admired this girl for standing up for who she was, for being true to herself. This was further confirmed by yet another pixualted ( for fear of abuse) face of a divorced man in his late twenties who had been beaten up numerous times for being openly gay. His ex wife would not allow him to see his children and his family had also disowned him.
In this scenario it was the persecutors of these openly gay and lesbians that i felt disgusted at. I’ve often found it hard to swallow how our backward Muslim communities cannot stand anything that is different or not in line with their beliefs. I still have cousins that are not able to go to college to get further education becuase their parents believe education is not for women!
I thought such outdated views would change with the following generations but it seems to have got worse. The new generations of Muslims seem even more zealous in the their denouncement of anything that is “unislamic”. Most of them couldn’t even read a Qu’ran between them but they’re happy to tell you that they could never be friends with “batty men” as they so eloquently put it. In that case if you are are so religious, why are you sitting here talking to me my Muslim brother? Why do you go out partying and drinking on a saturday night whilst making sure that your sisters are safely tucked up in bed at night? Why do you indulge in sex before marriage with your white girlfriends and then claim you can’t marry a British Muslim becuase they’re all sluts!?
It all comes down to one thing HYPOCRISY! Hypocrisy and stupidity. Yes we believe and follow the Qu’ran but like everythig else it should be in context. Just like the fact the many British Muslim girls do not wear the hijab and chat openly with other men without anything sinister being involved, thus we should have similarly relaxed view on homosexuality. Such outdates views have no place in the 21st Century world. And i wish that this generation would take note and use their common sense and think for themselves rather than blindly following the billigerent musing of the Mullahs.