Islamic views of homosexuality

This article is part of the Religion and homosexuality series.

Buddhist views of homosexuality

Christian views of homosexuality

Hindu views of homosexuality

Islamic views of homosexuality

Jewish views of homosexuality

Neopagan views of homosexuality

Same-sex intercourse is prohibited in Islam, which teaches that such intercourse is a violation of the natural boundaries set by Allah (the Arabic word for God). Note that homosexuality, as a psychological disposition, is not technically against the Sharia, which governs the physical actions, and not the inner thoughts and feelings. It is the physical action of same-sex intercourse that is punishable under the Sharia.

The intended meaning of "same-sex intercourse" is sexual intercourse between two or more men, or sexual intercourse between two or more women. It does not mean the act of masturbation, nor does it have anything to do with nocturnal emissions, both of which are considered to invalidate wudu and require the Muslim to take a full bath or shower before his or her next prayer, but are not otherwise punishable under Sharia.

The Qur'an specifically mentions that same-sex intercourse is forbidden. See Homosexuality in the Qur'an, below.

Homosexuality in the Sharia

While there is a consensus of opinion that same-sex intercourse is in violation of Islamic law, there are differences of opinion within Islamic scholarship about punishment, reformation, and what standards of proof are required before physical punishment becomes lawful.

All traditional Sharia legislation falls into one of four or five main madhhabs, or legal schools: Hanafi, Shafi'i, Hanbali, Maliki, and, according to the Shia, Ja'fari. More recently, some groups have rejected this tradition in favor of greater ijtihad, or individual interpretation. Of these schools, according to Michael Mumisa of the Birmingham-based Al Mahdi institute:

• The Hanafi school does not consider same-sex intercourse to constitute adultery, and therefore leaves punishment up to the judge's discretion. Some scholars of this school also specifically rule out the death penalty, while others allow it for a second offence.
• Imam Shafi'i considers same-sex intercourse as analogous to other zina; thus, a married person found to have done so is punished as an adulterer (by stoning to death), and an unmarried one, as a fornicator, is left to the judge's discretion.
• The Maliki school says that anyone (married or unmarried) found to have committed same-sex intercourse should be punished as an adulterer.
• Within the Ja'fari schools, Sayyid al-Khoi says that anyone (married or unmarried) found to have committed same-sex intercourse should be punished as an adulterer.

It should also be noted that the punishment for adultery requires four witnesses; by analogy, the Shafi'i school, at least, requires four witnesses to the physical act of penetration for the punishment to be applied.

Homosexuality in modern Islamic countries' laws

Same-sex intercourse carries the death penalty in five officially Muslim nations: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mauritania, Sudan, and Yemen. It also carried the death penalty in Afghanistan under the Taliban, and United Arab Emirates law is ambiguous on the subject. No other Muslim nations have the death penalty for it, and of those that do or did, only Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Afghanistan have been reported to have carried it out within the past decade. Some, such as Turkey, have no laws forbidding it.

In Saudi Arabia, homosexuals may be killed for their practices, although in practise this is not usually done unless the state perceives a threat to its power . It has been estimated that since the Islamic revolution in Iran, the Iranian government has executed more than 4000 persons charged with homosexual acts. In Afghanistan at least 10 homosexuals are known to have been executed for their sexual conduct by the Taliban. The vast majority of non-Muslims, led by Amnesty International, have condemned this practice, and some Muslims have joined in the condemnation. Reasons given by Muslims condemning the executions include: the fact that some legal schools (eg Hanafi) regard it as unjustified; the argument that the death penalty is not specified for it in the Quran; the idea that the punishment is unduly harsh; and opposition to the idea that the state's laws should be based on religion.

While executions discourage the outward manifestations of same-sex unions, it is nearly impossible to enforce laws against private same-sex relations since males are allowed to associate freely, as are females, and traditional Islamic law strongly emphasizes the right to privacy.

Homosexuality in the Qur'an

The Abdullah Yusuf Ali translation of the Khalil el-Moumni