Showing posts with label marriage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marriage. Show all posts

Thursday, August 19, 2010

islam and homosexuality

Over at the Goatmilk blog there has been an interesting set of discussions on homosexuality and Islam. The original articles are framed in terms of whether American Muslims should support the right of same sex marriage in the US. Mahdi Ahmad and Sister A take the "No" position while Sabir Ibrahim and Michael Muhammad Knight argue "Yes." The negative argument emphasizes the sinfulness of homosexual acts according to Islamic principles. The more nuanced affirmative argument says that yes, homosexual acts are sinful but the US isn't run according to the Shariah and Muslims should embrace a model of American society which allows space for many different groups (racial / political / ethnic / religious / sexual) have a right to co-exist.

What I found surprising is that much of the discussion in the comments section wasn't about the above arguments as much as about whether homosexual acts were really prohibited in the first place. For most Muslims, the fact that homosexual acts are prohibited in Islam is fairly uncontroversial. In order to argue otherwise one basically has to ignore any kind of mainstream fiqh, take a radically skeptical attitude towards the hadith which clearly speak negatively towards sodomy (whether homosexual or heterosexual) and then radically reinterpret the multiple Quranic statements addressing the people of Lot along the lines of: Most surely you come to males in lust besides females; nay you are an extravagant people.

In the course of participating in those discussions I found some interesting resources:

First, a blog called Eye on ‘Gay Muslims’ with the subtitle "Principled, compassionate Islamic perspective"

Second, a paper The Effeminates of Early Medina by Everett K. Rowson gives some insights and descriptions into the role of the mukhannathun or so called 'effeminates' during the time of the prophet and the later generations.

And thirdly, the paper Ibn Hazm on Homosexuality: A Case-study of Zahiri Legal Methodology which, as the title explains, looks at how the Zahiri (Literalist) school derives its ruling on homosexuality. I think the paper is interesting on two counts; first, it is a good example of how "literal" doesn't necessarily mean "strict" or "harsh", and second, the paper argues that Ibn Hazm himself was a chaste homosexual.

Monday, December 01, 2008

islam and same-sex marriage

For a while now I've been intending to write about the (partial) overlap between traditional Islamic opinions on abortion and the pro-choice position. Very briefly, according to some scholarly interpretations, the soul doesn't enter the fetus until 120 days after conception, consequently abortions carried out before that point are not considered to be equivalent to murder. I need to say that there is definitely some nuance and complexity to the issue (which is why I've been waiting to write it)... This is not that post.

It is a post about another area where it is possible that common cause might be made between traditional Muslims and modern Liberals.

From Alt.Muslim: Why the same-sex marriage debate still matters by Sabir Ibrahim. The argument roughly goes: Given that Islamic law enshrines the rights of non-Muslims to follow their own customs and practices when it comes to family life, and given that Muslims living in the West would theoretically want the right to enjoy our own distinctive practices (e.g. polygamy) then we all ought to support other minority groups as they attempt to assert their rights as well.

Thursday, August 02, 2007

african & caribbean muslim marriage event

Since only a minority of hits to Planet Grenada are coming from the UK, I'm thinking of the following as a springboard for discussion as well as a simple announcement:

Islamic Circles Presents

AFRICAN & CARIBBEAN MUSLIM MARRIAGE EVENT

Date: Saturday 18th August 2007
Time: 1pm - 4pm
Venue: Room 405, 4th Floor,
Birkbeck College, University of London,
Malet Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7HX

DEADLINE FOR BOOKING: WEDNESDAY 15TH AUGUST 2007

Light refreshments will be provided.
Registration will be at 1pm
and latecomers will be penalised.

Prior registration is necessary and please book online at our website http://www.muslimmarriageevents.org/.
This event is for sincere and serious people only,
not time wasters and people with bad manners.

To book or for more information
please contact: Tel: 07956 983 609
E-mail: marriage@islamiccircles.org
Website: http://www.muslimmarriageevents.org/

The most interersting and controversial aspect to the announcement was the brief paragraph explaining the reason for the event:

Because of the unfortunate 'racism' amongst certain Muslim communities, and the constant rejection and time wasting, a special marriage event especially geared towards to Muslims of African and Carribean origin has been organised. People of all statuses are welcome. Non African and Carribean are also welcome if they 'really serious' and open to marrying them.
So especially as an Afro-Caribbean Muslim myself, I wonder why there would be a special reluctance to marriage with Afro-Caribbean Muslims on the part of "certain Muslim communities"? Also, does this reluctance constitute racism? In the long run, will Afro-Caribbean Muslims in the UK self-segregate (due to external influences) and form a distinct group? Would this be a positive development or a negative one?\
Discuss.