the policy makers focus on the issue adopting diagnostic approaches instead of providing prescriptive approaches that could help solve the problem once and for all. Sadly, the media in Middle East has also adopted the behaviour from the political class where they are reluctant to break taboos. Islam and Homosexuality Although not a definitive indication of societal behavior, as will be made clear in the following sections, under Islamic law homosexual acts are unequivocally prohibited. The Koran refers to homosexuals as Lot's people (quam Lut), Lot being the prophet who preached against homosexuality in the cities of Sodom and Gomorra. According to Kligerman, “In the Qur’an, Lut questions, ‘How can you lust for males, of all creatures in the world, and leave those whom God has created for you as your mates? You are really going beyond all limits’... The Prophet Muhammad adds, "Doomed by God is who does what Lot’s people did" (i.e. to engage in same-sex sexual activity) .’” Muhammad adds that, “’No man should look at the private parts of another man, and no woman should look at the private parts of another woman, and no two men sleep [in bed] under one cover, and no two women sleep under one cover.’ In his last speech, known as the ‘Farewell Sermon’, the Prophet added a last condemnation of homosexuality, saying, ‘Whoever has intercourse with a woman and penetrates her rectum, or with a man, or with a boy, will appear on the Last Day stinking worse than a corpse; people will find him unbearable until he enters hell fire, and God will cancel all his good deeds.’” Homosexual Behavior As stated prior, the religious prescriptions of Islam are not a definitive indication of one’s behavior in society. Although one may be hesitant to proclaim themselves openly as homosexual, it is not uncommon for one to participate in homosexual activities so long as they simultaneously uphold other societal norms. One essential institution in the Middle East is the family. So long as a man upholds this institution, by taking a wife and fathering children, what occurs in private will be of no interest to others. “Known homosexuals were tolerated in public office if they continue to publicly live a heterosexual lifestyle. For instance, Sultan Mehmet II, Ottoman conqueror of Constantinople, and Sultan Mahmud Ghaznawi, who invaded India from Afghanistan, are both important historical figures and known gays. Both