The topic of homosexuality always causes a lot of controversy in Islam and people are very emotionally involved with it. There are usually alternatives in Islamic law from things that are prohibited, e.g interest is prohibited, trade is permissible, there are haram foods but there are also halal foods, but in the case of a person with homosexual orientation there is no good alternative. You can not prescribe for the person to get married to a person of the opposite sex because that has no appeal to them and you can not simply say to them to be celibate because that is too much to demand of them. There is nothing directly mentioned in the Quran about homosexuality in particular and the Quran does not go in to detail about the orientation and the intimate act, in order to differentiate between the two we must draw on modern views. Because of this Islamic scholars have different interpretations and in this paper I will discuss the stances of different Islamic scholars on the topic of homosexuality. I will also discuss how people with homosexual orientation are treated in a Muslim majority country like Pakistan.
Some of the main questions that the younger generation Muslims are struggling with is that why does Islam hold such a strict stance towards homosexuality?, why is it haram?, why would Allah criminalize something that might be natural or what’s the big deal in what two consenting adults do in the privacy of their bedroom. These questions has raised out in the mind of younger generation Muslims to the point that they are considering Islam to be an invalid religion based upon it’s stand on LGBT. Because of this Islamic scholars have an extremely important task of answering these questions in an Islamic way. Since this topic is vastly misunderstood there’s a lot of discrimination and haterds towards LGBT community in Muslim majority countries like Pakistan or Saudi Arabia.
Since the time its creation, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has been impacted by different Islamic belief systems originating from various governments. Because of this the whole society is intensely affected by religion, homosexuality stays a forbidden. All the significant sects of Islam have totally illegalized homosexuality yet the presence of a LGBT populace can't be denied in Pakistani society. To explain what people of homosexual orientaion has to deal with in Pakidtan I am going to use the story of a young gay man from Lahore, Pakistan. Haseeb Rathore is a youthful gay man from Lahore, Pakistan who felt unique in relation to others at an extremely youthful age, yet was not permitted to communicate his emotions. Like other gay young men, Haseeb attempted his best to be acknowledged yet nothing at any point worked for him. During grade school, school and even in his expert life, he felt cornered, presented to harassing by relatives, schoolmates, and associates. When he was asked how do gay men spend their life in Pakistan?, he replied:
“Most gay men spend their life in guilt, carrying a burden of sins. In our society they only have two options: one is to come out of the closet and live a horrible life and being bullied; the other is to conceal their sexuality for the rest of their lives. People usually choose the second option. They get married and start living a dual life: one for the family and society, the other for their own satisfaction. This makes life very pathetic and a under continuous threat of being caught. Very few men come out and even when that happens, they get very little support from family and society.”
This shows us that Muslims in these countries have very little knowledge on the topic of homosexuality and what Islam says on how to treat them. Many extremists tend to treat people with homosexual orientation in ways that often goes against the core priciples of Islam.
Treatment of gay people by authorities and by society in general is likewise very unforgiving in Saudi Arabia. Homosexuality is unlawful in Saudi Arabia and those saw as liable are dependent upon death punishment. The accompanying data was given to the Research Directorate by the Executive Director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia (CDHR), located in Washington, DC, in correspondence dated 23 January 2007: Homosexuality is considered anti Islamic. Homosexuals are beaten, incarcerated and could face the death penalty. They are called Makhaneeth which could mean many things including the scum of the earth.