**BARF***
Fatwa Permitting ‘Jihad Somody’ for the Victory of Islam – The Question Homosexuality in Islam
Recently an al-Qaeda cleric's fatwa
appeared in a video, which said, if a Jihadi is needed to be sodomized
to widen his anus for inserting bombs into his rectum for jihad
operations, it is permitted in Islam because "Jihad is the pinnacle of
Islam" and anything goes for its sake.
Fatwa permitting sodomy for Jihad
In 2009, al-Qaeda Jihadi Abdullah
Hassan al-Asiri made a false repentation for his Jihadi activity, so
that he could have a meeting with Saudi Prince Muhammad bin Nayef and
killed him. So, before going for the meeting, he hid a bomb inside his
rectum, which he wanted to explode while having the meeting with Prince
Nayef. Al-Qaeda clerics had declared Prince Nayef an infidel for
alliance with the West against al-Qaeda. But unfortunately for Asiri, he
pushed the button a bit too early and as a result, although he earned
Jihad martyrdom, but failed to kill the prince.
What happened is although Asiri
repented, but he remained in touch with al-Qaeda. One al-Qaeda cleric,
named Abu al-Dema al-Qasab, had suggested jihadis of an “innovative and unprecedented way to execute martyrdom operations: place explosive capsules in your anus.”
Asiri and probably also others wanted
to apply this new innovative Jihad technique. However, in order to
insert a bomb through anus, the willing Jihadis needed to be sodomized
repeatedly over a period of time to make their anus wide enough for the
bomb to go in. One Jihadi, probably Asiri himself, asked an al-Qaeda
cleric: “Is it permissible for me to let one of the jihadi brothers sodomize me to widen my anus if the intention is good?”
‘Yes’ was the answer of the cleric, as
he declared the following fatwa (see the video for original in Arabic).
He said, although sodomy is forbidden in Islam,
…jihad comes first,
for it is the pinnacle of Islam, and if the pinnacle of Islam can only
be achieved through sodomy, then there is no wrong in it. For the
overarching rule of [Islamic] jurisprudence asserts that “necessity
makes permissible the prohibited.” And if obligatory matters can only be
achieved by performing the prohibited, then it becomes obligatory to
perform the prohibited, and there is no greater duty than jihad. After
he sodomizes you, you must ask Allah for forgiveness and praise him all
the more. And know that Allah will reward the jihadis on the Day of
Resurrection, according to their intentions—and your intention, Allah
willing, is for the victory of Islam, and we ask that Allah accept it of
you.
This issue brings the question of
homosexuality in Islam, about which there is much confusion. Some
moderate Muslims would say the Quran does not say anything about
punishing homosexuals, while others would say punishment for
homosexuality in Islam is death by stoning. At this opportune moment,
let us examine what Islam truly says about homosexuality.
What Islam says about homosexuality?
Homosexual sex amongst men in Islam has
been widely prevalent in history, especially at the highest levels of
society. Even today in Islamic boarding schools, called Madrassas,
around the world, which are all-male Islamic education schools,
homosexual activity is highly prevalent among students, even involving
Imams. Multiple reports have come out in the media in recent that
Madrassa Imams have abused their young male-students by sodomizing them.
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Muslim rulers, generals and nobles
throughout history used to keep hundred to thousands of castrated
slaves-boys. The handsome young ones were used their master for carnal
indulgence. They were called ghilman. They used to wear rich and attractive uniforms and often beautified and perfumed their bodies like women. The concept of ghilman originated in Islam from following verses of the Quran, which talks about pearl-like young male-attendants (ghilman), who would serve blessed Muslims in paradise:
- ‘Round about them will serve, (devoted) to them, young male servants (handsome) as Pearls well-guarded.’ [Quran 52:24]
- ‘There wait on them immortal youths, with bowls and ewers and a cup from a pure spring.’ [Quran 56:17–18]
Wrote Professor Hitti, ‘We read of
ghilman in the reign of al-Rashid; but it was evidently the Caliph
al-Amin, who, following Persian precedent, established in the Arab world
the ghilman institution for the practice of sexual relations. A judge
of whom there is record used four hundred such youths. Poets did not
disdain to give public expression to their perverted passions and to
address amorous pieces of their compositions to beardless young boys.’[1]
Caliph al-Muqtadir (r. 908–937) had some 11,000 eunuchs – 7,000 Blacks and 4,000 Whites (Greek) – in his Baghdad palace.[2]
In India, Said Khan Chaghtai, a noble of Emperor Jahangir (r. 1605-27),
owned 1,200 eunuchs. Sultan Alauddin Khilji had 50,000 young boys in
his personal services, while Muhammad Tughlaq had 20,000 and Firoz
Tughlaq 40,000. Most of these slave-boys were castrated. Malik Kafur,
Alauddin’s famous commander, was a eunuch; so was Khusrau Khan, Sultan
Kutbuddin Mubarak Khilji’s favorite commander. Sikandar Lodi had once
boasted, ‘If I order one of my slaves to be seated in a palanquin,
the entire body of nobility would carry him on their shoulders at my
bidding.’[3] Sultan Mahmud had infatuation toward charming Tilak the Hindu, his favorite commander.[4]
While this has been the historical
reality in the Muslim world, the Quran nonetheless has a rather mixed
message about homosexuality. It is especially stern against
homosexuality amongst women, and rather soft toward male homosexuality.
Homosexuality-related Quranic verses can be divided as 1) condemnatory,
and 2) punitive.
Condemnatory verses. The following verse of the Quran condemns homosexuality as an act of transgression:
- "Will ye commit abomination such as no creature ever did before you?" [Qur'an 7:81]
According to this verse, homosexuality is an abomination, which no other creature engage in, meaning it is the ‘worst sin’.
- "Of all the creatures in the world, will ye approach males, And leave those whom Allah has created for you to be your mates? Nay, ye are a people transgressing" [Qur'an 26:165-166]
In this verse, Allah says that amongst
all creatures, only men may approach other men for sexual gratification,
ignoring the females, whom Allah has created as men’s sexual partner.
And He calls this a transgression against Allah.
Punitive verses. So, what will
be the punishment for the ‘worst sin’ and ‘transgression against Allah’
that homosexuality is? The following verses tell us about the
punishments.
- "...For ye practice your lusts on men in preference to women: ye are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds.... And we rained down on them a shower (of brimstone)" [Qur'an 7:80-84, also see Qur'an 27:54]
In this verse, Allah condemns
homosexuality as the transgression against Him beyond all limits. He
also gave an example of how He punished such transgressors of olden
days, namely the people of Sodom, whom he annihilated by “showering
rains of stones”. In accordance with this Godly punishment of the
homosexual people of the Biblical Sodom, Muslim scholars have rightly
prescribed “stoning to death” as the deserving punishment for
homosexuals, which is practiced by some Muslim countries even today.
- "If two men among you are guilty of lewdness, punish them both. If they repent and amend, Leave them alone." [Qur'an 4:16]
In this verse, Allah recommends
punishing Muslim men, if they engage in homosexual acts, but they should
be pardoned if the repent. That is, by repenting, Muslim men can save
themselves from punishment for homosexuality. But how the female
homosexuals have to be dealt with is commanded in the previous verses.
- “If any of your women are guilty of lewdness, Take the evidence of four (Reliable) witnesses from amongst you against them; and if they testify, confine them to houses until death do claim them, or Allah ordain for them some (other) way.” [Quran 4:15]
In this verse, Allah commands that if
Muslim women are found guilty of homosexuality, they must be punished
with eventual death. So, the difference is punishments for male
homosexuals and female homosexuals are starkly different. Men can be
given just any form of punishment and let go. They can even be let go
without suffering any punishment, if they just repent. But for women
homosexuals, there is no such option. Punishment for them would be such
that it would eventually cause their death, nothing less.
From the Hadith: From the
Quran, Allah seems to have been muddle-headed about dealing with the
homosexuals, as its verses recommend punishing them with stoning to
death to letting them go scot-free by simply repenting if they are male,
or killing them if they are female. But in certain Hadiths, Prophet
Muhammad commanded for summary execution of the homosexuals. For
example,
- The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said, "Whoever you find doing the action of the people of Loot, execute the one who does it and the one to whom it is done." [Abu Dawud 4462]
- "If unmarried man is seized committing sodomy, he will be stoned to death." [Abu Dawud 4448]
[1]. Hitti PK (1948) The Arabs: A Short History, Macmillan, London, p. 99
[2]. Segal R (2002) Islam’s Black Slaves, New York, p. 40–41; Hitti (1961) The Near East in History, New York, p. 276
[3]. Lal KS (1994), Muslim Slave System in Medieval India, Delhi, p. 106–09
[4]. Elliot HM & Dawson J, History of India as Told by Its Own Historians, Vol. II, p. 127–29
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