Anonymous asked: Quick question. I've never known this. I know you don't represent all Muslims and that there is probably a lot of difference of thought in this regard, but what is the Islamic stance on homosexuality? What are your personal thoughts? How do you reconcile your thoughts with official teachings? Thanks :D

Okay… You ask a quick question but it’s one without a quick answer. You’re totally right, I don’t represent ALL Muslims at all. The only Muslim I represent is me. Anything I say is my personal opinion. I’m not fully aware of all the scripture directly related to homosexuality so I can’t quote anything for you.

I believe the Islamic stance on homosexuality is that it’s a sin. A lot of Muslim countries punish a person guilty of homosexual with death but the evidence required has to be rigorous for the person to receive that punishment. You can check this wikipedia page as an introductory reading position with quotes from Qur’an and hadith http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_topics_and_Islam

My personal thoughts are that homosexuality is a sin. After that what a person does is none of my concern. I don’t believe being gay takes a person out of Islam, depending on their intentions when they have gay relations. Because it doesn’t take a person out of Islam, it is not my position to judge them. Even if it did take them out of Islam, I don’t feel it’s my position to judge a person. If a person is non-Muslim and is gay then I feel it is more important to try to show them the path of Islam than to attack their homosexuality. If a person is Muslim and gay then they should be given advice but it should be done in the most tactful way possible. There’s a whole philosophy is Islam about how one should give another advice. If I see two guys walking down the street holding hands or making out or whatever I don’t think about it too much. There are more important things in my life than adopting a holier-than-thou attitude. I know a few people who are gay and I’m perfectly comfortable in their company. I’m not freaked out by gay people or shocked by them. I don’t know if that’s because I’ve been desensitised to it by living in the West or whatever but that’s just how I am.

Well… the clash between my thoughts and official teachings is very interesting in that there’s no clash between my thoughts and official teachings. What there is a clash between is what we see in the world around us. People focus on homosexuality as a huge sin but they don’t realise that not praying is one of the most fundamental sins a Muslim can commit. There is nothing more important than getting your own religion in order first. I see a lot of hypocrisy in people’s words and their actions. I’m not arguing the ‘he who has not sinned, cast the first stone’ line of thinking here but I strongly dislike hypocrisy and the sad fact is that there’s a lot of that when it comes to applying Islamic teachings. People are too quick to judge others, especially without evidence. People substitute gossip for evidence. It’s scary.

When a person chooses to perform homosexual activities then they need to be aware of the consequences of that in relation to where in the world they are. If you’re in the West, then go for it… it’s your legal right. If you’re in Saudi or another country like it then you have to be very careful because it could lead to death for you (depending on how you got caught). The thing is that the gay person will be judged by God, just like everyone else will be. In the end, Allah knows best.

I feel like I’ve touched on everything you’ve asked but if you feel anything I said was lacking then please feel free to ask follow up questions. Like I said before, though, I can only answer from my very limited knowledge and my personal opinions.