Islamic Attitudes on Homosexuality

Islamic Attitudes on Homosexuality The life of a homosexual Muslim is certainly an interesting and conflicted one. A gay Muslim must struggle with the oppression of the conservative Muslim community, while trying to keep their own identity intact at the very same time. Inglehart and Norris assert that overall, Muslim nations have remained the most traditional societies in the world (65). This is certainly evident in the 2000-2002 World Values Survey (WVS), where only 12% of Muslims in Muslim society thought homosexuality could be justified. This is juxtaposed to non-Muslim societies, where 53% of citizens believe that homosexuality can be justified ( Inglehart 64-65). However, the Muslim religion is not a monolithic one and there is a divergence of opinions on the issue of homosexuality. This divergence seems to split in two general directions on the issue of homosexuality. More traditional, fundamentalist Muslims vehemently disagree with homosexuality. While citing the hadith, Koran, and Sharia law, they completely agree that homosexuality should be outlawed. There is no question that homosexuality is wrong; the only disagreement exists in the type of punishment that they should receive (meaning how they should die). As you can see this is very harsh. On the other end of the spectrum are the more progressive Muslims who argue that homosexuality is permissible. Most interestingly, they cite the same sources as the conservatives as to why it is permissible thus causing the main problem: interpretation. Who has the correct interpretation? In this paper, by touching on historical and current day events we will bring forth and explain both the conservative and progressive views on homosexuality in the Islamic community, and let you decide who has the correct interpretation. Before explaining the progressive view on homosexuality, it is important to understand the status quo, the fundamentalist view on homosexuality and the discrimination homosexuals currently

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