Today, many people find the Islamic position forbidding homosexuality to be in direct opposition to modern science. However, with laws permitting gay marriage and the growing secular acceptance of homosexuality as a standard, the Islamic prohibition and ethical opposition to homosexuality are under ethical scrutiny.
Dr. Abdullah bin Hamid Ali, an Associate Professor of Islamic law at Zaytuna College, explores current moral and scientific arguments to justify homosexuality in this detailed and fascinating work. Dr. Ali explains why the recent findings in ‘science’ used to morally defend homosexuality are invalid according to Islamic moral and ethical standards.
The Homosexual Challenge to Muslim Ethics by Dr. Abdullah bin Hamid Ali
“And We sent Lot who said to his people: “Do you commit lewdness such as no people in creation (ever) committed before you? For you practice lusts on men in preference to women; you are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds.” Qur’an 7:81-82
“But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.” Genesis 13:13
Although the fight for the right to marriage between homosexuals started in the early 1970’s, it wasn’t until May 17, 2004 that the state of Massachusetts began marrying same-sex couples.
Today in the US, there are numerous states that have passed laws legalizing same-sex marriages. Opposition to gay practices and the view that it is an inordinately perverse passion that runs contrary to human nature has a long history as evinced by Judeo-Christian sources. Classical views in all the Abrahamic faiths, generally, consider sodomy and gay behavior to be unnatural; a disposition that defies practical reason.
Consequently, religious groups committed to a belief that God created a natural order for both biological and non-biological life continue to be the most vehement opponents to homosexuality in all its forms. Despite that opposition which spans millennia, the sin of sodomy and homosexual acts have repetitively resurfaced time and again until the present day with gays achieving the most significant political victories in the twentieth century.
This article has been edited and updated. Please click below for the updated version.
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NEW Book Release from the Lamppost Education Initiative:
Murshid al-Qari’ A Reader’s Guide to Classical Muslim Religious Literature in English by Dr. Khalid Yahya Blankinship.
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Dr. Abdullah bin Hamid Ali
He holds a Ph.D. in Cultural and Historical Studies in Religion (2016) and an M.A. in Ethics and Social Theory (2012) from the Graduate Theological Union. He obtained his B.A. (ijaza ‘ulya) in Islamic Law 
(Shariah) from the prestigious Al-Qarawiyin University of Fes, Morocco in 2001. He served as full time Islamic chaplain at the State Correctional Institute of Chester, PA from 2002-2007, and is the founding director of the Lamppost Education Initiative. He currently serves as an Associate Professor of Islamic law and Prophetic Tradition at Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California. His research interests include the interconnection between law and identity formation, comparative Islamic law, and Islam’s role in the modern world.
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