I have friends who are homosexual, some are Muslim, others are not. I have respected them as human beings, but will not preach about Islam's rejection of their lifestyle. In my view, many of them have long preferred to keep this lifestyle and try to maintain a relationship with God. They know about Islam's rejection of homosexuality. They are human and all humans are not perfect. We have our own demons to deal with. I will only engage when they are ready to go back on the straight path and I will offer them my support and help.
When I went to Jakarta in 2006, representing Singapore to discuss the UN Millennium Development Goals within an Asian framework, I was greeted by members of Indonesia's youth from all walks of life. A smaller group, known as the Jaringan Pelangi, is a LGBTQ NGO. They were the first to welcome me and befriend me.
Being from a conventional and traditional Muslim family, I was taken aback by the warmth. Gay people back home are hostile, perhaps also as a response mechanism to the hostility or curiousness they get. By Gay people, I should qualify as Malay (assumed born Muslim) gay people.
While having some coffee with other delegates, the call to prayer was made. It was Asar. The first person to ask me to pray was gay. Again, I found it surprising. Gay people back home are as remote to Allah as the Sun and the Earth. Too near, and it seems like they'll turn straight in an instance.
This piqued my interest further, and I braved up to enquire about how they live in the world's most populous Muslim nation. I asked, "How do you come to terms with your religion being a homosexual?"
It was eye-opening.
For many of them, they cannot divorce Islam from their lives. It is part of them. It is what keeps them alive. It is their strength. It is their guidance. Some of them pray 5 times a day, they fast, they give zakat, and some have even went to haj.
However, many of them are in the opinion this is the natural way in which they feel. This is an opinion and opinions are not facts.
Allah has prohibited homosexual behaviour. It is in the Qur'an. Allah made humans, into a man and a woman as companions. Therefore, this cannot be a natural feeling. God made humans perfect beings. But that perfection comes with a heavy responsibility. The natural order of things must be complied with, or face Allah's wrath. This is not just Allah's opinion, it is his prescription, and it is an order.
On this point, my friend said, "Well, then truly my sin is between me and Allah".
We were able to have a perfectly decent conversation about Islam, homosexuality and life in general. I did not agree with a lot of the things he said, and maybe he doesn't agree with some of the things I said.
We're still friends.
I am also great friends with Dr Khairuddin. We've known each other for years, and I have always known him to be a man with great integrity and honesty.
He is the subject of an ongoing petition against him, made by LGBT students, regarding his views on homosexuality, and this deviant brand of Islam called Liberal Islam, in his capacity as a University professor.
I can agree with many of the points Dr Khairuddin has made on his postings, but I must express my disappointment in the way his words were used against him, twisted and morphed in such a way that his integrity is on the line.
Islam does not condone homosexuality. Dr Khairuddin, being an expert in the Malay world, being Muslim, and having learnt from esteemed Imams merely articulated this view. He refused to take his posting down because there is no offence in this respect. There is no watered down version of Islam that homosexuals can accept, and they should not expect one.
Dr Khairuddin had instead offered to discuss it, and invited any who do not agree with this view to a debate. Isn't that perfectly rational and nice? We could have had a nice discussion and put it on the table, rationalise your thoughts, discuss your emotions and leave the room with a better understanding of Islam, and secondly, a better understanding of homosexuality and the people who either live by this lifestyle or in our view, suffering from this illness.
Instead, what we have is an attack on his credibility as a professor, which he has dispensed, without fear or favour, whether you're Muslim or not, and whether you're straight or gay. Truly, there have been many gay or lesbian students that have been to his lectures and have graduated and are fine young men or women trying to do something with their lives.
You cannot demystify homosexuality and let us understand your emotions, your pains, your struggles with an attack on someone's credibility, especially when he has offered a chance for you to articulate your disagreement.
This is not progress.
Having a nice chat about it is.
Now, is a Muslim homophobic? First lets discuss what Islam specifically prohibits.
Do you indeed approach men with desire instead of women? Rather, you are a people behaving ignorantly." - Qur'an 4:16
Look, if I told you I love Muhammad, do you think I'm gay? Muslim men can perfectly love other Muslim men. That's why we affectionately call each other Bro. I love Rasulullah, but it's not what you think.
Islam prohibits lust between men. In this verse, and anywhere else, Allah specifically mentioned the acts of immorality. No one is saying two men can't love each other. It is when love transcends into lust, desire, sexual urges, that Allah specifically prohibits.
So what are we talking about when you say homophobic? That we are against brotherly love (or sisterly love)? Men can perfectly hold each other's pinkies. The Bangladeshis do it all the time!
If this is homosexuality, dude, you're doing just fine.
But if homosexuality also encompasses the idea of bedding a man with another man, or a woman with another woman, then that is where we draw the line.
So is homosexuality about love or lust? Are we talking about sexual preference? Or are we talking about same-gender relationships that don't become sexual in any way. If that's what we're talking about, then everyone's technically homosexual.
Dr Khairuddin expressed his views based on a question by another heterosexual student who is concerned about this issue. Dr Khairuddin answered it with honesty.
Should homosexual students expect anything different? Why should they? We're not pretending Dr Khairuddin is not repulsed by homosexuality. He is a perfectly pious Muslim man!
Dr Khairuddin approached the backlash with the LGBT students with firmness and kindness, academic freedoms aside. I had expected them to take notes from their friends in Jakarta. Unfortunately, that olive branch has now become a sour plum.
Can Dr Khairuddin handle it better? Yes. But it would be too much to ask him to try something different. He is not prepared for it, and neither are the entire cohort of local Muslim clerics. This issue has been under the covers for many years. We've had Muslim transgenders parading in Bugis in the 70s and prostituting themselves in Changi as recent as the 2000s. Not many have become straight or decided to return to the straight path. But those that do, probably had a life-changing experience. Perhaps someone dear died, or Allah had given them the gift to come back to the fold.
None of them had an Ustaz inviting them to solat.
My gay friend was the first person asking me to solat. Where were you when the azan was called? Did you ask another brother to go pray with you in a jemaah, or did you just went about doing your own prayers? If homosexual is an illness, and you are the doctor, tell me, would you like the doctor to treat you or scold you?
This is my problem with both sides. One is living a lie and demands the other side to indulge in his fantasy. The other is not doing their primary duties first and is more concerned with rhetorics than action.
Maybe we should have had that chat over tea.
Truly Allah knows best.
Hazrul Azhar Jamari
*Comment first appeared on https://www.facebook.com/notes/hazrul-azhar-jamari/a-homosexual-islamaph...