http://groups.yahoo.com/group/al-fatiha-news/message/45

QUOTE:
More liberal imams, such as Sheikh Zaki Badawi of the
Ealing Muslim College, refuse to pigeonhole homosexuality
in this way. Speaking to Gay Times, he said that “the film
My Beautiful Laundrette [which centres on the love of a gay
Muslim man for a white former racist] should serve as a
useful reminder to the Muslim community that they cannot
simply sweep gays and lesbians under the carpet.
Homosexuality has always existed and continues to exist in
all Islamic countries. Indeed, many high-ranking leaders in
the Islamic world are gay.” Sheikh Badawi categorically
rejects homophobic violence. “In Britain,” he says, “we
Muslims are in a minority, and it should not be our task to
encourage intolerance towards other minorities.” He is one
of the few Muslim figures who advocates the teaching of
homosexuality in the context of sex education lessons in
schools, as long as it does not challenge the “normality”
of the traditional heterosexual family by “promoting”
homosexuality. However, toleration does not equal
acceptance, and even he considers homosexuality to be a
“problem” similar to alcoholism, which is against Islamic
teaching, even though being an alcoholic or gay does not
disqualify one from being Muslim.