Imam Backs Shariah Shock! October 22, 2006
Posted by Rasheed Eldin in Homosexualists, Media, Shari'ah.19 comments
From an OutRage press release:
Killing gays is OK, says Muslim Imam
Manchester Imam defends execution of gay people
20 October 2006Manchester’s leading Imam has confirmed that he thinks the execution of sexually active gay men is justified. Mr. Arshad Misbahi, who is based at the Manchester Central Mosque, confirmed his views in a conversation to Dr John Casson, a local psychotherapist.
Dr Casson said: “I asked him if the execution of gay Muslims in Iran and Iraq was an acceptable punishment in Sharia law, or the result of culture, not religion. He told me that in a true Islamic state, such punishments were part of Islam: if the person had had a trial, at which four witnesses testified that they had seen the actual homosexual acts.”
“I asked him what would be the British Muslim view? He repeated that in an Islamic state these punishments were justified. They might result in the deaths of thousands but if this deterred millions from having sex, and spreading disease, then it was worthwhile to protect the wider community.”
“I checked again that this was not a matter of tradition, culture or local prejudice. ‘No,’ he said, ‘It is part of the central tenets of Islam: that sex outside marriage is forbidden; this is stated in the Koran and the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had stated that these punishments were due to such behaviours.’”
“He told me that no Muslim would have spoken to him as I had done – they would have been too afraid, ashamed or inhibited: he admired my courage and openness.”
Commenting on Imam Arshad Misbahi’s views, Dr John Casson said:
In the name of Satan October 9, 2006
Posted by Rasheed Eldin in Homosexualists, Proggies.37 comments
Still on their quest for a Queer Muslim Reformation, the makers of In the Name of Allah are inviting you to a club in San Francisco for “Cocktails, Hors d’oeuvres, 12-minute preview of the film, and Q&A with director Parvez Sharma and producer Sandi DuBowski (director of Trembling Before G-D) .”
Afdhere Jama urges Muslims to go along between 6-8pm: “I’m a personal friend of the director, and would really appreciate your support on this. And I thank you in advance for whatever you can do to support this good cause.”
Above is a screenshot from the venue’s website – there’s a wide variety of drinks to break your fast with. Maghrib that day in San Fran is 6.31pm, boys. I wonder if they have a prayer room at Supperclub..?
Gay Pride “Honours” for Manji & Khaki September 10, 2006
Posted by Taleb Haqq in Homosexualists, Proggies, Queer Muslims.3 comments
If you haven’t been following this year’s Toronto Gay Pride coverage, here’s what you missed: Award Honourees Announced.
El-Farouk Khaki was honoured for
Spirituality: El-Farouk Khaki, lawyer and human rights activist, El-Farouk is the founder of Salaam Canada and the local Salaam Toronto chapter. Salaam is a Muslim Identified Queer Advocacy and Support Organization, providing support, resources and lobbying on behalf of their membership for greater tolerance and inclusiveness in the Islamic community.”
So now Salaam is for “inclusiveness in the Islamic community…” but they won’t do this by debating the mainstream Muslims (see my previous post on Salaam Canada and the El-Farouk Effect).
Anyway, the real treat is what Irshad Manji got honoured for:
Whitaker on “native misinformants” September 10, 2006
Posted by Rasheed Eldin in Homosexualists, Proggies.15 comments
Quite some time ago, I promised a response to Brian Whitaker’s article asking: What’s wrong with being gay and Muslim? Well, I’ve shelved the idea of responding to that, as it would be better to respond to what he’s written in his book, once I get round to it! See here and here for relevant previous posts.
The article gives a taster of the arguments found in the book - arguments that are apparently based upon the work of Scott Kugle (which I’ll have to refute before Whitaker’s, therefore). In fact, Whitaker doesn’t so much indulge in the scriptural reinterpretation in the article, but just gives the case for doing this, and moving with the times.
Note the way in which he frames the question in terms of identities (“being Muslim and gay”), making it difficult to provide an answer based on juristic principles. There is nothing wrong with being anything, simply, as Islam describes sin as an act of doing, not a state of being. Whitaker realises this, but I feel his use of the concept is highly misleading. His subtitle says: “The Qur’anic verses usually cited as condemning homosexuality are by no means as clear or unequivocal as people imagine.”
My attention was caught by a later article by Brian, a cutting overview of the “native misinformants”, chiefly represented by Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Irshad Manji. I’m left a little confused, in that Brian is going on about reform of Islam’s attitude to homosexuality, without noticing the overlap between all these figures, and the implications of the Queer Muslim Reformation.
It so happens that both the women he castigates have taken homosexuality as important planks in their anti-Islam campaigns (though Manji’s is supposedly from “within”). I posted here before about the endorsement given by Al-Fatiha founder Faisal Alam to Ayaan’s Submission movie – and that was the first one, not the forthcoming one about gays. Meanwhile, Brian Whitaker links to Al-Fatiha, and I wonder if he has any criticisms of their role as “reformers”.
Another chap going on a lot about the “civil war” in Islam and how reformation is going on right now, is Reza Aslan, author of No god but God. In an article on the proggies’ central site, a young lady tells of how her interest in Islam was piqued by how “very very good-looking” Aslan is. He later tells her:
[Y]ou must be careful, because there are lots of crazies out there and they all have their ‘authoritative’ views on what Islam is and what it is not; what it allows and what it doesn’t. Don’t listen to any of it… Islam is what you consider it to be… I have countless gay Muslim friends and encourage you to contact my very good friend Faisal who is the head of al-Fatiha organization…
Whether “scholars” like Kugle and Aslan, or “activists” like Manji and Ayaan, these are players in the same insidious game.
Muslim Canadian Congress: Fatah’s Latest Failure August 6, 2006
Posted by Taleb Haqq in Homosexualists, Islam, Media, Proggies, Religion.5 comments
A little bit of background information first.
The Muslim Canadian Congress (not to be confused with the older, more mainstream and established Canadian Islamic Congress) is a “grassroots organization that provides a voice to Muslims who are not represented by existing organizations; organizations that are either sectarian or ethnocentric, largely authoritarian, and influenced by a fear of modernity and an aversion to joy.” No joke, this is from their website. It seems that they brand all other organizations under those 4 categories….anyways, that’s for a different post I guess.
They are a hodgepodge group willing to stir up anything that will remotely go against fundamental understandings of Islam and mainstream Muslims. They sport the likes of El-Farouk Khaki of Salaam Canada fame (previously blogged about on this page)
So, recently, Canadian news services reported that the MCC’s Communications Director, a certain Tarek Fatah, as having quit his affiliation with the group because he fears for his and his family’s safety.[see CBC, Globe and Mail, Toronto Star amongst others] The big discussion going on on the Globe and Mail site is focusing on the importance of free speech and how sad it is that he’s getting these threats etc. But there is something that is quite important here. I normally detest the National Post, but, in their article, they cite Fatah’s resignation letter to the MCC board in which he stated that the reason for his departure is “an increasing heavy load of work”. It also makes mention of an upcoming book. That’s interesting, this fact is not mentioned in all of the articles…so what’s the true reason?
Anyways, add this to Tarek’s latest failures…the PMUNA (The Progressive Muslim Union of North America), which claims Fatah as a member of its board, lost 3 of its board members almost a year ago (they resigned).
Fatah needs to realize that moderate Islam IS tolerant and that he is doing nothing except take an unnecessary extreme that is based on obscure teachings an unfounded stances.
Guidance to all inshallah.
Gay rags support war agenda July 28, 2006
Posted by Rasheed Eldin in Homosexualists, Media.8 comments
Faisal Alam apparently doesn’t mind forwarding filth, but this innocuous-looking interview request just clicked into place in my mind alongside a bunch of surely-not-unrelated happenings in the world of LGBT advocacy.
Hi,
I am writing an article for the UK magazine Gay Times on the topic of gay rights in Syria and I would be very interested in the views of your members on the situation for LGBT people in Syria. What is the prevailaing attitude? What forms does homophobia take? How easy is it to come out to friends, family, employers? What reasons are there for society’s attitude? I am happy to publish any comments under a false name if you prefer.
[...]
Best wishes,
Debbie Stowe
Syria? Not the most common area of interest to British readers, surely. Could this be an exercise in cultural exploration, or is it rather a humble contribution to Yo Blair’s Bush-led machinations for the Middle East?
See also Al-Fil’s concerns about a recent article praising Israel and bashing Palestine at the Advocate.com. (OK, Al-Fil and I might not agree on much, but it’s worth noting that the problematic nature of the article is obvious to anyone against the Bush-Blair wars.)
And I dare say that, whether the homosexualists meant it to be so or not, the July 19 demonstrations against Iran hanging two boys a year ago (allegedly for rape) fitted into this agenda as well as the one they were promoting primarily.
I don’t know any unique facts about that case; but below I reproduce a long statement by Scott Long of Human Rights Watch (Director, LGBT Rights Program), because it might contain important points for consideration not found elsewhere…
MEMRI & Qaradawi: the main point June 30, 2006
Posted by Rasheed Eldin in Homosexualists, Media, Responses, Shari'ah.12 comments
In my lengthy post earlier about Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s recent comments on homosexuality, the most important point may have been missed by many readers in amongst the various notes on language.
“The Elephant” at the Middle East Gay Journal acknowledged my findings but doesn’t seem apologetic about laying into Qaradawi for supposedly “calling for punishment” (as opposed to reiterating established scholarly views), as have all the other agenda-driven bloggers - who, at least, have the excuse of not understanding Arabic.
Brian Whitaker noted in an e-mail exchange that “The trouble with MEMRI is that it’s only interested in highlighting the bits that make Qaradawi look bad; it’s not concerned with the detailed arguments.” Brian has, of course, taken on MEMRI before. However, I am not convinced that he has understood Qaradawi either, and we are still discussing this.
So here is the most important point again. MEMRI (in their edited video and transcript) chose to quote the Sheikh when he mentioned the various scholarly views on punishment for a man who commits sodomy (MEMRI just said “homosexual”!), but chose to delete a few sentences in amongst that in which he stated his preference to select the least severe view for our times.
So while Islam-haters reproduced this MEMRI propaganda with glee, they failed to realise, let alone acknowledge, that Sheikh al-Qaradawi was not advocating all those “gruesome” punishments, but is of the view that the widespread nature of this sin (i.e. sodomy) calls for a lightening of the punishment to be applied.
I am by no means saying this is a “gay-friendly” view (as if that is something we as sincere Muslims need to prioritise!), but I firmly believe that honest people should acknowledge somebody’s true opinion if they are going to indulge in debate, let alone condemnation and mockery.
So to make this clearer, I am going to present the relevant part, with MEMRI translation compared to mine.
Are gays perverts? (MEMRI & Qaradawi) June 27, 2006
Posted by Rasheed Eldin in Homosexualists, Media, Responses, Shari'ah.10 comments
A provocative title, I’m sure you’ll agree. Well this word has been used provocatively by others before me, so no harm in my doing similar. But my intent will be different from that of Pink News, who want you to say “Oh, that nasty man used a nasty word!”
The reference is to the latest (highly edited as usual) transcript from the not-so-esteemed MEMRI, which they summarised in customary fashion with this charming headline:
There is a full transcript on the Al-Jazeera site. And if you want to check it (it’s not perfect), you can download and listen to the full 47 minutes by clicking here [about 4MB].
It deserves to be translated in full too, but that’s not my endeavour just now. Before discussing a few points raised by the Sheikh and in response to him, I wish to clarify something about his apparent use of the word “pervert”, pounced upon by some people of perverted intentions.
Imaan and Pride June 23, 2006
Posted by Rasheed Eldin in Homosexualists, Islam, Queer Muslims.22 comments
Remember way back around the time this blog was launched, I wrote the epic two-parter in response to that Channel 4 shockumentary?
Well, there was a bit left over that I meant to write, about the comments made by one “Rasheeda”, who I assume to be the same person as Farzana, chairperson of Imaan. She (behind a probably-not-for-modesty niqab) said:
You can’t be proud to be gay in Islam, you can’t be proud of your sexuality, it’s immodest. Islam is all about modesty, and protecting your modesty. That’s why we won’t go out wearing skimpy [clothes], next to nothing, and you know sleeping around and stuff like that. That’s an un-Islamic notion, being proud of your sexuality. Your sexuality is not something you’re proud of, it just exists. You’re not even supposed to show public displays of affection in Islam, rather you’re married… you just don’t find it. And certainly we wouldn’t advocate that kind of immodest behaviour at all.
We have a lot of respect for our culture and our religious culture as well as our religion itself, as well as our community, as well as our family. We don’t want to do anything that would upset people, but at the same time, we are asking them to think more broadly, you know, think, have an open mind. Because, you know, the chances are, you’re related to a gay Muslim and you don’t even know it.
That sounds almost sensible. But put it together with the images of her crew parading around in their bizarre get-up (including a rainbow hijab – talk about an affront to a religious concept), as well as her words on the stage, and you have yourself a most perplexing self-contradiction.
Prominent Muslim pushed out June 20, 2006
Posted by Rasheed Eldin in Homosexualists, Media.4 comments
According to The Herald, the well-respected Muslim leader Bashir Maan has been forced to resign from his role as president of the Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations over views he expressed against homosexuality in schools.
Volunteer chief quits over views on gays
UPDATE: Also see this article in The iWitness.
