Encomium
As same sex marriages continue to spread across the world, several peoples, tribes, backgrounds and religions are joining the team. However, there are also countries where this act is highly prohibited and severely punished. This has led to clamouring from gays in such countries for a law guiding them.
Meanwhile, the world recorded first muslim same sex marriage earlier in July and this has left a lot of tongues wagging as to how this is possible.
Reactions came from different directions, especially from the Muslims, condemning the act.
Encomium Weekly sought the view of Ustaz Taofeeq Bakare-Agoro, who spoke from the Islam’s perspective, the reaction of Sharia to such act, the history of gay in Islam and punishment for all that indulge in the act. Here is what he has to say:
What is the position of Islam on same sex marriage now that the world records first of its kind?
First, the issue of gay in the Islamic Sharia, this is not the first time such is happening. The UK gay couple are not the first in the history of Islam as narrated in the holy Qur’an and even the Bible speaks about it. In the Qur’an, we call them ‘As’ aba Nobiyyu Solih was Nobiyyu Lut (the people of Prophet Solih and Prophet Luth). In the time of Prophet Luth (AS), his people were the first set of mankind to practice homosexuality. It is similarly narrated in the Bible, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. That is where the word Sodom (which means same gender having sex) is derived. That’s why we refer to it as the ‘act of sodomy’.
Being Muslims, we must adhere strictly to the will of Allah and the noble Prophet (SAW). In different chapters and verses of the holy Qur’an, Allah narrated the story of Prophet Solih and Prophet Lut, but the incident is most peculiar to Prophet Lut because the act started in his time. Prophet Lut came immediately after Prophet Ibrahim (father Abraham). Some said they spent time together, but what is most essential is that the act of Sodomy started with the people of Prophet Lut (AS). It started with the men first before the women followed suit.
Lut knew this as his people’s act, even Allah Himself knew it was going to happen. But when it became so rampant among them, despite the fact that Lut warned them severally against it in order to avoid the
wrath of Allah, they told him that they would stone him to death if he did not desist from preaching to them. Before Allah visited His wrath upon them, He sent His angels to Prophet Lut (AS), they came in form of handsome men.
Prophet Lut didn’t know they were angels initially, but they later introduced themselves after they had refused to eat or drink anything with which they were entertained. Lut’s wife was a kafirun (an unbeliever), despite being a Prophet’s wife and that is why it is often said that Allah won’t pardon an unbelieving spouse just because his/her partner is righteous. Lut’s wife was the one who went to inform the villagers that her husband had visitors who are extraordinarily handsome that the village men could pass some time with.
The village men were so happy that they marched to Lut’s house immediately to carry out their evil mission. They called out of the house and told him their intention. Lut pleaded with them not to disgrace him in the presence of his visitors. He offered to give them his two virgin daughters instead, but they declined. While they were arguing, the angels revealed themselves to Lut, that they were not human but angels. And that the main reason they visited him was to confirm what was happening amongst his people and ruin the village afterwards.
Now that they had confirmed it themselves, they told Lut go move his family out of the village before dawn the following day as they are set to destroy the village. The people of Lut didn’t commit any other offence aside that before Allah destroyed them.
After much argument, the village men left with the promise of coming back to get the handsome visitors by all means. By dawn, Lut had convinced his family to move out of the village and while they started going, it was only Lut’s wife that came back to stay with the villagers. Allah ordered the angels to uproot the entire village, take it to the sky and turn it upside down. This was how the people of Lut were destroyed and none of them survived except the household of Lut who had left the village on the instruction of Allah.
Allah said it in suratul Ta’rim in the last two verses that ‘O Muhammed, you might not have heard about this but let me tell you about some kafirun (unbelievers), the wife of Nuhu and the wife of Lut. These two women are under two prophets of God yet they went astray. And Allah didn’t pardon them because of their husbands, Allah ordered them to enter hell with other unbelievers.
Allah also gave the example of another set of women: “O Muhammed, have you also heard of two women who are believers, the wife of Firaun/(Pharaoh) who told Allah to build for her a mansion in paradise, and save her from the evils of Firaun (Pharaoh), save me from the deeds of the hypocrites.
“The second woman is Mariam (Mary), daughter of Imran, mother of Jesus excludes herself from fornication and this is why we made her different. We breath into her and she gave birth to Jesus without copulating. And she is a true believer who abides by the will of Allah.”
Whoever dares to do what the people of Lut did, in the Sharia of Islam, should be stoned to death because Allah considers sleeping with the same sex a bad disease which should not be allowed to spread. Before now, people don’t do it in the open, but today, they do it openly and some people are still agitating for their right to exist. There is nothing like gay Muslims, they are two opposite things. To be a Muslim, you have to abide by the rules of Islam and being a gay can never be welcomed in Islam under no circumstances.
Being a gay is just like putting on a pair of left shoes, no matter how rich such person is, people will still doubt his sanity. Even animals, with the fact that God didn’t give them wisdom, you can’t see animals of the same sex copulating.
– AZEEZAT KAREEM
