Editing LGBTQ people and Islam (section)

===Modern interpretation===
In [[Kecia Ali]]'s book, she cites that "contemporary scholars disagree sharply about the Qur'anic perspective on same-sex intimacy." One scholar represents the conventional perspective by arguing that the Qur'an "is very explicit in its condemnation of homosexuality leaving scarcely any loophole for a theological accommodation of homosexuality in Islam." Another scholar argues that "the Qur'an does not address homosexuality or homosexuals explicitly." Overall, Ali says that "there is no one Muslim perspective on anything."<ref>Kecia Ali, ''Sexual Ethics and Islam: Feminist Reflections on Qur'an, Hadith and Jurisprudence '' (Oneworld Publications, 2016), xvi, 103.</ref>

Many Muslim scholars have followed a "[[don't ask, don't tell]]" policy in regards to homosexuality in Islam, by treating the subject with passivity.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title = Sexual Ethics & Islam|url = https://archive.org/details/sexualethicsisla00alik|url-access = limited|last = Ali|first = Kecia|publisher = OneWorld Publishing|year = 2006|isbn = 978-1-85168-456-4|location = Oxford, England|page = [https://archive.org/details/sexualethicsisla00alik/page/n118 90]}}</ref>

Mohamed El-Moctar El-Shinqiti, director of the Islamic Center of South Plains in Texas, has argued that "[even though] homosexuality is a grievous sin...[a] no legal punishment is stated in the Qur'an for homosexuality...[b] it is not reported that Prophet Muhammad has punished somebody for committing homosexuality...[c] there is no authentic hadith reported from the Prophet prescribing a punishment for the homosexuals..." Classical hadith scholars such as [[Al-Bukhari]], [[Yahya ibn Ma'in]], [[Al-Nasa'i]], [[Ibn Hazm]], [[Al-Tirmidhi]], and others have disputed the authenticity of hadith reporting these statements.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.onislam.net/english/ask-the-scholar/crimes-and-penalties/disciplinary-penalties-tazir/176732.html |title=Threats to Behead Homosexuals: Shari'ah or Politics? – Disciplinary Penalties (ta'zir) – counsels |publisher=OnIslam.net |access-date=22 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130302024245/http://www.onislam.net/english/ask-the-scholar/crimes-and-penalties/disciplinary-penalties-tazir/176732.html|archive-date=2 March 2013}}</ref>

Egyptian Islamist journalist [[Muhammad Jalal Kishk]] also found no punishment for homosexual acts prescribed in the Quran, regarding the hadith that mentioned it as poorly attested. He did not approve of such acts, but believed that Muslims who abstained from sodomy would be rewarded by sex with youthful boys in paradise.<ref name=massad>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780226509587 |url-access=registration |quote=kishk boys. |title=Desiring Arabs |first=Joseph Andoni |last=Massad|publisher=University of Chicago Press|date=2007|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780226509587/page/203 203]–4|isbn=9780226509600 }}</ref>

Faisal Kutty, a professor of Islamic law at Indiana-based [[Valparaiso University Law School]] and Toronto-based [[Osgoode Hall Law School]], commented on the contemporary same-sex marriage debate in a 27 March 2014 essay in the Huffington Post.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/faisal-kutty-/gay-marriage_b_5044372.htmlurl|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140329165113/http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/faisal-kutty-/gay-marriage_b_5044372.htmlurl|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 March 2014|title=Why Gay Marriage May Not Be Contrary To Islam|publisher=Huffingtonpost.ca|access-date=29 March 2014}}</ref>  He acknowledged that while Islamic law iterations prohibit pre- and extra-marital as well as same-sex sexual activity, it does not attempt to "regulate feelings, emotions and urges, but only its translation into action that authorities had declared unlawful". Kutty, who teaches comparative law and legal reasoning, also wrote that many Islamic scholars<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.lamppostproductions.com/the-homosexual-challenge-to-muslim-ethics/ |title= The Homosexual Challenge to Muslim Ethics |date= 13 April 2013 |publisher= LamppostProductions.com |access-date= 29 March 2014 |archive-date= 29 March 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140329214458/http://www.lamppostproductions.com/the-homosexual-challenge-to-muslim-ethics/ |url-status= live }}</ref> have "even argued that homosexual tendencies themselves were not haram [prohibited] but had to be suppressed for the public good".  He claimed that this may not be "what the LGBTQ community wants to hear", but that, "it reveals that even classical Islamic jurists struggled with this issue and had a more sophisticated attitude than many contemporary Muslims". Kutty, who in the past wrote in support of allowing Islamic principles in dispute resolution, also noted that "most Muslims have no problem extending full human rights to those—even Muslims—who live together 'in sin{{'"}}.  He argued that it therefore seems hypocritical to deny fundamental rights to same-sex couples. Moreover, he concurred with Islamic legal scholar Mohamed Fadel<ref>{{cite web |url= http://islawmix.org/election2012/samesex.html |title= On Same-Sex Marriage |publisher= Islawmix.org |access-date= 29 March 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130929082849/http://islawmix.org/election2012/samesex.html |archive-date= 29 September 2013 |url-status= usurped }}</ref> in arguing that this is not about changing Islamic marriage (nikah), but about making "sure that all citizens have access to the same kinds of public benefits".

Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle, a professor of Islamic Studies at [[Emory University]], has argued for a different interpretation of the Lot narrative focusing not on the sexual act but on the infidelity of the tribe and their rejection of Lot's Prophethood. According to Kugle, "where the Qur'an treats same-sex acts, it condemns them only so far as they are exploitive or violent." More generally, Kugle notes that the Quran refers to four different levels of personality. One level is "genetic inheritance." The Qur'an refers to this level as one's "physical stamp" that "determines one's temperamental nature" including one's sexuality. On the basis of this reading of the Qur'an, Kugle asserts that homosexuality is "caused by divine will", so "homosexuals have no rational choice in their internal disposition to be attracted to same-sex mates."<ref name=kugle2010>{{cite book|last=Kugle|first=Scott|title=Homosexuality in Islam|year=2010|publisher=Oneworld Publications|location=Oxford, England}}</ref>{{rp|42–46}}  Kugle argues that if the classical commentators had seen "sexual orientation as an integral aspect of human personality", they would have read the narrative of Lot and his tribe "as addressing male rape of men in particular" and not as "addressing homosexuality in general".<ref name=kugle2010/>{{rp|54}}  Kugle furthermore reads the Qur'an as holding "a positive assessment of diversity". Under this reading, Islam can be described as "a religion that positively assesses diversity in creation and in human societies", allowing gay and lesbian Muslims to view homosexuality as representing the "natural diversity in sexuality in human societies."<ref name=kugle>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://othersheepexecsite.com/Other_Sheep_Resource_Sexuality_Diversity_and_Ethics_in_the_Agenda_of_Progressive_Muslims_by_Scott_Siraj_al_Haqq_Kugle.pdf|author=Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle|chapter=Sexuality, diversity and ethics in the agenda of progressive Muslims|title=Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism|editor=Omid Safi|publisher=Oneworld Publications|date=2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180526190939/http://othersheepexecsite.com/Other_Sheep_Resource_Sexuality_Diversity_and_Ethics_in_the_Agenda_of_Progressive_Muslims_by_Scott_Siraj_al_Haqq_Kugle.pdf|archive-date=26 May 2018}}</ref> A critique of Kugle's approach, interpretations and conclusions was published in 2016 by Mobeen Vaid.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://muslimmatters.org/2016/07/11/can-islam-accommodate-homosexual-acts-quranic-revisionism-and-the-case-of-scott-kugle/|title=Can Islam Accommodate Homosexual Acts? Quranic Revisionism and the Case of Scott Kugle|publisher=MuslimMatters|last1=Vaid|first1=Mobeen|date=11 July 2016|access-date=31 July 2017|archive-date=31 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731162539/http://muslimmatters.org/2016/07/11/can-islam-accommodate-homosexual-acts-quranic-revisionism-and-the-case-of-scott-kugle/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2018, Junaid Jahangir and Hussein Abdullatif published their own critique of Vaid's criticisms against Kugle.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jahangir |first=Junaid |last2=Abdullatif |first2=Hussein |date=2018 |title=Homosexuality: the emerging new battleground in Islam |url=https://roam.macewan.ca/items/953b6672-aa0d-473f-938b-6bc9b3bfc740 |journal=Iran Namag |language=en |volume=3 |issue=1}}</ref>

In a 2012 book, Aisha Geissinger<ref>{{cite web |url=https://carleton.ca/religion/people/aisha-geissinger/ |title=Aisha Geissinger |website=Carleton University |access-date=April 7, 2021 |archive-date=April 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419190200/https://carleton.ca/religion/people/aisha-geissinger/ |url-status=live }}</ref> writes that there are "apparently irreconcilable Muslim standpoints on same-sex desires and acts", all of which claim "interpretative authenticity". One of these standpoints results from "queer-friendly" interpretations of the Lot story and the Quran. The Lot story is interpreted as condemning "rape and inhospitality rather than today's consensual same-sex relationships."<ref>Aisha Geissinger, "Islam and Discourses of Same-Sex Desire" in ''Queer Religion, Volume 1'', eds., Donald L. Boisvert and Jay Emerson Johnson (ABC-CLIO, 2012), 70. 83.</ref>

In their book ''Islamic Law and Muslim Same-Sex Unions'', [[Junaid Jahangir]] and Hussein Abdullatif argue that interpretations which view the Quranic narrative of the people of Lot and the derived classical notion of ''liwat'' as applying to same-sex relationships reflect the sociocultural norms and medical knowledge of societies that produced those interpretations. They further argue that the notion of ''liwat'' is compatible with the Quranic narrative, but not with the contemporary understanding of same-sex relationships based on love and shared responsibilities.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Sabine Exner|title=Review of Junaid Jahangir & Hussein Abdullatif's ''Islamic Law and Muslim Same-Sex Unions''|journal=Religion and Gender|volume=8|number=1|year=2018|pages=126–128|url=https://www.academia.edu/37888498|access-date=2019-04-05|archive-date=2022-06-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605064906/https://www.academia.edu/37888498|url-status=live}}</ref>

In his 2010 article ''Sexuality and Islam'', Abdessamad Dialmy addressed "sexual norms defined by the sacred texts (Koran and Sunna)." He wrote that "sexual standards in Islam are paradoxical." The sacred texts "allow and actually are an enticement to the exercise of sexuality."  However, they also "discriminate ... between heterosexuality and homosexuality." Islam's paradoxical standards result in "the current back and forth swing of sexual practices between repression and openness." Dialmy sees a solution to this back and forth swing by a "reinterpretation of repressive holy texts."<ref name="dialmy">{{cite journal |last1=Dialmy |first1=Abdessamad |title=Sexuality and Islam |journal=The European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care |date=13 May 2010 |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=160–168 |doi=10.3109/13625181003793339|pmid=20441406 |s2cid=1099061 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merip.org/author/abdessamad-dialmy|title=Abdessamad Dialmy|publisher=Merip|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524024513/https://merip.org/author/abdessamad-dialmy/|archive-date=24 May 2012}}</ref>