Editing LGBTQ people and Islam (section)

== Scripture and Islamic jurisprudence ==

=== In the Quran ===
==== Messengers to Lot ====
{{Main|Islamic view of Lot|Liwat}}

[[File:Lot BnF Persan 54 fol. 40.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Lot in Islam|Lut]] fleeing the [[Sodom and Gomorrah#Islamic|city]] with his [[Lot's daughters|daughters]]; his [[Lot's wife#Islamic view|wife]] is killed by a rock. [[Persian miniature]] (16th century), [[Bibliothèque nationale de France|National Library of France]], [[Paris]].]]

The Quran contains several allusions to [[homosexual activity]], which has prompted considerable [[Tafsir|exegetical]] and [[Islamic jurisprudence|legal]] commentaries over the centuries.<ref name=EoQ>{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Rowson |author-first=Everett K. |year=2006 |title=Homosexuality |editor-last=McAuliffe |editor-first=Jane Dammen |editor-link=Jane Dammen McAuliffe |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān]] |volume=2 |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |doi=10.1163/1875-3922_q3_EQCOM_00085 |pages=444–445 |isbn=90-04-14743-8}}</ref> The subject is most clearly addressed in the story of [[Sodom and Gomorrah#Islamic|Sodom and Gomorrah]] (seven [[Ayah|verses]])<ref name="Muhammad Homosexuality">{{cite book |author-last=Wafer |author-first=Jim |year=1997 |chapter=Muhammad and Male Homosexuality |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Zw-AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA88 |editor1-last=Murray |editor1-first=Stephen O. |editor1-link=Stephen O. Murray |editor2-last=Roscoe |editor2-first=Will |title=[[Islamic Homosexualities|Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature]] |location=[[New York City|New York]] and [[London]] |publisher=[[NYU Press]] |pages=88–96 |doi=10.18574/nyu/9780814761083.003.0006 |isbn=9780814774687 |jstor=j.ctt9qfmm4 |oclc=35526232 |s2cid=141668547 |access-date=2021-04-20 |archive-date=2023-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323020425/https://books.google.com/books?id=6Zw-AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA88 |url-status=live }}</ref> after the men of the city demand to have sex with the male messengers sent by God to Lot (or Lut).<ref name=EoQ/><ref name=QL1>{{qref|7|80-84}}; {{qref|11|77-83}}; {{qref|21|74}}; {{qref|22|43}}; {{qref|26|165–175}}; {{qref|27|56–59}}; and {{qref|29|27–33}}.</ref><ref name=dr>Duran (1993) p. 179</ref><ref name="MC">Kligerman (2007) pp. 53–54</ref> The Quranic narrative largely conforms to that found in [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]].<ref name=EoQ/> In one passage the Quran says that the men "solicited his guests of him" ([[Quran 54:37]]), using an expression that parallels phrasing used to describe [[Potiphar and his wife|the attempted seduction]] of [[Joseph in Islam|Joseph]], and in multiple passages they are accused of "coming with lust" to men instead of [[Women in Islam|women]] (or their wives).<ref name=EoQ/> The Quran terms this lewdness or [[fahisha]] ({{langx|ar|[[wikt:فاحشة|فاحشة]]|fāḥiša}}) unprecedented in the history of the world:

{{Blockquote|text=And ˹remember˺ when Lot scolded ˹the men of˺ his people, ˹saying,˺ "Do you commit a shameful deed that no man has ever done before? You lust after men instead of women! You are certainly transgressors." But his people’s only response was to say, "Expel them from your land! They are a people who wish to remain chaste!" So We saved him and his family except his wife, who was one of the doomed. We poured upon them a rain ˹of brimstone˺. See what was the end of the wicked!|author={{qref|7|80-84|c=y}}}}

The destruction of the "people of Lut" is thought to be explicitly associated with their sexual practices.<ref name="Muhammad Homosexuality"/> Later exegetical literature built on these verses as writers attempted to give their own views as to what went on; and there was general agreement among exegetes that the "lewdness" alluded to by the Quranic passages was attempted [[Sodomy#Islam|sodomy]] (specifically [[anal intercourse]]) between men.<ref name=EoQ/>

Some Muslim scholars, such as the ''[[Zahiri school|Ẓāhirī scholar]]'' (literalist) [[Ibn Hazm|ibn Ḥazm]], argue that the "people of Lut" were destroyed not because of participation in homosexuality ''per se'', but because of disregarding [[Prophets and messengers in Islam|Prophets and messengers]] and attempting to [[rape]] one of them.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kuggle|first1=Scott|last2=Hunt|first2=Stephen|title=Masculinity, Homosexuality and the Defence of Islam: A Case Study of Yusuf al-Qaradawi's Media Fatwa|journal=Religion and Gender|volume=2|issue=2|date=2012|pages=271–272}}</ref><ref name=kugle/>{{rp|194–195}}<ref>Habib, S. (2008). Queer-Friendly Islamic Hermeneutics. Isim Review, 21(1), 32-33.
Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/17231</ref>

The sins of the "people of Lut" ({{langx|ar|[[wikt:لوط|لوط]]}}) subsequently became proverbial and the [[Arabic]] words for the act of [[anal sex between men]] such as ''[[liwat]]'' ({{langx|ar|[[wikt:لواط|لواط]]|liwāṭ}}) and for a person who performs such acts ({{langx|ar|[[wikt:لوطي|لوطي]]|lūṭi}}) both derive from his name, although Lut was not the one demanding sex.<ref name="ReferenceA">Wayne Dynes, ''Encyclopaedia of Homosexuality'', New York, 1990.</ref>

Some Western and Modern Islamic scholars argue that in the course of the Quranic Lot story, homosexuality in the modern sense is not addressed, but that the destruction of the "people of Lut" was a result of breaking the ancient [[hospitality law]] and [[sexual violence]], in this case they attempted [[Rape of males|rape of men]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Kugle, Scott Siraj al-Haqq (2010) Homosexuality in Islam: Critical Reflections on Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Muslims. Oxford: Oneworld Publications|pages=51–53|quote=the story is really about infidelity and how the Tribe of Lot schemed for ways to reject his Prophethood and his public standing in the community [...] They rejected him in a variety of ways, and their sexual assault of his guests was only one expression of their inner intention to deny Lot the dignity of being a Prophet and drive him from their cities}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Hazm|first=Ibn|title=Mu'jam fiqh Ibn Hazm al Zahiri|publisher=Dar al-Fikr|year=1966}}</ref>{{Request quotation|date=September 2022}}<ref>{{Cite book|title=Wunibald Müller, Homosexualität – eine Herausforderung für Theologie und Seelsorge, Mainz 1986, p. 64-65.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Andreas Ismail Mohr: "Wie steht der Koran zur Homosexualität?", in: LSVD Berlin-Brandenburg e.V. (Hrsg.): Muslime unter dem Regenbogen. Homosexualität, Migration und Islam. Berlin: Querverlag, 2004, p. 16}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Noegel, Scott B.; Wheeler, Brannon M. (2010). Lot. The A to Z of Prophets in Islam and Judaism. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Incorporated. pp. 118–126. ISBN 978-0810876033}}</ref>

==== ''Zina'' verse ====
Only one passage in the Quran prescribes a strictly legal position. It is not restricted to homosexual behaviour, however, and deals more generally with ''[[zina]]'' ([[Islamic sexual jurisprudence#Illegal sexualities|illicit sexual intercourse]]):<ref name="Muhammad Homosexuality"/>

{{Blockquote|text=˹As for˺ those of your women who commit illegal intercourse—call four witnesses from among yourselves. If they testify, confine the offenders to their homes until they die or Allah ordains a ˹different˺ way for them. And the two among you who commit this sin—discipline them. If they repent and mend their ways, relieve them. Surely Allah is ever Accepting of Repentance, Most Merciful.|author={{qref|4|15-16|c=y}}}}

In the exegetical Islamic literature, this verse has provided the basis for the view that Muhammad took a lenient approach towards male homosexual practices.<ref name="Muhammad Homosexuality"/> The [[Oriental studies|Orientalist scholar]] Pinhas Ben Nahum has argued that "it is obvious that the Prophet viewed the vice with philosophic indifference. Not only is the punishment not indicated—it was probably some public reproach or insult of a slight nature—but mere penitence sufficed to escape the punishment".<ref name="Muhammad Homosexuality"/> Most exegetes hold that these verses refer to illicit heterosexual relationships, although a minority view attributed to the [[Mu'tazilite]] scholar Abu Muslim al-Isfahani interpreted them as referring to homosexual relations. This view was widely rejected by medieval scholars, but has found some acceptance in modern times.<ref name=EoQ/>

==== Cupbearers in paradise ====
Some Quranic verses describing the [[Jannah|Islamic paradise]] refer to perpetually youthful attendants which inhabit it, and they are described as both [[Slavery in Islam|male and female servants]]:<ref name="Rustomji 2017">{{cite book |author-last=Rustomji |author-first=Nerina |year=2017 |chapter=Beauty in the Garden: Aesthetics and the ''Wildān'', ''Ghilmān'', and ''Ḥūr'' |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5_MoDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA297 |editor1-last=Günther |editor1-first=Sebastian |editor2-last=Lawson |editor2-first=Todd |title=Roads to Paradise: Eschatology and Concepts of the Hereafter in Islam |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |pages=297–307 |series=Islamic History and Civilization |volume=136 |doi=10.1163/9789004333154_014 |isbn=978-90-04-33315-4 |issn=0929-2403 |lccn=2016047258 |access-date=2021-12-01 |archive-date=2023-04-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419034025/https://books.google.com/books?id=5_MoDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA297 |url-status=live }}</ref> the females are referred to as ''[[Houri|ḥūr]]'', whereas the males are referred to as ''[[Ghilman|ghilmān]]'', ''wildān'', and ''suqāh''.<ref name="Rustomji 2017"/> The slave boys are referred to in the Quran as "immortal boys" ({{qref|56|17}}, {{qref|76|19}}) or "young men" ({{qref|52|24}}) who serve [[Wine#Islam|wine]] and meals to the [[Blessing#Islam|blessed]].<ref name="Rustomji 2017"/> Although the ''[[tafsir]]'' literature does not interpret this as a homoerotic allusion, the connection was made in other literary genres, mostly humorously.<ref name=EoQ/> For example, the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid-era]] poet [[Abu Nuwas]] wrote:<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Homosexuality and Religion: An Encyclopedia|title=Islam|author=Elyse Semerdjian|page=132|editor=Jeffrey S. Siker|publisher=Greenwood Press|year=2007}}</ref>

{{blockquote|
A beautiful lad came carrying the wine <br />
With smooth hands and fingers dyed with henna <br />
And with long hair of golden curls around his cheeks ... <br />
I have a lad who is like the beautiful lads of paradise <br />
And his eyes are big and beautiful}}

Jurists of the [[Hanafi]] school took up the question seriously, considering, but ultimately rejecting the suggestion that homosexual pleasures were, like wine, forbidden in this world but enjoyed in the [[Afterlife#Islam|afterlife]].<ref name=EoQ/><ref name=iranica-law/> Ibn 'Âbidîn's Hâshiya refers to a debate among the scholars of Baghdad in the eleventh century, that some scholars argued in favor of that analogy.<ref>{{cite book |last= Lange|first= Christian|author-link= |date= 2016|title= Paradise and Hell in Islamic Traditions|url= |location= Cambridge United Kingdom|publisher= Cambridge University Press|page= |isbn=978-0-521-50637-3}}</ref>

=== In the hadith ===
The [[hadith]] (sayings and actions attributed to Muhammad) show that [[homosexual behaviour]] was not unknown in [[Arabian Peninsula#Rise of Islam|seventh-century Arabia]].<ref name="Islamic Homosexualities"/><ref name="autogenerated1983"/> However, given that the Quran did not specify the punishment of homosexual practices, Islamic jurists increasingly turned to several "more explicit"<ref name=EoQ/><ref name="hmy"/> hadiths in an attempt to find guidance on appropriate punishment.<ref name="autogenerated1983">{{cite encyclopedia |year=1986 |title=Liwāṭ |editor1-last=Bosworth |editor1-first=C. E. |editor1-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |editor2-last=van Donzel |editor2-first=E. J. |editor2-link=Emeri Johannes van Donzel |editor3-last=Heinrichs |editor3-first=W. P. |editor3-link=Wolfhart Heinrichs |editor4-last=Lewis |editor4-first=B. |editor5-last=Pellat |editor5-first=Ch. |editor5-link=Charles Pellat |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia of Islam#2nd edition, EI2|Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition]] |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |volume=5 |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_4677 |isbn=978-90-04-16121-4}}</ref><ref name="hmy">{{cite web |author1=Mohd Izwan bin Md Yusof |display-authors=1|author2=Muhd. Najib bin Abdul Kadir |author3=Mazlan bin Ibrahim |author4=Khader bin Ahmad |author5=Murshidi bin Mohd Noor |author6=Saiful Azhar bin Saadon |title=Hadith Sahih on Behaviour of LGBT |url=http://www.islam.gov.my/images/ePenerbitan/Hadis-hadis_Sahih_Berkaitan_Perlakuan_LGBT_BI.pdf |website=islam.gov.my |publisher=[[Government of Malaysia]] |access-date=26 July 2019 |language=en |archive-date=24 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024202538/http://www.islam.gov.my/images/ePenerbitan/Hadis-hadis_Sahih_Berkaitan_Perlakuan_LGBT_BI.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{blockquote|From Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, the Prophet states that: "If a woman comes upon a woman, they are both adulteresses, if a man comes upon a man, then they are both adulterers."|Al-Tabarani in al-Mu‘jam al-Awat: 4157, Al-Bayhaqi, Su‘ab al-Iman: 5075}}

While there are no reports relating to homosexuality in the best known and authentic hadith collections of ''[[Sahih al-Bukhari]]'' and ''[[Sahih Muslim]]'', other canonical collections record a number of condemnations of the "act of the people of Lut" (male-to-male [[anal intercourse]]).<ref name=iranica-law/>

According to [[Oliver Leaman]], hadiths seem to permit homoerotic feelings as long as they are not translated into action.<ref name="Islamic Homosexualities"/><ref name="leaman">{{cite encyclopedia |first=Oliver |last=Leaman |entry=Homosexuality |encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World |editor=John L. Esposito |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=2009 |url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001/acref-9780195305135-e-0949 |url-access=subscription |quote=This ambiguity is reflected in the ḥadīth of the Prophet, some of which make a distinction between the partners in a homosexual act, and many of which seem to permit homoerotic feelings, as long as those feelings are not translated into action. |isbn=9780195305135 |access-date=2017-07-07 |archive-date=2017-08-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811201009/http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001/acref-9780195305135-e-0949 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, in one hadith attributed to Muhammad himself, which exists in multiple variants, the Islamic prophet acknowledged homoerotic temptation towards young boys and warned his [[Sahaba|Companions]] against it: "Do not gaze at the beardless youths, for verily they have eyes more tempting than the ''[[houris]]''"<ref name="Muhammad Homosexuality"/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZEAEnGz7CLAC&pg=PA14|page=14|author=Elyse Semerdjian|title="Off the Straight Path": Illicit Sex, Law, and Community in Ottoman Aleppo|publisher=Syracuse University Press|year=2008|quote=one hadith acknowledged the temptation to indulge in sex with young men: "Do not gaze at the beardless youths, for verily they have eyes more tempting than the ''houris'' [big-eyed maidens]."|isbn=9780815631736}}</ref> or "... for verily they resemble the ''houris''".<ref name="Muhammad Homosexuality"/><ref>{{cite book|script-title=ar:كشف الخفاء ومزيل الإلباس |title=Kash Al-khafa |author=إسماعيل العجلوني(Ismail Ajlouni)|page=hadith no. 2997|quote={{lang|ar|لا تنظروا إلى المردان فإن فيهم لمحة من الحور}}}} (cf. [[Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic]] 3rd ed. p. 878: {{lang|ar|فيه لمحة من ابيه}} = he looks like his father)</ref> These beardless youths are also described as wearing sumptuous robes and having perfumed hair.<ref name="Muhammad Homosexuality"/><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Homosexuality and Religion: An Encyclopedia|title=Islam|author=Elyse Semerdjian|page=131|editor=Jeffrey S. Siker|publisher=Greenwood Press|year=2007|quote=The Prophet also issued warnings such as "do not gaze at the beardless youths, for verily they have eyes more tempting than the houris" (Wright, 7). These beardless boys are also described as wearing sumptuous robes and having perfumed hair.}}</ref> Consequently, Islamic religious leaders, skeptical of Muslim men's capacity of self-control over their sexual urges, have forbidden looking and yearning both at males and females.<ref name="Islamic Homosexualities"/>

In addition, there is a number of "purported (but mutually inconsistent) reports" (''athar'') of punishments of sodomy ordered by some of the early [[caliphs]].<ref name=iranica-law/><ref name="Muhammad Homosexuality"/> [[Abu Bakr]] apparently recommended toppling a wall on the culprit, or else [[Death by burning|burning him alive]],<ref name="Muhammad Homosexuality"/> while [[Ali ibn Abi Talib]] is said to have ordered death by stoning for one sodomite and had another thrown head-first from the top of the highest building in the town; according to [[Ibn Abbas]], the latter punishment must be followed by [[Stoning in Islam|stoning]].<ref name="autogenerated1983"/><ref name="Muhammad Homosexuality"/>

There are, however, fewer hadith mentioning homosexual behaviour in women;<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|author1=Al-Hurr al-Aamili|author-link1=Al-Hurr al-Aamili|title=Wasā'il al-Shīʿa|title-link=Wasā'il al-Shīʿa|script-title=ar: وسائل الشيعة|trans-title=Things of the followers|language=ar|at=Hadith number 34467-34481}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Atighetchi|first1=Dariusch|title=Islamic bioethics problems and perspectives|date=2007|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|location=New York|isbn=9781402049620|page=149|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tdm9V89lW3IC&pg=PA149|access-date=13 July 2017|language=en|archive-date=19 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419034034/https://books.google.com/books?id=Tdm9V89lW3IC&pg=PA149|url-status=live}}</ref>
but punishment (if any) for [[lesbianism]] was not clarified.

===Gender-variant people===
{{Main|Mukhannathun}}

In [[Classical Arabic literature|Classical Arabic]] and [[Islamic literature|Islamic]] literature, the plural term ''[[mukhannathun]]'' (singular: ''mukhannath'') was a term used to describe [[Gender variance|gender-variant people]], and it has typically referred to [[Effeminacy|effeminate]] [[men]] or people with ambiguous sexual characteristics, who appeared feminine and functioned sexually or socially in [[Gender roles|roles]] typically carried out by [[women]].<ref name="TEOEM">{{cite journal |last=Rowson |first=Everett K. |author-link=Everett K. Rowson |title=The Effeminates of Early Medina |journal=[[Journal of the American Oriental Society]] |publisher=[[American Oriental Society]] |volume=111 |issue=4 |pages=671–693 |date=October 1991 |url=http://www.williamapercy.com/wiki/images/The_effeminates_of_early_medina.pdf |doi=10.2307/603399 |issn=0003-0279 |jstor=603399 |citeseerx=10.1.1.693.1504 |lccn=12032032 |oclc=47785421 |s2cid=163738149 |access-date=7 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081001195534/http://www.williamapercy.com/wiki/images/The_effeminates_of_early_medina.pdf |archive-date=1 October 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="TransgenderHealth 2020"/><ref name="Geissinger 2021">{{cite book |author-last=Geissinger |author-first=Ash |year=2021 |chapter=Applying Gender and Queer Theory to Pre-modern sources |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ABYHEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 |editor-last=Howe |editor-first=Justine |title=The Routledge Handbook of Islam and Gender |location=[[London]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |edition=1st |pages=101–115 |doi=10.4324/9781351256568-6 |isbn=978-1-351-25656-8 |s2cid=224909490 |access-date=2021-11-09 |archive-date=2023-04-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419034025/https://books.google.com/books?id=ABYHEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Transgenderism 2017">{{cite journal |last=Alipour |first=Mehrdad |date=2017 |title=Islamic shari'a law, neotraditionalist Muslim scholars and transgender sex-reassignment surgery: A case study of Ayatollah Khomeini's and Sheikh al-Tantawi's fatwas |journal=[[International Journal of Transgenderism]] |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=91–103 |doi=10.1080/15532739.2016.1250239 |doi-access=free |issn=1553-2739 |lccn=2004213389 |oclc=56795128 |s2cid=152120329 }}</ref> According to the Iranian scholar Mehrdad Alipour, "in the [[Pre-modern Islamic societies|premodern period]], Muslim societies were aware of five manifestations of gender ambiguity: This can be seen through figures such as the ''khasi'' (eunuch), the ''[[Hijra (South Asia)|hijra]]'', the ''mukhannath'', the ''mamsuh'' and the ''khuntha'' (hermaphrodite/intersex)."<ref name="Transgenderism 2017"/> [[Gender studies|Gender specialists]] Aisya Aymanee M. Zaharin and Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli give the following explanation of the meaning of the term ''mukhannath'' and its derivate Arabic forms in the hadith literature:
{{blockquote|Various academics such as Alipour (2017) and Rowson (1991) point to references in the ''Hadith'' to the existence of ''mukhannath'': a man who carries femininity in his movements, in his appearance, and in the softness of his voice. The Arabic term for a [[trans woman]] is ''mukhannith'' as they want to change their sex characteristics, while ''mukhannath'' presumably do not/have not. The ''mukhannath'' or effeminate man is obviously male, but naturally behaves like a female, unlike the ''khuntha'', an [[Intersex|intersex person]], who could be either male or female. Ironically, while there is no obvious mention of ''mukhannath'', ''mukhannith'', or ''khuntha'' in the Qur’ān, this holy book clearly recognizes that there are some people, who are neither male nor female, or are in between, and/or could also be "non-procreative" [عَقِيم] ([[Sura 42|Surah 42 Ash-Shuraa]], verse 49–50).<ref name="TransgenderHealth 2020"/>}}

Moreover, within Islam, there is a tradition of the elaboration and refinement of extended religious doctrines through scholarship. This doctrine contains a passage by the scholar and hadith collector [[An-Nawawi]]:<blockquote>A mukhannath is the one ("male") who carries in his movements, in his appearance and in his language the characteristics of a woman. There are two types; the first is the one in whom these characteristics are innate, he did not put them on by himself, and therein is no guilt, no blame and no shame, as long as he does not perform any (illicit) act or exploit it for money (prostitution etc.). The second type acts like a woman out of immoral purposes and he is the sinner and blameworthy.<ref name="TEOEM"/></blockquote>The hadith collection of Bukhari (compiled in the 9th century from earlier [[oral tradition]]s) includes a report regarding ''[[mukhannathun]]'', [[effeminate]] men who were granted access to secluded women's quarters and engaged in other non-[[normative]] [[gender]] behavior:<ref name="TEOEM"/> 

Another hadith also mention the punishment of banishment, both in connection with Umm Salama's servant and a man who worked as a musician. Muhammad described the musician as a ''mukhannath'' and threatened to banish him if he did not end his unacceptable career.<ref name="TEOEM"/>

According to [[Everett K. Rowson]], professor of [[Middle Eastern studies|Middle Eastern]] and [[Islamic Studies]] at [[New York University]], none of the sources state that Muhammad banished more than two ''mukhannathun'', and it is not clear to what extent the action was taken because of their breaking of gender rules in itself or because of the "perceived damage to social institutions from their activities as matchmakers and their corresponding access to women".<ref name="TEOEM"/>

=== Traditional Islamic jurisprudence ===
The scarcity of concrete prescriptions from hadith and the contradictory nature of information about the actions of early authorities resulted in the lack of agreement among classical jurists as to how homosexual activity should be treated.<ref name=iranica-law>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Rowson |first=Everett K. |title=HOMOSEXUALITY ii. IN ISLAMIC LAW |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/homosexuality-ii |volume=XII/4 |pages=441–445 |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |publisher=[[Columbia University]] |location=[[New York City|New York]] |date=30 December 2012 |orig-year=15 December 2004 |doi=10.1163/2330-4804_EIRO_COM_11037 |doi-access=free |issn=2330-4804 |access-date=13 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517035334/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/homosexuality-ii |archive-date=17 May 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ia601301.us.archive.org">{{cite encyclopedia|author=Everett K. Rowson|title=Homosexuality|editor=Richard C. Martin|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World|publisher=MacMillan Reference USA|year=2004}}</ref>
Classical Islamic jurists did not deal with homosexuality as a [[sexual orientation]], since the latter concept is modern and has no equivalent in traditional law, which dealt with it under the technical terms of ''[[liwat]]'' and ''[[zina]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Habib|first=Samar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9y_TyzK9_5oC&q=homosexuality+fiqh&pg=PA217|title=Islam and Homosexuality|date=2010|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-37903-1|pages=204|language=en|access-date=2020-10-02|archive-date=2023-04-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419034026/https://books.google.com/books?id=9y_TyzK9_5oC&q=homosexuality+fiqh&pg=PA217|url-status=live}}</ref>

Broadly, traditional Islamic law took the view that homosexual activity could not be legally sanctioned because it takes place outside religiously recognised [[Marriage in Islam|marriage]]s.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Homosexuality|editor=John L. Esposito|encyclopedia=The Oxford Dictionary of Islam|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2014|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e874|access-date=2017-07-07|archive-date=2021-12-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214201353/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e874|url-status=dead}}</ref> All [[Fiqh|major schools of law]] consider [[Islamic views on anal sex|liwat]] (anal sex) as a punishable offence.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Habib|first=Samar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9y_TyzK9_5oC&q=homosexuality+fiqh&pg=PA217|title=Islam and Homosexuality|date=2010|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-37903-1|pages=208|language=en|access-date=2020-10-02|archive-date=2023-04-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419034026/https://books.google.com/books?id=9y_TyzK9_5oC&q=homosexuality+fiqh&pg=PA217|url-status=live}}</ref> Most [[Madhhab|legal schools]] treat homosexual intercourse with penetration similarly to unlawful heterosexual intercourse under the rubric of ''[[zina]]'', but there are differences of opinion with respect to methods of punishment.<ref name=peters>{{Cite book |first=Rudolph|last=Peters| year=2006 | title=Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law: Theory and Practice from the Sixteenth to the Twenty-First Century|url=https://archive.org/details/crimepunishmenti00pete_738|url-access=limited|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/crimepunishmenti00pete_738/page/n73 61]–62}}</ref> Some legal schools "prescribed capital punishment for sodomy, but others opted only for a relatively mild discretionary punishment."<ref name="ia601301.us.archive.org"/> The [[Hanbali]]tes are the most severe among Sunni schools, insisting on capital punishment for anal sex in all cases, while the other schools generally restrict punishment to flagellation with or without banishment, unless the culprit is ''muhsan'' (Muslim free married adult), and [[Hanafi]]s often suggest no physical punishment at all, leaving the choice to the judge's discretion.<ref name="autogenerated1983" /><ref name=peters/> The founder of the Hanafi school [[Abu Hanifa]] refused to recognize the analogy between sodomy and ''zina'', although his two principal students disagreed with him on this point.<ref name=iranica-law/> The Hanafi scholar [[Al-Jaṣṣās|Abu Bakr Al-Jassas]] (d. 981 AD/370 AH) argued that the two hadiths on killing homosexuals "are not reliable by any means and no legal punishment can be prescribed based on them".<ref name="islamonline">{{cite web|url=https://billmuehlenberg.com/web-archive/islamonline-beheading-penalty-homosexuals/|title=IslamOnline: Should beheading be the penalty for homosexuals? – CultureWatch|work=BillMuehlenberg.com|access-date=5 April 2017|archive-date=5 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170805015238/https://billmuehlenberg.com/web-archive/islamonline-beheading-penalty-homosexuals/|url-status=live}}</ref> Where capital punishment is prescribed and a particular method is recommended, the methods range from stoning (Hanbali, [[Maliki]]), to the sword (some Hanbalites and [[Shafi'i]]tes), or leaving it to the court to choose between several methods, including throwing the culprit off a high building (Shi'ite).<ref name=peters/>

For unclear reasons, the treatment of homosexuality in [[Twelver Shi'ism]] jurisprudence is generally harsher than in Sunni fiqh, while [[Zaydi]] and [[Isma'ili]] Shia jurists took positions similar to the Sunnis.<ref name=iranica-law/> Where flogging is prescribed, there is a tendency for indulgence and some recommend that the prescribed penalty should not be applied in full, with [[Ibn Hazm]] reducing the number of strokes to 10.<ref name="autogenerated1983" /> There was debate as to whether the active and passive partners in anal sex should be punished equally.<ref name="leaman" /> Beyond penetrative anal sex, there was "general agreement" that "other homosexual acts (including any between females) were lesser offenses, subject only to discretionary punishment."<ref name="ia601301.us.archive.org"/> Some jurists viewed sexual intercourse as possible only for an individual who possesses a [[phallus]];<ref name="Omar">{{cite web |last=Omar |first=Sara |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Law |url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t349/e0010 |publisher=Oxford Islamic Studies Online |access-date=3 May 2013 |archive-date=27 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027103159/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t349/e0010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> hence those definitions of sexual intercourse that rely on the entry of as little of the [[Corona of glans penis|corona of the phallus]] into a partner's orifice.<ref name="Omar"/> Since women do not possess a phallus and cannot have intercourse with one another, they are, in this interpretation, physically incapable of committing [[zina|zinā]].<ref name="Omar"/>

====Practicality====
Since a ''[[hadd]]'' punishment for ''zina'' requires testimony from four witnesses of the actual act of penetration or a confession from the accused repeated four times, the legal criteria for the prescribed harsh punishments of homosexual acts were very difficult to fulfill.<ref name="autogenerated1983" /><ref name="leaman" /> The debates of classical jurists are "to a large extent theoretical, since homosexual relations have always been tolerated" in pre-modern Islamic societies.<ref name="autogenerated1983" /> While it is difficult to determine to what extent the legal sanctions were enforced in different times and places, historical record suggests that the laws were invoked mainly in cases of rape or other "exceptionally blatant infringement on public morals". Documented instances of prosecution for homosexual acts are rare, and those which followed legal procedure prescribed by Islamic law are even rarer.<ref name=iranica-law/>

===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>