One scholar’s response to Reza Aslan and Hasan Minhaj’s “Open Letter to American Muslims on Same Sex Marriage”
by ALI A. OLOMI for ISLAMiCommentary on JULY 17, 2015:
“Aqa
Mirak” – 16th Safavid watercolor by Aqa Mirak depicting two young
princes and lovers. (currently located in the Smithsonian)
Since the legalization of same-sex marriage by the U.S. Supreme Court
on June 26th 2015, various religious groups have responded to the
ruling. Muslim Americans, who themselves are a minority group in the
United States, have struggled to find consensus.
Some have openly condemned the ruling. Others have urged a more
hesitant acceptance of the court’s decision. Cognizant of the precarious
position of minorities in the United States, Imam Suhaib Webb posted an
online message
where he encouraged a nuanced perspective that respected the ruling and
supported it politically, while acknowledging the theological and
ethical dilemmas for conservative Muslims. A group of Afghan American
thinkers and activists on The Samovar Network took a more accepting stance when they held an online panel (via a Google hangout) and showed support for the ruling and the LGBTQ community as a whole.
Author, Reza Aslan and comedian, Hasan Minhaj wrote an open letter, published in Religion Dispatches,
to Muslim Americans encouraging acceptance and tolerance, reminding
Muslims that they too are a minority in the United States and should
stand for the rights of their fellow minorities.
People were surprised by the letter and some have attributed the
position of the authors to Western influence. Popular representations in
America and Europe, tend to depict Muslims as staunchly against
same-sex marriage. But I would point out that positions like Reza’s and
others like him actually highlight a forgotten part of Islamic history.
Just as in the case of Christianity, the history on same-sex
relationships in Islam is far more complex than some would have you
believe.
First, we have to acknowledge that though same-sex relationships are
timeless and gay people have existed throughout history, according to
theorists, like Michel Foucault, homosexuality as an identity
emerged alongside heterosexuality in modernity. Indeed, an argument can
be made that homophobia itself is a predominantly modern fear tied to
anxieties about masculinity within nationalist contexts. The Qur’an
itself does not address homosexuality directly, but refers to specific
practices.
When it comes to same-sex relationships, Muslims point to the
infamous Qur’anic verses on the People of Lot (7:80-84), which some
modern scholars — by projecting modern sensibilities on the verse —
interpret as being a condemnation of homosexuality. Yet, other scholars
point out the context of the verse in the Qisas Al Anbiya, a
commentary and history on the lives of the Islamic prophets by Al
Kisa’i, that relates the tale of Lot as a condemnation of the corruption
festering in the people of Lot, whose bestial carnality led to rape and
sodomy; i.e. it’s not a direct condemnation of sodomy.
2. “Haft Awrang”- The Seven Thrones, an illuminated manuscript by 16th Century Jami. Depicts a male youth with his male suitors.
In fact, the Qur’an actually supports diversity of desires when it
states that God created various mates for mankind (30:21). Furthermore,
the Qur’an uses homoerotic imagery to describe paradise as full of
eternally youthful manservants so attractive that “when you see them,
you’d think them as beautiful as scattered pearls.” (52: 24, 76: 19).
We must also consider the Prophet Muhammad’s life and how his wife,
Umm Salama, had a gay or interest manservant, Hit. In addition to Hit,
there was also Tuways and Al Dalal. These individuals, known as mukhanathum, were counted as companions of Muhammad, or disciples and friends. The mukhanathum even served as guardians of Muhammad’s tomb when he died.
Same-sex relationships and romance existed throughout the history of
Islamic civilization from the 7th century on. The famed Persian poet
Rumi and the father of Classical Islamic poetry, Abu Nawas, wrote verses
extolling the beauty of young men. Indeed, in medieval Abbasid,
Ottoman, and Safavid empires, the normative standards of beauty in works
of poetry and art revolved around the youthful and desirable appearance
of young men.
While women were absolutely praised, the normative standard of beauty
focused primarily on a concept of youthfulness that was equated to
vitality and desire. In many of the poems like those of Abu Nawas and
Rumi and many others, this meant young men, but these young men were
attributed with feminine qualities, highlighting the fluid nature of
masculinity and femininity.
Caliphs like Al Amin in the 8th century Abbasid caliphate engaged in
same-sex relationships, and it is written that the warriors of Abu
Muslim, who overthrew the Umayyads, lay with their male pages. While
periods of oppression certainly existed and scholars anxiously debated
whether acts were permissible or prohibited, on the whole, Islamic
civilization tended to be not only tolerant, but accepting of same-sex
romances.
Textual evidence for same-sex relationship between women were not as
widespread in the Arabic and Islamic literary tradition, but there is
still ample evidence of the tolerance and even praise of same-sex
relationships between women. For example, in the 10th century, Jawami al-Ladhdha or, Encyclopedia of Pleasure by Abul Hasan Ali, he relates a story of love and romance between two women, Hind bint al Nur’man and Al Zarqa.
“Shah Abbas and Wine Boy”- 17th Century art by Muhammad Qasim depicting Safavid ruler, Shah Abbas with his lover and wine boy.
Some periods of Islamic history were more accepting than others and
we should acknowledge that there was regional variation, but the
historical arc was significantly towards toleration. When famed 19th
century Moroccan scholar, Muhammad al Saffar traveled to Europe he was
surprised to find same-sex courtship repugnant to the Europeans in
contrast to its acceptance in the Islamic world. Indeed, that acceptance
of same-sex courtship and romance was used by European Christian and
orientalist writers as a sign of the supposed moral laxity of the
“orient.”
Same-sex relationships between men, for example, were depicted in
art, including in these images (now in the public domain): 1) “Shah
Abbas and Wine Boy”- 17th Century art by Muhammad Qasim depicting
Safavid ruler, Shah Abbas with his lover and wine boy; 2) “Haft Awrang”-
The Seven Thrones, an illuminated manuscript by 16th Century Jami.
Depicts a male youth with his male suitors; 3) “Aqa Mirak” – 16th
Safavid watercolor by Aqa Mirak Tabriz depicting two young princes and
lovers (currently located in the Smithsonian) and 4) “Sawaqub”– 19th Century Ottoman depiction in Sawaqub al Manaquib depicting sexual relations between a man and his wine servant.
These cultural and social realities of same-sex relationships in
Islam have been made subterranean in historical reflection. People who
wish to push a singular interpretation of religion conveniently ignore
these parts of Islamic history in favor of narratives hewn from their
prejudices. While the historical existence of relationships between
couples of the same sex is an irrefutable fact, these narratives are
often swept under the rug and the history of tolerance is forgotten in
favor of depictions of Islam as a homophobic and aggressive faith.
Make the jump here to read the full article
Same-Sex
Relationships & the Fluidity of Marriage in Islamic History (by Ali
A. Olomi) - See more at:
http://islamicommentary.org/2015/07/same-sex-relationships-the-fluidity-of-marriage-in-islamic-history-by-ali-a-olomi/#sthash.evhCQAj6.dpuf
Same-Sex
Relationships & the Fluidity of Marriage in Islamic History (by Ali
A. Olomi) - See more at:
http://islamicommentary.org/2015/07/same-sex-relationships-the-fluidity-of-marriage-in-islamic-history-by-ali-a-olomi/#sthash.evhCQAj6.dpuf
