You’re Gay, Are You Okay?

Is it okay to be gay? Azwan Ismail seems to think so. So does his many followers, who are slowly coming out from their closet. He is the probably one of the first Malay/”Muslim” to openly come out albeit via YouTube and proclaim his gay tendencies. The result of his coming out in the open is; no prizes for guessing, death threats. From irrational Muslims, if I may add.

So, is it okay to be gay? No it’s not, if the gay also wants to be a Muslim. Muslim gays are an oxymoron; you’re either one or the other, you cannot be both. There is no such thing as a gay Muslim. I am not a religious scholar but the little I know about my religion is that one must strictly adhere to the tenets/pillars of Islam to be considered a true Muslim. A true Muslim must not dispute the words of the Quran and the (authentic/sahih) hadiths of the Prophet s.a.w. The Quran says (7:80-81 and 26:165-66) gay acts are forbidden, any person wishing to be a Muslim must obey the laws laid down by the Quran. There are no two ways about it. Muslims must accept that Allah has the final (only) say on what is right and what is wrong. He says no to homosexuality and lesbianism, so end of argument. If you insist on being a homosexual, you’re going against the words of God.

Am I saying that gays are apostates? I’m not in the position to officially declare their apostasy; maybe an analogy could better explain the rationale for my opinion. Let’s say a person is employed in an organisation which strictly forbids the wearing of purple round neck t-shirts to work. This person however has a fetish for purple round neck t-shirts and insists on wearing the said t-shirt to work, which is against company policy. The company expects all employees to abide by the company policies and since the person cannot live without wearing the said t-shirt, he has no choice but to leave the organisation and seek employment elsewhere, somewhere where purple t-shirts are welcomed.

Replace “organisation/company” with Islam and “purple round neck t-shirts” with homosexuality.

Even animals do not indulge in gay acts …

Is death the punishment for gays? Again, I have no authority to comment from the religious perspective so all I’ll say is I do not believe in capital punishment as the first option. It should not be an option unless as retribution for the loss of another life. Even then, forgiveness or compensation should be considered first before carrying out the “eye for an eye” punishment. Back to death to gays, I do not think it will solve the problem, if anything; it will create an underground network of closet gays which in the end would be a bigger and more difficult problem to handle. I’m a believer in education as the means to correct social ills; “Muslim” gays should be persuaded to accept the laws of Islam. The key word is “persuade” and not “force.” We must try to win them over with advice and not threats. The objective is to bring them closer to the religion and not scare them away. If all else fails, all we can do is pray …

Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi of the ISNA said: “Homosexuality is a moral disorder. It is a moral disease, a sin and corruption... No person is born homosexual, just like no one is born a thief, a liar or murderer. People acquire these evil habits due to a lack of proper guidance and education.”