(published inside ” Progressive,reformist Muslims” N.4 on 214.000 entries as you can verify here at 2/7/16 a4 7.00 CET)
Bismillahi arRahman arRahim
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
ABDENNUR PRADO – Spain
(Former president of Junta islamica catalan,(Spanish Islamic council),
which organizes a conference about
Islamic feminism each year; he says that Islam and
homosexuality are not incompatible; President of the
.
We can analyze the verses about the people of Lot, to show that the Quran does not condemn homosexuality (love between same sex individuals), but mass rape and rejection of foreigners. We can analyze the transmission chains of some alleged misogynistic hadeeth, to prove they are false. We can analyze the condemnation of
sexual relations between same sex people in traditional Islamic jurisprudence, to demonstrate that it has no basis whatsoever in the Quran or the Sunnah of the Prophet. We can finally analyze the homophobic laws in for
ce in most Muslim countries, to attest that they have no basis in Islam. But, having done this exegetical work, we feel avoid.
What arguments can be put forward to someone who thinks that homosexuality is a sin,something against nature, which should be prosecuted and convicted?
What can we say to address the plight of our Muslim gay brothers and lesbian sisters?
What can we say to such obvious lack of the most basic feelings and values of Islam, such as compassion, respect for others and a sense of right and wrong?
It’s time to say that this issue is not a matter of divergent interpretations: it is a basic issue for the survival of Islam as a way of life based on transcendent values, rooted in the depths of the human heart. In this sense, the Green Book that we present goes beyond the foregoing issues, to address the issue from the very heart of Islamic spirituality.
I thank Allah for giving us the opportunity to participate in this struggle; against the single thought, towards a more spiritual life, stripped of lies, prejudices and invented precepts, toward a life of fulfillment based on the precedence of Rahma and the eternal values of Islam. I ask Allah to heal the hearts of those who justify discrimination against homosexuals in the name of Islam.
I ask Allah to make them reconsider their views and make love prevail over hate, inclusion over exclusion and
acceptance over rejection, insha Allah.
MATTHEW SIMONDS – United States of America
(Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies, University of California, Berkeley
member of the MPV association (Muslim For Progressive Values )
“Religion,” some conservative Muslims say to their queer brothers and sisters, “is not a fashion that it should change with the seasons to suit one’s ‘lifestyle’”; or, “there are some things inIslam that cannot be changed, and accepting homosexuality is one of them.
Some even claim that Islam has never changed in 1400 years and will remain unchanged forever. But a faith without change would be a dead faith, not a living, breathing one, for any living thing that fails to change
and grow will die. The challenge facing Islam in the 21st century is whether it will continue to grow and mature and be in the spiritual vanguard as it was when it was first revealed to our beloved Prophet Muhammad, or whether it will stagnate and become degraded?
Will it adapt to changing circumstances and respond to new problems,becoming more egalitarian and more just; or will it continue to be monopolized by often oppressive, homophobic and misogynistic interpretations
of what it means to be a Muslim.
This question and others are addressed in this Green Book which shows the importance for us as Muslims of reclaiming the spirit of our foundational texts and using the resources of our Islamic heritage such as ijtihad,
tajdid, and good or praiseworthy innovations to make it once more a “middle nation” rather than one in which it is increasingly considered by some that “every innovation is misguidance.”
We can, by that means,open marriage to same sex couples, and empower women and others who have been oppressed.
Moreover, although we are called upon by …
(… to be continued next sunday)
inside the World all begins locally,(LOCGLOB),and then turns into global,(GLOCAL):the 45 Geopolitical Regions and the 296 leading Towns 