Islamic Ideology *Islam and homosexuality: A variety of opinions <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1515>*
A variety of opinions on the subject of Islam and homosexuality led to a heated debate. Panelist *Amal Amireh*, professor of women and gender studies at George Mason University, said there are many homosexual Muslims that practice Islam, adding that it is important to speak for these people."Speaking about homosexuality and Islam is risky," Amireh said. "Not speaking about homosexuality and Islam is riskier." While a majority of the Muslim panellists agreed that homosexuality was permissible under Islam, some said being gay was against their religion. *Hisham Mahmoud,* a lecturer at Princeton University, said, "No jurist will ever accept homosexuality as a practice," and condoned the punishment of homosexuality. The lecturer's comment provoked an outburst of emotion from panellist *Imam* *Dayiee Abdullah* of the Al-Fatiha Foundation and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Religious Roundtable, both of which advocate for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Muslims.- - *Jennifer Tchinnosian ** ------------------------- *We must reiterate, as does Isabelle Levy in “Soins et croyances” [1] that all the worlds’ major religions and spiritual traditions—from the majority view in Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism to Christianity and Islam—condemn and forbid homosexuality. The great majority of rabbis hold the same position, as do the Pope and the Dalaï Lama, who condemns homosexuality. For these traditions, as for Freud (who speaks of “perversion”), homosexuality is considered to be “against nature,” an “expression of disequilibrium” in the growth of a person. The moral condemnation of homosexuality remains the majority opinion of all religions, and Islam is no exception. It would be senseless to wish to deny the facts, to contradict the textual sources and to force believers to perform intellectual contortions so that they can prove they are in tune with the times. -- *Tariq Ramadan* 3 Comments More...<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1515> Spiritual Meditations *Friday, Jul 03 2009* Babri Masjid: Opportunity for Muslims <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1514> Muslims have gone through a traumatic period in the last several years. They have spent a lot of time in introspection. They have shown great wisdom and maturity in fending off severe and very brazen provocations. One hopes that it is this maturity that is now beginning to be reflected.... *This brings me to my main plea—forgiveness.* Forgiveness is the essence of both the Muslim and Hindu spiritual traditions. It is the only way out of the vicious and very debilitating grip of bad *karma*. It is our belief that one has to always pay individual or collective *karmic* debts in this or any subsequent incarnations or on the Day of Judgement. Both Hindu and Muslim spiritual traditions consider God as the greatest teacher, this world a great school, the events that involve us in this *mayajaal* (illusionary world) as messages. What could this Great Teacher be teaching us in this section of the school through the great *Babri Masjid*-*Ram Janambhoomi* drama? Perhaps the all-important lesson of forgiveness. It may take us years, decades, centuries or millennia to learn this lesson. But learn we will. There is no escaping. God is a very determined teacher. We have the option to learn the lesson now. Let us exercise it. I have a special plea to make to fellow Muslims, a plea I have never made before. Many reasonable Hindu friends asked me in the last few years of strife: why can’t Muslims make a gift of the *Ramjanamsthan* to the Hindus? What is the big deal? I had just one answer. No gift could be or should be made at gunpoint. Give-me-this-gift-or-I-will-snatch-it- from-your-hands-anyway is no way of seeking gifts. A gift of *Ramjanamsthan*at that point would probably have been cowardice. But the situation has changed now. The gun has been taken away from the hands of our spiritually evolving brothers. The law of the land has asserted itself. ... Wallowing in despair would be pointless. How long will we go on commemorating the follies of our neighbours on every December 6? Nursing wounds is no sign of maturity. Wounds should be allowed to heal in a natural process. By wallowing in anger and self-pity, we will be making the same mistake as some of our Hindu brothers did. *Laws of Karma * Laws of *Karma* sanction one great privilege. Either of the parties to a dispute can set both the parties free of the karmic debt by exercising their right to forgive the other party and thus grow spiritually. Every calamity is said to contain the seeds of an equal or greater opportunity. The demolition of the mosque gives us an opportunity to strengthen our stake in secularism, peace and democracy. The Babri mosque is no more. It has become a victim of Hindu-Muslim negative egos. Many precious lives have been lost in the process. The ideal solution would be that both the communities come together, forgive each other and mutually decide what to do about that piece of God’s land. Let us remember that there is no mosque there now. The memory of the mosque remains. The Babri mosque can never come back. Its demolition was perpetrated by a section of misguided Hindus referred to by the Supreme Court as criminals. But Muslims should never forget that the vast majority of Hindus clearly disapproved of it. They neither rewarded with votes in the subsequent elections the BJP which was apparently responsible for the demolition, nor the Congress which had started the whole dispute in the first place in a clear bid to garner Hindu votes. *Reconciliation * If this mutual forgiveness and reconciliation does not take place — and if present Hindu and Muslim leaders are considered representatives of their respective communities, it is not likely to happen — ordinary people of both communities must make their presence felt and come out openly for peace at all costs. If that too does not happen, we Muslims should thank God for providing us with this unique opportunity to exercise our option of forgiveness and making a gift of a piece of God’s land on the specific condition that it be used for nothing but building a place of worship, so that its sanctity is maintained. I know this is not going to be easy. Forgiveness is never easy, except for the spiritually evolved. But I don’t think we have any other option. We have many things, important things to do. We just cannot afford to remain embroiled in inconsequential disputes. The renowned Islamic scholar, Late Maulana Ali Mian Nadwi had reacted to the opening of Babri Masjid locks the following day in these very sensible words: “Many mosques are in the possession of other people.” And indeed they are. There were many mosques in East Punjab of the pre-Partition days? But very few are left as mosques today? A Punjabi Hindu friend of mine complained of so many mosques having been converted into gurudwaras and temples. His Muslim friend (not me, some great soul) reacted: “But they are still places of worship. There is only one God, after all. No matter what you believe in, you cannot but worship the same God.” Amen. -- *Sultan Shahin, editor, New Age Islam* 11 Comments More..<http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1514> Islam and Pluralism *The Liberhan report on Babri Masjid demolition: No point in revisiting the past <http://www.newageislam.org/NewAgeIslamArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=1513>* *Let us Focus on the Future* The Liberhan report may explain certain things but in the end it would not serve any purpose, as the wounds that have been healed, would freshen up. It is therefore advisable for the Muslim community not to make a big issue of it and disturb the hard earned unity and solidarity of the country. There is no point in revisiting the past. The demolition of Babri Masjid, carnage of Gujarat, bomb blasts and other extremists activities are the things of the past. Muslims have to put all these events behind to look forward for future. The people of India have given a fresh mandate to the UPA govt rejecting altogether the communal elements, as they valued secularism as a cherished goal of the country. Let all of us, belonging to Muslim community, join the rest of the population in extending our support for the govt to concentrate on development activities that would lead to economic recovery which is of greater importance in the life of our country men than holding who is guilty or not of the already demolished Babri Masjid. It would not help Muslims to resurrect the past. Let us bury it deep into history. Let us all remember that we may not be saintly enough to forgive and forget our enemies, but for the sake of our own health, the betterment of our own lives, let us forgive and forget them. Muslims better remember this and march forward. -- *A.M. 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