Islamic law establishes two categories of legal, sexual relationships: between husband and wife, and between a man and his concubine.[1] All other sexual relationships are considered zināʾ (fornication), including adultery and homosexuality, according to Islamic law and exegesis of the Qur’an.[2] From the story of Lot it is clear that the Qur’an regards sodomy as an egregious sin.[3] The death by stoning for people of Sodom and Gomorrah is similar to the stoning punishment stipulated for illegal heterosexual sex.[4] There is no punishment for a man who sodomizes a woman because it is not tied to procreation.[5] However, other jurists insist that any act of lust in which the result is the injecting of semen into another person constitutes sexual intercourse.[6]
Sodomy is often falls under that same category as sex between and unmarried man and women engaging in sexual acts.[7] Male-male intercourse is referred to as liwat (literally, joining) while female-female intercourse is referred to as sihaq (literally, rubbing).[8] Both are considered reprehensible acts but there is no consensus on punishment for either.[9] Some jurists define zināʾ (fornication) exclusively as the act of unlawful vaginal penetration and hence categorized and punished anal penetration as a different act.[10] Other jurists included both vaginal and anal penetration within the definition of zināʾ (fornication) and hence were able to extend the punishment of one act to other.[11]
Religious discourse has mostly focused on sexual acts, which are unambiguously condemned.[12] The Qur’an refers explicitly to male-male sexual relations only in the context of the story of Lot, but labels the Sodomites's actions (universally understood in the later tradition as anal intercourse) an "abomination," (Female-female relations are not addressed).[13] Reported pronouncements by the prophet Muhammad (hadith) reinforce the interdiction on male-male sodomy, although there are no reports of his ever adjudicating an actual case of such an offense; he is also quoted as condemning cross-gender behavior for both sexes, but it is unclear to what extent this is to be understood as involving sexual relations.[14] Several early caliphs, confronted with cases of sodomy between males, are said to have had both partners executed, by a variety of means.[15] While taking such precedents into account, medieval jurists were unable to achieve a consensus on this issue; some legal schools prescribed capital punishment for sodomy, but others opted only for a relatively mild discretionary punishment.[16] There was general agreement, however, that other homosexual acts (including any between females) were lesser offenses, subject only to discretionary punishment.[17]
Currently sodomy is punishable by death in a number of Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia and Yemen, as well as in Nigeria’s Sharia courts.[18]
- ^ Suad, Joseph (2006). Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures. Leiden, Boston: Brill.
- ^ Suad, Joseph (2006). Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures. Leiden, Boston: Brill.
- ^ Suad, Joseph (2006). Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures. Leiden, Boston: Brill.
- ^ Suad, Joseph (2006). Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures. Leiden, Boston: Brill.
- ^ Suad, Joseph (2006). Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures. Leiden, Boston: Brill.
- ^ Suad, Joseph (2006). Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures. Leiden, Boston: Brill.
- ^ Omar, Sara. "The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Law". Oxford Islamic Studies Online. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
- ^ Omar, Sara. "The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Law". Oxford Islamic Studies Online. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
- ^ Omar, Sara. "The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Law". Oxford Islamic Studies Online. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
- ^ Omar, Sara. "The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Law". Oxford Islamic Studies Online. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
- ^ Omar, Sara. "The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Law". Oxford Islamic Studies Online. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
- ^ Rowson, Everett. "Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World". Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ Rowson, Everett. "Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World". Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ Rowson, Everett. "Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World". Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ Rowson, Everett. "Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World". Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ Rowson, Everett. "Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World". Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ Rowson, Everett. "Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World". Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
- ^ Omar, Sara. "The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Law". Oxford Islamic Studies Online. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
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