بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
Assalaamu Alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh
My family and I regularly read Islamic books to our children, and have been reading stories of the Prophet by Ibn Kathir as of late. It’s a wonderful book that every family should have in their collection. No Muslim, is a Muslim who denies the Prophets and Messengers sent by Allah. Allah says in the Quran:
آمَنَ الرَّسُولُ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِن رَّبِّهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ ۚ كُلٌّ آمَنَ بِاللَّـهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّن رُّسُلِهِ ۚ وَقَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا ۖ غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيرُ
Quran (2:285)
The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the believers. All of them have believed in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers, [saying], “We make no distinction between any of His messengers.” And they say, “We hear and we obey. [We seek] Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the [final] destination.”
We had just finished reading about Prophet Ibrahim alayhis salaam (AS), and were moving on to Lut (AS). Now of course this means discussing a touchy subject, especially in these times. This issue is of course the issue of homosexuality. Our eldest is 6 years old, so I wasn’t sure if we needed to do so now. Ultimately we decided we should, since it is part of the western society narrative. It’s something that’s taught even in pre-schools, so rather than giving non-Muslims the opportunity to define the narrative for our children, we decided to do so ourselves. We homeschool our children but just the same, they should hear it from us first.
Alhamdulilah we read the story in detail with explanation, and what we noticed right away was the sheer amount of ayaat referencing Prophet Lut and his evil people. It’s surprising how there can even be homosexual Muslims, who must have encountered even just a few of the many ayaat dealing with Lut’s people. Ayaat such as:
وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ أَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ مَا سَبَقَكُم بِهَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ مِّنَ الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿٨٠﴾ إِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الرِّجَالَ شَهْوَةً مِّن دُونِ النِّسَاءِ ۚ بَلْ أَنتُمْ قَوْمٌ مُّسْرِفُونَ
Quran (7:80-81)
And [We had sent] Lot when he said to his people, “Do you commit such immorality as no one has preceded you with from among the worlds? (80) Indeed, you approach men with desire, instead of women. Rather, you are a transgressing people.”
وَلَمَّا جَاءَتْ رُسُلُنَا لُوطًا سِيءَ بِهِمْ وَضَاقَ بِهِمْ ذَرْعًا وَقَالَ هَـٰذَا يَوْمٌ عَصِيبٌ ﴿٧٧﴾ وَجَاءَهُ قَوْمُهُ يُهْرَعُونَ إِلَيْهِ وَمِن قَبْلُ كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ السَّيِّئَاتِ ۚ قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ هَـٰؤُلَاءِ بَنَاتِي هُنَّ أَطْهَرُ لَكُمْ ۖ فَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ وَلَا تُخْزُونِ فِي ضَيْفِي ۖ أَلَيْسَ مِنكُمْ رَجُلٌ رَّشِيدٌ ﴿٧٨﴾ قَالُوا لَقَدْ عَلِمْتَ مَا لَنَا فِي بَنَاتِكَ مِنْ حَقٍّ وَإِنَّكَ لَتَعْلَمُ مَا نُرِيدُ
Quran (11:77-79)
And when Our messengers, [the angels], came to Lot, he was anguished for them and felt for them great discomfort and said, “This is a trying day.” (77) And his people came hastening to him, and before [this] they had been doing evil deeds. He said, “O my people, these are my daughters; they are purer for you. So fear Allah and do not disgrace me concerning my guests. Is there not among you a man of reason?” (78) They said, “You have already known that we have not concerning your daughters any claim, and indeed, you know what we want.”
أَتَأْتُونَ الذُّكْرَانَ مِنَ الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿١٦٥﴾ وَتَذَرُونَ مَا خَلَقَ لَكُمْ رَبُّكُم مِّنْ أَزْوَاجِكُم ۚ بَلْ أَنتُمْ قَوْمٌ عَادُونَ ﴿١٦٦﴾ قَالُوا لَئِن لَّمْ تَنتَهِ يَا لُوطُ لَتَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْمُخْرَجِينَ ﴿١٦٧﴾ قَالَ إِنِّي لِعَمَلِكُم مِّنَ الْقَالِينَ
Quran (26:165-168)
Do you approach males among the worlds (165) And leave what your Lord has created for you as mates? But you are a people transgressing.” (166) They said, “If you do not desist, O Lot, you will surely be of those evicted.” (167) He said, “Indeed, I am, toward your deed, of those who detest [it].
وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ أَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ وَأَنتُمْ تُبْصِرُونَ ﴿٥٤﴾ أَئِنَّكُمْ لَتَأْتُونَ الرِّجَالَ شَهْوَةً مِّن دُونِ النِّسَاءِ ۚ بَلْ أَنتُمْ قَوْمٌ تَجْهَلُونَ
Quran (27:54-55)
And [mention] Lot, when he said to his people, “Do you commit immorality while you are seeing? (54) Do you indeed approach men with desire instead of women? Rather, you are a people behaving ignorantly.”
And there are many more still. What’s abundantly clear from the verses that speak about Prophet Lut and his people is that homosexuality is a major sin. Whether you take part in it directly or support it indirectly as Lut’s wife did. Allah says in the Quran:
قَالَ إِنَّ فِيهَا لُوطًا ۚ قَالُوا نَحْنُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَن فِيهَا ۖ لَنُنَجِّيَنَّهُ وَأَهْلَهُ إِلَّا امْرَأَتَهُ كَانَتْ مِنَ الْغَابِرِينَ
Quran (29:32)
[Abraham] said, “Indeed, within it is Lot.” They said, “We are more knowing of who is within it. We will surely save him and his family, except his wife. She is to be of those who remain behind.”
ضَرَبَ اللَّـهُ مَثَلًا لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا امْرَأَتَ نُوحٍ وَامْرَأَتَ لُوطٍ ۖ كَانَتَا تَحْتَ عَبْدَيْنِ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا صَالِحَيْنِ فَخَانَتَاهُمَا فَلَمْ يُغْنِيَا عَنْهُمَا مِنَ اللَّـهِ شَيْئًا وَقِيلَ ادْخُلَا النَّارَ مَعَ الدَّاخِلِينَ
Quran (66:10)
Allah presents an example of those who disbelieved: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot. They were under two of Our righteous servants but betrayed them, so those prophets did not avail them from Allah at all, and it was said, “Enter the Fire with those who enter.”
So verse after verse, repeats how detestable the act of homosexuality is, and how they refused to fulfill their desires by making relations with their wives, but instead preferred doing the evil, immoral, and impure homosexual acts. How any Muslim after the sheer amount of verses in the Quran could ever claim that homosexuality isn’t a sin, boggles the mind.
The only real arguments for homosexuality is that it’s natural, it’s love, and that it doesn’t harm anyone. The first is pretty much impossible to prove. Scientists have never found a gay gene. Some will bring up gay animals as a proof for it being natural, but an easy counter is the insects and mammals which kill their own mates and young. That would also be natural and by that logic, killing your mate or children should not be seen as a sin or wrong. After all animals do it, therefore it’s natural.
The argument that people love what they love is equally nonsensical. Some people love to steal, rape, kill and all sorts of things. Should we allow it, simply because they love it? Of course not.
The final argument that it doesn’t harm anyone, assumes that we humans know the ultimate reality of things. For instance initially companies, and many scientists claimed that smoking didn’t cause cancer. It took decades before they could prove that it does, and forced companies to label cigarette packages with a huge warning label. Still didn’t stop the government from making it illegal though. Another example is homosexuality itself, which not too long ago was labeled as a mental illness and had conversion therapies. Now in 2021, western secular democracies revered their stance.
The reality is in liberal secular democracies, it doesn’t matter what’s right or wrong. What matters is what the people are brainwashed to think what is right and wrong by the media and big corporations. So at the end of the day they cannot claim to know objectively anything is right or anything is wrong. They just decide mainly based on popular opinion and peer pressure.
But for the Muslim none of their arguments should matter even for a second, because we already know Islam is the truth and thus when Allah says homosexuality is a detestable sin, that’s all we need to know. The subject isn’t open for debate.
What we need to do for our children is equip them with the certainty that Islam is the truth, and give them the tools to combat the weak beliefs of the ignorant people. If we hope for them to maintain their identity as practicing believing Muslims, then we need to work hard everyday to ensure they digest the beliefs of Islam, so that no matter what their situation is they will come out as strong Muslims.
Help me to make more Islamic material for our ummah. Check out my books for Muslim children! Jazaka Allahu khayran!