so this question always causes a lot of
controversy and and people are very
emotionally involved with it I want to
be very explicit very clear I'm gonna be
very very precise and what I'm saying
and I want everybody to listen carefully
those of us who believe in the Quran I'm
addressing Muslims now it is very clear
from the Quran that one of the many many
many sins that a Muslim should not do is
that of engaging in intercourse in
sexual relations outside of marriage and
our religion has forbidden extramarital
and premarital intercourse then how can
anybody believe that same-sex
intercourse is something that is ethical
and moral in the eyes of our Creator if
even premarital intercourse is
considered to be something that is
immoral and worthy of sin then surely
engaging in same sex is a similar if not
a worse crime in the eyes of allah
subhanahu wata'ala so there is really no
controversy in the fourteen and a half
centuries of our ummah no alum has ever
and no person has ever justified this
act as being moral and Islamically
permissible and the story of Ruth
alehissalaam is very clear in the Quran
there is no question that the people of
luth were guilty of multiple crimes but
their predominant crime that is
associated with them multiple times is
that of same-sex relations and so we
cannot simply dismiss the story and say
well there was no point in ruling it or
it was figurative or what not the story
is explicit and the Quran is very clear
and there's unanimous consensus in this
regard however with all of this we also
need to be very clear what is forbidden
in our religion is the action the action
of intimacy outside of marriage what is
not forbidden the Sharia does not forbid
feelings of the heart the Sharia does
not encourage but it doesn't forbid what
your heart lusts after ie what your
sexual persuasion might be what your
fancy might be what you lust after the
shoddy art will not punish you based on
the feelings of the heart and so if
somebody comes
to us from the Muslim community and says
that and this has happened to me many
times somebody comes and says this email
or even directly that you know chef I
can't help it but I am attracted to the
same gender I am gay I am homosexual so
I say to this person look if you find
your inclinations to be of to the same
gender in a sexual manner Allah will not
punish you for the feelings of the heart
Allah will not punish you and the
question of nature versus nurture is a
secondary question and perhaps if we
have more time in another lecture we can
get there but it is frankly irrelevant
from a legal perspective why this
brother or sister feels this way is a
separate question they are not allowed
to act upon the impulse or the urge just
like a pyromaniac who wants to burn
things cannot go and burn things just
like a kleptomaniac wants to steal
things cannot steal things
just like I as a normal heterosexual
male is attracted to a woman who's not
my wife and I find her beautiful and
lustful I'm not allowed to act on that
and I have to control my gaze and have
to control my emotions and have to not
act on it Allah will not punish me if I
found a woman attractive Allah will call
me to task if I allowed that attraction
to affect my actions to stare without
lowering the gaze to flirt to talk to
touch to stuff rola commands inna that
is where the sin is incurred but the
feeling of the heart Allah will not
punish me for finding somebody
attractive male or female the point is
what our feelings are in the heart must
be controlled so if a Muslim finds
himself or herself having same sex
impulses or attractions we say to them
you are no less of a Muslim simply
because you feel this way in fact if you
battle those urges then will llahi you
might be a better Muslim than me because
your urges are more difficult maybe and
you have to be have more of a battling
within yourself so simply because a
person has same-sex desires does not
diminish their Iman or their faith or
their status of Islam if they act upon
it we say to this brother or sister that
look you have committed a sin and repent
to Allah and I'm a
sinner you're a sinner we're all sinners
repent to Allah leave your way and Allah
will forgive you and even if they are
persisting in this sin we keep on making
dua for them that allows which I'll
guides them there's no point being harsh
or mean or nasty or cruel we don't want
to cause them to leave the faith well
lie I commit sins this brother commit
sins maybe his sins are of a different
nature than mine
but in the end we are all sinners and as
long as they want repentance and they're
coming to the Masjid for spiritual
guidance then we must always accept
their coming to the Masjid just like we
would accept a drug dealer an alcoholic
comes to the messages and he wants to be
forgiven now where do we draw the line
where do I draw the line I draw the line
at somebody who wants to spread this
idea and wants other people to follow
him we say to this person brother or
sister we don't allow this in our Masjid
if you want to preach and call to this
then feel free to open up another centre
do whatever you want this is the western
lands nobody will harm or touch you
because we're not allowed to do that
that's your business to do that but we
do not approve of people coming and
preaching to others this understanding
of Islam if they're doing it in their
private lives is between them and Allah
if you find out about it give them
personal advice but there's no need to
treat them any harshly or differently
just like as I said a drunkard or a drug
dealer you would be compassionate and
merciful and we'll lucky brothers and
sisters I am a sinner and you were a
sinner why should people judge me for my
sins this between me and Allah but where
do we draw the line that people who are
justifying and wanting others to follow
what they are doing
and calling others to it we say this is
not something that we will tolerate in
our faith communities but the laws of
the land allow you to do what you want
and as we live in these lands of the
West we will not tolerate any one of our
community physically harming this person
we will speak out against it because
that is not what our Sharia requires us
to do when we are residing we have to
obey the laws of the land but we also
have the right to criticize verbally
just like they have the right to do what
they're doing legally we have the right
to criticize morally and we shall not
compromise on this one issue that we
do not believe this lifestyle is healthy
we do not believe it is spiritually
uplifting we do not believe it is
something that will in and of itself
lead one to allah subhanho wa taala but
to love forgives all sins to the one who
repents and we ask Allah as the order to
guide us to the straight path and to
guide everyone who is a sinner to the
correct understanding of Islam and
acting upon it and we ask Allah Subhan
Allah Tala to forgive our sins and to
manifest and magnify our good deeds was
Ahmed lahu clear on cinema alaikum wa
rahmatullah wa barakatu