Homosexuality in Islam: Critical Reflection on Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Muslims.

Sharlet, Jocelyn

Homosexuality in Islam: Critical Reflection on Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Muslims. By SCOTT SIRAJ AL-HAQQ KUGLE, Oxford: ONEWORLD, 2010. Pp. x + 335. $90 (cloth); $29.95 (paper).

This book offers an introduction to attitudes toward gay, lesbian, and transgender people in the main Islamic sources of Qur'an, hadith, and figh, as well as drawing on background information in other Islamic sources, including those of Sufism, philosophy, history, and literature. In addition, the book examines how modern Islamic thought is used in support or denial of rights for gay, lesbian, and transgender people--especially in chapter one "Islam on Trial: A Case Study," in chapter five "Reforming Sharica: Islamic Ethics of Same-Sex Marriage," and in chapter six "Reviving Spirit: Islamic Approaches to Transgender Experience." Throughout the author attempts to demonstrate that many of the Islamic perspectives on gay, lesbian, and transgender people in general developed in the context of historically specific problems of disrespect of prophets, political crisis, ideological allegiances, and sexual assault, and in the context of adultery that can lead to illegitimate children.

In chapter one Kugle explains constructivist (constructed and re-constructible) and essentialist (innate and unchanging) views on sexuality and argues in favor of essentialist sexuality. His decision not to include bisexual people in his analysis is in conjunction with his argument for essentialist sexuality, even though there is material in the sources--the main ones and others--that could be used to consider bisexual people. Kugle clarifies that Islamic law is much more complex than the ideological forms employed by neo-traditionalists and that Islamic law is rarely applied directly in modern. Muslim-majority nation states. To answer what happened in between the complexity of Islamic law and the simplifications of ideological neo-traditionalists, he builds on the work of Fatima Mernissi, who has shown that an Islamic ethic of tolerance that was characterized by silence was undermined by the globalization of culture. Later in the book Kugle argues that colonial regimes subverted traditions of Islamic legal training and marginal yet important Islamic traditions of Sufism and philosophical inquiry, while anti-colonial revolutions led to authoritarian regimes that continued to undermine and coercively control these discourses, even as they used a simplified approach to Islam.

Chapters two to four lay the groundwork for the author's liberation theology of Islam on the issue of gay, lesbian, and transgender people. Kugle outlines a program of progressive interpretation and observes that while believers crave certainty, the ambiguity inherent in interpretation requires humility. He argues that the theme of human diversity in the Qur'an means that gay, lesbian, and transgender people are part of God's diversity, although the verses he cites are about tribes, languages, and colors of people. The focus of chapter two ("Liberating Qur'an: Islamic Scripture") is on the verses that deal with the tribe of the Prophet Lot, which have played an important role in Islamic judgments that homosexuals should be punished. Kugle argues that the verses in question take this prophet's tribe to task for disrespecting Lot--men of the tribe having or seeking sex with men, especially Lot's guests who are actually angels in disguise, is only one aspect. In particular Kugle claims that the problem in the story of Lot is sexual assault, not men having sex with men in general. The author compares the case of disrespect for Lot with the case of disrespect for the Prophet Sail), also recorded in the Qur'an, when the camel that was supposed to be left to pasture freely was slaughtered. The author observes that the point is not "don't kill camels," which would make no sense in an Islamic context, but rather "don't disrespect prophets by killing camels." In like fashion the author argues that the point of the story of Lot is not (addressed to men) "don't have sex with men," but rather "don't disrespect prophets, including, don't sexually assault men, especially a prophet's guests." The theme of disrespecting prophets is complemented by the theme of disrespecting the Prophet Shu'ayb immediately following some of the verses on Lot.

It seems clear to this reviewer that the theme of men having sex with men is the central feature of the disrespect for Lot. Lot offers his daughters as a better alternative (as wives, presumably), but the men respond, "You know what we want." The men are chastised for turning to males instead of the mates God intended for them, whom we understand to be female mates because of the juxtaposition of males and the mates God intended. However, Kugle's point that it is about sexual assault in particular, not men having sex with men in general, is important. Though the disrespect focuses on men sexually assaulting men, Kugle observes that there is more to it than the sexual assault because women and children are punished, too.

In the same chapter Kugle also discusses verses on women instructing people how to deal with those who commit a fatfisha, an immoral or vile deed. The verses instruct that such people should be punished on the evidence of four witnesses. Kugle contends that these verses do not make sense if they are about sex because they seem to deal with a sex act that could be performed by a group of three or more women, two men, or a man and a woman. However, the juxtaposition of "those among your [pl., or 3 or more] women who commit the vile deed" and "[any] two of you [masc. dual, or two men, or a man and a woman] who commit such a deed" suggests that the verse probably refers to women and two men. -Those among your women" could be whoever among them does this, not necessarily in groups of three or more; while the reference in these verses to witnesses needed to convict for the "vile deed" suggests that a reprehensible sexual deed is the topic. Cases like this one support a central argument of the book, which is that while believers crave certainty, the ambiguity inherent in interpretation requires humility.

Chapter three ("Critiquing Hadith: Islamic Oral Tradition") introduces the concepts that have governed the professional evaluation of sayings attributed to the Prophet, provides transmission diagrams for groups of hadith about gay, lesbian, or transgender people, and includes background information from other sources that were compiled around the same time as the Prophetic reports. In particular, Kugle proposes that reports that are rich in detail are less likely to be fabricated while reports that include terms not on record as being in use at the time of the Prophet are more likely to be fabricated. The author critiques reliance on one transmitter in particular, the slave clkrima, as an example of how ideology may have influenced transmission. The author argues that his transmission of hadith about killing men who have sex with men should be seen in the context of (Ikrima's affiliation with the Kharijis, who were known for placing sinners in the same category as idolaters. The author also emphasizes that hadith referring to the tribe of Lot should be understood in the context of the ambiguity surrounding the tribe's disrespect of Lot in the Qur'an. He demonstrates that the hadith about banishing a transgender person from the Prophet's household reflects the practice of allowing transgender people to be in women's space, as well as the practice of excluding them from women's space if they show evidence of desire for women. In general, Kugle argues that Prophetic hadith reflect the attitudes of Muslims who lived after the death of the Prophet under the Umayyads and especially the (Abbasids, when hadith were compiled as writing became widespread. The author places ideas about gay, lesbian, and transgender people in hadith in the context of jurists expressing opposition to men sexually assaulting boys, especially slaves.

Chapter four ("Assessing Fiqh: Islamic Legal Reasoning") introduces the bases for Islamic law (Qur'an, hadith, (Ilya's. and ifinaf) and calls attention to the contradiction inherent in the law of God that is formulated by professionals. Kugle spends time on the first punishment given to men who have sex with men, which occurred in the context of the wars of apostasy after the Prophet's death. Al-Fujd'a al-Sulami allied with the Prophet, but apostasind after his death. He actually behaved like a brigand, the author explains, based on the chronicles of al-Tabari and al-Waqicri. The author calls attention to a number of facts in this case: (1) the general Khalid b. Walid contacted the caliph Abu Bakr about al-Fuja'a's case asking what to do; (2) Khalid b. Walid had already got himself into trouble because he had killed Muslims in a linguistic misunderstanding about an apostasy case on the front, since tribes spoke different dialects; (3) there is no mention of a sexual partner nor of witnesses, as a sex crime would require; (4) AbU Bakr summoned Companions to consult about the case, all of whom agreed with (Ali's suggestion that al-Fuja'a be burned; (5) burning was associated with apostasy; and (6) AN" Bakr executed al-Fuja'a himself. Kugle concludes that this case probably revolved around an apostasy charge, since al-Fujii'a took part in brigandry instead of fighting alongside Muslims; his behavior included sex with a man, most likely sexual assault, but that was part and parcel of the highway robbery. The author shows how one facet of a decision related to a particular crisis is generalized in legal thought to apply to cases where the circumstances surrounding the crisis do not obtain.

The author also argues that ideas having to do with gay, lesbian, and transgender people may have been integrated into Islamic thought from the Torah, which gives more detail than the Qur'an and also stipulates that sex is for the purpose of procreation. The main question hinges on whether same-sex intercourse fits into the same category as adultery, which is punished severely because of the problem of determining the paternity of children, providing for them, and distributing inheritance, or into the category of sins that do not threaten the community and so are punished at a ruler's discretion, with up to ten lashes.

Chapter five draws on Islamic love theorists, especially Ibn Hazm, to support contemporary arguments for a more expansive understanding of marriage that includes same-sex marriage; Kugle makes a case for same-sex marriage on the problematic basis of heterosexual Islamic marriage with its inequalities between the male and female partner, though he also suggests that marriage as equal partnership would function better for heterosexual and same-sex couples alike. Chapter six draws on Islamic mysticism, especially Ibn al-cArabi, to contribute to contemporary arguments for a more expansive understanding of gender. Here the author relates two famous stories of sex-change operations that were supported by the authorities in Egypt and Iran. The discussions in these two chapters are not well integrated with the detailed analysis of Qur'an, hadith, and fiqh.

In sum, this book offers a well-researched and thoughtful analysis and combines an introduction to the use of Qur'an, hadith, and fiqh with a critical approach to the medieval and modern deployment of these sources on the topic of gay, lesbian, and transgender people.

JOCELYN SHARLET

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS