ABSTRACT
This chapter explores gender and sexual diversity in Islamic history and reviews the recent literature on the subject matter. Drawing upon religious studies and anthropological perspectives, it aims to provide an understanding of gender and sexual diversity in the Qur’an, hadith, and classical Islamic jurisprudence so as to observe contemporary interpretations drawing on these classical sources. The chapter includes a discussion of progressive Muslim scholar-activists’ approaches to Islam that are affirmative of non-traditional understandings of gender and sexual diversity. In patriarchal cultures where heterosexual men of the majority and/or ruling group are dominant over all others, including women and men who do not fit the male gender norm of their place and time, sexual orientation is often confused with gender identity. The chapter concludes with a discussion of various organisations working to bridge LGBT+ identities with Islam.
