ABSTRACT

The majority of Muslims are quick to claim that homosexuality is forbidden by Islam, yet it is not immediately obvious ‘which’ Islam such claims refer to (Wadud 2006, 17–23). Whilst Western observers may be familiar with newspaper headlines of shari’a-justified punishments for homosexual acts, the legal, legislative and theological terrains that these acts draw upon are far from simple. Muslim scholars throughout history differ remarkably in their conceptualisations and treatment/s of same-sex acts (Yorokoglu 2010, 428) and the existence of queer-affirmative imams (such as Daayiee Abdullah and Muhsin Hendricks), activists and faith-based queer 1 organisations render all neat statements about (homo)sexuality and Islam problematic.