 Dear viewers, As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Thank you for joining us in another episode of Current Events. As always, I'm your host, Ali Jasim. In this episode, we'll be discussing the issue of homosexuality. Some viewers may find this a sensitive or uncomfortable topic, and we recommend that young viewers either not watch the episode or watch in the presence of an adult who can discuss the ideas presented in it afterwards. From the Holy Quran alone, we know that homosexuality as a practice dates back thousands of years. Yet from the time of Prophet Lut, peace be upon him, to the Greek and Roman empires, to the recognition of same-sex marriages in many secular societies today, it is one that has seen varying degrees of prominence and acceptability. Today, same-sex marriages are legal in 21 countries, most recently Ireland, and for the most part the United States. Even 20 or 25 years ago, this course of events would have been unimaginable. Yet in an extremely short amount of time, there has been a vast amount of movement in public opinion on the issue. Yet in the overwhelming majority of major world religions, homosexual practices are condemned, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. How then can we reconcile these facts? Muslims living mainly in the West must adapt to the demands of coexistence in increasingly multicultural and diverse societies. This includes societies where open homosexuality is simply an accepted fact of secular life. How do we, as Muslims, discuss about these issues with our children when they seek some kind of explanation? How do we balance the need for respectful and harmonious social relationships with the teachings of our faith, mainly commanding to good and forbidding the evil? Finally, we must also make an important distinction, whether one argues that same-sex attraction as a matter of nature or nurture the fact remains that attraction itself is not a sin in our religion. Rather, it is acting unlawfully upon it. In this way, homosexuality as an attraction is one thing, while homosexuality as a practice is another. Christianity has long made this kind of distinction known as love the sinner, hate the sin. Does not Islam likewise have this concept at its core? Thus, we must also ask how we, as believers, can assist our brothers and sisters who may struggle with same-sex attraction, rather than simply abandoning them to fate. As we move forward into this new millennium, we must prepare ourselves to tackle complex social issues and find where our faith stands on all of their various aspects. The issue of homosexuality in the modern world is no exception. Stay with us as we attempt to dissect and discuss this complicated topic. Brothers and sisters, without any further ado, let's meet our guest. He is an Islamic researcher and preacher. The respected Sayyid Saleh al-Qizweeni. As-salamu alaykum Sayyidina. Alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullah. May Allah bless you. Thank you for having me. Insha'Allah you're doing well. Welcome to the show. Sayyidina, let's begin by giving the dear viewers a history of this behavior. The issue of homosexuality is not something new, but the challenges that we are witnessing today are very new and very contemporary. Because the homosexual act and the acts of homosexuality have been carrying out and have been taking place for hundreds of years. It's nothing new, and even Allah gives us a story of one of His prophets. One of the prophets, Prophet Lut alayhi salam, who was the nephew of Prophet Ibrahim. This was one of the challenges that Prophet Lut had to deal with because of his people, and ultimately they were punished because of their desires, because they did not control their desires. So there is a history of this act taking place and it's even mentioned in the Qur'an, it's nothing new. But the Qur'an tells us how to deal with it and how to deal with the circumstances and the situation and we can take many lessons from the story of Prophet Lut alayhi salam where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala describes in one verse wa lakadra wa doohu an daifah fa tamasna a'yunahum fa doohu wa adhabi wa nuthut Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us a story of angels that come to Prophet Ibrahim alayhi salam and they come in the figure of young men. They come to him, they have two missions. The first is that they tell Prophet Ibrahim that his wife is going to be pregnant and he's going to have a son. Then they move on to the village of Lut which was, he was the nephew of Prophet Ibrahim alayhi salam and in the village of Lut they go and while they go in the village they were attacked by these people. Now the tafsir of the Qur'an tells us that initially these people they were very greedy, the people of that village. They were very greedy and they were not welcoming of people. So whoever passes by that village, whoever passes by their city they would sexually abuse the men and the women would sexually abuse the women. So they kept doing this act until it became a habit and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala describes that it became intoxication that they were in. Allah says and inshallah we'll speak about this later on in the show. As we know throughout history this used to be a much hated issue in all the communities. What happened in our modern era that has made it something very easy to be open about? This issue is disguised and it's not morally accepted in any society. In any society even you see that in the United States a very advanced country up until 1973 up until 1973 the issue of homosexuality was seen as a mental issue. It was seen as a problem, mental problem and people would go to psychiatrists to be treated. So let's look at history and let's see what has happened from the beginning of time all the way to 1973 and then from 1973 till now. Did we suddenly wake up? Did we suddenly change? Did we suddenly become better human beings and find morality? That's not the case. When we analyze we see that there is a lack of morality. There is a lack of morality and understanding in society around us. So it has just because something has become acceptable in society and people are accepting it does not mean that it's the right thing to do because Allah SWT describes the people of Prophet lute. Everyone was carrying out the sac. Many people, even some of the people very close to Prophet lute alaihi salam and therefore they were all punished. They were all punished because of what they did. So basically sometimes an act becomes very normal because it's socially constructed. When I see everyone around in society carrying out an act it becomes very normal. And this is something that I've seen many Muslims just a few days ago when the US Supreme Court allowed a nationalized homosexual marriage I saw many Muslims unfortunately. They were tweeting and they were posting on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram, the rainbow flag and showing support to homosexuality. So it's kind of weird since when did homosexuality become the cool thing? Since when did it become something accepted? It has always been looked down upon in history and in society because it's against the norm. It's against biology, against reproduction and just against sanity basically. But when the problem is when desires are not controlled when hijab is not protected, and when I say hijab I mean the general meaning of hijab not the specific hijab that the female is wearing. When the general meaning of hijab is not protected and it's not practiced you will start seeing these type of problems. We have narrations. Narrations from the Ahlul Bayt alaihum salam they say that when zinnah, when adultery becomes very easy you see it everywhere, then people start resorting to homosexuality. They start resorting to acts that are forbidden and very wrong because they want to be creative. They want to keep feeding that desire, that nafs al-ammarah that is constantly asking them to fulfill the desires and seek something new. What was the role of media in cleaning the image of homosexuality? Well, I don't know about the media in the Middle East or other places but I know for a fact that here in the United States and Europe and many western countries right now you see probably almost every movie, almost every soap opera, every show that you watch they try to normalize homosexuality. Before it used to be seen something as a taboo, something that was very wrong today we see that no, they come and they make there's five people, five main actors, one of them is a homosexual and this is trying to brainwash and show others that this is something very normal and one in five people, one in ten people is like that and this is something that is acceptable. They are funny, they are educated, they are very nice people and a lot of times some Muslims they come and they say this is homophobic behavior and we shouldn't be doing this, we should be siding with someone who is oppressed. The thing is, as a person there's nothing wrong with the person, the problem is when an act is carrying out anyone who just has desires for the opposite gender or the same gender as long as that desire is controlled there's nothing wrong with that because the religion of Islam just teaches us to control our desires the same goes for someone who has the desires for the opposite gender if they have a desire for the opposite gender does that mean that they are allowed to go and do whatever they want and just let love win as what we hear today? The answer is no the answer is there has to be self-control even when it comes to someone from the opposite gender the media is trying to play on emotions and is using emotions to control people rather than logic, rather than sanity rather than using logic and real proof because for example today homosexual marriage is accepted but in the United States for example polygamy is not accepted and incest is not accepted of course rightfully shouldn't be accepted many other types of relationships are not accepted for example here in the United States if someone is 18 or over and he marries someone or he has a relationship with someone who is less than 18 then this person could end up in jail this person could be prosecuted this is a relationship so why is it that that one is accepted based on emotions and based on letting love win when it's two people from the same gender but when it's two from the opposite gender it's not accepted Said what is the stand of Islam in this issue? Well everyone has their own agenda some countries they have an agenda the religion of Islam has an agenda but if we want to find morality and find what is right we have to go to the Quran because many times we humans we think we know what's right but in reality we are following our desires in reality later on time will show us that what we are doing was wrong Allah SWT has created us all with desires and the religion of Islam has no shame and it does not reject the desires like some other religions the religion of Islam acknowledges the desire and even embraces the desire and this is why you don't see any other religion of Islam that welcomes and acknowledges and embraces the desire like the religion of Islam but the religion of Islam has created a solution Allah SWT has created the marriage which is one of the signs of Allah SWT and from his verses Allah SWT created spouses Allah SWT created spouses Allah SWT created spouses opposite genders and this is one of the miracles of Allah SWT where two they are the same but they are opposite genders so that they can reproduce so that they can live so that life can continue out of yourselves as wajam pairs two different pairs so that you find sikun so that you find tranquility wa ja'ala bainakum mawaddatan wa rahma this is the miracle of Allah this is the way that Allah SWT has brought for us but we find some people they neglect the right path they neglect the path that Allah SWT has placed for them and they go and they take the deviant path the path that is away from the norm away from nature away from what has been accepted and what carries on society what is biologically proven to carry on society so there are institutions there are governments there are groups of people that have their own agenda but we as Muslims we have to follow the Quran because the Quran is the book of guidance the Quran is the book of hidayah and the Quran is the book of Allah Allah is our creator Allah knows what is best for us and what is needed for us why is Islam so keen about homosexuality well the religion of Islam treats it as one of the haram acts and there are many haram acts adultery is haram for someone to commit adultery this is haram stealing there are so many haram acts this is one of the haram this is one of the kaba'el this is one of the greater sins and this is because it is one of the greater sins because it will destruct society slowly today here in the united states we see it as something that allowing love to win what they call it or allowing people to do what they want and get what they want but in reality what is the effect today we Muslims we need to look at studies what are the effects of these children right now in the united states homosexual marriage is accepted that means that tomorrow if someone parents they pass away and they leave children the children they go to an adoption house if there is no Muslim that come if there is no family that comes and wants to adopt them they will go to an adoption house then a homosexual couple they will come and they will say we want to adopt this child or non-muslim child they will come and they want to adopt this child there is no law that is banning them from adopting that child so this it will create a deviant society basically it will create a society that is going the wrong path and this is why Islam has a stance against this because it is against nature first of all and it is against the sharia of Allah what are the consequences of homosexuality for the society the consequences are that society will slowly be deviant society will be going further away from the path that Allah has placed for them I mentioned that Allah has created marriage marriage is to create a family marriage is the reason of reproduction but when these types of acts are carried out then the way the sunnah of life the way that Allah has placed life for us to live and the way the prophet used to live and the imams and the awliya people are not going to be practicing that life there are going to be many problems and issues that will emerge as this problem becomes very public and it becomes all over the place Sayyidina what can we do as Muslims facing this issue in this community is there any campaigns working to prevent this from spreading the thing is with regards to the homosexual marriage now it has become a law and the supreme court has allowed it so there is a legal way there is a legal way and of course this is not something that only the Muslims are fighting you see religious people from all religions not only Muslims you see Jews, Christians all other religions they are against this religious people people who follow a way of life in the natural way they can seek legal measures and try to change the law this is one thing but then sometimes you hear some Muslims they'll tell you that there are Muslims there are people that are born having a desire for the person from the same gender what are you supposed to do about this what are you supposed to do about this group of people they are born with that desire the answer is first of all it hasn't been scientifically proven that anyone is born with that desire and scholars they teach us that some desires are socially constructed and that desire it may also be socially constructed but let's say for example for the sake of argument that some people are actually born with that desire if they are born with that desire they still have to control their desire they still have to control it just like a person who has a desire for the opposite gender they also have to control their desire right now if you go to court and you find someone who has molested a child the judge will tell this person the judge will tell this person you did something illegal you did something wrong and that person tell the judge that I was born like this and love when this is my only desire this is my only way the judge will not allow that so the same goes for the ones who feel like they are born like that we have to try to convince them logically that even if that desire is there you have to try to avoid that desire and you have to try to control yourself how do we discuss and explain these issues with our children to make them truly believe that this is an immoral thing this is a very important issue because today many parents they don't even find time to sit with their children for one hour to speak to them but you find that those same children they are in front of the TV in front of social media for over 5-6 hours a day watching TV so this is why it has become kind of a normalized issue for Muslims at least here in the United States but parents have to sit and talk to their children parents have to explain to their children that this is against the nature this is against what is this is against the reproductive system this is against the way that Allah has created us and parents need to explain to their children and use logic rather than emotions to have them reach a conclusion thank you Sayyid inshallah all of our children are away from this bad behavior Sayyidna is there anything you would like to add thank you very much thank you just keep us in your prayers in the shrine of Imam Hussein and Karbala especially during these holy nights inshallah Sayyidna thank you very much brothers and sisters this concludes today's current events we hope to see you next time we thank you dear viewers for watching and we thank our dear guests be sure to join us again on current events until next time assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh