Muslims do not have a monopoly on morality, Islamic Sharia Laws, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic Sharia Laws

Muslims do not have a monopoly on morality

By Shaista Gohir

Some Muslims are fond of condemning western morality – alcoholism, nudity, premarital sex and homosexuality often being cited as examples. But Muslims do not have a monopoly on morality. In the west, child marriages and sex with children are illegal. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for many Muslim countries.

I recently saw the documentary on the Dancing Boys of Afghanistan. It exposed an ancient custom called "bacha bazi" (boy for play), where rich men buy boys as young as 11 from impoverished families for sexual slavery. The boys are dressed in women's clothes and made to dance and sing at parties, before being carted away by the men for sex. Owning boys is considered a symbol of status and one former warlord boasted of having up to 3,000 boys over a 20-year period, even though he was married, with two sons. The involvement of the police and inaction of the government means this form of child prostitution is widespread.

The moral hypocrisy is outrageous in a country where homosexuality is not only strictly forbidden but savagely punished, even between two consenting adults. However, men who sodomise young boys are not considered homosexuals or paedophiles. The love of young boys is not a phenomenon restricted to Afghanistan; homosexual pederasty is common in neighbouring Pakistan, too. In my view, repression of sexuality and extreme gender apartheid is to blame.

http://newageislam.com/muslims-do-not-have-a-monopoly-on-morality/islamic-sharia-laws/d/2771

Muslim Punk Rock: A Mashup of Piety and Politics, Islamic Culture, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic Culture

Muslim Punk Rock: A Mashup of Piety and Politics

Dec. 03, 2009

The guitar-smashing episode occurred in 2007 after a crowd of Muslim punks were thrown out of the Islamic Society of North America's open-mike night. They had shocked attendants at the meeting — North America's largest annual Muslim gathering — not just by cranking up their amps, swearing and screaming their lyrics, but also by having a woman sing onstage. In the documentary, young women in hijabs are shown staring open-mouthed at first, then rocking out and yelling, "Stop the hate!" The concert then comes to an abrupt halt when the meeting's organizers, backed by Chicago police, step in, deeming it "not Islamically appropriate." Afterward, the punks smash their guitars and begin an ironic, anti-authority chant outside: "Music is haram [forbidden]!" (See pictures of Muslims in America.)

In their small but burgeoning scene — there are only a handful of Muslim punk bands in the U.S. and Canada — rebellion is an act of piety. Strident as their sound can seem, it is, in spirit, in harmony with other rebellious voices that are rising amid the breakdown of authority in the Islamic world. Whether they're the voices of Muslim feminists going back to read the Koran and the Hadith as documents of liberation, gay Muslims working out a theology that embraces homosexuality or even the millions of Muslim youths trusting Islamic chat rooms — which one British Muslim leader has dismissed as "Sheik Google" — over the local imam, they, like Muslim punks, are expressing a growing dissent with the Islamic world's mainstream theologians.

http://newageislam.com/muslim-punk-rock--a-mashup-of-piety-and-politics/islamic-culture/d/2192

Gay Ho! Gay Ho! Homosexuality Is Legal!, Islam and Human Rights, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and Human Rights

Gay Ho! Gay Ho! Homosexuality Is Legal!

By A.M. Jamsheed Basha

July 3, 2009

The reactions to the Delhi High Court judgement was mixed in the country. While Gay community celebrated it in Delhi and elsewhere along with their activists, others were up in arms especially the religious groups. Muslim clerics called homosexuality prohibited in Islam and the main source of the dangerous disease AIDS, hence unacceptable to them. The Christian priests called the act of homosexuality as unnatural to human behaviour that would disturb the society, though they have no comments on the legalisation in European countries, majority of which are Christians. Hindu priests one after another, came out with a statement that the legalisation of homosexuality would bring down the values of normal family life and the traditions. The society would stand to lose the best and well protected Hindu traditions. It’s unnatural and hence unacceptable to Hindu society. While cine celebrities welcomed it, as they will see more of "Dostanas" and "Fires" with actress Cerena Jaitely on the forefront, being an activist herself of the cause of gays in the country.

The political parties are in a bind. While Congress is neutral, BJP plays for time; SP is against it while Communists are the only political grouping to support the move to decriminalise homosexuality in private.

Now question arises, how does the Delhi judgement help the Gay community? Whether the rulings would be applicable nationwide or be confined to Delhi alone? The answer is the main benefit of the judgement for homos would be psychological as it reduces scope for their harassment. It may over a time reduce the social stigma as well.

http://newageislam.com/gay-ho!-gay-ho!-homosexuality-is-legal!--/islam-and-human-rights/d/1517

Islam And Christianity Must Renovate Religion: Atheists Have To Stop Trashing It

Islam and Spiritualism

Islam And Christianity Must Renovate Religion: Atheists Have To Stop Trashing It

by Omar Shahid

The Bible is still interpreted literally by many Christians and, consequently, we have seen the “issue” of homosexuality – which is condemned in the Old Testament – creep back into the headlines in the past few months. Religious leaders, basing their opinions on pre-modern scriptures, often speak insensitively about homosexuality. Why some Christians – even intelligent ones – still hold the Bible as a text that should be interpreted literally is a mystery, and potentially perilous. According to leading New Testament scholar Bart Ehram in his New York Times bestseller Misquoting Jesus, The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, the Bible is far from a divine revelation and has been altered, intentionally and unintentionally, on numerous occasions.

http://www.newageislam.com/islam-and-spiritualism/omar-shahid/islam-and-christianity-must-renovate-religion--atheists-have-to-stop-trashing-it/d/7320