A Hermeneutical Consideration of Islamic Jurisprudence on Same-Sex Acts

This thesis is a response to the increasing prevalence of violence against individuals in Muslim majority countries who do not succumb to normative definitions of gender and sexuality. Classical Islamic jurisprudence categorically condemns same-sex acts; however, the legal consensus does not address the practice of same-sex identification or the emergence of gay rights organizations. This thesis offers an analysis of the Islamic sources (the Qur'an and ahadith, sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) utilized by Muslim scholars to reject same-sex identification and critiques the ways in which the sources have been misinterpreted to bolster notions of hegemonic masculinity. When reviewing the history of Islamic jurisprudence on same-sex acts, one may conclude that classical jurists were heavily influenced by the legal precedent set by the Companions after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Jurists were also influenced by their cultural conceptions of masculinity which resulted in a rigid interpretation of the sources. However, based upon the ambiguity of the sources on same-sex acts, the sources' silence on homosexuality as an identity, and the Prophet's respectful acknowledgment of individuals who did not conform to heteronormativity, an increasing number of Muslim scholars are advocating for reform on the topic of homosexuality in Islamic thought.

Grantor dc:publisher

Wake Forest University

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Yep, Stephanie Lynn

• ethnography

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/37275

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:wakespace.lib.wfu.edu:10339/37275