بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيم

I happened to see a news story about two Pakistani lesbians in the United Kingdom who, as per the news reports, became the “first Muslim gay couple to wed in the UK”.

As per the usual portrayal against traditional formal Islam, the article makes a big show of the supposed intolerance of Pakistani Muslim society versus the supposedly “enlightened” attitude in the United Kingdom towards personal “life choices”.

I will not get into an encompassing discussion concerning the clash of the secular versus the Islamic worldviews, or the clash between personally developed “Islam” versus formal traditional Islam, since I have done that to some degree in other articles. Besides, from what appears to be the trend, such clashes are the mainstay of our world today, and we should recognize this overarching narrative whenever it presents itself to us as such.

But I will say something concerning what caught my attention, a quote attributed to a relative of one of these women who said: “They have been very brave throughout as our religion does not condone homosexuality”.

This paradoxical statement (combining Islam and the open proclamation of practicing homosexuality and attributing bravery to the latter) is presented against a background of the death threats this couple had received as a result of their decision to go ahead with this “marriage”. (Of course, it must be noted that almost none of the requisites of marriage as far as Islam is concerned would be met in this case, which is why the news report notes  that no “Imam” would be willing to conduct this lesbian union).

But before anyone shows sympathy towards these people due to the presence of “death threats”, the reality is that at the very root of all this, is the assumption that boldly going against the well-established laws and beliefs of Islam is an “act of bravery”, a badge of honor.

This is particularly very sad, because the image will be cultured within the minds of many lay Muslims living in such nations who do not know Islam very well and who may be swayed by public opinion, that only by going against the properly established laws and beliefs of Islam can these societies accept that Muslims have become “courageous and brave”. Of course, the Qur’an very clearly mentions that (عِزَّة) “’Izza” (honor, power, and glory) only belongs to Allah. We can see that there is neither honor nor bravery for the Muslim in doing something contrary to what is established unequivocally as being part of Islam.

From my part as a lay Muslim, what I can encourage the rest of my Muslim brethren to do is not to be taken aback by portrayals of “bravery, honor, and courage” for those nominal Muslims who have openly committed actions and taken decisions against what the Islamic religion indisputably has revealed. We can see that such counter-Islamic slogans and portrayals will continue to come out from our opponents, and if anything will increase day by day, so we should stick fast to what Allah and His Messenger have brought. If we have any doubts or questions regarding certain issues in Islam, it is our duty to seek out the answers by asking the scholars of Islam and following the established methodology of Islam, not by rebelling and making our own assumptions and overlaying them over the pure Islamic religion. And Allah is our guide in all affairs.