Homosexual sex and Islamic Jurisprudence By Junaid Jahangir and Hussein Abdullatif Homosexual sex between men is predominately reduced to and understood as the act of liwat, which is expressly defined as “inserting the tip of the penis into the anus of a male” (Islam QA 2009, par. 10). Traditionally, it has been viewed as resulting from excessive desire or disease. Being outside the folds of a legal contract, defined through Nikah (marriage) or mulk yamin (legal authority/ownership), homosexual sex is deemed prohibited. However, it stands to reason that if same-sex Nikah were to be accommodated in jurisprudence, then homosexual sex would become permissible and regulated in ways similar to those set for heterosexual couples (Jahangir and Abdullatif 2016). For example, heterosexual sodomy is not permitted between a husband and wife in Sunni Jurisprudence, but the enjoyment of the anus without penetration is. Enjoyment of the anus without penetration in a legal heterosexual coupling is deemed licit in Muslim jurisprudence as in the work of al-Nawawī (d. 1278) (Haddad, n.d., par. 9). Likewise, al-Zabīdī (d. 1790) opined that, “to enjoy the backside without entering the rectum is permissible, because with that exception, all parts of a woman’s body may be enjoyed by the husband” (Maqsood, n.d., par. 19). According to Habeeb Alli, this includes rimming (Alli 2011, 41-44). In Shī’ī jurisprudence, according to one text, Ja’far al- ādiq opined that there is Ṣ no problem with anal intercourse if the wife agrees, and recited the verse of tilth (2:223) to substantiate this position (Rizvi, n.d., footnote 54). Shī’ī authorities including al- Mufīd (d. 1022), Shaykh ūsī (d. 1067), al-Murta ā (d. 1044) and al- illī (d. 726 AH) Ṭ ḍ Ḥ deem the act makruh (detestable) but not sinful (ShiaPen, n.d.). Based on the widely held Shī’ī opinion, Ayatollah Lankarānī (d. 2007) (Lankarani, n.d., par. 3) and Ayatollah Sistānī ruled that while the act is strongly undesirable, it is permissible based on the wife’s agreement (Alul Bayt, n.d., Q42). Liwat According to Muslim scholars, based on verse 7:80, homosexual sex is associated with the people of Lū and predominantly viewed as an exploitative act, in the context of ṭ pederasty and assault. Commentaries by Ibn Kathīr (d. 1373) (Ibn Kathīr, n.d., par.1), Al- Bay āwī (d. 1286) (Al-Bay āwī 2009, CDROM), ḍ ḍ Qurtubi (d. 1273) and abarī (d. 923) (Al- Ṭ abarī 1986, 112-118) Ṭ suggest that the people of Lū invented homosexual sex and this is ṭ the common understanding among classical Sunni jurists . Likewise, a Shī‘ī Tafsīr suggests that the people of Lū were the founders of the deed at least in public meetings ṭ where they sometimes revealed their private parts (Imani 2005, 395-396, 487-488). Similarly, Egyptian jurist Ibrāhīm al-Bājūrī (d. 1860) stated that people of Lū were the ṭ first to sodomize men (El-Rouayheb 2005, 17, 115). However, Al-Rāzī (d. 1209) claimed that verse 7:80 might allude to the collective action of the people of Lū rather than ṭ individual conduct (Al-Rāzī, 2009, CDROM). Capital punishment 1