141 Book Reviews Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle, Homosexuality in Islam: Critical Refection on Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Muslims Oxford: Oneworld, 2010. pbk 335 pages Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle’s Homosexuality in Islam: Critical Refection on Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Muslims is a comprehensive, engaging, and original rereading of the formative Islamic texts and traditions. Tar- geted at both academic and popular readers, the book has two prime objec- tives: to push heterosexual Muslims to confront their own prejudices about homosexuality within the Muslim community, and to give lesbian, gay, and transgender Muslims greater confdence and the ability to speak about their sexual realities in regard to the Islamic intellectual tradition. Chapter 1, “Islam on Trial: A Case Study” begins with a heated court case concerning a homosexual Moroccan Muslim seeking asylum in the United States, a case in which Kugle acted as an expert witness. Taking this trial as a point of departure, the chapter then discusses the discrimination and challenges facing homosexuals in Muslim communities. The second chapter, “Liberating Qur’an: Islamic Scripture,” revisits the Qur’anic nar- rative of Prophet Lot, which is usually cited as textual proof of Islam’s categorical condemnation of homosexuality. After critically examining these scattered verses in their entirety, Kugle concludes that rather than forbidding same-sex intercourse these verses actually denounce rape—for the men of the tribe sought to sexually assault Lot’s guests, who were un- der the prophet’s protection. Chapter 3, “Critiquing Hadith: Islamic Oral Tradition,” provides a detailed survey and scrutiny of prophetic reports condemning homosexuality. As Kugle demonstrates, Prophet Muhammad himself never denounced anyone for homosexual acts; those reports that portray the Prophet denouncing someone for doing so have either unreli- able chains of transmission or refect the sexual opinions of later genera- tions, which were projected back to the Prophet’s time. The fourth chapter, “Assessing Fiqh: Islamic Legal Reasoning,” uncovers the complexity of