Homosexuality and its manifestation in islam: quran, hadith and literature

Marcinkevičiūtė R. Homosexuality and its manifestation in Islamic culture and its discourse in Quran, hadith and literature. (The final work of bachelor in Arabic studies. The head of the work lec. Algimantas Litvinas, Vilnius university. The main subject of the bachelor’s thesis Islamic approach and perspective towards homosexuality. Despite the fact that homosexuality is clearly represented as sinful action the accurate punishment for committing this sin is not set. Still there are ayats of Quran and hadiths where young and beautiful boys are mentioned as a gift that a man receives if he gets to heaven. What is more, writers who lived in middle ages wrote about the noble love to which there was no rules and boundaries. So the problematic issue of the works is: what is the liaison between Islam and homosexuality as a phenomenon in Islamic culture. The aim is to reveal, investigate and comprehend the relationship between homosexuality and Islamic culture while analysing and investigating its view to it through traditional view that is revealed in Quran and hadiths and also through literature while studying “The Ring of The Dove” by Ibn Ḥazm (994 - 1064). Research has revealed that without understanding general topic of sexuality is bearly possible to understand homosexuality and homosexuality should be approached from the wider perspective of diverse sexualities. Using theoretical research methods – analytical analysis of the specific primal and secondary sources it was concluded that the concept of homosexuality is not set in Quran or hadiths. Despite of that, homosexuality in Islamic culture is being seen as one of the biggest sins that a human being can commit. What is more, usually, the one who practices homosexuality is punished with death penalty. While in Quran and hadiths homosexuality is being described as a sinful action, in literature which was analysed it can be seen that homosexuality is not that shameful or reprehensible and even sometimes it can be tolerated as long as it does not shown in public. This bachelor’s thesis could be used for further research about the equality of homosexuals and bisexuals in Islam and its culture