The following is a dialogue that occurred on the Facebook page of the Majlis ul Ulamaa (Council of Scholars) of Trinidad & Tobago [MajlisTT] on 23^rd April, 2018.

It features as responses to the paper released on the titled, and raises some interesting points, some of which were addressed in the paper, and others which answer direct inquiries on the matter. The name of the contributor is abbreviated for our purposes. Otherwise, the entire conversation is preserved in its original form, barring some (minor) grammatical corrections. Any additional narratives introduced are presented in [square brackets].

T. O. Toppin

Interesting read. I don’t think I have to fully agree with it in order to appreciate its well-presented stance.

“It must be noted that homosexuality in Islam refers to the homosexual acts committed by a person. The spontaneous homosexual thoughts and urges that a person may have is not in itself a sin, but if a person intentionally thinks homosexual thoughts, or acts on these thoughts then the act is sinful and prohibited. (Qur’an 2:225)”

Answer me this because I am somewhat taken aback by this- why would a person have spontaneous thoughts towards the same sex? Something within them must trigger it and if its not natural why would it cross one’s mind?

Majlis ul Ulamaa

Thanks for your comment. Surrounding this is a nature vs. nurture argument – some believe it is natural human tendencies (and therefore natural); others maintain it is a function of society and social influence; yet others make the case that it is the influence of Shaitan (i.e. satan or the devil) to lead us astray – as mentioned in the paper. The essential point for us is not why the urge manifests, but that it is restrained, being a transgression of limits of acceptable human behaviour.

T. O. Toppin

Majlis ul Ulamaa if you restrain a river to make a dam one day the dam breaks. So it is with human behavior.

What is needed is proper study and examination, but to do that you have to admit it exist and view it for what it is. You cannot do that with religious ideals or practises of restraint, it must be analysed and deciphered properly to get a holistic view of the entire situation.

We take guidance from the Qur’an: “But as for him who feared standing before his Lord, and restrained himself from impure evil desires, and lusts. Verily, Paradise will be his abode.” [Qur’an 79:40-41]

Majlis ul Ulamaa how does that sit with a none believer though. One who does not subscribe to the Qur’an or Bible or engage in any religious doctrines period. One who nourish his spirit through his interaction with other human beings looking at all as equal. One who believes in doing good and being good. One who live on principles of human conduct and the energy that manifest within himself/herself that guides us all. One who live according to conscience and allow the energy that flows to guide his/her behavior.

How do you propose such a person to follow something that he/she does not subscribe to?

Majlis ul Ulamaa

T. O. Toppin people are free to follow what they wish, including the Islamic principles we present. If they want to inculcate Islamic values, it is up to them and that matter lies between them and Almighty Allah directly. I think our paper makes that clear in multiple sections.

T. O. Toppin

Majlis ul Ulamaa that may be the view of ya’ll but it’s not the view of all Muslims, Christians, Jews etc. who have waged wars on people who don’t follow their teaching.

 [In response to the last comment, it is for this reason the MajlisTT was established.]

You can access the MajlisTT paper at: http://majlistt.com/final-papers/ and their Facebook profile at https://www.facebook.com/majlistt/. MajlisTT is hosted by the MAI Institute, who provides, among other facilities, management of the social media presence of the Majlis ul Ulamaa.