Sharī‘a Law and LGBTQIA+ People: More than Faith vs. Human Rights

Abstract

Using as springboard the religious and historical background that led to the formation of the شَريعة Sharī‘a Law in Islam, in this work I explore how exegesis and, particularly eisegesis, of Islamic holy texts (Qur’ān and أحَادِيثAhādīth of the Prophet Muhammad) are used to justify a forced and biased heuristic discourse that fits the needs of certain groups—hailing from diverse regions and nations of the world—that, in the name of Islam (Sunni as well as Shī‘ī) and the entire Muslim community (أُمَّةummah), discriminate against, disenfranchise, and, most of the time, severely penalize members of the LGBTQIA+ community living in their midst. Human rights violations against members of the LGBTQIA+ community living in the Islamic world from the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa to the Middle East and Southeast Asia will thus be analyzed within the framework of biased Islamic hermeneutics and rhetoric aimed at controlling its own citizens.