{"id":1877,"date":"2004-03-12T02:26:00","date_gmt":"2004-03-12T07:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?p=1877"},"modified":"2004-03-12T02:26:00","modified_gmt":"2004-03-12T07:26:00","slug":"muslims_weigh_in_on_the_debate_over_gay_marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/03\/muslims_weigh_in_on_the_debate_over_gay_marriage\/","title":{"rendered":"Homosexuality: Muslims weigh in on the gay marriage debate"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" align=\"right\">\n<tr>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/muslim_gay_protest.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"right\">\n<div class=\"caption\">And please come to our Iraq rally<\/div>\n<p><\/p><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p>On the surface, you might think that the American Muslim community would be a natural ally for those <a href=\"http:\/\/seattlepi.nwsource.com%2Flocal%2F164485_ministers12.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">opposing<\/a> the flood of gay marriages that have been occuring since the landmark Massachussetts court ruling on the issue.  After all, most Muslim scholars are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sfgate.com%2Fcgi-bin%2Farticle.cgi%3Ffile%3D%2Fchronicle%2Farchive%2F2004%2F02%2F14%2FMNGHO5165I1.DTL\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">steadfast<\/a> in their belief that homosexuality is not allowed in Islam.  <\/p>\n<p>Indeed, across the country, you\u2019ll find some Muslims entering the debate, whether it is the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.contracostatimes.com%2Fmld%2Fcctimes%2F7954198.htm\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">65 Muslims<\/a> that protested outside San Francisco City Hall while gay\/lesbian couples lined up outside for a marriage license, or Alabama State Rep. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.legislature.state.al.us%2Fhouse%2Frepresentatives%2Fhousebios%2Fhd067.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Yusuf Salaam\u2019s<\/a> introduction of a constitutional <a href=\"http:\/\/www.decaturdaily.com%2Fdecaturdaily%2Fnews%2F040219%2Fban.shtml\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">amendment<\/a> banning same-sex marriage in Alabama.  \u201cI believe this is good for Alabama and good for America,\u201d said Salaam.  \u201cWhere I come from, Pakistan,\u201d said Akram Chowdry, 60, an Atherton venture capitalist and Muslim who <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mercurynews.com%2Fmld%2Fmercurynews%2Fnews%2Flocal%2F8043276.htm\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">opposes<\/a> gay marriage, \u201cthey wouldn\u2019t even allow this.\u201d And two Muslim groups, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.isna.net\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">ISNA<\/a> (not to be confused with this <a href=\"http:\/\/www.isna.org\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">ISNA<\/a>) and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amcchicago.org%2Fboard.asp\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">AMC<\/a>, even signed up for the coalition group <a href=\"http:\/\/www.allianceformarriage.org\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Alliance for Marriage<\/a>, although they both subsequently <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com%2Fwp-dyn%2Farticles%2FA21950-2004Feb7.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">withdrew<\/a> from the group after being <a href=\"http:\/\/www.baptiststandard.com%2Fpostnuke%2Findex.php%3Fmodule%3Dhtmlpages%26func%3Ddisplay%26pid%3D1291\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">accused<\/a> of links to extremists.  <\/p>\n<p>These expressions of opinion over gay marriage, however, appear to be muted given the abilities Muslims have shown over the past few years to be visible on an issue.  For example, Iraq or Palestine can bring out Muslims in the thousands to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com%2Fid%2F4137092%2F\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">email or phone<\/a> their representatives or march in protests \u2013 dwarfing the Muslim opposition seen (so far) to gay marriage.  Notably, none of the major Muslim political advocacy groups have weighed in on the debate, most likely because shared views with gay and lesbian groups over <a href=\"http:\/\/www.quitpalestine.org%2F\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">foreign policy<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.indefenseoffreedom.org%2Forganizations.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">civil rights<\/a> has created a <a href=\"http:\/\/queer.berkeley.edu%2Fnews%2Fdisplay.php3%3Fnewsid%3D535\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">fragile alliance<\/a> that some Muslim leaders, regardless of their personal views, are loathe to break.  <\/p>\n<p><i><\/i><\/p>\n<p>Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.\n<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the increase in debate over a wildfire of gay marriages in the US, some Muslims are beginning to voice their opinion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":530,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-briefings"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Homosexuality: Muslims weigh in on the gay marriage debate<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With the increase in debate over a wildfire of gay marriages in the US, some Muslims are beginning to voice their opinion.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/03\/muslims_weigh_in_on_the_debate_over_gay_marriage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Homosexuality: Muslims weigh in on the gay marriage debate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With the increase in debate over a wildfire of gay marriages in the US, some Muslims are beginning to voice their opinion.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/03\/muslims_weigh_in_on_the_debate_over_gay_marriage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"altmuslim\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2004-03-12T07:26:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/muslim_gay_protest.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shahed Amanullah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shahed Amanullah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/03\/muslims_weigh_in_on_the_debate_over_gay_marriage\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/03\/muslims_weigh_in_on_the_debate_over_gay_marriage\/\",\"name\":\"Homosexuality: Muslims weigh in on the gay marriage debate\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2004-03-12T07:26:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2004-03-12T07:26:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945\"},\"description\":\"With the increase in debate over a wildfire of gay marriages in the US, some Muslims are beginning to voice their opinion.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/03\/muslims_weigh_in_on_the_debate_over_gay_marriage\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/03\/muslims_weigh_in_on_the_debate_over_gay_marriage\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2004\/03\/muslims_weigh_in_on_the_debate_over_gay_marriage\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Homosexuality: Muslims weigh in on the gay marriage debate\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\",\"name\":\"altmuslim\",\"description\":\"Global perspectives on Muslim life, politics &amp; 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