Just weeks after several Muslim doctors were arrested on suspicion of trying to set off bombs in central London and Glasgow, a leading Muslim doctor has called for homosexuals to be fined or punished.
The Pink News, a gay paper, said that the doctor, Muhammad Siddiq, made the suggestion in a letter to the Pulse, a magazine for GPs:
"There is punishment and fine if you throw rubbish or filth in the streets. The gays are worse than the ordinary careless citizen," Siddiq wrote in the letter.
"They are causing the spread of disease with their irresponsible behaviour. They are the root of many sexually transmitted diseases."
The outburst by Siddiq could have been dismissed as the rantings of a fringe figure - except that Siddiq, a GP from Walsall, is also the president of the Islamic Medical Association UK.
To many mainstream Muslim clerics, however, Siddiq's suggestion that gays should be fined would appear troubling liberal.
For example, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, has described what he sees as the spectrum of Islamic opinion on whether or not gays should be killed.
“Muslim jurists hold different opinions concerning the punishment for this abominable practice," he mused. "Should it be the same as the punishment for fornication, or should both the active and passive participants be put to death?”
If that's what Qaradawi thinks, then perhaps Siddiq's just trying to think outside the box.
Comments (3)
As far as the expense of STIs goes, I'm pretty sure that for the main part, the state gives more to children than gays "cost" in healthcare. We should fine those irresponsible heterosexuals for having kids and give the money to gay people for their higher joint-income households and their lack of children.
It's all very silly.
Posted by Howard | July 31, 2007 12:39 PM
Posted on July 31, 2007 12:39
Oh, how ridiculous - haven't we moved this on at all? The bible, Qu'ran and Torah say lots of things but we shouldn't pick and choose which bits to interpret literally or not.. gay people do not spread disease any more than anyone else, the middle ages have finished, though I note that many Islamic values are still stuck there...
Posted by Normski | July 26, 2007 10:54 PM
Posted on July 26, 2007 22:54
OK but at least he has the courage to restate the traditional religious view that is shared with Judaism and Christianity. Except Jews and Christians have now been so intimidated by the political correctness police that they have either changed what they believe so as to fit in or just keep their mouths shut. 70 years ago such statements from a Christian doctor would have been unremarkable. And of course 70 years ago Britain was a much more civil society than it is today.
The Biblical punishment for adultery and homosexuality is also death and it was not that long ago that homosexuality was a criminal offence in this country. We need to encourage Muslims also to catch up and move from a literalist to more reasonable reading while at the same time preserving their moral values. And so we should applaud someone like Muhammad Siddiq for making that journey.
Posted by william | July 23, 2007 11:24 PM
Posted on July 23, 2007 23:24