Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World, 1500-1800 (57 page)
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Authors: Khaled El-Rouayheb
BOOK: Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World, 1500-1800
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scholar, ʿAbd al-Ba
qi
al-Zurqa
ni
(d. 1688), likewise asserted, in the context of discussing the issue of looking at beardless boys, that “the transgression of the eye is a minor sin which is atoned for by overall obedience to the law.”
127
The underlying principle assumed by Zurqa
ri
was that major sins required repentance to be wiped off the sinner’s debit side on the Final Reckoning, while minor sins did not. The latter would be compensated for by simply avoiding major sins. Even if the minor sins were committed repeatedly and willfully (
maʿal-iṣra
r
), they would be compensated for by supererogatory works, even if the perpetrator did not repent.
128
It was in this spirit that scholars tended to understand the Qurʾanic dictum that “good works remove evil works” (11:114).
129
Some scholars believed that the “venial faults” (
lamam
) mentioned in the following Qurʾanic verse: “Those who shun great sins and iniquities, all but venial faults, verily thy Lord is of ample forgiveness” (53 : 32), referred specifically to nonpenetrative sexual acts.
130
In accordance with such a scaling of the seriousness of sins, jurists envisaged situations in which one would be religiously obliged to perform a minor sin to ward off a more serious situation. For instance, the Egyptian jurist Shihab al-Di
n Ahmad al-Ramli
(d. 1550) was asked whether it was permissible for a lover to kiss an unrelated woman or a boy if, in line with accepted medical theory, he feared that he would die if his passion remained frustrated. Ramli
answered that kissing the object of one’s passion in such a situation was not only permissible but actually a duty, and that it was incumbent on the beloved woman or boy to allow this.
131
qial-Zurqani(d. 1688), likewise asserted, in the context of discussing the issue of looking at beardless boys, that “the transgression of the eye is a minor sin which is atoned for by overall obedience to the law.”127
The underlying principle assumed by Zurqa
riwas that major sins required repentance to be wiped off the sinner’s debit side on the Final Reckoning, while minor sins did not. The latter would be compensated for by simply avoiding major sins. Even if the minor sins were committed repeatedly and willfully (maʿal-iṣra
r), they would be compensated for by supererogatory works, even if the perpetrator did not repent.
128
It was in this spirit that scholars tended to understand the Qurʾanic dictum that “good works remove evil works” (11:114).
129
Some scholars believed that the “venial faults” (
lamam
) mentioned in the following Qurʾanic verse: “Those who shun great sins and iniquities, all but venial faults, verily thy Lord is of ample forgiveness” (53 : 32), referred specifically to nonpenetrative sexual acts.
130
In accordance with such a scaling of the seriousness of sins, jurists envisaged situations in which one would be religiously obliged to perform a minor sin to ward off a more serious situation. For instance, the Egyptian jurist Shihab al-Di
n Ahmad al-Ramli(d. 1550) was asked whether it was permissible for a lover to kiss an unrelated woman or a boy if, in line with accepted medical theory, he feared that he would die if his passion remained frustrated. Ramlianswered that kissing the object of one’s passion in such a situation was not only permissible but actually a duty, and that it was incumbent on the beloved woman or boy to allow this.131
Falling in love with a boy was widely considered to be an involuntary act, and as such outside the scope of religious condemnation. Many, perhaps most, religious scholars were prepared to concede that a person who died from unconsummated love for a boy could earn the status of a martyr (
shahīd
), which would guarantee him a place in heaven. The “martyrs-of-love” tradition, mentioned in the previous chapter, though perhaps never completely uncontroversial, seems to have been regarded as respectable by most scholars. In the fifteenth century, its authenticity was upheld by influential experts on
ḥadīth
such as Ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqala
ni
(d. 1449) and Muhammad al-Sakha
wi
(d. 1497), and it found its way into
al-Ja
miʿ al-ṣaghi
r,
a very influential compilation of traditions by Jala
l al-Di
n al-Suyu
ṭi
(d. 1505). In the popular topically arranged reworking of Suyu
ṭi
ʾs compilation by the Meccan-based scholar ʿAli
al-Muttaqi
shahīd
), which would guarantee him a place in heaven. The “martyrs-of-love” tradition, mentioned in the previous chapter, though perhaps never completely uncontroversial, seems to have been regarded as respectable by most scholars. In the fifteenth century, its authenticity was upheld by influential experts on
ḥadīth
such as Ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqala
ni(d. 1449) and Muhammad al-Sakhawi(d. 1497), and it found its way intoal-Ja
miʿ al-ṣaghir,a very influential compilation of traditions by Jala
l al-Din al-Suyuṭi(d. 1505). In the popular topically arranged reworking of Suyuṭiʾs compilation by the Meccan-based scholar ʿAlial-MuttaqiOther books
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