Fatwa says homosexuals should be burned, stoned

While Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and some others may have been clamouring to decriminalise Section 377 of the IPC that deals with gay sex, a new “fatwa” (religious decree), issued by a prestigious Islamic seminary in Uttar Pradesh, has termed homosexuality and live-in relationships “unislamic”.

The fatwa, issued by Islamic educational institution Bareilly Markaz, said the “Shariat” (Islam laws) prescribed stern punishment for homosexuality and live-in relationships and they had been termed “haram” (illegal).

Senior cleric Mufti Mohemmad Afzal had issued the fatwa on a query from Akhlaq Ahmed Siddique on Wednesday.

According to Islam, those having homosexual relations should be punished by burning, being pushing down from a high place or stoning from behind.

Similarly, the fatwa said Islam did not allow any kind of relationship between men and women before marriage. “One cannot establish physical relationship without being married according to the Islamic laws,” it went on to say.

The cleric said that children born of live-in relationships would also be called “haram” and they will not be entitled to any right in family property.

Bareilly Markaz represents the Bareilvi sect of Islam and has a large following.

The issue of decriminalising Section 377 has hogged the limelight in the country after the Supreme Court had recently set aside a Delhi high court verdict that decriminalised gay sex and upheld the legality of the law in this regard.

Earlier, the seminary had issued a fatwa saying that Muslim women, who were victims of domestic violence, had the right to divorce and seek separation from their husbands. The fatwa had been hailed by the women activists, who had termed it progressive and one that protected the rights of the women.

Fatwas had been issued in large numbers by the leading Islamic seminary, Darul Uloom, Deoband. The seminary, which wields considerable influence on the Sunni Muslims across the country, is known for issuing fatwas on different issues, especially those pertaining to the woman.

Earlier, it had issued a fatwa against the use of perfumes with alcohol content and also against tattoos. It had also decreed that wearing jeans was un-Islamic.