Delta4Embassy
Gold Member
Wait what? 
"Homosexuality and Islam
At various times in its history, Muslim culture has been known not only for the flourishing of art, but also for tolerance of homosexual relationships. This is true particularly of such reigns as the Abbasids of Baghdad (750-1258), the Umayyads of Cordoba (756-1031), the Seljuks of Persia (1037-1194), the Mamluks of Egypt (1252-1517), and the Ottomans of Turkey (1300-1924).
The tolerance of homosexuality in these epochs is in stark contrast to the more prudish and prohibitive Judeo-Christian ethic that dominated Europe. (The trend in fundamentalist Islamic regimes is recent and does not recognize homosexuality as an identity, but associates it with prostitution, transvestism, and "subversive" foreign influence.)
Many European visitors to Constantinople and North Africa during the Renaissance, for example, were often outraged by what they perceived as openly condoned relationships in the courts of these Islamic societies, and less obvious ones in the harems. However, the homoerotic feeling that flourished in Islam rarely found expression in nudes or portraits as in Hellenistic or later European art.
Islamic attitudes toward sex are complex. Although homosexuality is prohibited (and sometimes severely punished) by Islamic society in general, it is nevertheless widely practiced. Moreover, same-sex intimacy is encouraged, especially in those societies where the segregation of men and women is most strictly enforced.
Some medieval Arab books of counsel advised young men to take boys as lovers during the summer and women in the winter. Homosexuality is called a "great transgression" in the Qur'an, but beautiful youths of both sexes are offered among the rewards of paradise.
The conflicts within Islam regarding homosexuality are highlighted by the fact that Abu Bakr, the first Caliph (successor) after Mohammed's death, advocated that homosexuals should be buried under a wall, while philosopher Ibn Sina (Avicenna, 981-1037), on the other hand, said that kissing boys was permissible, provided it did not lead to immorality."
more here,
glbtq arts Islamic Art
"Homosexuality and Islam
At various times in its history, Muslim culture has been known not only for the flourishing of art, but also for tolerance of homosexual relationships. This is true particularly of such reigns as the Abbasids of Baghdad (750-1258), the Umayyads of Cordoba (756-1031), the Seljuks of Persia (1037-1194), the Mamluks of Egypt (1252-1517), and the Ottomans of Turkey (1300-1924).
The tolerance of homosexuality in these epochs is in stark contrast to the more prudish and prohibitive Judeo-Christian ethic that dominated Europe. (The trend in fundamentalist Islamic regimes is recent and does not recognize homosexuality as an identity, but associates it with prostitution, transvestism, and "subversive" foreign influence.)
Many European visitors to Constantinople and North Africa during the Renaissance, for example, were often outraged by what they perceived as openly condoned relationships in the courts of these Islamic societies, and less obvious ones in the harems. However, the homoerotic feeling that flourished in Islam rarely found expression in nudes or portraits as in Hellenistic or later European art.
Islamic attitudes toward sex are complex. Although homosexuality is prohibited (and sometimes severely punished) by Islamic society in general, it is nevertheless widely practiced. Moreover, same-sex intimacy is encouraged, especially in those societies where the segregation of men and women is most strictly enforced.
Some medieval Arab books of counsel advised young men to take boys as lovers during the summer and women in the winter. Homosexuality is called a "great transgression" in the Qur'an, but beautiful youths of both sexes are offered among the rewards of paradise.
The conflicts within Islam regarding homosexuality are highlighted by the fact that Abu Bakr, the first Caliph (successor) after Mohammed's death, advocated that homosexuals should be buried under a wall, while philosopher Ibn Sina (Avicenna, 981-1037), on the other hand, said that kissing boys was permissible, provided it did not lead to immorality."
more here,
glbtq arts Islamic Art
