Update on Islam and homos

The fatwa I published recently was from one of the four schools of thought about Muslim law. Lest I seem unbalanced, here's an opinion from another e-fatwa site, which gives you a sense of the diversity of Islamic responses to homosexuality.

As to the issue of how the homosexual person is judged in an Islamic State, the Companions of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing be upon him differed among themselves on this issue, and this led to different views maintained by Muslim Jurists. For example, in the Hanafi school of thought, the homosexual is punished through harsh beating, and if he/she repeats the act, death penalty is to be applied. As for the Shafi`i school of thought, the homosexual receives the same punishment of adultery (if he/she is married) or fornication (if not married). This means, that if the homosexual is married, he/she is stoned to death, while if single, he/she is whipped 100 times. Hence, the Shafi`i compares the punishment applied in the case of homosexuality with that of adultery and fornication, while the Hanafi differentiates between the two acts because in homosexuality, the anus (a place of impurity) may also be involved while in adultery (and fornication), the penis/vagina (which are reproductive parts) are involved. Some scholars hold the opinion that the homosexual should be thrown from a high building as a punishment for his crime, but other scholars maintain that he should be imprisoned until death.

So not everyone calls for immediate death. Beating, whipping, and life imprisonment are included, as well as stoning or being thrown off a building. Didn't want people to think of Islam as inflexible.

In Dante's Inferno, Mohammed is in hell and is regularly split down the middle with a sword because he was a bringer of division.
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