A historical analysis of gay sufis

Gender Studies have paved new approaches to research in the field of Islamic Studies including the study of Sufism in Indian Context. The learning knowledge that is emerging makes the previous generation of works on Sufism—like those of Annemarie Schimmel or Sachiko Murata—seem stiff and Victorian. The uneasy relationship between homosexuality and the Muslim world is exemplified in the life and works of many Sufi saints.

The first English-language book length treatment to offer a detailed analysis of how Islamic scripture, jurisprudence, and hadith can accommodate homosexuality and transgenderism. Thirteenth-century Sufi poet, mystic, and legal scholar Muhyi al-Din ibn al-'Arabi gave deep and sustained attention to gender as integral to questions of human existence and moral personhood.

Today there is a body of insightful studies of the experiences of Sufi women, the role of masculinity in Sufi authority, and Sufi attitudes towards marriage, sex and the body.2 Even so, the subject of homoerotic imagery or homosexual desires in Sufi communities remains understudied. Kugle further looks to the Khanaqah for traces of gender-bending and transgender behaviour. With an editorial board that embraced Russian social democratic concepts, including women's rights, MN was also "the first paper in the Shi'i Muslim world to endorse normative heterosexuality," echoing Marx's well-documented contempt for homosexuality.

Sarmad was born to a Armenian-Jewish couple in Iran whose elders were involved in trade. Bundle Discount. Shakespeare and the Tudors. In Sufi homoeroticism, they may not engage in sexual acts. Rowson, Everett. Up until the end of the twentieth century, the topic of homosexuality within Middle Eastern and Islamic traditions has been one of closed inquiry, with reasons ranging from simple disinterest, moral conviction, and sometimes viewing the topic as a distasteful one to study Schmidtke , The shah himself was rumored to be bisexual.

Sarmad Kashani was a medieval Armenian Persian Jew poet who challenged the orthodox Islam by spreading his thoughts. Sarmad was publicly executed in the year AD and Dara had been already killed in the prison before. I may get sacrificed for you, You may come in any face, I recognize you. When Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made his infamous claim at a September Columbia University appearance that ""In Iran, we don't have homosexuals like in your country," the world laughed at the absurdity of this pretense.

Quran lut verses

These boys possessed features similar to women, such as hairless bodies, soft skin, and a subordinate role as members of society. Apart from the love of our beloved, in which we day in and out remain ecstatic. However, Sarmad had thoughts different than the mainstream Islamic teachings which will be discussed in this article. However, after Deccan, he went to Delhi which was life-changing and life-ending as well.

Cancelling Alice Walker? Meanwhile, many Iranians believe that pedophilia is rampant in the religious cities of Qum and Mashad, including in the seminaries, where temporary marriage and prostitution are also pervasive practices. Randy Alcorn. It is believed that he was the first person who translated the Old Testament in Persian.

Its author, Janet Afary, president of the International Society of Iranian Scholars, is a professor of history and women's studies at Purdue University who has already published several authoritative works on Iranian sexual politics, notably the revealing and award-winning "Foucault and the Iranian Revolution: Gender and the Seductions of Islam" , in which she already demonstrated a remarkable sympathy for gay and lesbian people.

But women's participation in teaching and learning among Sufis is not limited to the modern period. There are famous female Sufis, whose careers and hagiographies date to as early as the late 8th- and early 9th-century C. History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Everett, Rowson. Look upon these lovers who have become distraught and like moths have died in union with the One Beloved.

Love is like feet dust of Sarmad, You may ponder upon this by roaming in streets of Thatta! In other cases, orders are comprised entirely of women, with women teachers, called shaykhas. There is a setback here for none of the hadith referring to homosexuality are Sahih , which is the most reliable tradition according to Sunni Muslims.