Cape Town - The United Ulama Council of SA (Uucsa) has defended their position on their controversial fatwa on homosexuality, accusing critics including the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation of “interfering”.
Uucsa, an umbrella body comprising nine major Muslim theological groups including the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC), reiterated the MJC’s seven-point religious decree on same-sex relationships following a backlash.
Their decree is that Islam’s primary sources of legislation “unequivocally prohibit same-sex actions and, by extension, same-sex marriage”.
The Tutu Legacy Foundation and the Tutu IP Trust last week issued a joint statement stating that the fatwa was deeply regrettable, and that the context of scripture should be adapted to modern society.
Uucsa secretary-general, MI Yusuf Patel, accused the foundation and the trust of “crossing the line”.
“This intrusion in the sacred space of one faith group by another is inexcusable.
“It is a matter of faith for adherents of Islam that the noble Qur’an contains precepts that are absolute, just, unalterable and designed to protect the dignity of humanity of all times, and under all circumstances.
“Any demand for change in Qur’antic precepts go against the constitutionally protected freedoms of belief and conscience,” Patel said.
Patel added that the Islamic perspective was “unambiguous”.
“The foundation and the trust’s demand for change in Islamic ‘religious practices’ is nothing short of an attempt to subvert the divine text of the Qur’an, apart from effectively denying Muslims public expression of their religious beliefs.”
The Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation chairperson Niclas Kjellström-Matseke, and chairperson of the Archbishop Tutu IP Trust, Dr Mamphela Ramphele, yesterday said they had nothing to add to the statement.
Imam Muhsin Hendricks, an openly gay imam and executive director of the Al-Ghurbaah Foundation, formerly known as The Inner Circle, said their desire was that religious leaders become informed on homosexuality and provide “informed direction” to the LGBTIQA+ community.
Hendricks has also been a queer rights activist for about 23 years.
“We believe that the fatwas of the MJC and that of the Uucsa regarding homosexuality being prohibited in Islam is ill-informed.
“It is our understanding that a fatwa of this nature has to prove that it has exhausted all avenues of knowledge, and information that should inform a fatwa.
“This fatwa should include consultation with the LGBTIQA+ community on whom this fatwa has a direct impact.
“We believe that these fatwa bodies are not familiar with the lived realities of the LGBTIQA+ community, and thus the fatwa is damaging and dismissive,” said Hendricks.
He said he believed the religious decree should also incorporate knowledge of the sciences, which includes psychological and medical research.
Hendricks said their stance was that dismissing the sexual and relationship needs of the LGBTIQA+ community was an injustice.
Cape Times