Keeping the Faith

It should be pretty clear to everyone that Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a man who backs state-sponsored executions of gay men and women, is not a moderate. In his book, The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam, he describes homosexuality as “perverted”, “depraved”, “shameless”, “foul” and “a corruption”.

Talking about the use of the death penalty for gay sex he says “while such punishments may seem cruel, they have been suggested to maintain the purity of Islamic society and to keep it clean of perverted elements”.

He has not retracted these comments, apologised for them or called for equality for gays – even though you might suspect that he has from the way both Labour and Liberal Democrat politicians have been defending him. The trouble with pretending he is moderate, as Ken Livingstone has done, is not just that it gives him credibility but it also detracts from the good work done by genuine liberals like gay Islamic group Imaan.

Red Ken didn’t even reply to them when they expressed fears about al-Qaradawi’s visit to Britain. There may be fewer moderates in senior positions in the faith’s organisations than we would like, but there are plenty at the grass-roots in this country. It should be the duty of our politicians to engage in dialogue with these people and to stand up to any extremists, however powerful they may be. Nor is it Islamaphobic to say that al-Qaradawi’s views on homosexuality, and a number of other issues, are unacceptable.

Indeed Islam has traditionally been a religion of love and tolerance – it is important that we don’t let the hate-mongers hijack it. By doing so, politicians will only increase the quite natural fears many in the gay community, and society at large, have about such fundamentalism. And the moderates will, sadly, pay a heavy price.