By Ishola Balogun

We also send Lut. He said to his people: “Do not commit lewdness such as no people in creation ever committed before you? “For you practice your lusts on men in preference to women; you are indeed a people transgressing beyound bounds.”

And his people gave no answer but this; they said: “drive them out of your city, these are indeed men who want to be clean and pure!” But We saved him and his family, except his wife: she was of those who lagged behind. “And WE rained down on them a shower of brimstone, then see what was the end of those who indulged in sin and crime. Q7: 80-84

There was a terrible blast, one that had never occurred in the history of man. The blast followed the raining of stones, the shower of brimstone with the heavens cleft open paving the way for fire to descend.

The people of Sodom and Gomorah who were immersed in the act of homosexuality and the entire city witnessed the torment and anger of the Creator. And in a jiffy the people of the cities perished including what grew upon the ground. Not even the innocent animal was spared. All for their iniquities, atrocities against nature.

Lut was the nephew of Ibrahim, (peace be on him), he was sent as a messenger to the people who engaged in the unspeakable act. But heeded not, they claimed they were right just like some people would want to justify today. It didn’t take God (the Exalted in Might) anything to destroy them and wipe them off the surface of the earth. That is enough lesson for man with wisdom.

Gay or Homosexuality and lesbianism (“liwat/lutiyya”) is seen in Islam as a sinful act, a perverted deviation from nature and upturning the arrangement of God. It is the most un-natural way of life. It is an enormity too hard to describe.

Liwat, a word for sodomy, under which heading the topic of homosexuality is found in the books of fiqh is viler and uglier than adultery. In some of the sahih hadiths, it was stated that “When a man mounts another man, the throne of God shakes.”

Under Shari`ah, both the sodomizer and sodomized are guilty of death. This upholds the hadiths that says: “Kill the one that is doing it and also kill the one that it is being done to.” This only shows to what extent the religion abhors this act.

The Companions of the Prophet considered it so abhorrent that they subjected culprits to burning, an extreme punishment you’d say. As for lesbianism, it is considered as zina (adultery) and so, pertetrators are subjected to the same ruling as zina, which is death for the married, and lashes for the unmarried. But beyound these penalties, the intent and purposes of these measure is to dissuade people from the act.

Homosexuality is, of course, not a new behavior. It has existed in practically all cultures and among all people, but usually in fewer numbers and in secrecy, not with “bold face” attitude as it does in the West now.

In Nigeria here, those who engage in it now have the effrontery to call a press conference to tell the world they have a right or better still to present themselves as victims of prejudice and discrimination on the on-going legislation against the act. Do they have a right! Their right my foot as said by veteran Kola Animashaun in his column. But I gathered that only a few journalists attended. This is the reality of the times we live in.

Those people who engage in it constitute a very active and powerful group. They have strong political and social ties and access to the elites of the society, especially in the US, Britain and Netherland where it started. They have a sophisticated and multifaceted campaign to achieve their goals. These include active participation in social and political issues other than their immediate ones.