The Middle Ground Between Islamic Essentialist & Constructivist Views
The partition between the two school of thoughts between the Islamic scholars in matter of sexual diversity put the subject into the vicinity of two extremities. First and foremost, the essentialist approach to same-sex desires and acts as proposed by the revisionist Muslim scholars is full of loopholes and too narrow including being inclusive of bisexuality and the queer Muslims who truly believed their orientation to be socially constructed. Not only that, their argument is farfetched and mostly upheld by the celebration of diversity as described in the Qur’an with no strong supports to their claim. Nevertheless, a prominent revisionist Muslim scholar, S. Kugle, brought forward his insight and described the diversity of sexuality in terms of its involvement with the “inner core of the human personality.” (Alipour, 1933) To further addressed this in details he went on to specify the Qur’anic debate about personality and claimed that sexuality when considered in the holy book consisted of interactions between the “genetic Tabia” and “childhood Shakila” which are the first two basic levels of personality as depicted.
However, K. Ali in his book, “Sexual Ethics and Islam: Feminist reflections on Qur’an, Hadith and Jurisprudence” objected that understanding of the discourse on sexual identity, such as homosexuality, as essential (or “just created that way”). He claimed it an ahistorical move and implied a sense of ignorance and disregard in which same-sex desire and practices have operated in other times and place. He disagreed with the essentialist approach on the basis that the subject is approached with three assessments of the nature of homosexuality which are lifestyle, desire and act or practice. The first of which is clearly a matter of choice and a result of socially constructed pressure in the sense that one can choose willingly whether or not to lead an openly homosexual lifestyle.
Interestingly enough, it opened a discussion amongst Muslim scholars about the innate subject of desire. “Desire has been conceived as one of the rudiments of free will by Muslim philosophers.” (Alipour, 1935) Some scholars believe that in the case of homosexuality being a form of innate desire liken to a normal person’s desire to commit sin, it must foremost be eminent the two different concepts of intention (niyat) and desire (mail/shuq). “Muslim philosophers believe that to have desire and free will with respect to taking action needs at least four rudiments in advance.” (Alipour, 1935) If all the four rudiments are met, one can choose whether or not to carry out the act or practice. This act of deciding is what Muslim scholars refer to as the “divine trials”, in which “implies that God is testing individuals who desire same-sex relationships, and he will provide them with more rewards in return if they adhere to his law and take no action.” (Alipour, 1937)
This is the space in which Islamic essentialism and constructivism form a middle ground, where innate or inborn desire meet at a meeting point with acts or practices that manifested from social construction. This area remains underdeveloped in Islamic philosophy. In a country such as Malaysia where the collision between the two extremities is ever present and ever prominent, the middle ground can be studied and hence applied for an availability of a space where sexual diversity can be better understand without paramount hostility. The intended text for this study is Body 2 Body: A Malaysian Queer Anthology edited by Jerome Kugan and Pang Khee Teik. Being the first book of its kind in Muslims dominated Malaysia, it carries a significant place in the hearts of the Malaysian LGBTQ community as it holds stories of the intimate inner struggle and the complicated decisions they are left with everyday living life non-conforming to heteronormativity. It is the most perfect book if ever to give uncensored insights into the life of the queer community in Malaysia.
Works Cited:
- Ali, K. Sexual Ethics and Islam: Feminist Reflections on Qur’an, Hadith, and Jurisprudence. Oxford, UK: Oneworld Publications, 2006.b.
- M, Alipour. “Essentialism and Islamic Theology of Homosexuality: A Critical Reflection on an Essentialist Epistemology toward Same-Sex Desires and Acts in Islam.” Journal of Homosexuality, 2017, pp. 1930 – 1942.
- Tandfonline. URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2017.1289001. Accessed 16th September 2018c. Shah, Shanon. “The Malaysian Dilemma: Negotiating Sexual Diversity in a Muslim-Majority Commonwealth State.” Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in The Commonwealth, 2013, pp. 261 - 286.
