Thursday, May 07, 2009

Do British Muslims Know Their Own History?


Following on from the post below on 100% of British Muslims "voting" against tolerance for gay people, I need to point out that such people do not know their own history.

For a long discussion of homosexuality in the Muslim world see Sir Richard Francis Burton: "Terminal Essay", from his translation of The Arabian Nights, 1885.

Edward Carpenter (1884-1929)published Iolaus: An Anthology of Friendship [with chapter on Arabia and Persia], with extracts from Rumi, Hafiz and Saadi (the illustration above is of Saadi), which shows Arab and Persian Islamic poetry is not understandable without the former huge acceptance of homosexuality..

I have some discussion on Islamic Gay History at PWH.

Further Reading

Daniel, Mark, , "Arab Civilization and Male Love", trans Winston Leyland, in Reclaiming Sodom, ed. Jonathan Goldberg,. (London, New York: Routledge, 1994), 59-65

Lacey, E. A. (translator), The Delight of Hearts: Or, What You Will Not Find in Any Book, (?: Gay Sunshine Press, 1988)
Ahmad Al-Tifashi, compile, An anthology of Arabic gay literature - is a translation of a translation of a translation.

Schmitt, Arno and Jehoeda Sofer, eds., Sexuality and Eroticism Among Males in Moslem Societies, (New York : Haworth Press, 1991)

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