Topic: Homosexuality
Received: 20 April 2005
Subject: same sex love in islam
sir
asalm-o-alikum
sir i am a teacher of computer science in a college, sir i am a 22 male, i love my friend who is also male, 22. is my love is perfect in islam? What does islam says about such love? please i am waiting for your answer.
Our answer:
Thank you for your e-mail.
I must first tell you, however, that you seem to have mistaken us for an Islamic web-site when we are in fact a Christian web-site dedicated to interfaith dialogue with Muslims. Believing however that with God there are no coincidences, I trust that God has led you to write to us and as such I have prayed and asked God to give me the correct words to speak to you.
The decisions that we make in this life will most certainly affect how and where we end up for eternity. Making the correct decisions now while you are still very young will affect you not only for years to come in this life, but also literally for eternity.
Some religious teachers once came to Jesus and asked him what the most important commandment from God was. Jesus replied that the first and most important commandment is to love God with all your heart, mind, strength and soul. The second most important commandment, he explained, is similar to the first. It is that you should love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus then explained that virtually every commandment ever given by God falls under one of these two categories. Simply put, according to the Bible, life is about learning how to truly love. First one must learn to love God and then from this relationship, one must allow this love—His love— to overflow into loving all of God's creation.
But what is love? This is vital to understand. In the Greek language - the language of the New Testament, there is more than one word for love. There is a sensual, sexual type of love called eros. This is often referred to as lust. This type of love is basically a selfish type of love. It is the lowest form of love. People experience this type of love toward another for what the other person can do for them - make them feel good about themselves or even physically. Then there is phileo love. This love is often called "brotherly, or neighborly love". This type of love generally involves a genuine concern and compassion toward another. It is a step above eros love as it is less focused on oneself and more focused on another. Then there is what is called agape love. Agape love is a selfless love. It is a love that is willing to sacrifice oneself for the other. It is the highest form of love. This is true love and is the type of love that God desires us to both experience and express in this life.
Now, I will explain to you just a few reasons very briefly why the Bible commands that you should refrain from homosexuality. Firstly, homosexuality is unnatural. Simply put, God did not create man to desire other men in a sexual kind of way. Anyone with the simplest concept of design can realize that men were not intended to lie with other men. The desire to do so only occurs after either a significant emotional or psychological wounding due to an outright deception by Satan and/or the affects of this corrupted world on an individual. As such, as with any disregard for God's commands, homosexuality is destructive spiritually and emotionally. Anytime someone chooses to disregard God's commands and willingly engages in a lifestyle of sin, it corrupts and damages the individual's very spirit. Also, homosexual sex is destructive to the human body. Did you know that a male who chooses to engage in homosexual activity has a much lower life expectancy? And this is not merely due to the HIV/AIDs virus. There are numerous reasons why homosexual sex is damaging to the human body which we will not discuss now. For these reasons and many others, God has commanded that we refrain from this type of sexual activity. People who are involved in homosexual relationships may say that they "love" their partner, but if this is the case, then they would do well not to bring harm by sinning with and against them and literally damaging their spirit and body.
Now I realize you asked about Islam. I will tell you that the God of Islam is not a God of love. Allah merely is said to love those who love him first. I would like to tell you about the God of the Bible. Have you ever actually read the Bible? I would very much like to encourage you to read the Gospel of John before you make any life altering decisions.
Let me ask you a question. If you could conceive in your mind a God who was better than Allah, then would Allah truly be the greatest? Should not God be the greatest imaginable being that the human mind can conceive? Of course he should, otherwise he is not God.
Now let me ask you this most important question: Which is greater; a God who is infinitely and altogether loving, or a God who only loves those who love him first? If this were being asked of a human, which person would be the better person? The person who loves all or the one who only loves those who love him first? I'm sure you agree with me that the loving individual is a far greater and more appealing person.
So because the God of the Bible is indeed infinitely loving and Allah is very limited in his love, which God is greater? Which God would you desire to serve? And if the God of the Bible is philosophically and emotionally greater than Allah, then can Allah of the Qur’an really even be a god at all? I would tell you that he is nothing more than the false creation of Muhammad and the spirit that inspired him. Allah cannot help you.
But the God of the Bible yearns with a deep passion to help you. He loves you and desires to fulfill the desires of your soul. But the God of the Bible - the One True God loves you far too much to leave you the way you are. I know that this was true for me when I came to Him. He desires to heal you and cleanse you and make you pure in order that you can live joyfully and freely before Him.
--------, would you be willing to consider Jesus as the source of your comfort and life rather than an unhealthy and destructive relationship? I promise to pray for you that you might make the right choices. Today there is set before you a crossroads. On one side is death - on the other side is life. I implore you to choose life. I will pray that you will come to discover the God who loves you in a way that perhaps your earthly father never could.
If you would like any further help please feel free to ask. We genuinely care about you and desire that you can find the life that we have also found in the ONE TRUE GOD.
Bless You,
Lazarus
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