Salaamun alaykum, dear readers!
If we look at the story of Lot as it is in the Quran, we find that they are called “transgressing people” or “ignorant people” for a number of reasons, one of them were that they were fornicating with people of the same sex.
Of course, practicing homosexual fornication wasn’t the only thing they were punished for. They were criminals who committed a variety of disapproved acts, wrongfully blocked traffic, were hostile towards travelers and guests, tried to assault God’s messengers when they appeared in Lot’s home, disbelieved in Lot, and tried to expel his family from their town.
Therefore, despite Lot trying to warn them about the punishment as best as he can, his people failed to listen. So a rain of stones made of baked clay caused their destruction.
- [7:80-82] And Lot, when he said to his people, “Do you commit the enormity, in which not anyone of the people preceded you? Indeed, you come to men with lust, aside from the women. Rather, you are an excessive people.” The response of his people was not but that they said, “Exit them from your town. Indeed, they are a people who cleanse themselves.”
- [29:28-29] And Lot, when he said to his people, “Indeed, you definitely commit the enormity, with which not anyone among the people has preceded you. Indeed, you come to the men, cut off the way, and commit the disapproved among your associates.” But the response of his people was not but that they said, “Come to us with God’s punishment, if you have been of the truthful.”
- [11:77-78] And when Our messengers came to Lot, he was distressed and straitened by them, uneasy. He said, “This is a severe day!” And his people came to him. They hurtled toward him, while before they had been doing the evil deeds. He said, “O my people, these are my daughters. They are cleaner for you. So revere God, and do not disgrace me concerning my guests. Has there not been a rightly-guided man among you?”
Homosexual Marriages
The Quran does not actually forbid homosexual marriages. They are totally permissible as a result.
In the Quran, the prophet Lot tells his people not to commit homosexual fornication and marry women.
But Quranic prohibitions are not derived from the words of a past prophet. Only God is the lawmaker in Islam (verse 6:114, 42:21) so Islamic law is derived from God’s own spoken instructions to us in the Quran rather than the quoted words of a past prophet.
Different people over time were given their own laws and methods. The Israelites at the time of Moses would be held accountable for violating the Sabbath, but we Muslims today will not.
Likewise, a prohibition on homosexual activity may have been a part of the law that Lot was sent with, but we are not held accountable for the law that the prophet Lot delivered from God to his people.
Quran Punishes Homosexual Fornication, Not Homosexual Marriage
God in the Quran only mention punishing homosexual fornication (known as zina) which is the same 100 lashes prescribed for all fornicators in verse 24:2.
In verse 4:16, the words “alladhani” (which means “the two who”) is a relative pronoun used to refer to two male nouns, thus it is the only verse addressing any sort of punishment for a homosexual couple who fornicates.
The words “among you” indicate that the punishment only applies to Muslims. There is no verse specifying a punishment for lesbian fornication, but ostensibly the same punishment (100 lashes) would apply to them as well.
- [4:16] And the two among you who come with it, you shall thus punish both of them. Then if they repented and reformed, you shall thus avert from them. Indeed, God has been Acceptor of Repentance, Merciful.
Islamic law comes from the Quran and not the words, traditions, beliefs, and cultures of any person or group of people. The Quran has multiple verses warning against prohibiting something God never prohibited, therefore a Muslim is required to put his or her ego and cultural beliefs aside when investigating what the Quran forbids and permits.
This applies to even myself; even though I had been following the Quran alone for almost 10 years now, it wasn’t until November or December 2024 that I realized homosexual marriages were not actually forbidden in the Quran.
Addressing Counterarguments
Unnatural Does Not Mean Right or Wrong
While some may dislike the idea of homosexual marriages because homosexual activity is inherently “unnatural” and doesn’t occur in nature.
That’s not true, because homosexual activity is well-documented among hundreds of animal species.1 Those range from fish, frogs, toads, snakes, birds, apes, dolphins, and many others.
And whether an activity is permissible doesn’t depend on whether it exists in nature or not. Very simply, if God in the Quran is silent on homosexual marriages, then it is 100% permitted.
There are plenty of other types of marriage which are permitted due to God being silent in the Quran about these marriages.
- One example is cousin marriages; the Quran is silent on those marriages, so they are lawful.
- Another example is marriage with someone old enough to be your mom or dad; the Quran is silent on marriages with high age gaps, so they are lawful.
Does Quran’s Silence = Forbidden?
Another objection may be that since the Quran only mentions heterosexual marriage, and not homosexual marriage, that means homosexual marriages aren’t valid.
However, the Quran doesn’t discuss driving cars or eating pizza, so does that mean driving cars are forbidden? Of course not.
When talking about earning money, the Quran mentions only trade or commerce, but it doesn’t mention investment, salaries, wages, or retirement pensions, so does that mean trade is the only permissible way to make money? Of course not.
If you believe that the Quran has all the details needed for a Muslim to practice Islam (verses 12:111, 16:89), then fabricating a prohibition that does not exist in the Quran is like declaring that the Quran is missing some details.
Therefore, regardless of your biases and pre-conceived notions on homosexuality, the truth is what the truth is.
Thus, if you see a Muslim homosexual married couple today, put aside your prejudices and give them the same respect given to any heterosexual Muslim married couple.
Marriage Rules for Homosexual Couples
So for homosexual spouses, there are no dowry requirement, nor are there any formal set of marriage and divorce rules unlike with heterosexual married couples.
The marriage and divorce between homosexual couples is purely governed by whatever the couple agreed upon in their marriage contract. That includes how they decide to make their divorce official in Islam, such as whether they have a waiting period before the divorce, or use arbitration between both families to discuss reconciliation, or if both of them agree to say a certain phrase to make the divorce instant, or any other method.
All necessary prenuptial agreements belong in the marriage contract, whether homosexual or heterosexual.
Conclusion
Now that it has been established that homosexual marriages are not prohibited in the Quran, it is worth going over the inheritance system for same-sex spouses.
The primary difference in the inheritance law between same-sex and opposite-sex spouses is that the Quran mandates a portion of one’s inheritance to be for the spouse only when the spouse is opposite-sex.
Male Same-Sex Spouses
Regarding inheritance, let’s say a man is married to another man and then dies. There will be no children from the marriage.
So the rule for Quranic inheritance is to first pay off all debts.
The second rule is to leave a will for the parents and “aqrabeen” (siblings and grandparents, children and grandchildren would be included as well but a homosexual couple will not have those) according to verse 2:180, which should ideally be distributed according to who has the most need. The purpose of this is to address needs that the Quran’s general inheritance law may not fully account for regarding your specific circumstance.
Then AFTER any will and debt, the Quranic rules of inheritance in verses 4:11-12 and 4:176 apply. If his mom is alive, then a third of the remaining wealth goes to the mother. However, if he has no parents or children, but has siblings, the rules of “kalalah” inheritance (verses 4:12, 4:176) applies for the remaining wealth after any will and debts are first paid off.
Since the marriage is homosexual, neither spouse will inherit each other’s wealth unless there is some left over after any will was paid off, and the Quranic inheritance law was fulfilled (the leftover money can be freely distributed as one pleases).
Female Same-Sex Spouses
For female same-sex marriages, if a woman feels death is approaching, she has to leave behind a will for the parents and immediate relatives according to verse 2:180 (siblings, grandparents) where part of her money is distributed justly according to need.
Then, the remaining wealth after the will is paid off would be subject to Quranic inheritance laws, but if her parents are alive when she died, then no part of her money is subject to any Quranic inheritance laws and she can distribute the remaining wealth to whomever she wants.
But if she is a “kalalah” (having no parents or children to inherit her wealth, but has siblings) then the laws in verse 4:12 and 4:176 applies to the remaining wealth after her will is paid off, and whatever is left over after that can be distributed to whomever she pleases.
That is the Quranic inheritance system for if a woman has a same-sex spouse.
Reference
- Bagemihl B. (1999). Biological exuberance: Animal homosexual and natural diversity. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press. ↩︎
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