Question and Answer Details

Answer

Thank you for your question. In fact, if one considers the shaitan’s main goal, it is in fact to tempt people away from submission to Allah to submission to the desires of their own souls. To the best of our knowledge, once the sexual desires are awakened in an individual, it is quite possible that shaitan can tempt the individual to think of being aroused by thoughts of engaging in sexual acts. Since people at the time of the Prophet Lut actually engaged in homosexual behavior, there is evidence that it is possible for human beings to be aroused by either members of the same sex or members of the opposite sex.

However, the warnings in the Qur’an are clear that engaging in homosexual behavior is going against the very nature of human beings and is in fact unnatural. One might ask why then would Allah Most High allow same sex attraction if it is in fact a sin. There in lies the challenge for human beings because we have been endowed by Allah Most High with the faculty of reason. Just as we can use our private parts to engage in permissible relations with our spouses, we can also use those same private parts to engage in impermissible relations, such as those outside of marriage or with members of the same sex. Similarly, we are allowed to use our mouths to consume permissible foods and drinks. However, the same mouths could be used to consume impermissible foods such as pork and drinks such as alcohol. The only thing preventing us from either engaging in sinful sexual behavior or consuming impermissible foods and drinks is the clear injunction from Allah to obey Him, to fear His punishment when we disobey Him, and to look forward with great hope to the abundant rewards awaiting those who fight the covetousness of their own souls!

Young boys and girls, if they are not taught early on that same sex attraction is a sin in Islam, will allow their minds to wander to the extent that they find themselves aroused. The challenge that every human being faces is to exercise control over the whispering of one’s own soul so that the first instance of such thoughts involving same sex attraction should repulse the individual and cause him or her to immediately seek refuge in Allah from shaitan. Some people never entertain thoughts of same sex attraction while others are tested by Allah through shaitan’s calling. If the will power to resist is not strong enough and the fear of Allah’s wrath is not imminent, then it is possible that some from among those being tested by Allah will fail the test and act upon their desire to engage in sexual acts with members of the same sex. There are also some who, as you are saying, have bisexual tendencies in that they do marry but still harbor an attraction towards members of the same sex. This is as much an abomination as those who convince themselves that they should not marry because they are only attracted to members of the same sex. Let us be clear that in Islam, there is no permissibility for either homosexual or bisexual tendencies. And Allah knows best.

For further guidance please refer to the following link:

Fatwa on Bisexuals