At the height of the Islamic Golden Age – a period from the mid-8th century to the mid-13th century when Islamic civilisation is believed to have reached its intellectual and cultural zenith – homosexuality was openly spoken and written about. Abu Nuwas (756-814), one of the great Arab classical poets during the time of the Abbasid Caliphate, wrote publicly about his homosexual desires and relations. His homoerotic poetry was openly circulated right up until the 20th century.

Nuwas was an important historical figure – he even made a couple of appearances in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (known in Urdu as Alif Laila). It was only as late as 2001 that Arabs started to blush at Nuwas’ homoerotism. In 2001, the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, under pressure from Islamic fundamentalists, burnt 6,000 volumes of his poetry.

Most modern Muslims, therefore, have little knowledge of what the Islamic Golden Age was really about, even though they keep on wanting to go back to it.

“ISIS have no idea what restoring the Caliphate actually means,” a tweet by Belgian-Egyptian journalist Khaled Diab said. “In Baghdad, it’d involve booze, odes to wine, science… and a gay court poet.”

Baghdad was, till the time the Mongols invaded and destroyed it, the cultural capital of much of the world – the New York City of its time. If Nuwas and his homoerotic poetry could represent the height of Baghdadi culture, it is natural that other Muslim societies would also be quite open to homosexuality. As historian Saleem Kidwai puts in the fabulous bookSame-Sex Love in India, “Homoerotically inclined men are continuously visible in Muslim medieval histories and are generally described without pejorative comment.”

“Mahmud of Ghazni, a towering sultan of his time (971-1030), was actually held up as an ideal for, among other things, deeply loving another man, Malik Ayaz.

Mughal Emperor Babur wrote of his attraction to a boy in the camp bazaar in his 16th-century autobiography – a celebrated work of literature in the medieval Muslim world.”

“Sadi’s classic Gulistan, containing stories of attraction between men, was considered essential reading for Persian students. Ghanimat’s Nau rang-i ishq, a seventeenth century masnavi describing the love affair between the poet’s patron’s son and his beloved Shahid, was a prescribed text in schools.”

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posted by f.sheikh

Visiting modern mecca is like visiting any modern western city center with all the exploitation of modernity and commerce with a tinge of spirituality of Hajj and Umra. F sheikh

A building boom in the city’s sacred center has
created a dazzling, high-tech 21st-century pilgrimage.

In the days before rapid sea or air travel, it could take months to travel to Mecca. The spiritual heart of Islam lay far from its great capitals in Istanbul, Delhi and Isfahan. The devout came from distant lands on foot, by camel and in horse-drawn carriages. Bedouin tribes routinely robbed these pilgrims, who were the primary source of revenue for this ancient desert town. Now, the ease of air travel and the rise of a global Muslim middle class have made the journey to Mecca far less arduous and far more common. Last year, three million came for the hajj, a pilgrimage in the last month of the Islamic lunar calendar that is considered obligatory for every Muslim who can afford it; five million more came for the umrah, a minor pilgrimage that can be made for much of the year. And millions of Saudi citizens routinely pass through Mecca’s sacred sites as tourists.

The Italian photographer Luca Locatelli, visiting Mecca this year during the umrah period, captured how radically the city has changed to accommodate this growing influx of pilgrims. Until the first half of the 20th century, this was a small city of spacious stone houses famed for their mashrabiyah, or latticed windows and balconies. Five hills known as the rim of Mecca encircled the Grand Mosque and the Kaaba, or House of God, located in the city center. Today, all a visitor would recognize from older images of Mecca are the Ottoman domes of the Grand Mosque, its minarets and the Kaaba. The ancient hills, the old stone homes and many of the sites linked to the life of the Prophet Muhammad have been obliterated by towering shopping malls, hotels and apartment blocks.

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The Religion of Atheism

by Matt Slick
Okay, so the title of this article is a bit provocative. But, I wanted to get your attention. You see, I got the idea for this article after attending the 33rd annual atheist convention in Seattle, Washington, in April of 2007. It was a very interesting experience, and I learned things I did not expect to learn. While sitting in the crowd and listening to speakers and watching the atheists’ reactions, it dawned on me how utterly religious they seemed to be. No, I’m not saying that they believe in a God, and I’m not saying atheism is a religion. But, they sure acted as though it were. Let me explain.
As I sat there watching, taking notes, and listening, I formulated a list that I think is accurate and representative of what I saw at the convention. Please take a look.
1. Creed
1. No God, anti-God, pro-homosexuality, anti-Christianity.
2. Atheism is a belief. I know that many atheists will disagree with this, but the atheists gathered around a common belief of no God or lack of God and the need to increase what they perceive as separation of church and state in America.
2. Crisis
1. Created a problem and offered a solution. The problem was religious oppression in society with atheistic ideals as the solution.
3. Assemblies
1. Gathered in groups with meeting times. Atheists don’t meet nearly as frequently as Christians do in their churches, but they do have state meetings, national meetings, and regular gatherings.
4. Pulpit
1. The lectern from which speeches were made, their ideas were promoted, and their reasons for their belief system were validated.
5. Evangelistic
1. The atheists sought converts to their cause. They frequently spoke about getting the idea of atheism out into society and to move people away from theism.
6. Celebration over converts
1. Rejoiced when converts to their belief system were announced. There was applause and excitement when there were announcements about people who had “come out of the closet” and announced their atheism.
7. Zealous for their cause
1. They wanted their cause and belief system expanded to the extent of changing America to reflect their thinking.
8. Exclusive
1. Only they have the truth. The atheists repeatedly spoke of how atheism was the truth and that theists and deists were ignorant of facts and reason.
9. Us against them mentality
1. There was a profound description of the division between atheism and theism with the atheists being the ones who were defending themselves against the intrusive theists.
10. Concerned about public image
1. This is normal. They were very concerned with how they were perceived and wanted to change their negative reputation.
11. Lack of critical thinking
1. This is common everywhere. Though they thought they were rational, by far most of the arguments and comments weren’t.
12. Misrepresentation of opposing views
1. Again, another common trait among people who gather in groups, have a common ideology, and see others as being less enlightened.
13. Voting block
1. The atheists mentioned voting as a group in order to progress their cause in society.
14. Infighting
1. This is normal for groups. We don’t all see eye to eye. But, they all held to atheism even though they had disagreements about some particulars.
15. Money
1. They didn’t have tithing, but there were plenty of things for sale. And, let’s not forget to mention how they sought donations to help cover the costs of promoting atheism, paying speakers, renting facilities, etc.
Now, I’m sure there are atheists who will debate a few of the issues listed. But, I am just rendering my opinion of what I saw.
I think it is rather ironic that those who are against religion so much are–in actuality–so religious themselves. I couldn’t help smiling and seeing the natural tendency of people to gather around an idea, develop a cause, and then promote it. Unfortunately, the atheists have gathered around non-belief and want that non-belief promoted in society. All I have to say is eternity is a long time to be wrong.