Edge Boston, Posted: 3/29/2008, 1:03 PM
Muslim scholars at a meeting in Jakarta announced on Mar. 27 that homosexuality is natural and part of God’s creation. The Jakarta Post published an account on March 28 of the pronoucement made by moderate Muslims after examining the issue at a meeting put together by Arus Pelani, an NGO. Within the full context of Islamic teaching, the scholars said, the faith does not reject homosexuality. The scholars said that anti-gay teachings spring not from Islam, but from limited understanding of the teachings of Islam. Though anti-gay clerics frequently cite the Qu’ran in their condemnation of homosexuality, the Jakarta Post article quoted Siti Musdah Mulia as referencing a different passage from the Islamic holy text, al-Hujurat (49:3), which teaches that all people are equal without regard to gender, social status, wealth--or, says Mulia, sexuality.