Saudi Cleric Says Homosexuals Face Punishment In The Hereafter
By Arab News
Homosexuality is abnormal and those practicing this behavior face punishment in the Hereafter, according to well known Saudi scholar Sheikh Salman Al-Odah.
Al-Odah, who made the comments in an interview with a Swedish newspaper recently, said that homosexuality is condemned by all the major religions, including Judaism and Christianity.
He said that there are some older scholars who believe this behavior must be punished in line with the rulings of Islamic courts, based on the religion’s laws, a local publication reported him as saying in the interview with the newspaper.
Al-Odah, who was in Malmo to help Syrian children, and had also visited a refugee camp in Turkey, said even though Islam preaches that people have freedom, the “Torah, the Bible and the Qur’an, consider homosexuality a bad deed.”
“Homosexuality doesn’t require punishment in this life, [but people] will bear the consequences in the afterlife.”
He said homosexuality does not prevent people from being Muslims, but if they had indulged in this behavior, they “should make this public knowledge.”
Asked about his condemnation of Al-Qaeda and Daesh and how to implement Islamic law, he said: “I am glad you know I denounced Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, and all types of violence regardless of the group who stands behind them. Islamic law is a broad concept that has been hijacked.”
He said Islamic law merely codifies how people should conduct themselves in a moral manner.
Questioned about comments he made about Jews, Al-Odah said that he did not remember saying that the Holocaust was an exaggerated myth and that Jews used human blood to bake bread.
He said that he did not deny that the Holocaust took place. “No, I don’t because it’s documented historically. There is a similar holocaust taking place now in Syria and there has been another one in Bosnia.”
