Disapprove of LGBT but don’t oppress, says Turkish scholar

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PETALING JAYA: Muslims do not have the right to oppress the beliefs and behaviour of which they disapprove, including those of the LGBT community, says Mustafa Akyol, a prominent Turkish scholar.

Akyol said that although the traditional Islamic view considers homosexual relations “haram”, he believes that not everything that is religiously banned should also be banned by the state.

People were now living in modern states where every citizen has equal rights, and this included the right to live as they see fit unless they harm others, he said.

Akyol, a senior fellow on Islam and modernity at the Cato Institute, a US-based libertarian think tank, was commenting on a Malaysian government plan to widen the scope of existing shariah law to take action against social media users for insulting Islam and “promoting the LGBT lifestyle”.

He told FMT: “Muslims should know that they can disapprove of certain beliefs or behaviours, but this does not give them the right to oppress those beliefs or behaviours.


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