Honouring the Religious Rights of the LGBTQ Persons: An Islamic Perspective

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) is a term that is no longer unknown to the people of this country. Media reports about their movement keep the public informed about their developments locally and internationally. The behaviour and lifestyle of the LGBTQ persons are at odds, not only with the sharīʿah, but also with local laws, culture, and practices. Nevertheless, advocates of the LGBTQ movement are striving to obtain universal rights that they claimed to be the LGBTQ persons’ rights in social life. While the movement claims to protect the rights of LGBTQ persons, they have been found to deny the most fundamental right, namely religious freedom. This religious freedom allows them to undergo rehabilitation to live a dignified life. The denial of religious freedom coincides with the international movement to remove homosexuality from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1990. It also coincides with efforts to remove the term “gender disorder” from the list of mental disorders. At the national level, various initiatives are being taken by JAKIM, state religious authorities, and several non-governmental organisations to fulfil the rights of the LGBTQ persons to receive guidance through religious programmes. Nevertheless, these good efforts, in particular, Mukhayyam programmes, have been deliberately juxtaposed with Western conversion therapy practices. This article will focus on the importance of preserving the religious rights of LGBTQ persons and the challenges faced in implementing relevant religious programmes. This article highlights the importance of rehabilitation programmes such as Mukhayyam by providing a legal and ambigous phrase of the religious rights of the LGBTQ persons. The research finds that the continuation of rehabilitation programmes such as Mukhayyam needs to be protected to ensure that the LGBTQ persons will get a proper platform to seek religious guidance.