Islam teaches that a Muslim cannot be pious and obedient to Go | Ask A Muslim

Islam teaches that a Muslim cannot be pious and obedient to God and be a practising homosexual; the two states are incompatible. However, Muslim doctrine does not remove from the fold of Islam the one who practices the major sin of homosexuality.

Shaikh Ibn Bāz (may Allah have mercy on him) was informed that some youth display signs of feminine behaviour. He advised that they should spend time with men until they learn (to be masculine) and they benefit from that, and the feminine inclination passes. He was also asked concerning the man who becomes a Muslim but before he embraced Islam he was a practising homosexual. Once he became a Muslim, he repented from that sinful un-Islamic behaviour. However, his soul desires homosexuality. Shaikh Ibn Bāz answered by saying: “He should cling to his repentance and all praise is for Allah.” (See Sharh Bulūgh Al-Marām, Kitāb Al-Hudūd,
Clinging to repentance means to give up the sin, feel remorse for disobeying Allah, seek Allah’s forgiveness and be resolute in not returning back to the sin.

Today some people think that a person can be born homosexual – and through this, they justify their sexual leanings. However, Islam teaches that every child is born upon the fitrah, a natural inclination, which means that they were created with inclinations that God is pleased with for human beings and fulfil the natural functions of the body. With that in mind, Muslim scholars state that homosexuality comes about due to a corruption of the natural state which can be triggered by various events and environmental factors such as:

the way they are brought up with the idea that there is no difference between the two sexes;
being exposed to homosexuality constantly so it becomes normalised;
being nurtured on theories and ideas that oppose science, nature and the intellect (e.g. two people of the same sex were not physiologically “designed” to have sexual relations or produce offspring)
being sexually abused as children can lead to confused ideas about sexuality and sexual preferences;
school indoctrination of children from an early age that goes against nature, health and wellbeing;
relentlessly encouraged from a young age to explore same-sex relationships and “gay” role-play in schools;
ostracising and seeking to criminalise all forms of dissent against the powerful LGBTQ movement in the West;
Muslim scholars state that just as people have ‘learned’ to be homosexual, they can also learn not to be if they choose to correct their behaviour and are helped in that process; and therefore, they return back to their natural state of being, or at least desist from homosexual activity if they are not able to be heterosexual.

The Qur’an does not say how homosexuality should be punished, but a saying of the Prophet (may peace and blessings be upon him) makes clear: “Whoever you find engaging in the action of the people of Lūt, execute the one who does it, and the one to whom it is done.” (Ibn Majah 2561, Tirmidhi 1456) This saying must not be used by individuals as an excuse to enact or incite violence against homosexuals.

Prescribed punishments can only be carried out by the legal authority in a country that practices Islamic Law (i.e. in a Muslim country); and there must be clear evidence that actual sex had taken place. The Muslim penal code carries out punishments on the basis of the unlawful act that is committed and not on the basis of a persons’ inclinations where no illegal act has been committed.

This is the view of all of the famous scholars and jurists of Islam in line with the punishment dealt to the people of Lūt (in the Qur’an) and the hadīth of the Prophet. A Muslim, regardless of which country he lives in, is not allowed to physically harm those he regards to be sinners, nor incite others to do so. Vigilantism goes against Islamic teachings because it creates an anarchic, unjust and disorderly society.