Ibrahim Hewitt

“Islam recognizes the leadership of men over women, but it does not recognize the domination of one over the other… If a woman is unable to satisfy the sexual or other needs of her husband he may consider taking another wife, rather than the common Western practice of secretly taking a mistress.”

UK Muslim Ibrahim Hewitt, 57, is best known as an Islamist speaker, schoolmaster, and pro-Palestine activist. What many don’t know about Hewitt, however, is that he’s written about sharia punishments for adultery and homosexuality as being part of “true Islam.” As we all know, such punishments are quite unpleasant.

In a book Hewitt authored titled What Does Islam Say?, he laid out the Islamic punishments for adultery and homosexuality. “Any act that destabilizes marriage will also destabilize society,” Hewitt wrote. “Hence the Islamic punishments for such acts are severe… Married men and women found guilty of adultery are to be stoned to death… Islam, like most other major faiths of the world, categorically forbids homosexual practices (sexual relations between two men or between two women), regarding them as a great sin. In a society under Islamic law, such would be severely punished… If people have such desires [homosexuality], they should keep them to themselves, and control their desires to avoid forbidden practices. The advice would be the same as, say, to someone who had sexual desires for minors or for close family: that having the desires does not legitimize realizing them.” Uhh, tell that to all the Muslims around the world who marry children because they’re following the tradition of the prophet, pigs be upon him. Not to mention the incestuous arranged marriages… yuck. What Does Islam Say? also advocates the penalty of lashing for fornication and sodomy as being part of “True Islam.”

As for Hewitt’s apparent homophobia and intolerance of consensual enjoyment between adults evidenced by his writings, I’m not sure why he’s so nonchalant about this serious matter (though he claims he isn’t); I have a sneaking suspicion it has something to do with his religion. He expounded upon Islam’s totally peaceful stance on homosexuality: “While such punishments may seem cruel, they have been suggested to maintain the purity of the society and to keep it clean of perverted elements, allowing for the spiritual development of its members in an ideal environment. The spread of this depraved practice in a society disrupts its natural life pattern and makes those who practice it slaves to their lusts, depriving them of decent taste, decent morals, and a decent manner of living.” Uhh, homosexuality IS a natural life pattern. It’s observed in all sorts of animal species and it doesn’t harm anyone, nor does it disrupt society in the slightest. Besides, why is a man who bends over five times a day criticizing homosexuals anyway?!

Speaking of homophobia from this Muslim, Hewitt describes homosexuality as an “evil practice which could corrupt and pollute the whole society.” So basically he kinda just admitted that, because homosexuality could “corrupt” the whole society, gays have more fun. Which, let’s be honest, we do. Speaking of having fun, Hewitt explained that Muhammad was no fan of drugs or alcohol (and neither is he): “Indeed, anyone involved in any part of the production or selling of drugs or alcohol, whether they use the stuff themselves or not, has been cursed by prophet Muhammad [pigs be upon him.]” Seriously, this dude needs to lighten up a bit… maybe more than a bit. “A stable, responsible and caring society is only possible where sexual relationships are based on heterosexual marriage; there should be no place for extramarital affairs and deviant practices such as homosexuality.” Yeah, this dude needs to relax, get laid, smoke a bowl, do something of that sort.

This is what Hewitt had to say about Islam’s stance on adoption: “For example, once [an] ‘adopted son’ has reached the age of puberty he would, under Islamic law, be forbidden to mix socially with the women in the household with whom he has no blood link and he is not their relative, so they must wear full Islamic dress in front of him, something they would not do in front of their own sons, brothers, nephews,uncles and others to whom they are prohibited from being married. The same would be true for a girl who would have to wear Islamic dress at all times in front of her ‘adopted father’ and the male members of the family to whom she could be married because of the missing close blood link. An exception to this would be if the adopted child is taken into the family home as a baby and is suckled by the mother of the house. After reaching adulthood the adopted child would then be unable to marry any of its ‘brothers’ or ‘sisters’ who had suckled from the same mother and would thus be able to mix in the home as a close member of the family.” Talk about bizarre. If a family is going to raise a child, that child should feel like a part of the family, not like an outsider who must be covered at all times or (even more ridiculously) a perceived threat to his adoptive mother’s chastity.

Hewitt also wrote: “For the crime of apostasy, it should be borne in mind that in an Islamic state, Islam is the basis of the state, not just the state religion. Any act of apostasy that results in open rebellion against Islam is, therefore, an act of treason. Even in Britain, the penalty for high treason is death.” Yep, totally a tolerant religion right there. Totally shows the Islamic taqiyya concept of “no compulsion in religion.” There IS compulsion in Islam – once you’re in, you can’t get out.

Many Islamic scholars and clerics believe music is haram (forbidden.) Here’s the completely sensible argument Hewitt made in What Does Islam Say? about why Muslims shouldn’t listen to most classical music: “…the overture Romeo and Juliet by Tchaikovsky or any one of a number of ‘boy meets girl’ operas (e.g. Carmen by Bizet) portray concepts that are alien to Islamic beliefs (i.e. premarital intimacy). Sacred works, such as Vivaldi’s Gloria, promote Trinitarian Christian beliefs, again in contradiction to Islamic teachings.” Wow, so Muslims can’t enjoy or appreciate anything from other religions, but they expect us to be OK with their bizarre ninja costumes? Double standards much?

Hewitt is also the founder of Interpal, a “charitable group” for Palestine that the US designated as a terror-linked group. Though the designation didn’t stick, Interpal was asked to sever its ties with Hamas-linked groups that directly funded the anti-Israeli jihad group. Currently, Interpal is still active, though the extent of its connection (if any) to Hamas is unknown.

To close this piece out, here is probably the most shocking quote yet: “…these days anyone who declares that homosexuality is a perverted way of life – as Muslims must – is accused of intolerance. Muslims believe, though, that such behavior has been forbidden by Allah for very real reasons and if we ignore his guidance there are bound to be harmful effects on society. Tragically, HIV has now spread to the innocent through unfaithful husbands and wives, infected blood transfusions, as well as to children born to infected parents. If people had all followed the way of life of Islam, no one would have suffered and died from AIDS.” So basically he’s saying that people who don’t follow Islam are more or less asking to get AIDS through their way of life, hence why he referred to spouses of unfaithful partners as “innocent.” Uhh, there is no “guilt” involved in becoming HIV-positive. There is guilt in intentionally not disclosing your HIV status to your sexual partners, but there is no guilt in contracting HIV; it is estimated that up to 40% of HIV-positive Americans are unaware of their status.