Islamic State hunts for gay men
Sunni extremist group uses obscure writings to try to justify its brutal executions.
BEIRUT — The camera lingers on the jihadists suspending the man by his legs over the edge of the building. Blindfolded, his hands bound behind his back, he flails as he falls to his death, the video switching to slow motion as an Islamic chant, known as a nasheed, plays in the background.
The clip, from a 2015 video celebrating the anniversary of Islamic State’s takeover of the Iraqi city of Mosul, is one of dozens of photo reports and videos depicting the fate of those accused by the militant group of “committing the act of [sodomy]”: being thrown from “a tall height,” usually a building. Those who survive have stones hurled at them by crowds waiting below.
In the almost two years since Islamic State declared its self-styled caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria, it has carried out amputations, whipping and crucifixions to punish those who violate its strict reading of sharia, or Islamic law. But for gay people living in Islamic State-held areas, Sunday’s “lone wolf” attack in Orlando, Fla., served as a bitter reminder of the systematic targeting they face under the group’s regime of terror, where their sexuality is a death sentence — one often carried out with the tacit approval of the community around them.
“Since December 2014, the group has bragged that it has killed at least 41 individuals for what it calls sodomy,” said Jessica Stern, executive director of Out-Right Action International, an advocacy group.
“Clearly the 41 deaths are just the tip of the iceberg, and when we talk to our friends in Iraq and Syria they tell us of many other deaths that [Islamic State] didn’t claim public responsibility for,” she added.
Islamic State maintains a veneer of legality, backing its persecution of gay people with arguments derived from the group’s interpretation of Islamic texts.
In February, the group outlined its legal argument for its crackdown on what it described as “sexual deviance” in its English-language magazine, Dabiq. The article is a jeremiad against the “West’s sexual revolution,” which “plunged it into a downward spiral of sexual deviance and immorality” where “disease is rampant.”
“In the midst of this widespread affront to the fitrah (natural human disposition),” the article rails, “the Islamic State continues its efforts against these deeds of misguidance — which Western ‘Civilization’ regards as a part of their ‘values’ — by implementing the rulings of Allah on those who practice any form of sexual deviancy or transgression.”
The body of the article is peppered with quotes from both the Koran as well as sayings attributed to the prophet Muhammad to derive “rulings … that will protect the Muslims from treading the same rotten course that the West has chosen to pursue.”
The Koran discusses the issue of homosexuality in its retelling of the story of Sodom and Lot. In Arabic, the word “loti” is a derogatory term for homosexual. The Koran says both men who engage in homosexual acts are to be punished, but it does not specify how, and says the death penalty can be waived if they repent.
For its signature punishment, Islamic State instead relies on literature from the Hadith, a lesser-known compendium of the prophet’s words, said Islamic State expert Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, a research fellow at the Middle East Forum. The book was “very obscure until Islamic State started publicizing it.”
“This is the way Islamic State justifies itself foremost to its supporters, by presenting a theology meticulously backed by source material so as to impress them,” concluded Tamimi in a social media interview.
This approach, observers say, is central to the image Islamic State hopes to create for itself as the protector of Muslims throughout the world, which serves as a powerful recruiting tool.
Armed with these rulings, Islamic State hunts for gay men in its midst, apprehending people and rifling through their phones for simply walking or speaking in a way that would arouse suspicion, said Subhi Nahas, a Syrian who escaped from Idlib after it was taken over by the Al Qaeda affiliate Al Nusra Front.
He now resides in San Francisco, where he has become an advocate of LGBT rights for refugees.
Since Nahas left, he has learned from others that Islamic State’s tactics have gotten uglier. The group now stalks websites that are popular with gay Arab men.
Some people have been betrayed by other gay people in the community who, fearing for their safety, hope to avoid detection by giving up others while pretending to support Islamic State.
But the jihadists can also rely on support for their cause from Muslim communities where intolerance of homosexuality is mainstream. “There is no acceptance of [homosexuality], people aren’t even willing to talk about it,” said Nahas, who even feared his father would hand him over to the militants. “I always had trouble with my father because of my orientation, so I thought he would do it to get rid of me,” Nahas said.
“These atrocious acts exist on a continuum of violence,” said Stern. “I think it’s really important to underscore that there is violence by families, killing campaigns by militias ... and there was indifference by governments even before the rise of ISIS, with not a single murderer being prosecuted.”
Although there are bright spots, including a thriving LGBT community in Lebanon and one in Jordan that is somewhat tolerated, many countries across the Arab and Islamic world sentence people to death or subject them to lashings.
The Orlando attack has also spurred some to challenge those around them to acknowledge prejudice.
On Sunday, Murad Zagal, a resident of Jordan who volunteers with a group promoting HIV awareness, expressed his anger on Facebook. “Please don’t lecture me about Islam’s ‘true’ image that you think is being mutilated by terrorists who ‘don’t represent true Islam.’ Instead just show me,” he wrote. “The majority of Muslims are homophobic, there, I said it. Until that changes your claims of true Islam are delusional and hypocritical.”