Delivering the fourth chancellor’s lecture of the University of The Gambia on the topic ‘Jihad and Terrorism: An Islamic Perspective,’ at the inauguration of the new law faculty building, Saturday, the founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation, said: “As far as the Qur’an is concerned, it says in Suratul Hud: ‘Do you prefer males over females?’ but there is no punishment prescribed for homosexuality in the Qur’an. For readers of the Bible, it prescribes the death penalty for homosexuality. In the Qur’an, homosexuality is considered as one of the major sins in Islam. Before coming to The Gambia, I was surfing the Internet and I was very happy to know about the view of the president of this country on homosexuality. He is very vocal and anti-homosexual. I know if you speak about the issue in Western countries, you can be arrested and put behind bars. But I am proud that a Muslim president of this country understands the issue and is strong against it. Medically, there have been many problems and initially, there was an idea that homosexuality is genetic. But one has to ask the question, if it is genetic, so how can it be coalescent?
“I believe that maybe people do excessive exposure of their bodies and human beings normally like to taste or experience something different. If you go to the Western countries, the clothes that they wear reveal almost all parts of their bodies which is against Islam because Islam promotes modesty in dressing. We have to understand, however, that in most of the religions including Islam and Christianity, homosexuality is considered a sin.
On the topic of the lecture, Dr Naik said it was proposed by President Jammeh and said the notion of jihad in Islam is often misconstrued as a holy war and that terrorism is not part of Islam as Allah forbade wanton killing of people.
He said these stereotypes are promoted by the Western media. “We have to understand that the media is the most powerful weapon in the world today and the international media has been spreading misconceptions about Islam. And so we have to be very careful about the news that we receive from the media.”
The lecture was attended by Vice President Njie-Saidy, UTG officials, students and members of the public.
Dr Naik’s lecture series continued last evening at the Paradise Suites Hotel, Kololi.
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