Hawzah News Agency – At the beginning of creation, human beings are like empty yet receptive vessels, capable throughout their lives of being influenced by customs and traditions, ideas, and values—whether true or false. Political, economic, and social systems also play a role in shaping their outlook and personality. Nevertheless, God has placed within human beings a divinely ordained original nature (fitrah) and an innate inclination toward recognizing and following the truth, enabling them to distinguish the path of truth amid the various influences of their surroundings and to walk upon it. Thus, the Almighty refers to this reality in the Holy Qur’an:

«فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَکَ لِلدِّینِ حَنِیفًا فِطْرَتَ اللَّهِ الَّتِی فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَیْهَا لَا تَبْدِیلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ذَٰلِکَ الدِّینُ الْقَیِّمُ وَلَٰکِنَّ أَکْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا یَعْلَمُونَ.»

"So set your heart as a person of pure faith on this religion, the original nature endowed by Allah according to which He originated mankind (There is no altering Allah’s creation; that is the upright religion, but most people do not know.)" (Rum; 30:30)

At times, heedlessness and ignorance cast such a heavy shadow over a person that they forget the reality of their divinely fitrah and, through their own choice and free will, distance themselves from the path of that fitrah and divine guidance. Consequently, instead of making the inner call toward truth their guiding light, they choose—under the influence of their carnal desires and environmental factors—a path different from that of their God-given nature and divine guidance.

What makes this discussion particularly important is that forgetting or altering the course of one’s divinely fitrah can lead to a transformation in divine blessings.

Consider the following Qur’anic example:

The People of Lot were a people who were punished because of their commission of major sins, including sodomy. Their prophet was Lūṭ(Lot), peace be upon him. According to historical sources, after refusing to abandon their major sins, including sodomy, the People of Lot ultimately suffered divine punishment. The Holy Qur’an describes their punishment as the overturning of the land and the raining down of stones from the sky.

«وَأَمْطَرْنَا عَلَیْهِمْ مَطَرًا فَانْظُرْ کَیْفَ کَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الْمُجْرِمِینَ.»

"Then We poured down upon them a rain [of stones]. So observe how was the fate of the guilty!" (A'raf; 7:84)

It also states:

«فَلَمَّا جَاءَ أَمْرُنَا جَعَلْنَا عَالِیَهَا سَافِلَهَا وَأَمْطَرْنَا عَلَیْهَا حِجَارَةً مِنْ سِجِّیلٍ مَنْضُودٍ.»

“So when Our edict came, We made its topmost part its nethermost, and We rained on it stones of laminar shale.” (Hud; 11:82)

Therefore, from the perspective of the moral and religious teachings of Islam, one of the sins that can distance a person from the path of the divinely fitrah and create the conditions for divine blessings to be transformed is homosexuality.

Sin and disobedience to the divine path cause a blessing to lose its intended form, transforming the “rain of mercy” into “stones of punishment”—an image that calls human beings to reflect upon the spiritual consequences of sin, return to their God-given fitrah, and seek divine forgiveness and mercy.

It is for this reason that the profound significance of the words of Imam Ali, peace be upon him, in Du'a al- Kumayl becomes all the more evident:

«اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِیَ الذُّنُوبَ الَّتِی تُغَیِّرُ النِّعَمَ.»

“O Allah! Forgive me the sins that alter blessings.”

For a believer must always turn to God in supplication, seeking His forgiveness and mercy both to remove calamity—that is, to be delivered from the effects and consequences of sin—and to ward off calamity—that is, to be protected from falling into sin and causing divine blessings to be transformed—and must strive to reform himself.

An Answer to a Question

If, according to religious teachings, the sin of homosexuality entails divine punishment and the transformation of divine blessings, then why do homosexual people in contemporary societies, particularly in Western societies, not appear to suffer divine punishment, and why do they sometimes even enjoy divine blessings?

The first point that should be taken into consideration in answering this question is that the promised punishment is not exclusive to the teachings of Islam.

The Epistle to the Romans states:

“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.” (Romans 1:26–27)

The Bible speaks of a penalty befitting the deviation associated with homosexuality. What does this penalty entail?

The Book of Leviticus describes this penalty as follows:

“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for by all these practices the nations I am casting out before you have defiled themselves. Thus the land became defiled; and I punished it for its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you shall keep my statutes and my ordinances and commit none of these abominations…” (Leviticus 18:22, 24–26)

The taking of vengeance and the wrath of the earth are presented as a form of punishment—the very punishment said to result from neglecting the divine fitrah and human nature, and the same punishment to which the Holy Qur’an also refers:

«فَلَمَّا جَاءَ أَمْرُنَا جَعَلْنَا عَالِیَهَا سَافِلَهَا... .»

“And when Our command came, We turned their cities upside down…” (Hud; 11:82)

Therefore, the promised punishment is not exclusive to the teachings of Islam.

Another point that must be considered in responding to the question is that a delay in divine punishment, as well as enjoying divine blessings and experiencing no apparent change in those blessings, is not evidence that an act—that is, a sin—has been approved.

Regarding people who have forgotten the divine commandments while apparently continuing to enjoy divine blessings, the Almighty says in the Holy Qur’an:

«فَلَمَّا نَسُوا مَا ذُکِّرُوا بِهِ فَتَحْنَا عَلَیْهِمْ أَبْوَابَ کُلِّ شَیْءٍ حَتَّیٰ إِذَا فَرِحُوا بِمَا أُوتُوا أَخَذْنَاهُمْ بَغْتَةً فَإِذَا هُمْ مُبْلِسُونَ.»

“So when they forgot what they had been admonished of, We opened for them the gates of all [good] things. When they became proud of what they were given, We seized them suddenly, whereat, behold, they were despondent.” (An'am; 6:44)

This is why the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family, says:

«إِذَا رَأَیْتَ اَللَّهَ یُعْطِی عَلَی اَلْمَعَاصِی فَإِنَّ ذَلِکَ اِسْتِدْرَاجٌ مِنْهُ.»

“If you see that the world is going according to the wishes of sinners, know that this is divine Istidraj—God gradually leading them toward destruction.” (Tafsir Noor al-Thaqalayn, v. 1, p. 718)

Thus, according to religious teachings, the divine practice of Istidraj is one of the established laws and traditions (Sunnah) of divine action. It means that if a person has distanced himself from the path of the divinely fitrah while continuing to enjoy divine blessings, he should realize that he is on a path toward destruction. Such temporary comfort and the absence of immediate punishment can never, therefore, be taken as a sign of divine mercy toward the sinner.

The importance of this matter is such that Imam Ali, peace be upon him, warns us of this reality:

«یَا ابْنَ آدَمَ، إِذَا رَأَیْتَ رَبَّکَ سُبْحَانَهُ یُتَابِعُ عَلَیْکَ نِعَمَهُ وَ أَنْتَ تَعْصِیهِ، فَاحْذَرْهُ.»

“O son of Adam! When you see your Lord continuously bestowing His blessings upon you while you are disobeying Him, beware of Him, lest His severe punishment be awaiting you.” (Nahj al-Balaqah, Wisdom no. 25)

Although there is much that could be said about the dangers of the sin of homosexuality and the evidence cited to draw attention to these dangers, we will suffice with this much for the sake of brevity.

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