Hawzah News Agency- At the dawn of creation, the human being is like an empty vessel, yet one that is ready to be shaped throughout life by customs, thoughts and various values — both right and wrong. Political, economic and social systems also play a role in shaping one's outlook and character. Nevertheless, God has placed within the human being a divine fitrah, an inner inclination toward recognizing and seeking truth, so that amid the diverse influences of the environment, one may recognize the path of truth and walk upon it. As God Almighty states in the Holy Quran:
"So direct your face toward the religion, inclining to truth. Adhere to the fitrah of Allah upon which He has created people. No change should there be in the creation of Allah. That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know." (Surah Ar-Rum, 30:30)
Sometimes negligence and heedlessness cast such a shadow over the human being that one forgets the truth of one's divine fitrah and, through one's own choice and free will, distances oneself from the path of fitrah and divine guidance. Consequently, instead of making the inner call of truth-seeking a lamp for one's path, one falls under the influence of carnal desires and environmental factors, choosing a path contrary to one's divine fitrah.
What makes this discussion particularly significant is that forgetting or diverting from the path of divine fitrah leads to the alteration of divine blessings.
Consider this Quranic example:
The people of Lot were a community that was punished for committing grave sins, including sodomy. Their prophet was Lot (AS). According to historical sources, after the people of Lot refused to abandon grave sins, including sodomy, they ultimately suffered divine punishment. The Holy Quran describes the punishment of Lot's people as the earth being turned upside down and stones raining down from the sky.
"And We rained upon them a rain [of stones]. Then see how was the end of the criminals." (Surah Al-A'raf, 7:84)
And He also says:
"So when Our command came, We made the highest part [of the city] its lowest and rained upon them stones of layered hard clay." (Surah Hud, 11:82)
Therefore, from the perspective of Islamic moral and religious teachings, one of the sins that can distance a person from the path of divine fitrah and pave the way for the alteration of divine blessings is homosexuality.
Sin and disobedience to the divine path remove blessings from their intended form, transforming the "rain of mercy" into "stones of punishment" — an image that calls humanity to reflect upon the spiritual consequences of sin, return to divine fitrah, and seek divine forgiveness and mercy.
It is here that the elevated station of the words of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS), in Dua Kumayl becomes ever more apparent:
"O Allah, forgive me those sins which alter blessings."
For the believer must always, for the removal of affliction (deliverance from the effects and consequences of sin) and for the repelling of affliction (prevention from falling into sin and the alteration of blessings), supplicate to the Divine Court, seeking forgiveness and mercy from God Almighty, and strive on the path of self-reformation.
Responding to a Question
If, according to religious teachings, the sin of homosexuality brings divine punishment and the alteration of divine blessings, then why do homosexuals in today's societies, particularly in Western societies, not suffer divine punishment and perhaps even enjoy divine blessings?
The first point to consider in answering this question is that the promised punishment is not exclusive to Islamic teachings.
In the Epistle to the Romans, it is written:
"Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie... 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 1:24-27)
The Bible speaks of a penalty befitting the deviation of homosexuality. What is this penalty?
In the Book of Leviticus, this penalty is described as follows:
"Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable... Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. Keep all my decrees and laws..." (Leviticus 18:22, 24-26)
The taking of vengeance and the wrath of the land — this is the punishment that is the fruit of disregarding divine fitrah and human nature. It is the same punishment to which the Holy Quran also refers:
"So when Our command came, We made the highest part [of the city] its lowest..." (Surah Hud, 11:82)
Therefore, the promised punishment is not exclusive to Islamic teachings.
The second point to consider in response to the question raised is that delay in divine punishment, as well as enjoyment of divine blessings and the absence of alteration in blessings, is not a sign of approval of the act (i.e., sin).
God Almighty says in the Holy Quran regarding those who have forgotten divine commands yet apparently enjoy divine blessings:
"So when they forgot that by which they had been reminded, We opened to them the doors of every [good] thing until, when they rejoiced in that which they were given, We seized them suddenly, and they were [then] in despair." (Surah Al-An'am, 6:44)
It is for this reason that the Messenger of God (PBUH) said:
"When you see Allah giving [worldly blessings] upon [people committing] acts of disobedience, know that this is istidraj (divine respite leading gradually to destruction) from Him." (Tafsir Nur al-Thaqalayn, Vol. 1, p. 718)
Thus, according to religious teachings, the "sunnah of istidraj" (the divine law of gradual respite) is one of God's laws. This means that if someone has distanced himself from the path of divine fitrah yet still enjoys divine blessings, he should know that he is on the path to destruction. This temporary comfort and absence of punishment is never a sign of divine mercy toward the sinner.
The importance of this matter is such that the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (AS), warns us of this truth:
"O son of Adam, when you see that your Lord, Glorified be He, continues to bestow His blessings upon you while you are disobeying Him, be wary of Him." (Nahj al-Balagha, Wisdom 25)
Although there is much more that could be said regarding the danger of the sin of homosexuality and the evidence reminding us of this danger, for the sake of brevity, we will suffice with this amount.
By Mostafa Amini
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