Muslim Brotherhood TV Host: Gay People Caught in the Act Should Be Burned Alive

During a monologue on her TV show earlier this month, Egyptian host Hala Samir said that gay men caught in a sexual act should be burned alive, thrown off a building, or stoned to death.

According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), a watchdog organization that highlights radical Islamic extremism, she made the remarks on Watan TV, a Turkey-based channel that promotes the Muslim Brotherhood.

Ibn Abbas quoted the Prophet Muhammad as saying: “If you find men engaged in a homosexual act — kill the active one as well as the passive one.” Don’t start asking: “Are you active or passive?” Just kill both.

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The companions of the Prophet Muhammad unanimously agreed that homosexuals should be killed, but they had disagreements about the method of killing.

Some said that they should be burned alive. That was [the Caliph] Ali. Abu Bakr supported this ruling. Others said that they should be thrown off a high place and this should be followed by stoning. Yet others said that they should be stoned to death. Both Ali and Ibn Abbas agreed on this.

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With regard to girls — people ask if the same ruling applies to lesbianism. The Islamic scholars have said, unanimously, that lesbianism is prohibited.

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Some of them say: “I am not homosexual, I’m gay.” They want it to sound nice. No! You are a homosexual, a sodomite, and a lesbian.

These are obviously fringe beliefs even among Muslims. It’s not just rhetoric, though. Gay people — or at least people accused of being gay — have been murdered by radical groups like ISIS.

The call for violence is both disturbing and shocking, but I would also call your attention to the language of condemnation against gay people. To suggest they deserve to be punished for being sodomites is a belief that is reflected in fundamentalist Christian churches as well — though in their cases, they distance themselves from violence by saying the government ought to be carrying out the executions.