Muhammad Jalal Kishk (also Muhammad Galal Keshk; 1929–1993) was an Egyptian Islamist journalist and writer who was noted for his anti-leftist political views, and thoughts on sex and

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

in Islam. Kishk wrote for the weeklies '' Akhbar al-Yawm'' and '' Ruz al-Yusuf'' and the periodical '' al-Risala'' until 1965. According to the ''Middle East Record'', Kishk's "anti-leftist stand" may have led to his being "prevented from continuing his career in journalism". But actually it was his anti-

Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced Egyptian ...

writings that led to his removal from these journals and eventual exile to

Beirut, Lebanon Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint of ...

in 1968. Kishk gained some notoriety for his ideas concerning

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...

and sexuality in Islam. In his book ''A Muslim's Thoughts about the Sexual Question'', (1984), which was initially banned in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, he examined contemporary Western scholarship about Christianity and Islam in relation to sex, with special attention to homosexuality.The book was discussed in ''Desiring Arabs'' By Joseph Andoni Massad Kishk was concerned with the danger of

"the enemies of Islam and ... our civilization avingthe opportunity to publish their ideas and plant their poisons in the minds and hearts of our Muslim youth, who no longer follow an Islamic conduct nor are directed by Islamic thought."

While Kishk disapproved of sexual relations between same sex couples, he noted that there was no prescribed punishment for it in Islam. He also analyzed those parts of the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

that described

Jannah In Islam, Jannah ( ar, جَنّة, janna, pl. ''jannāt'',lit. "paradise, garden", is the final abode of the righteous. According to one count, the word appears 147 times in the Quran. Belief in the afterlife is one of the six articles of f ...

(heaven/paradise) and concluded that "sex with youthful boys will be the reward for Muslim men who control their desires in this world by not practicing sodomy."

Works

* ''Al-Ghazw al-Fikri'' (The Intellectual invasion), Cairo: Sar al-Urubah, 1966 * ''Al-Naksa wa al-Ghazw al-Fikri (The Naksa and the Intellectual Invasion)'' (The setback and cultural invasion), Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-Arabi, 1969 * ''al-Sa'udiyyun wa al-Hall al-Islami'' (The Saudis and the Islamic solution), West Hanover, MA: Halliday, 1981 * 'thawrat ulyu al-amrikiyya (The American July Revolution: The Relationship of Nasser with the American Intelligence Services, 1988)

References

1929 births 1983 deaths Egyptian Islamists Egyptian non-fiction writers 20th-century non-fiction writers {{Egypt-writer-stub