Saudi cleric who says consenting gay sex is as bad as ‘rape’ due to visit UK universities
An Islamic cleric who says gay people are worse than “animals” and believes consenting gay sex is as bad as “rape” is visiting several British universities this month.
Mufti Ismail Menk has described gay people as “filthy” and worse than “dogs and pigs”.
The cleric studied in Saudi Arabia and currently lives in Zimbabwe. He has nearly 193,000 followers on Twitter.
In a video published on YouTube in June, Menk asked worshippers: “How can you engage yourselves with the same sex? How can you engage in acts of immorality with the same sex? And how can you prefer them over the females?”
Menk continues: “Today we have people claiming to be Muslims. I’ve heard one of them on YouTube recently who says, ‘No I’ve studied the Koran… totally and what is prohibited is to rape the men, but if it’s done with consent there is nothing wrong.”
The cleric describes this view as “foolish”, before adding: “When Lot is saying ‘you prefer to do this with men and you are leaving the women’ does that imply he’s saying ‘don’t rape the men rape the women?’”
Menk continues: “The Koran clearly says it is wrong what you are doing.” The cleric believes consenting gay sex is as bad as “rape”, and he warns, “they did it both ways through rape and through consent, but they only did it with the same kind”.
Linking same-sex relationships with “animals”, Menk says: “with all due respect to the animals, [gay people] are worse than those animals. Remember, we are saying, with all due respect to the animals, because to the animals it is an insult to them to even suggest this to them. Automatically the pigs and the dogs do not engage in this (homosexuality)”.
According to an online flyer from the Tayyibun Institute, Menk is touring university campuses across the UK throughout this month and the institute claims he is due to visit the University of Oxford on 14 November.
Update: 12.57pm, Wednesday 6 November.
On Wednesday, the University of Oxford and University of Glasgow told PinkNews that they were unaware of any invitation having been extended to Mufti Ismail Menk.
A spokesman for the University of Glasgow said: “We would like to make clear that no official invitation was ever extended to Mufti Ismail Menk and that we will not be providing any facilities to him.”
A spokesperson for the University of Oxford said: “The University of Oxford has not extended an official invitation to Mufti Ismail Menk, and we have so far been unable to confirm even whether such an event is actually scheduled to take place in Oxford.
“The University of Oxford is committed to providing an inclusive environment in which equality is promoted, diversity is valued and the rights and dignity of all its staff and students are respected. Our Equality Policy explicitly states that no student or member of staff will be treated less favourably on the grounds of sexual orientation, and a range of support is available to LGBT staff and students.”
PinkNews is awaiting a response from the Tayyibun Institute regarding its online flyer detailing visits allegedly due to be undertaken by Menk.
