Paradise Under Your Feet — Page 188
188 into acting a certain way. We value human freedom immensely and we have a choice on how to respond to our thoughts and physical desires, despite the dictates of the culture around us today simply asking us to submit. In fact, many people with same sex attractions refuse to act on their impulses, let alone making it their cultural identity ( “ gay ” ). Our children should be taught the importance of bad thoughts versus actions, and our constant internal Jihad to do what is right, deriving strength from our Islamic practices such as Prayer. Our Ahmadi Muslim identity must in the end trump any false sexual identity the culture tries to impose. It is noteworthy that scores of people, even in our current state of society, have successfully fought off same-sex desires, and lead perfectly happy marriages with the opposite sex as God intended. One useful analogy to consider is that men and women who are married to each other may have desires for others. Just because they are married to each other, it does not mean they cannot have attraction to others. However, that does not mean we act on our thoughts to cheat on our spouses; we have to control our desires, which is going against our own biologic nature. The same applies to people who are not married yet or, for whatever reason, those who cannot marry – they are to remain chaste for the sake of Allah and for their own good. Even if there is some kind of genetic or biological influence on sexual behavior, it in no way excuses or justifies any kind of act. For example, there may be genes predisposing one toward violent tempers or addictive behaviors. It still behooves a person to follow a moral life, though his/her trials may be greater than average. On the theological angle, Allah will judge people according to their capacity and does not hold us accountable for stray evil thoughts that arise. He will only hold us accountable if we act upon those thoughts.