Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World, 1500-1800 (56 page)

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Authors: Khaled El-Rouayheb

BOOK: Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World, 1500-1800
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conceded that “kissing, fondling, and intercrural intercourse
(mufa
khadhah)
are minor sins (
sagha
ʾir
),” but added that they became major sins if done with the wife of a neighbor, illustrating the general principle that a minor sin, such as nonpenetrative sex, becomes a major sin in conjunction with another minor sin such as abusing the trust of a neighbor.
124
He went on to assert that looking with lust at a boy did not contravene the juridical status of being “of good character” (
ʿadl
), which made one eligible to be a witness in a court of law.
125
The Egyptian Ma
liki
scholar Muhammad al-Dasu
qi
(d. 1815 made the same point: isolated instances of looking with lust at a woman or beardless boy did not disqualify one from being a witness in a court, though making a regular habit of it
(al-idma
n
) did. The principle applied in general to the antecedents of fornication—in other words to all nonpenetrative sexual acts
(wa hiya ma
ʿada
al-i
la
j.
126
Another Egyptian Ma
liki

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