Yasir Qadhi is the Dean of Academic Affairs at AlMaghrib Institute in Houston, Texas.
Commenting on the recent ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States on LBGTQ rights in employment and as customers, Yasir Qadhi clarified that this ruling contradicts the teachings of Islam. According to Yasir Qadhi, “from the paradigm of many religiously conservative folks, sexuality is not the same as one’s ethnicity or skin color for reasons that are self-evident.” Yasir Qadhi stated (Facebook – June 15, 2020):
The Supreme Court of the United States has now ruled that employers or business owners discriminating against potential or current employees or customers based on their sexual orientation (LBGTQ+) is a civil crime.
For those who are not aware, as part of the Civil Rights movement, in 1964 America passed the Civil Rights Title VII, which guaranteed equal employment opportunity for all people, and prohibited discriminating against anyone on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
What today’s ruling from the Supreme Court has done is to claim that the LGBTQ+ lifestyle is also ‘included’ in this act. Therefore, just like someone of a different ethnicity can potentially sue an employer for not hiring him, or sue a business for not providing a standard service to him (think of a hotel owner selectively denying a room to someone because of their race), now, someone who identifies with any segment of the LGBTQ+ community had the equal right to sue, provided that in can be proven that such a discrimination was the result of his orientation.
This law will definitely pose a new set of challenges to certain segments of religiously conservative folks (remember the baker in Colorado?).
It should be pointed out that, as of yet, houses of worship are somewhat exempt (it is a grey area), because, as an example, you can’t expect a Catholic Church to hire a Baptist minister; but at the same time there is talk that houses of worship should not be able to deny on the basis of race (which is great!), and if that were to happen, obviously sexual orientation might be next.
Some are considering this a landmark victory akin to the Civil Rights; however from the paradigm of many religiously conservative folks, sexuality is not the same as one’s ethnicity or skin color for reasons that are self-evident. Br. Mobeen Vaid gave a good talk on this issue that I’ll link to in the comments below.