Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World, 1500-1800
(Author) Khaled El-RouayhebAttitudes toward homosexuality in the pre-modern Arab-Islamic world are commonly depicted as schizophrenic—visible and tolerated on one hand, prohibited by Islam on the other. Khaled El-Rouayheb argues that this apparent paradox is based on the anachronistic assumption that homosexuality is a timeless, self-evident fact to which a particular culture reacts with some degree of tolerance or intolerance. Drawing on poetry, biographical literature, medicine, dream interpretation, and Islamic texts, he shows that the culture of the period lacked the concept of homosexuality.
Khaled El-Rouayheb
Khaled El-Rouayheb is a renowned scholar of Islamic intellectual history, known for his groundbreaking work "Islamic Intellectual History in the Seventeenth Century." His meticulous research and analytical approach shed light on the complexities of Islamic thought during this period, making significant contributions to the field of literature.