identified biblically, later talmudic law extends the prohibition to women as well. The prohibitions are codified in Maimonides' authoritative 12th-century work, the Mishneh Torah. Maimonides distinguishes between male homosexual acts, which are capital crimes, and female homosexual acts, which are merely "obscene". In other words, Judaism categorically rejects the notion that homosexuality constitutes a legitimate alternative life-style.

For some time now, the new thinking in Christianity and Judaism is "homosexuals and lesbians are present in the world as a sign of the rich diversity of creation, and their homosexual expression is as natural and good in every way as heterosexuality." The merging view, as pointed out by McNeil is that "the love between two lesbians or two homosexuals, assuming that it is a constructive human love, is not sinful nor does it alienate the lovers from God's plan, but can be a holy love, mediating God's presence in the human community as effectively as heterosexual love."

Islam looks at homosexuality and lesbianism as unnatural act of sex to satisfy one's passion. The Qur'ân gives the example of the people of Lut, (Prophet Lut) who, in spite of the warning from Prophet Lut they committed sodomy and their entire society became involved in it.

The Qur'ân speaks of them in the following words:
"We also sent Lût; he said to his people: 'Do you commit adultery as no people in creation (ever) committed before you? For you practise your lusts on men in preference to women: you are indeed a people transgressing beyond limit."
Islam therefore considers homosexuality a great sin and a crime punishable by Islamic law. Muslim jurists however differ regarding the nature of punishment. According to the Hanafi school of legal thought, the act of sodomy does not amount to adultery and therefore there is no specified punishment to be given to the offender and the decision will be left to the judge and the court. The Mâliki school on the other hand argues that hadd punishment will be applied whether the offender is married or not. Shafi'i, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaibani maintain that the married offender will face the the hadd of stoning to death while the unmarried will face the Ta'azir [any penalty the judge decides to apply]. According to Sayyid al-Khoi of the Ja'fari school of jurisprudence, the offender will be treated in the same way as the one committing adultery and must face the hadd.

(Editors note:  This abridged version of Shaykh Michael's article contains without any major alteration the Introduction, discourses on Qur'an, ahadith and rulings and his conclusion.  The unpublished parts of the article are a series of thorough and detailed reports on different types of pornography, case histories, offences and offenders that are of value to specialists in this area of social law rather than for a discussion of the Sharia issues.)