God created Adam and Eve; not Adam and Steve

As Nigeria and some other African countries including Ghana outlaw gay marriage, Britain and other western nations have threatened to cut aid to governments that pass laws persecuting homosexuals; a threat that has helped to hold back such legislation in aid-dependent nations such as Uganda and Malawi. African leaders must resist, using all means, the […]

As Nigeria and some other African countries including Ghana outlaw gay marriage, Britain and other western nations have threatened to cut aid to governments that pass laws persecuting homosexuals; a threat that has helped to hold back such legislation in aid-dependent nations such as Uganda and Malawi. African leaders must resist, using all means, the bullying mentality of Britain and other World Bank or Paris Club members who find pleasure in intimidating poor developing countries of Africa against preserving their societal values. If any “aid” must be tied to a destructive condition, let that “aid” never come our way. Leaders of developing countries in Africa need to have a mind-set like the one nurtured by former Malaysia’s 4th Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohammed (July 1981- October 2003) who instead of relying completely or looking up to Europe in their journey to economic self-dependence and reliance searched for development models in Asia with his “Look East Policy.
The entire human race, we are told in the Qur’an, descended from a pair of parents Adam and Eve (Hauwa). Allah (SWT) affirms in Qur’an 49:13 “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female…” All things, indeed, are created in pairs (of male and female); with each gender performing it’s perfectly assigned function to fulfill its obligation that is part of the creative process designed by Allah (SWT) to make procreation an unbroken process. Allah (SWT) states in Qur’an 53:45 “That, He did create in pairs, male and female”. From time, this has remained the natural law of procreation by which mankind has continued to live on.
In the two verses of the Qur’an quoted in the preceding paragraph, Allah (SWT) did not mention male and male or female and female in His description of the process of procreation among mankind. Describing the exclusive role of each gender in procreation, Allah (SWT) explains in Qur’an 2:187 “Permitted to you on the night of fasts, is the approach to your wives. They are your garments and ye are their garments…” What this verse means is that men and women are each other’s clothing; fitting into each as a garment fits the body. A man and a woman (as husband and wife) are beneficial to one another in terms of mutual support, mutual comfort, and mutual protection. These are not utilities that can be attained through any kind of relationship, as artificial as it may appear, between two persons of same gender.
Building upon this premise, which is more of a natural law, it really sounds absurd that any sensible person would imagine entering into a matrimonial relationship called “gay marriage” with another fellow of the same gender. Gay marriage is also known as same-sex marriage or homosexual marriage. This kind of marriage, though un-natural, is a ceremonial union of two people of the same gender. Homosexual women identify with the term “lesbian” while their male counterparts identify with the term “gay” to describe their sexual orientation.
The two popular religions of Islam and Christianity in Nigeria have no place for same-gender marriage in their respective cultures. Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 describe it as forbidden by God. In Qur’an 7:80-81, Allah (SWT) condemns the evil act and states: “We also (sent) Lut. He said to his people: Do ye commit lewdness such as no people in creation (ever) committed before you? For ye practice your lusts on men in preference to women: Ye are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds”. Lut as referred to in this Qur’anic text is the Lot of the English Bible. He was a nephew of Abraham, and was sent as Messenger and Warner to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah; both were cities destroyed for their unutterable sins. For a more detailed story of this destruction, Qur’an 27:54-58 and the 19th chapter of Genesis (verses 24-26) of the Bible may provide a good reading.
A self-confessed lesbian who gave her name as Dr Obiowu while reacting on behalf of Nigerians in Diaspora to the senate debate on the bill that sought (then in October 2011) to outlaw same-gender marriage described the move by the National Assembly as a gross violation of their fundamental human right. But if one may ask Obiowu, did she come into this world through a marriage contracted between a man and a woman or between a woman and another woman? I think those who think that they have a right to be allowed to live as homosexuals should have their heads examined by a psychiatrist.
Now that gay-marriage or relationship has been outlawed, it is time for Nigeria’s lawmakers to also review the existing laws on rape, which incidence in recent times has reached an alarming proportion. The punishment meted on offenders is, perhaps, not severe and deterring enough to curtail the high prevalence of the crime in modern Nigeria. May Allah (SWT) guide our leaders in the legislative as well as the executive arms, to make appropriate laws that will preserve our national and religious values, amin.