foucault-and-the-iranian-revolution-janet-afary

Foucault, Gender, and Male Homosexualities 159
Western journalist: "If you want a haliq-a boy for sex-you have to follow
the boy for a long time before he will agree . . . . At first [FareedJ was afraid,
so I bought him some chocolate and gave him a lot of money . . . . I went
step by step and after about six or seven months, he agreed . " Fareed told the
Western observer that while he hid the relationship from his older brothers
and parents he did "not regret being lured into a relationship by his older
friend." Now that he was nineteen, he "would do the same to a young boy"
and was in fact looking for a suitable lover (A4). By 1995, it should be noted,
Kandahar was already under Taliban rule.
The prevalence of these forms of homosexuality in Afghanistan, Iran, and
elsewhere in the Middle East means that, despite explicit prohibitions of homosexuality
in the Quran, a certain degree of latitude can also be found in
many religious treatises reflecting both a degree of cultural tolerance and the
lived experience of Muslims . Shi'ite Muslim manuals define the daily conduct
of the believers and their mandatory rituals of purification. They might
state explicitly that homosexuality is a sin, but many of these manuals also
include a brief section outlining the necessary rituals of cleansing for men
(either partner) who have engaged in sodomy or bestiality.
Ayatollah Khomeini's 1947 manual, RisaZeh-yi Towzih al-masa'il (Explanation
of problems), is a case in point . Article 349 of this book states that "if a
person has sex and [his organ] enters [the other person's body] to the point
where it is circumcised [corona) or more, whether he enters a woman or a
man, from behind or the front, an adult or pre -adult youngster, and even if
no semen is secreted, both persons will become ritually polluted (najes) ." But
ritual impurity can always be cleansed away through the observance of rules
stated in the same manual. Likewise, under the category of incest, Khomeini
makes a distinction between "sodomy " with a man/boy who is related to
a woman one intends to marry (her son, brother, or father), in which case
that marriage may not take place (Article 2405), and sodomy with the same
man after marriage to his female relative, in which case the marriage is still
valid. "In the case of a person who marries the mother, sister, or daughter
of a man and after marriage has sodomite relations with that man [his wife ]
will not become unlawful to him" (Article 2407). Similar statements appear
in the manuals of Ayatollahs Montazari and Golpaygani. Persons who have
engaged in such sexual acts can achieve ritual cleansing by performing a tenpoint
guideline of ablution (ghosl-i Janabat) and observing penitence in the
form of fasting and giving alms to the poor (Khomeini 1947, articles 357-
66). Here we see that some Shi'ite theologians are quite accommodating of
what are officially seen as sexual transgressions, provided proper rituals of
cleansing and penance are performed . Moreover, unlike Roman Catholicism,