Malaysian Islamic Development Department said elements such as the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement are an attack on the institution of the family in the week’s Friday sermon. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 — The week’s Friday sermon from Malaysia’s foremost Islamic authority has warned Muslims against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) movement.

Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) said these elements are an attack on the institution of the family , adding that the queer movement is supported by secular humanism and liberalism

“This confusion of identity will taint the image of Islam itself and can bring disasters and punishment of Allah. Reflect on Sadom and Ammurah, two states at the edge of the Dead Sea in Jordan,” said the sermon.

Sadom and Ammurah refer to Sodom and Gomorrah, the two biblical cities originally appearing in the Jewish Torah, which are said to have been destroyed were by fire and brimstone as judgment from God

In the Quran, they are mentioned as the “people of Lot”, referring to the prophet sent by Allah to preach against their lust and sins.

The existence of the twin cities however remains debated among due to the lack of acheological evidence at their supposed sites.

“Think, do we want disastrous and catastrophical ruin to befall us because we fail to defend the teachings of Islam?” asked Jakim in the sermon titled “The challenge of forming families in the millenium”.

The sermon also urged parents to play their role in educating their children to resist foreign influences and Western lifestyle which affect their faith.

Homosexuality in itself is not a crime in Malaysia but is considered taboo in the religiously-conservative country, including among followers of Islam.

Oral and anal sex are both prohibited under the country’s Penal Code, while each state’s Shariah criminal enactments also prohibit Muslims from cross-dressing, laws of which have been used to persecute the local transgender community.

Debate was ignited after the Court of Appeal delivered a landmark ruling last week, declaring that a Shariah law in Negri Sembilan outlawing cross-dressing is unconstitutional and failed to take into account medical evidences.

A group of Shariah lawyers and Muslim activists have since banded to aid Negri Sembilan to challenge the ruling in the Federal Court in a bid to keep the anti-transgender law.