Acknowledgements
The present study was a long academic journey that I embarked on in 2015 and which was gradually developed as this volume. However, the core of its substance came into existence as my PhD dissertation, submitted at the University of Exeter in 2021. I would like to thank the board of the al-Qasimi Scholarship for PhD Study at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter for funding my research. Without this generous support, this study would not have been possible. I am grateful to my remarkable supervisors: Robert Gleave and Susannah Cornwall. They were constant sources of support during the years I spent writing my dissertation.
Between January and March 2019, I was a visiting research fellow at the Centre for Social Justice and Global Responsibility at London South Bank University (LSBU) at the invitation of Shaminder Takhar. I am thankful to her for her hospitality and friendship. During my stay at LSBU, I was privileged to regularly meet with Professor Jeffrey Weeks to discuss topics concerning modern homosexuality and pre-homosexual categories with him. His excellent scholarship and insights helped me develop my ideas concerning the conceptualisation of homosexuality. I would also like to thank Kumail Rajani for his technical help in drawing those figures associated with the isnād of ḥadīth reports, and Majid Montazer Mahdi for carefully reading the glossary and providing helpful suggestions.
My thoughts on the topic have also benefitted from discussions with several scholars, including Ken Plummer, Christian Lange, Sajjad Rizvi, Ruard Ganzevoort, Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle, and Gert Hikma. Kecia Ali and Katherine Natanel provided me with several useful comments on the PhD version of the work. The two anonymous readers of Brill Academic Publishers wrote detailed and constructive reviews of the penultimate rendition. Kevin Reinhart, the editor of Brill’s Studies in Islamic Law and Society series, supported the idea of publishing this work and bestowed upon me invaluable advice throughout the publication process. The associate editor Nienke Brienen‑Moolenaar, production editor Pieter te Velde, and their colleagues at Brill diligently pursued and supervised matters concerning the publication. Sarah Campbell carefully edited the manuscript I submitted, amending or noticing several stylistic mistakes and enigmas. My work is significantly better due to the generous contributions of those who are mentioned. However, the remaining shortcomings are solely mine, as I certainly failed to do justice to all suggestions and remarks.
Last but not least, I am grateful to Rishi Kalloe, Rebecca Hooker, Asha Ali, Rudy Chotoe, Vanny Reyes, Ursula Woerner, and Arthur Dart for their precious friendship and love. I want to especially thank my family, in particular my sisters Maryam and Mahbub, who were always patient and supportive, although sometimes concerned about my turbulent journey.