Muslim psychologist Hanan Dover links gays with ‘thieves, killers’

She voiced solidarity with LGBTI Muslims after Orlando but previously denounced homosexuality as “evil”.

Sydney psychologist Hanan Dover sympathised with Orlando victims but has said ‘hard, personal work’ can change a person’s sexual orientation.

A prominent Islamic psychologist who this week voiced solidarity with LGBTI Muslims following the Orlando nightclub massacre has previously denounced homosexuality as “evil” and a “social dilemma”, saying sexual orientation could be changed through intensive psychotherapy.

Hanan Dover, who runs eight psychology practices in Sydney’s west, has also criticised secular colleagues who have urged Islam to become progressive and accept homosexual behaviour because they feel sorry for Muslim ­patients struggling with their ­feelings.

“If Allah loves homosexuals, he will also love thieves, murderers, liars, hypocrites, criminals,” Ms Dover told a public forum held at the University of Western Sydney in 2002.

“Did Allah make a mistake and say that homosexuality is (a sin) for about 1400 years and when humans are ready, they can start disobeying my laws … and I will start accepting all evils? C’mon!”

The registered clinical and forensic psychologist made the comments at a forum discussing Islam and homosexuality at the university’s Bankstown campus.

Ms Dover did not return calls or emails from The Australian yesterday to confirm whether her views still remained.

The Australian Psychological Society opposes any form of mental health practice that treats homosexuality as a disorder or seeks to change a person’s sexual orientation. Ms Dover had claimed to be working on a process of marrying Islam with psychotherapy to assist patients struggling with homosexuality, insisting that “changes … happen as a result of hard personal work”.

The US shootings have re­ignited the debate around Islamic opposition to homosexuality. British scholar Farrokh Sekaleshfar, who was in Australia for a speaking tour, left the country on Tuesday after his views on the death penalty were made public.

Ms Dover, who founded the non-profit Mission of Hope charity in Sydney and has been awarded for her contributions to the health and welfare of Muslim Australians, was one of about 30 signatories to sign a joint media statement from members of the Islamic community expressing condolences to those affected by the shootings in the US.

The group said of the “targeted attack“ that there was “no justification for such homophobia”.

“We would like to send a message to LGBTI Muslims who may be experiencing … shock and grief,” the statement says.

The statement conflicts with Ms Dover’s previous statement that the term “gay Muslim” was contradictory.

She has called on her community to take responsibility for the “increasing prevalence of Muslims who are ‘choosing’ to practice homosexuality”, which she blamed on television shows like Big Brother and Sex and the City, as well as the influence of non-­Islamic public schools

“If they end up at gay counsellors, the Muslims would walk in feeling confused and then after enough sexual brainwashing they will confidently come out and say ‘I am gay’,” Ms Dover said.

“They are like recruitment agencies, recruiting people to be like them.

“Pro-gay groups would probably want to call me a homophobe ... But I am no more a homophobe than they are an Islamophobe.”