That Islamic State has claimed credit for the murder of gay men and women dancing in an Orlando, Florida, nightclub should come as no surprise. Gay people living under the terror group's rule are routinely hunted and murdered because of their sexuality.More broadly, the persecution of LGBT communities is rife throughout the Arab world.Yet there is a growing debate among modern Islamic scholars as to whether the Koran does, in fact, ban homosexuality.Although Islamic State often justifies its approach as a throwback to a previous era, earlier Islamic societies were less hardline and European chroniclers used to fume at indulgent attitudes to gay sex in the Caliphs' courts.Experts say the IS terror group's brutal punishments for apparently gay men are as much about recruitment strategy as they are about Islamic teachings.The canon of Islam, like Christianity, contains a raft of brutal lessons that have not been put to use by even the strictest of Muslim countries. According to Hassan Hassan, a leading author on IS's rise to power, the terror group singles out such lessons - among them the practice of throwing gay men from buildings - as a way of convincing new recruits that they, and not mainstream imams, hold the key to uncovering Islam in its purest form. ..