Medieval reports of Islamic homosexuality were mostly hearsay, not firsthand observation.

Evidence

At the same time we must not ourselves exaggerate the significance of this witness of Islamic depravity. An account by Verona which bears the marks of authenticity is explicitly directed against the Cairene mamlik Court, and more general allegations are less obviously authentic. It is worthy of note that Tripoli praises Baybars for his freedom from this vice, and that many writers with personal knowledge of life in Islamic societies made no allegations of personal knowledge of the commission of homosexual acts, although they subscribed to the general opinion that Islam did tolerate or encourage them. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 799