Meet Ameri’s First Openly Gay Imam | Al Jazeera Ameri

Contents:

• A GAY IMAM'S STORY: 'THE DIALOGUE IS OPEN ISLAM – 10 YEARS AGO WASN'T'
• LUDOVIC ZAHED ONE OF THE FIRST OPENLY GAY MUSLIM CLERICS IN THE WORLD
• THERE ARE 8 OPENLY GAY IMAMS THE WORLD: DAAYIEE ABDULLAH
• MEET AMERI’S FIRST OPENLY GAY IMAM
• LIFE AS A GAY IMAM ISN'T AS BAD AS IT SOUNDS
• IMAM FRANCE MARRI TWO GAY MLIMS

A GAY IMAM'S STORY: 'THE DIALOGUE IS OPEN ISLAM – 10 YEARS AGO WASN'T'

For many people, beg gay and Mlim seems oxymoronic, patible to be openly both. But Ludovic Zahed, the first out gay imam Europe and one of the first openly gay Mlim clerics the world, has ma his life’s missn to bridge the gap between the two seemgly disparate worlds by challengg the domant, closed-md, tolerant terpretatn of Islam.

At the age of twelve his homosexualy was awakened when he started havg feelgs for an olr iend, then later as a teen Zahed dated a Frenchman.

LUDOVIC ZAHED ONE OF THE FIRST OPENLY GAY MUSLIM CLERICS IN THE WORLD

When he fally accepted beg gay and began explorg his sexualy while at universy Algeria, he felt he had to leave Islam behd. “I uldn’t really unrstand how my homosexualy uld be so vlently rejected, spe the fact I had done nothg wrong and was tryg to live a good life.

THERE ARE 8 OPENLY GAY IMAMS THE WORLD: DAAYIEE ABDULLAH

Subsequently he traveled to Tibet and wnsed homophobia there as well.

Ludovic then cid to return to his Islamic roots and explore s teachgs more eply, but “The only reprentatn of Islam I had ever experienced was a fascist, misogynistic, anti-semic and homophobic one, which I strongly reject as reprentg my spirual tradn that I believe is spired by peace.

Mastream Islam nsirs homosexualy a s, and ’s a crimal offense most Arab and Mlim untri, punishable by imprisonment or, as Sdi Arabia and Iran, even ath.

MEET AMERI’S FIRST OPENLY GAY IMAM

Islamic State groups such as the Taliban and ISIS have taken this to an extreme, relishg public beheadgs or tossg homosexuals off of roof tops. This prevailg sentiment forc many homosexuals unrground and to miserable marriag. Dpe the pronouncements of many Mlim scholars, the Quran and Hadh’s stance on homosexualy is far more plex than most Mlims realize.

For centuri Arab-Mlim societi were more tolerant of homosexualy than European on, but sce the early 20th century, the tabl have turned. Most Wtern untri have creasgly enacted LGBTQ-iendly laws, while homophobic views predomate the Mlim world.

LIFE AS A GAY IMAM ISN'T AS BAD AS IT SOUNDS

One ntent analysis emerg om postlonial theory claimg that wterners troduced homophobia to Islam, a culture that prevly had neher a ncept nor a problem wh same-sex attractn.

IMAM FRANCE MARRI TWO GAY MLIMS

After studyg Islamic theology for five years, Ludovic pleted his humani doctorate on the topic “Sexual Mori at the Vanguard of Chang the Islam of France” and published his this on “LGBT Mlims facg Obscurantism and Homo-natnalism. Though 2010 he found the anizatn HM2F, Homosexuel(l) mulman() France (Mlim Homosexuals of France), as well as the associatn for young French people livg wh HIV/AIDS (TMDES), his path to beg a functng imam was sparked om an unexpected directn.

Its openg was met wh mixed rponse om the France’s Mlim muny; the spokman for the Grand Mosque of Paris cried that Ludovic’s prayer room was “outsi the Islamic muny” and that “the Quran nmns homosexualy. “I was the first gay imam Europe, and for a number of years there were jt two others, Daayiee Abdullah the USA and Muhsh Hendricks South Ai.

Now I know of about a dozen gay imams around the world.