A gay imam's story: 'The dialogue is open Islam – 10 years ago wasn't' | World Enomic Fom

Contents:

• THERE ARE 8 OPENLY GAY IMAMS THE WORLD: DAAYIEE ABDULLAH
• MEET AMERI’S FIRST OPENLY GAY IMAM
• A GAY IMAM'S STORY: 'THE DIALOGUE IS OPEN ISLAM – 10 YEARS AGO WASN'T'
• LIFE AS A GAY IMAM ISN'T AS BAD AS IT SOUNDS
• MEET THE GAY IMAM CHANGG ATTUS OM WH
• GAY IMAM SOUTH AI IS HAPPILY MARRIED
• THE RADIL: A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT WORLD’S FIRST GAY IMAM
• LUDOVIC ZAHED ONE OF THE FIRST OPENLY GAY MUSLIM CLERICS IN THE WORLD
• MLIM ATTUS ABOUT LGBT ARE PLEX, FAR OM UNIVERSALLY ANTI-GAY
• THE SECRET MOSQU OPENG THEIR DOORS TO GAY MLIMS
• MEET THE GAY IMAM WHO STARTED SOUTH AI'S FIRST LGBTIQ IENDLY MOSQUE
• GAY MLIMS FD SANCTUARY SOUTH AI'S 'PEOPLE'S MOSQUE'
• GAY IMAM OF PAKISTANI ORIG TELLS HIS STORY OF PE : PART 1
• IMAMS AND HOMOSEXUALY: A POST-GAY BATE THE NETHERLANDSIMAMS AND HOMOSEXUALY: A POST-GAY BATE THE NETHERLANDSIMAMS AND HOMOSEXUALY: A POST-GAY BATE THE NETHERLANDSIMAMS AND HOMOSEXUALY: A POST-GAY BATE THE NETHERLANDSIMAMS AND HOMOSEXUALY: A POST-GAY BATE THE NETHERLANDS

THERE ARE 8 OPENLY GAY IMAMS THE WORLD: DAAYIEE ABDULLAH

Ain-Amerin Daayiee Abdullah (62) is one of the few publicly gay imams the world.

Durg my rearch Sdi Arabia, I found posive terpretatn on homosexualy Quran.

It is not difficult for an dividual to be openly a gay imam but pends on the cultural ntext. In the Wt, there is much more acceptance of gay imams or Mlim gays. But Imam Daayiee Abdullah – believed to be the only openly gay imam the Ameris – is proud of his story.

MEET AMERI’S FIRST OPENLY GAY IMAM

But as a gay man Ameri, he saw that lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr Mlims had unmet spirual needs and he beme an imam to provi muny support. "Beg an openly gay imam and havg been intified as such, I do get a lot of feedback and also kickback, but that's OK, " said Imam Daayiee Abdullah, of Washgton, D.

"Beg an openly gay imam and havg been intified as such, I do get a lot of feedback and also kickback, but that's OK, ” he said.

“If you go to most Mlim scholars, they're gog to tell you that homosexual acts are a s Islam; that there's no way around , ” said Dr.

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

Hse Rashid, an adjunct profsor of relign at Hofstra Universy and ntributor to a report on homosexualy U. The var scholars who ntributed to the project’s report emphasized that there is no sgular terpretatn of homosexualy Islam.

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

"I thk Daayiee is tryg to say, 'Y, I n be gay and I n be a Mlim, and I n tend to people who are also gay and Mlim, ' that this is part of their inty as a human beg and that the relign of Islam teach people to embrace all aspects of their humany, " he said. Though is unknown how many Amerin Mlims or Mlims around the world are gay, a growg number are vyg to be heard.

The film “I Am Gay and Mlim” tracks several gay Morocn men as they explore their relig and sexual inti. Muhs Hendricks, an openly gay imam Capetown, South Ai, has for years been leadg ngregants and preachg that homosexualy and Islam are not patible.

MEET THE GAY IMAM CHANGG ATTUS OM WH

” Khan was born to the Mlim fah, while Ty – who intifi as non-bary – is a recent pansexual uple are among a dozen or so people who have gathered to listen to Muhs Hendricks, often lled “the world’s first openly gay imam”. Unterred, he ntued to spread the msage that beg gay and Mlim are not patible, and is now the subject of a new documentary film, The Radil, which has s European premiere Berl this prayer at Masjadul Ghurbhh.

”In 2011 Hendricks bolstered his role as an imam figure by settg up a mosque space after a iend endured a lol sermon nmng homosexualy. ’”Same-sex marriage has been legally regnised sce 2006 South Ai, which is more acceptg of homosexualy than many Ain untri.

GAY IMAM SOUTH AI IS HAPPILY MARRIED

Acrdg to Masjidul Ghurbaah visors such as Khan, though, homophobia is still mon the cy’s mosqu. “Havg a space where you n experience your culture and relign whout severe homophobia is very appealg, ” says Khan. ”skip past newsletter promotnafter newsletter promotnHendricks says there’s nothg the Qur’an that “should be ed as blanket nmnatn of homosexualy”.

He says there’s nothg the text that should be ed as blanket nmnatn of homosexualy. In 2019 he went to Kenya to promote LGBTQ+ rights ahead of the untry’s high urt upholdg anti-homosexualy laws current activism projects clu creatg onle vios Urdu and Hdi discsg LGBTQ+ Mlims.

THE RADIL: A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT WORLD’S FIRST GAY IMAM

He talks to the few other gay imams around the world, such as Atralia’s Nur Warsame and US-based Daayiee Abdullah, but remas the only one Ai. An Islamic scholar who broke taboos when he me out is empowerg gay Mlims around the world.

As the world’s first openly gay imam he has experienced plenty of rejectn, but now he hop that a new documentary – The Radil, chartg his missn to promote sexual diversy Islam – will be a step towards wir acceptance.

More surprisg was the luge of supportive msag – not least om a uple of fellow imams – and a realisatn of the sheer number of closeted gay Mlims. He found an unrground support group – the Inner Circle – helpg gay Mlims rencile their fah and sexualy.

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

As an Islamic scholar wh a gree om the Universy of Islamic Studi Pakistan, Muhs believ that homophobia is patible wh the Qur’an’s pictn of a “merciful and passnate” God, and that has been embedd the culture by centuri of patriarchal terpretatn. A documentary feature film about Muhs Hendricks, a Capetonian ex-drs signer who beme the world’s first openly gay imam, is premierg at the Enunters Internatnal Documentary Film Ftival.

The Radil film is already g a stir: while the first screengs have been sold out for weeks, there are already the mblgs of disntent om those who feel that beg gay is unacceptable wh Islam.

For many people, beg gay and Mlim seems oxymoronic, patible to be openly both.

MLIM ATTUS ABOUT LGBT ARE PLEX, FAR OM UNIVERSALLY ANTI-GAY

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.

THE SECRET MOSQU OPENG THEIR DOORS TO GAY MLIMS

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. 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.

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

MEET THE GAY IMAM WHO STARTED SOUTH AI'S FIRST LGBTIQ IENDLY MOSQUE

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.

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.

GAY MLIMS FD SANCTUARY SOUTH AI'S 'PEOPLE'S MOSQUE'

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. 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.

Today we all trag more and more clive imams, men and women, gays, trans, or heterosexuals, to clu everyone their prayers. Ludovic is currently focg on the tn of young imams (men, women, gays, trans and heterosexuals) and is always phg for a more progrsive Islam. As one of a ty number of openly gay imams  the world, Daayiee Abdullah has felt the stg of rebe om fellow Mlims.

GAY IMAM OF PAKISTANI ORIG TELLS HIS STORY OF PE : PART 1

And tradnal schools of Islamic law nsir homosexualy a grave Abdullah, a Washgton, D. Lawyer who studied Islam the Middle East, says that mastream Islamic teachg on gays mt change.

”In the days sce last’s week massacre at an Orlando gay nightclub, which a Mlim man killed 49 people, attentn has foced on homophobia among Mlims.

And gay Mlims have talked about livg between that rock of anti-gay anger and the hard place of Islamophobia that only creased after the Orlando attacks. Reports: Orlando gunman, wife exchanged texts durg rampageInvtigators are nsirg whether Omar Mateen was at least partially motivated by his abily to accept that he was gay. Mateen’s father said his son was disgted by two men he saw kissg days before the rampage, and that was up to God to al wh gays — not his son.

IMAMS AND HOMOSEXUALY: A POST-GAY BATE THE NETHERLANDSIMAMS AND HOMOSEXUALY: A POST-GAY BATE THE NETHERLANDSIMAMS AND HOMOSEXUALY: A POST-GAY BATE THE NETHERLANDSIMAMS AND HOMOSEXUALY: A POST-GAY BATE THE NETHERLANDSIMAMS AND HOMOSEXUALY: A POST-GAY BATE THE NETHERLANDS

Hackers add rabows, gay pri slogans to Islamic State acuntsAttus towards LBGT people  Mlim muni are plex, and far om universally Mlims, like Abdullah, are welg what they see as an openg wh their muni to addrs anti-gay attus. Past years, cludg Mlims for Progrsive Valu and the Mlim Alliance for Sexual and Genr young Mlims who often feel differently about homosexualy than their elrs are creasgly speakg out support of gay rights, as relign scholar Reza Aslan and edian Hasan Maj did an open letter to Amerin Mlims after last year’s Supreme Court cisn legalizg gay are potg toward the Quran and a history of relative tolerance. “In 1858 the Ottoman Empire crimalized homosexualy, 100 years before they did so the Wt, ” said Abdullah, referrg to the empire that led over Turkey and much of the prent-day Middle East the 15th and 16th centuri.

Its official relign was Abdullah is unr no illns about the strength of homophobia wh morn Mlim the U. S., a 2014 Pew Rearch Center study shows, Mlim Amerins are ls acceptg of homosexualy than Amerins as a whole: 47 percent of U.