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

Contents:

• LGBTQI+IMAM ET GAY, IL OUVRE UN LI PRIèRE CLIF à MARSEILLE
• A GAY IMAM'S STORY: 'THE DIALOGUE IS OPEN ISLAM – 10 YEARS AGO WASN'T'
• IMAM FRANCE MARRI TWO GAY MLIMS
• LUDOVIC ZAHED ONE OF THE FIRST OPENLY GAY MUSLIM CLERICS IN THE WORLD
• THERE ARE 8 OPENLY GAY IMAMS THE WORLD: DAAYIEE ABDULLAH
• OUTRAGE AS FRENCH GAY IMAM SAID QURAN DON’T PROHIB HOMOSEXUALY
• FRANCE: AN OPENLY GAY IMAM
• MEET AMERI’S FIRST OPENLY GAY IMAM

LGBTQI+IMAM ET GAY, IL OUVRE UN LI PRIèRE CLIF à MARSEILLE

Connu me le premier imam gay France et portr d'un islam ouvert sur l qutns LGBTQ, Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed t sur le pot d'ouvrir à Marseille un stut religix où "chacun. BERLIN – An imam France has approved the marriage of two men who had prevly married South Ai, where same-sex marriage is legal, but the French ernment ref to regnize Mlim spirual lear offered his blsg to French- Algerian Ludovic Mohamed Zahed and his partner, Qiyam al-D, a South Ain, durg a ceremony outsi Paris Febary News, Europe’s largt gay news service, reported on Monday about the marriage.

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

“I was the lecture hall when an imam – who cintally, is gay himself – troduced me to D. ”In an email to The Jesalem Post, Yoav Sivan, an Israeli journalist livg New York, who wr for Gay Cy News, noted that same-sex has been legal South Ai sce 2006. “It might be too early to ame this enuragg event as a trend, but is not too early to take as a remr to stop g homosexualy as a polil weapon agast Islam and relign general, ” Sivan, who served on the boards of Aguda, the Israeli Lbian Gay Bisexual Transgenr (LGBT) Associatn, the Jesalem Open Hoe and the Israeli board of the World Jewish Congrs, add that the “acceptance of homosexualy among muni of fah n only rult om activism om the si, om those who are mted to relign jt as much as they are mted to progrs.

”Wrg by email om New York to the Post, Jayson Ltman, the founr of He’bro, an anizatn for gay Jews, noted, “Any time we see gay men or women of fah marryg acrdance wh their relig beliefs and proud to do so, brgs the entire LGBT muny of fah one step closer acceptg the different parts of who we are. ” Many tim LGBT people om relig backgrounds e out as gay, but leave their fah the very closet they left, he said. ”Ludovic told al-Bawaba he has known he was gay sce he was young.

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

IMAM FRANCE MARRI TWO GAY MLIMS

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. 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. 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.

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

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.

THERE ARE 8 OPENLY GAY IMAMS THE WORLD: DAAYIEE ABDULLAH

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.

OUTRAGE AS FRENCH GAY IMAM SAID QURAN DON’T PROHIB HOMOSEXUALY

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.

FRANCE: AN OPENLY GAY IMAM

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. Today we all trag more and more clive imams, men and women, gays, trans, or heterosexuals, to clu everyone their prayers. (Gay marriage France was legalized 2013.

MEET AMERI’S FIRST OPENLY GAY IMAM

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.

Portras Of Gay Pri — Cape Town.