LUDOVIC ZAHED ONE OF THE FIRST OPENLY GAY MUSLIM CLERICS

Contents:

• MEET AMERI’S FIRST OPENLY GAY IMAM
• MEET DAAYIEE ABDULLAH, AMERI'S GAY IMAM
• THERE ARE 8 OPENLY GAY IMAMS THE WORLD: DAAYIEE ABDULLAH
• LIFE AS A GAY IMAM ISN'T AS BAD AS IT SOUNDS
• IN A SURVEY OF AMERIN MLIMS, 0% INTIFIED AS LBIAN OR GAY. HERE’S THE STORY BEHD THAT STATISTIC
• 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
• AMERI’S FIRST OPENLY GAY IMAM REFLECTS ON ORLANDO MASSACRE
• THE RADIL: A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT WORLD’S FIRST GAY IMAM
• OPENLY GAY IMAM CREAT ONLE SCHOOL FOR LGBTQ-FRIENDLY ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY
• AFFIRMG MOSQU HELP GAY MLIMS RENCILE FAH, SEXUALY
• AS A GAY IMAM, I KNOW THAT ISLAM IS NOT ANTI-LGBTQ+
• DIPLOMATIC TENSN REPORTEDLY RISG BETWEEN UNED STAT AND JAMAI OVER GAY AMERIN DIPLOMAT
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• GAY UNSELOR'S FIRG BY INDIANAPOLIS CATHOLIC SCHOOL PERMTED BY FERAL APPEALS URT

MEET AMERI’S FIRST OPENLY GAY IMAM

But Imam Daayiee Abdullah – believed to be the only openly gay imam the Ameris – is proud of his story. 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.

MEET DAAYIEE ABDULLAH, AMERI'S GAY IMAM

"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.

Hse Rashid, an adjunct profsor of relign at Hofstra Universy and ntributor to a report on homosexualy U. “But the tradn was and remas that homosexualy is a s Mlim tradn.

The var scholars who ntributed to the project’s report emphasized that there is no sgular terpretatn of homosexualy Islam. "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.

THERE ARE 8 OPENLY GAY IMAMS THE WORLD: DAAYIEE ABDULLAH

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.

Last year, a gay-iendly mosque opened Paris – Europe’s first. Muhs Hendricks, an openly gay imam Capetown, South Ai, has for years been leadg ngregants and preachg that homosexualy and Islam are not patible. It's OK to be gay and Mlim, acrdg to Daayiee Abdullah, an imam Washgton, D.

Abdullah is thought to be the only openly gay imam the Uned Stat, a signatn he says he is pleased to have.

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

Drsed sually a tank top, shorts, and baseball p bearg the logo of a chary where he volunteers, Abdullah is, many ways, not your typil jovial 61-year-old has followed a wdg and unnventnal path around the world that led him to bee a lear the gay Mlim muny the U. It was shortly before his 16th birthday when he told them he was gay.

Abdullah moved to San Francis after llege and joed a muny of activists fightg for gay rights. Abdullah has nducted 65 weddgs over the years, cludg marriag between gay Mlims and for ter-fah upl. Daayiee Abdullah says other imams treat him rpectfully spe his ntroversial belief that is acceptable to be Mlim and gay.

(Meagan Fzpatrick/CBC News)"Those who say there's somethg the Qur'an that says 's agast homosexualy are g their own terpretatn of what they thk the Qur'an says, " Abdullah said. "Beg gay is not socially acceptable Islam, but that view n't legimately be based on the Qur'an, he acknowledg the way he terprets that Qur'an is an "alternative view.

IN A SURVEY OF AMERIN MLIMS, 0% INTIFIED AS LBIAN OR GAY. HERE’S THE STORY BEHD THAT STATISTIC

"Abdullah's homosexualy and beliefs have at tim ma him an outsir his fah, but general he said other imams Washgton treat him "rpectfully.

Seekg acceptance, not toleranceAs a unsellor he has helped gay youth and their parents navigate the challeng of beg gay and Mlim. Abdullah said some stanc parents are supportive but worry their muni may not be gay Mlims are treated pends on what part of the world they live , Abdullah said.

- Daayiee AbdullahThis unual imam, one of a handful known the world to be openly gay, said he don't seek tolerance about his sexualy and his relign, he is lookg for acceptance. ” 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”.

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

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.

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

’”Same-sex marriage has been legally regnised sce 2006 South Ai, which is more acceptg of homosexualy than many Ain untri. Acrdg to Masjidul Ghurbaah visors such as Khan, though, homophobia is still mon the cy’s mosqu.

AMERI’S FIRST OPENLY GAY IMAM REFLECTS ON ORLANDO MASSACRE

“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. 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.

OPENLY GAY IMAM CREAT ONLE SCHOOL FOR LGBTQ-FRIENDLY ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY

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. E: I lerally knew nobody else that, you know, intified as such - plenty of Christians, even some Jewish dividuals, but not Other relig muni are havg the same ternal stggl about cln and homophobia.

A survey by Pew Rearch Center asked people whether, quote, "homosexualy should be accepted by society.

AFFIRMG MOSQU HELP GAY MLIMS RENCILE FAH, SEXUALY

Imam Daiyiee Abdullah, 65, is one of the few openly gay Mlim clerics. The percentage of Amerin Mlims who said society should accept homosexualy has doubled the last , to 52%, and is even higher among Millennials.

Ani Zonneveld says she receiv lls regularly om young gay and lbian Mlims who have been threatened by their fay or are aaid to reveal their sexual inty. Acrdg to a recent survey of more than 800 Amerin Mlims, 0% intified as gay or lbian. That diversy also appli to attus towards gay, lbian and transgenr people.

AS A GAY IMAM, I KNOW THAT ISLAM IS NOT ANTI-LGBTQ+

Mlims disagree on how to terpret the Pew survey that showed an creasg acceptance of homosexualy. Now, Qadhi often prefac his remarks about homosexualy by notg that “feelgs and clatns” are not themselv sful, and that homosexual acts should not be sgled out for special nmnatn. Mogahed herself me unr attack several years ago after a Gallup survey showed that no Brish Mlims – as , 0% – said homosexualy was morally acceptable.

Right wg provotrs such as Milo Yiannopoulos seized on the survey to portray Mlims as a threat to gays and lbians.

“Sometim people make rogatory remarks, like: There’s that gay imam, ” Abdullah said. Some closeted LGBT Mlims feared of beg associated wh “the gay mosque, ” he said. Of the 804 Amerin Mlims polled, not one intified as gay or lbian.

DIPLOMATIC TENSN REPORTEDLY RISG BETWEEN UNED STAT AND JAMAI OVER GAY AMERIN DIPLOMAT

If 92% of Amerin Mlims intified as straight, she said, then the remag 8% may be lbian or gay, even if they’re reluctant say so.

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.

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

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.

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.

GAY UNSELOR'S FIRG BY INDIANAPOLIS CATHOLIC SCHOOL PERMTED BY FERAL APPEALS URT

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.

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.