just yesterday i was told by a dear friend she attended an LGBT muslim retreat in philadelphia that drew 100s of people. she’s now planning to connect with queer muslims in toronto. makes sense. pls read.
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Samra Habib: Jamila Tharp, an imam who has been organizing queer-friendly prayer spaces since 2011, says that “all religions can be used as a tool for oppression and to harm people and the creation. LGBTQI Muslims deserve to feel and to know that Allah is not the excuse for their oppression. It’s up to us as people to reclaim our faith in Islam as a loving faith and live into our faith.”
It’s an experience shared with Biser Akolav, who had written off Islam until he saw Imam Ludovic Mohamed Zahed, one of the first openly gay imams in Europe, speak in Brussels. Although his parents urged him to keep his sexuality a secret, he decided to embrace himself after seeing Ludovic speak. “It was an inspiring moment for me. It gave me the power to stand up and to claim that I can be gay and at the same time be a good Muslim,” Biser says. “With every mosque visit, my personal relationship with Islam is restored and my experiences feel validated. We’re all questioning and re-imagining what it means to be Muslim in the 21st century and how to apply Islamic teachings to our present-day lives.” More here.