Support “gay Muslims” with proper concepts! December 1, 2009
Posted by Rasheed Eldin in Concepts, Media, Responses.add a comment
Inayat Bunglawala is a British activist who is not afraid to express opinions that upset enemies of Islam and Muslims, or sometimes fellow Muslims. I appreciate his efforts, even if I disagree with some things he says. Recently he has supposedly opened debates on the place of ”homosexuals” (by which we mean here: people who identify as such, or same-sex attracted people who don’t) among the Muslim community - debates we have been advocating on this blog for a long time, alhamdu lillah.
The title of his recent Guardian blog post (probably added by an editor) was: Gay Muslims need support.
But what sort of support? I think anything that could be done to jeopardise a human being’s standing before his Lord does not deserve to be dubbed “support”. As religious people, we should only advocate support that entails guiding people to goodness in this life and satisfaction in the Hereafter.
Bunglawala mixes a few issues that really ought to be addressed individually. First, he praises the Muslim Council of Britain’s support for the Equality Act a few years ago:
‘Gay Muslims’ comment on Eastenders July 30, 2009
Posted by Rasheed Eldin in Queer Muslims, Responses, Shari'ah.2 comments
Remember Pav Akhtar, the one whom Muslim students were asked to support in NUS elections? That same sore loser who went crying to the Muslim Weekly with the following lies after most Muslims didn’t back him?
Pav said that his sexuality was something he was personally “contending with” and insisted he has never recognised homosexuality as permissible in Islam.
I posted written and pictorial evidence back then that he was in fact fully “out and proud” (his words), and now he is the Chair of Imaan, a London-based pro-homosexuality group who have obviously featured on our blog before. According to today’s Guardian:
Pav Akhtar is not usually a fan of soaps. But the 30-year-old local councillor and Unison worker has been paying special attention since EastEnders introduced its first gay Muslim character. Akhtar, the chair of Imaan, an organisation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Muslims, advised the BBC on the storyline in the hope that the character of Syed Masood would help tackle the double discrimination of homophobia and Islamophobia that many gay Muslims face.
The Guardian article - What’s it like being a gay Muslim? - features various voices, none of whom are Muslims who choose to resist their same-sex attractions, as Syed is presently doing on the show. That course of action is what mainstream Muslims would advise any person in that situation. Yet the implication of the article, probably constructed with the advice of Pav and Imaan, is that those people are not “true to themselves”, which I suspect will also be the eventual message of Eastenders.
It also states that “The Muslim theologian Amanullah De Sondy said recently that the vast majority of Muslims were ‘deeply homophobic’” – massaging his ego by making him a “theologian” when he’s just a recent PhD in Sufi poetry with vanishingly meagre credentials in Islam. Oh, and mightn’t he have just a bit of bias in this question? Also, given that he’s not a sociologist or anthropologist, how did he gather this “vast majority” data? Ah, doesn’t matter does it, it’s only journalism.
Let’s take a look at a few of their comments…
Qaradawi now – who next? February 16, 2008
Posted by Mujahid Mustaqim in Homosexualists, Queer Muslims, StraightWay.12 comments
We at the StraightWay Foundation have long taken a keen interest in the controversies built around the person of Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, especially as regards his stated opinions about homosexuality in the light of his understanding of the Qur’an and Sunnah – opinions which do not differ from those of the vast majority of Islamic scholars and ordinary Muslims in the West and worldwide, except that in certain respects they are better explained and expressed.
The recent refusal from the UK government to grant him a visa has rightly met with criticism from British Muslims, this article by Abdul-Rehman Malik being a good example. From our perspective, the most worrying thing is where mainstream Muslim views are used as the basis for excluding someone from a country: will they then seek to root out “homophobic imams” and deport them? Find me a non-”homophobic” imam, please, then tell me that Qaradawi’s views are extreme…
You can find numerous articles on this blog discussing his views and statements, including a summary of the Zionist- and homosexualist-led storm surrounding his July 2004 visit to London. This time, however, we decided not to weigh in with any public comments – but would like to extend a word of appreciation to Imaan, a group we have serious disagreements with, for a letter they sent to the Guardian:
We agree with Muslim community leaders concerned at the Home Office decision to ban Yusuf al-Qaradawi (Report, February 8), on the grounds that it won’t “tolerate … those who seek to justify … acts of terrorist violence or express views that could foster inter-community violence”. On the contrary, Qaradawi has condemned the London bombings, the 9/11 attacks and other acts of terrorism, stating these are against Islamic beliefs.
In banning Qaradawi, the Home Office is contributing to a climate of Islamophobia, which will impact on all Muslims, including our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members.
We make clear our disagreements with all faiths that are regressive on homosexuality, and demand that Muslim leaders are treated equally with other faith representatives, who are not generally banned.
If the government is to engage hearts and minds of the Muslim community, it would do well to engage in dialogue with Muslim leaders rather than demonise them or succumb to the calls of politicians whose agenda is motivated by a bias regarding the conflict in the Middle East.
Ubaid-ur Rehman
Secretary, Imaan – the LGBT Muslim’s support group
Even the vile and odious Peter Tatchell stated his disagreement with the banning, even if only to repeat his inaccurate and irrational - and in places downright false and slanderous – criticisms of the Sheikh. And of course most of the commenters after him are just as ready to prove their ignorance!
“Sonia is so lovely…” February 21, 2007
Posted by Rasheed Eldin in Responses.11 comments
…is how I should begin if I don’t want to be “mean”.
A Case Study in Ignorance
This lady (Sonia/Afroz) has commented here quite a few times before, and I have done my best to answer her questions as well as refuting the more nonsensical of her points. Here’s a compilation of the relevant posts, specifically linked to her first comment under each:
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] and more recently [7] [8] [9].
Now she has posted “Eye on Backbiting Muslims” (ingenious!), which is at the same standard as her comments here, so presumably my responding will do no good for her, just as she remained confused despite my attempts to inform her (see links compilation above).
Nevertheless, for her cheerleaders, or at least the one who seemed reasonable a while ago, I offer the following points in response.
Imaan Gay.com feature February 8, 2007
Posted by Rasheed Eldin in Media, Queer Muslims, Responses.6 comments
An interview with Farzana, chair of Imaan, appeared on Gay.com a few days ago. It is by Hassan Mirza (yep, him again) and includes a photo of Imaan at Europride. They’ve blurred the faces, but the one on the right is of course none other than Out-n-Proud Pav. At the bottom of the feature, this blog gets a mention! Here’s the link to read it, and of course it won’t escape my comments…
MIRZA: And there’s even more to say about the Gay Muslims, who to the casual observer may seem particularly self-hating – in light of violence-preaching Imams (some fanatic ones who preach the death of gays) displayed in popular British media.
Lock, Imaan and Islamophobia December 8, 2006
Posted by Rasheed Eldin in Homosexualists, Responses.11 comments
You may remember the latest OutRage “Imam Backs Shariah Shock” and the interesting developments in terms of the British “gay Muslim” group Imaan (formerly Al-Fatiha UK) calling Peter Tatchell an Islamophobe. I’m of a similar opinion, as I expressed along with others on their forum discussion.
Now Brett Lock has written an opinion piece in the magazine he edits, namely the Gay Humanist Quarterly (full PDF available there - see p.13). Entitled “Submission & Denial”, the article criticises Imaan for complaining about Tatchell & Co. singling out Islam:
If some of Imaan’s leaders feel Islam is being unfairly singled out as “uniquely reactionary”, perhaps they should ask themselves when they last heard a priest or rabbi in Britain defending the death penalty for homosexuality.
Imam Backs Shariah Shock! October 22, 2006
Posted by Rasheed Eldin in Homosexualists, Media, Shari'ah.17 comments
From an OutRage press release:
Killing gays is OK, says Muslim Imam
Manchester Imam defends execution of gay people
20 October 2006Manchester’s leading Imam has confirmed that he thinks the execution of sexually active gay men is justified. Mr. Arshad Misbahi, who is based at the Manchester Central Mosque, confirmed his views in a conversation to Dr John Casson, a local psychotherapist.
Dr Casson said: “I asked him if the execution of gay Muslims in Iran and Iraq was an acceptable punishment in Sharia law, or the result of culture, not religion. He told me that in a true Islamic state, such punishments were part of Islam: if the person had had a trial, at which four witnesses testified that they had seen the actual homosexual acts.”
“I asked him what would be the British Muslim view? He repeated that in an Islamic state these punishments were justified. They might result in the deaths of thousands but if this deterred millions from having sex, and spreading disease, then it was worthwhile to protect the wider community.”
“I checked again that this was not a matter of tradition, culture or local prejudice. ‘No,’ he said, ‘It is part of the central tenets of Islam: that sex outside marriage is forbidden; this is stated in the Koran and the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had stated that these punishments were due to such behaviours.’”
“He told me that no Muslim would have spoken to him as I had done – they would have been too afraid, ashamed or inhibited: he admired my courage and openness.”
Commenting on Imam Arshad Misbahi’s views, Dr John Casson said:
BBC World, “Heart and Soul” August 9, 2006
Posted by Rasheed Eldin in Media, Queer Muslims, StraightWay.11 comments
Shazia Khan has made a half-hour radio documentary on Islam, homosexuality and same-sex attracted Muslims, following her shorter segment, which we discussed here (then here and here).
[Sorry, no link to the programme just now. We'll try and get one!]
It brings forth various characters, including ones similar to those in the Channel 4 documentary of January 2006, which I analysed here and here.
However, the unprecedented thing in this programme is the inclusion of a voice (which is, unfortunately, very distorted by request) expressing a perspective just like what the StraightWay Foundation promote.
["Aslam"] realised that he was attracted to boys when he was at primary school, but has chosen never to act on his feelings. He doesn’t define himself as “gay”; instead, he says he experiences same-sex attraction.
“According to some people’s definition, if they were to ask me certain questions and say, ‘Do you feel attracted to people of the same sex?’ – and if I said ‘Yes’, then they would say, ‘Well, that means you’re gay.’ People can make their own definition, but I don’t think it makes sense, and I don’t identify myself that way. Because if I said that, I would be saying, well that’s the way I’ve got to be, and I’ve got to live my life according to that. I don’t think I’ve got to live my life according to how I feel inside – I live my life according to what I think is right for me. And what I think is right for me is to stay within the limits of the religion.”
For Aslam, that means never engaging in same-sex relations.
“For a man to be with another man sexually is completely forbidden, so I decided from very early on to not go anywhere near that.” [...]
Aslam believes his feelings do not define who he is. For him, Islam is the most important thing in his life.
“I’m choosing faith over anything else, in a sense. I’m choosing faith over my feelings, in a way. But I feel faith gives me much more than any other aspect of life. Why should I feel that I’m missing out, if I feel that I’m living the right path and I’m pleasing God?”
Bravo, brother! Beautiful.
Sodomy good, tattoos bad? July 18, 2006
Posted by Rasheed Eldin in Queer Muslims, Shari'ah.7 comments
If you can handle somewhat explicit writing, take a look at this post to get an idea of the contradictions inherent in the notion of being a “gay Muslim”. The writer himself goes that way, and describes a liaison he allegedly had with an unnamed Imaan leader. Needless to say, we can’t vouch for the accuracy of his account.
In order to make their “Islam” accommodate the juicier things the queer Muslims are after, they need to throw gallons of water on it. In so doing, they inevitably wash away much of the religion, or at least the outward things they would rather do without. The prohibition on homosexual acts floats off alongside other “inconveniences”, so it doesn’t matter if the queer Muslims go to clubs and drink alcohol.
Yet there are some who insist on certain aspects, sometimes due to cultural influences (while paradoxically claiming that they are transcending culture and tradition to find the essence of Islam) – and that’s what results in charming stories like this chap’s.
Shariah TV “keen” for gay couple July 15, 2006
Posted by Rasheed Eldin in Media, Queer Muslims.2 comments
I’ve hinted previously that the UK’s Channel 4 seems to have a mild obsession with “gay Muslims”. They’re trying hard to prove me right. A researcher for their Shariah TV programme, Shariq Ali, recently wrote to Imaan (among many Muslim groups, to whom he tailored his appeals), saying to them:
We are also keen to find a gay/lesbian couple who could talk about misconceptions regarding how they live their life.
I’ve always thought Shariah TV is a very strange idea, and I really wonder who it’s meant for. I doubt that many young Muslims tune in for religious guidance. It’s more like entertainment, of an odd kind. Some people would laugh at the Muslims’ expense.
It’s such an artificial environment: a few scholars of varying levels of expertise sit among a group of supposedly perplexed teenagers who put their carefully prepared questions forward for answers that they’re probably not that interested in taking. The scholars disagree with each other on air, leading to the impression that they don’t really know what they’re talking about. Sometimes that is actually the case. At other times, if they’d talked amongst themselves before filming, they would have come across much more coherently and helpfully for the audience.
This would not be the first time Shariah TV tried to highlight the plight of Muslims who want to live the gay way – they had such a tortured soul on back in 2004. In this, their third series, they are filming at the end of July and one of their four topics is, according to Shariq Ali, “Relationships; sex, marriage, what is/is not permissible in Islam.”
Of course, Imaan see this as a prime opportunity to be seen (hey, didn’t waving from a float with rainbow t-shirts do the trick, as last year too?) I’m tickled by Ubaid’s attempts to speak for Islam, so here I’ll take a look at his latest rallying call. He says:
