Queer Muslim International Retreat – Feminism and Religion

Ramadan Mubarak! (Have a Blessed Ramadan)—After Covid by Jamilah Ali

It is Ramadan again for the Muslim ummah (community). May I refer you to my previous FAR article in 2020, to reference Ramadan, because this is a bit of a sequel. I am only one example of how the positive and negative pressures of the times are impacting our psyches. I consider, how can I fast voluntarily while Palestinians are literally starving? This is a paradox I’m sure shared by many this year in the world-wide diaspora of Islam. I send prayers in addition to donations for food, of course.

For the faithful, Ramadan is a month-long celebration of the Holy Quran. Our Quran as revealed is from the Creator. We believe in the Bible and Torah as well, but they are much older than the Quran, and we acknowledge are from God but we believe corrupted by people. This is why we call Christians and Jews “the People of the Book”. For us, the Quran is a special divine universal message which beckons every Muslims heart when recited. Instead of Christ for Christians, the Quran is our manifestation of Divinity. Muhammad and Jesus born 600 years apart, are both Messengers of Allah, but not divine.

Misogyny From Gay Ally by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente

Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente Diane Padilla is a Mexican activist who has been victim of systematic online harassment in recent weeks. She put a claim in against her abusers to the Human Rights Authority in her country. But Diane has had to deal with backlash from the LGBTQ community. She explains in her Facebook:

I respect the activism of LGTBQ community, but I am surprised by the tolerance some of them have to the sexist and misogynist attitudes of their friends, to the point that they intercede on their behalf against my claim. What’s going on? Is it that I am a cisgender woman that prevents them from empathizing with me? This is internalized misogyny. Continue reading “Misogyny From Gay Ally by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente”

Queer in Islam and a Theology of Dissent by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente

Most of the time, when we talk about being “Queer in Islam,” we identify the term with a hermeneutics developed by or on behalf of LGTBQI Muslims in order to allow their inclusion in religious spaces and recognize their agency in matters of faith.

Is not my intention to appropriate the voice of LGTBQI Muslims in this issue, just to share my reflections about a topic that deserves a larger and deeper treatment. Continue reading “Queer in Islam and a Theology of Dissent by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente”

LGBTQI Muslims and International Movements for Empowerment by amina wadud

amina 2014 - cropped I am currently in Cape Town South Africa at a Queer Muslim International Retreat. Next month I will go to Jakarta Indonesia for a workshop focused on the same agenda: reform in Muslim communities towards the lives of dignity for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, Queer and Intersex Muslims. It has been a long road and the end of the struggle is nowhere in sight. Still, there are important developments worth noting.

I am the fifth of eight children. My brother, just older than me, is gay. Although we are both in our 60’s now, it was evident that his sexual orientation was not normative heterosexual from very early. My first nephew, son of my older sister is also gay. Now in his mid-40’s his was also not a question of lifestyle choice. I love these two men and always have. That did not mean I was devoid of homophobic tendencies and subtle acts of discrimination against queer people. I wasn’t against them, but I did not see why I, who lived as a straight heterosexual woman, should have to pay any attention to the particularities of their life struggle. It was their problem and I could ignore it. So I did.

I was never guilty of vicious acts – teasing, name calling or bullying; I just put it out of my mind. As a Muslim, I would come to encounter a much greater awareness how the convenience of sitting on the fence was inadvertently a tacit approval of gross homophobic violations and that all I believed about a Merciful and Compassionate Creator of Justice required me to support the struggles to establish that divine justice and cosmic harmony and beauty everywhere and for everyone. Continue reading “LGBTQI Muslims and International Movements for Empowerment by amina wadud”