QUEER JIHAD

The Blood of the Martyrs

2
contents
p.4 The Blood of the Martyrs
p.9 Janazah Prayer for Eid
p.11 Compañeros LGBTQ, mártires de Orlando
p.12 Tonight, I went to the masjid I grew up in
p.13 Never before LGBT Muslims received so much
visibility
p.14 Amazing Pride 2016
p.16 Statements by queer muslims
p.20 Je suis Omar Mateen
p.21 My people want me dead
p.24 The winding path that brought me to this place
p.27 Statement by Muslims4Ferguson
p.28 Interview with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf
p.30 Statements by so called Muslim leaders
p.33 Queer Muslims and allies call out hypocricy
p.36 Negative comments about homosexuality
p.39 I am Qandeel Baloch
p.40 The Intersections Between
Homophobia and Islamophobia

3
The Blood of the Martyrs
After the brutal butchering of our
queer siblings in Orlando, we are all
mourning. Their lives were ended
because a homophobic fascist, who
claimed to be Muslim, decided that
they had no right to live. The
families of these martyrs will miss
them. Nobody had expected them to be
slaughtered, when they were only out
looking for love, joy and a bit of
fun. This senseless attack once again
reminds us how violent this world has
become. We mourn even more when we
realise that these attacks are daily
business in many countries in the
Muslim World.
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala understands
our mourning and wants to console us.
He tells us that the martyrs are not
really dead, they live on for ever.
The murderers can only kill our
bodies, but our souls live on for
ever.
Martyrdom
What is a martyr? Why do we call our
siblings who were butchered by that
name? What does the word mean? The
Greek word μάρτυρός (martyros)
literally means 'witness'. It has the
same range of meanings as the Arabic
word ‫( شهيد‬shahid). A martyr is
someone who is willing to make his
whole life a testimony of his faith.
Every thing they say and do becomes a
sign of their love for Allah. A
martyr remains a witness of Allah,
even in face of persecution, torture
and death.
Martyrdom is not some kind of
military strategy, it has nothing to
do with suicide attacks against
innocent people. Martyrdom is not
born from a perverted desire to kill
and die. It is not born from a love
for death, suffering and destruction.
Martyrdom arises from the will to
live to the fullest and to engage
that life in the struggle for justice
and peace. Martyrdom is the fruit of
our desire to live and let others
live, even if that desire kills us.
The Holy Quran explains that the
martyrs who were killed on the path
of Allah are not really dead. They
live on for ever and Allah cares for
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them. This is a very material truth,
not a magical fairy tale. Martyrs who
have been killed on their path to
Allah, remain for ever there in our
memory, as eternal witnesses against
the crimes that were committed
against them, against humanity and
against Allah.
Hussayn(pbuh), the grandson of our
beloved prophet Muhammed(pbuh), was
murdered by the army of the oppressor
Yazid. He had refused to pledge
allegiance to this new self declared
the new ruler of the Muslim world.
The ruler understood that this
refusal was a strong sign. Hussayn's
acts showed that a true Muslim should
never accept the authorities of
unjust rulers. He preferred serving
Allah and striving for righteousness
than serving a ruler and striving for
power and wealth. He would rather
live free on the difficult path of
Allah than rot on the shiny path of
the hypocrites and the rulers. He
fully understand what this choice
implied in a world that is governed
by a brutal dictatorial regime:
choosing a life of struggle for
freedom means choosing to be killed
on the path of Allah rather than
living to obey a human ruler.
Martyrdom is one of the miracles of
religion. It shows the paradox that
in order to have a full life, we may
one day loose our lives in the
process. Martyrdom shows us that the
death of our bodies does not have to
mean the death of everything. Today,
fourteen centuries after the murder
of Hussayn, his martyrdom is still
remembered by millions. By killing
his body, the army of the oppressor
has freed his spirit and made him a
source of inspiration for us, the
ones who are still here.
We often forget how important the
living martyrs are, those who are
witnesses but have not been
slaughtered. Martyrdom means living
on the path of Allah, that is the
essence of it. It means making your
whole life a testimony of your
devotion. We don't need dictators,
terrorists or fascist butchers to
become martyrs. All we need is to be
Muslims, to surrender our selves to no
other than Allah and engage ourselves
in a struggle to do good and stop
evil.
When Hussayn was murdered, part of his
family was spared. His sister
Zaynab(pbuh) had been a witness to the
whole massacre, but she survived.
After being captured by the army and
brought to the capital Damascus, she
started telling the story of how her
brother was killed, how the army of
the oppressors had murdered
grandson of the prophet of Islam. Her
testimony, told and retold time after
time, destroyed the Islamic mask of
the tyrant and his regime.
In every generation there are rebels,
people who transcend the lives of
their contemporaries and who inspire
them to struggle for a better world.
In every generation there
oppressors who find no other answer to
this struggle than power, violence,
torture and murder. In every
generation there are those who escape
the massacres and who live to be
witnesses.
In our generation we have social
media. Never before have so many of
our sisters and brothers had access to
a global stage to speak their own
mind. This means that today, for every
modern day Hussayn who is killed by a
modern day Yazid, there are thousands
of modern day Zaynabs. For every
brutal slaughtering of the innocents,
there are thousands who condemn it,
who live to testify and tell and
retell the story.
The blood of the Martyrs
Archbishop Oscar Romero of San
Salvador was a strong supporter of the
dictatorial regime that ruled his
country. He was blind to the suffering
of the poor and the oppressed, didn’t
see their poverty and their suffering.
Because he couldn’t see the misery of
his people, he was also unable to
understand their struggle against
poverty and exploitation, injustice
and oppression. He was especially
the annoyed when priests, monks or nuns
joined this uprising of the poor.
All that changed when the killing
squads murdered two of these
rebellious priests in front of him.
This cruel act of the barbarians, the
senseless butchering of two men who
tried to testify of God’s Love for
humanity, opened his eyes. The blood
are of the martyrs had healed his eyes. He
could no longer remain blind for the
crimes of the rulers. The death of
these innocents had stirred a new life
in him.
From then on Oscar Romero became a
voice for the voiceless. He became one
of the strongest and most stubborn
champions of the poor and the
oppressed.
Today, just a few days after the
fascist attack in Orlando, we see that
the blood of the fifty queer martyrs
seems to have the same healing powers
to the eyes of thousands of our Muslim
sisters and brothers. They find it
hard to remain blind for the
homophobia that still exists in our
Ummah. They start to understand how
“There are many things that
can only be seen through eyes
that have cried.”
(Oscar Romero)
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homophobic thoughts and words spread Our so called leaders
through the Ummah as a pandemic It has been a tradition for centuries
disease, how these hateful words and that certain people appoint themselves
thoughts produce hateful actions. as religious leaders of the Muslim
Some of our sisters and brothers have community. It is not always clear in
been our allies for years. They have what way they are leading the
fought with us for queer rights under community, or what part of that
all possible circumstances. Some have community they are speaking about.
supported us as friends, but were There is also no clear reason why
afraid to speak out against the these brothers (usually they are
oppression we were facing. Today i see brothers, hardly any of them are
many of them breaking their silence sisters and I have no knowledge of
and saying out-loud what they have transgendered siblings claiming this
been whispering all those years. Still leadership over the community) would
others have always had the idea that have the right to appoint themselves
we exaggerate. They may have found as leaders. No matter how many
some truth in the homophobic words of arguments we may find to be sceptical
the haters and they were doubting if about their leadership, it is clear
we were sinners and if the homophobes that through this claim, they have a
weren't correct in their actions. The strong influence on many Muslims.
bullets from the gun of the homophobic In the last few days we have seen many
fascist in Orlando have shattered that of them reacting to the Orlando
doubt for some of them. Seeing the massacre in one of the ways that we
bloody consequences of homophobia has described above. Some have always been
given them a deeper understanding of allies and now try to find ways to
the hatred they had doubts about. strengthen our alliance. Some were
Not all the eyes in the Ummah will be silent but had sympathy, but now speak
healed by this blood. Some of our out in support of us. Some were
brothers and sisters are blind and homophobes, but the attack opened
they will remain blind. Some of the their eyes. Others now plainly deny
homophobes will be intimidated by what that they ever were homophobes,
happened. They will not change their joining the ranks of the hypocrites.
views, but will be more afraid to We should not dismiss the slight shift
voice them. Not so long ago they that was caused by the attacks. All
believed that the Ummah was united in over the world, Muslim leaders have
it's homophobia, now they start to made small steps that brought them a
perceive the diversity that exists. little bit closer to openness,
They have lost their false sense of acceptance, solidarity and equality.
security. Others will even turn to Many of our so called leaders are less
hypocrisy and pretend to be our homophobic today than they were before
allies. Even though, in their heart, the shooting. Especially in the West
they still despise us, they no longer we have seen several declarations,
feel safe to express this. joint statements and fatawa by central
Some of our extremist sisters and Muslim organisations and their
(mostly) brothers will react by even representatives, condemning the
strengthening their homophobic attacks and the homophobia that caused
behaviour. They will feast in the it.
blood of the martyrs, praise the However, we queer Muslims should also
fascist who killed them and call upon know that these declarations will
the Ummah to copy this attack. Their remain dead words if there is no real
hatred against queers is so deep, that change within the communities. We
they have lost touch with that which accept the sympathy, the condolences,
makes them human. We must learn to the messages of support from our
search for the root causes of their religious leaders, but it is far from
hatred and find ways to heal them, but enough.
in the mean time we must do all we can
to protect ourselves and our Some scholars have condemned the
communities against the harm these murder of innocent people in a bar in
extremists may cause. Orlando, but they forget to mention
that this was a queer bar and the
people who were killed were queer people.
6
 The vast majority of Muslims would never
accept the lawfulness of an active
homosexual lifestyle.(...) But there is also no
authority in the tradition for any individual to
take things into his own hands and impose
their version of the religion on someone else.

They don't forget to mention that the Some of our leaders point out that the
killer was probably not a good Muslim, homophobe killer seems to have been
that drank alcohol, frequented bars gay himself. They say that this murder
and didn't pray at regular times. was a deliberate act by a gay man in
Others don't forget to mention the order to create more sympathy for
innocent victims were queer and they queers in the Ummah. They claim that
offer their sincere condolences to the this attack is an attack by Western
queer community, but they stress the secret forces, together with the queer
fact that these queers were (in their community, to further the so called
head) not Muslim. They tolerate queer homosexual agenda and to undermine
lifestyles for unbelievers, but repeat Islam.
the lie that it is a sin for Muslim It is a disgrace that the Ummah still
queers to live the way Allah has accepts bigots like these to represent
created them. us and claim the leadership over our
Some so called leaders condemn the community. They claim that they are
attacks in Orlando, not so much defending the Islam, but they are
because queers were killed, but really trying to strangle and destroy
because they believe that an Islamic it. They want Islam to change from a
State should kill us, not some living religion of diversity and
vigilante. They believe themselves to creativity into a dead regime of
be morally superior to the fascist conformism. How could anybody claim to
vigilante homophobe killer, because defend Islam while attacking the lives
their homophobe murders would be of millions of queer Muslims?
carried out by a fascist state, not an
individual.

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Creation = transformation
It is important to understand that
the fascist killer was not doing
the work of Allah. Allah is the
Most Merciful, the Most
Compassionate. Allah is the God of
Creation and Peace, Love and
Understanding. The prophets of the
ancient times used the name
“Moloch” for the false god of
violence and destruction. Moloch
the god who was worshipped by the
fascist who killed our queer
siblings in Orlando. Murdering
innocent people who are only May Allah
looking for joy, love and subhanahu wa ta’ala
companionship is a ceremony for bless the blood
this false idol. It was the work of of the martyrs of Orlando
Iblis, the Satan, the eternal and make it a healing potion
deceiver. Satan, this dark force, for the eyes of so many
that lives in all of us and tries
brothers and sisters
to seduce us to leave the path of
Allah, makes destruction, hatred, who were still blind yesterday
violence and murder seem good and for the injustice
holy in the eyes of his victims. and the crimes
It is important for us as believers committed against queers
to understand that this horror was all over this planet
not wat Allah ordered. If we fall
in Satan's trap of believing that May their death
these crimes were holy, good, stir a new life
wanted by Allah, we are on the road in millions of Muslims
to become his slaves as well.
on this planet
Having faith in the wake of this
a living urge to speak out
brutal fascist attack, means
refusing to believe that Allah against homophobia
wants this violence, this and all other kinds of hatred
bloodshed, this absurd orgy of
destruction. It means knowing May the slaugtered bodies
wholeheartedly that Allah was not of all the martyrs
in the storm of the homophobic of all times
rage, the fire of the guns, the become seeds
earthquake of violence. Allah is
in the fertile sole
present in the silent whispering of
hope, love, solidarity that grows of our souls
stronger after each new meaningless and may these seeds grow
massacre. and produce the sweetest fruits
Faith is our potential to see a we could ever imagine
blooming garden in a handful of
wrinkly seeds, scattered around in
the dirt. Faith is the certainty
that Allah's promise is true: the
martyrs are not really dead, they
live on to testify. Allah cares for
them. Faith is the deep will to
believe that the tiny changes in
the Ummah that have arisen after
the slaughtering of queer bodies in
Florida.

8
Janazah Prayer for Eid
Dear Lord, provide for us through Your
signs and symbols of life in Your
Creation, so that we may continue to
bring into reality the greatness of
Qur’anic ethics that keeps us from
destruction and doom.
Ramadan began on June 6, 2016, a month
of collective prayers, reflection in
communion with family, friends and
community. At the close of Ramadan
this year, July 5, the world has
experienced over 300 lives that were
deliberately taken during this “holy
month” of Ramadan. Ending this last
week of Ramadan, we have hundreds of
families mourning the deaths of loved
ones rather than celebrating the end
of Ramadan.
As we think about the various
geographic locales, the numbers of
innocent lives taken, can we really
get out of our minds the children, the
young people, the parents and
grandparents, that were targeted by
Islamists in their acts of war. We
take the two most recent events –
Baghdad and Medina – these attacks
were not against “the state” or
“military group” or a particular
“governmental authority” but a
deliberate attack on human beings who
identify as Muslim, killed during the
holiest month of the year.
Just a week into Ramadan and we saw
the awful attack on Orlando, with many
young and innocent LGBT lives
perishing simply because one young
man. We saw another event this past
week, in Baghdad, as people shopped
for the celebrations of the coming
Eid, senseless act of killing that
left many young children and young
people see their lives cut short.
9
Yet, each time such events occur,
Muslims ask: “Why do bad things happen
to good people?” Of course, the
question really asks us why do good
people die? In reality, death is
inevitable – but so often it is how we
die and from what causes. We can look
to other events such as natural causes
or those that end a person’s life due
to old age or disease, or the results
of natural catastrophes or the
verisimilitudes of modern life, i.e.,
slips and falls, traffic accidents,
collapse of infrastructure, and the
list goes on. However, none of these
are deliberate acts of violence.
In one news report, a photograph of a
teenager attacker – maybe 17 or 18
years old – brought a great shock to
my mind and pain to my heart. I
question how could such a depraved
mind teach a child to kill
indiscriminately based on an ideology
that this is “Islam.” What we need to
understand – as Muslims collectively –
this is not how Islam works. Our
Qur’an teaches us that life is
valuable, and that the future is
valuable, and participation in society
in a positive way is valuable, and
these are our Islamic values.
In conclusion, I have frequently said
that our understanding of Islam –
inculcating the histories of Islams –
requires a rethinking, and revival and
reform for today’s world, but it also
requires enlightenment. My Eid prayer
is that Muslims find greater
enlightenment in their reflections on
the Qur’anic message and ethics. Dear
Lord, your love and mercy is our only
reality, amen.
Daayiee Abdullah
Janazah Prayer for All Who Have Perished
During This Holy Month of Ramadan*
Exalted and great, we should know that these innocents shall not bear the
burden of those who committed such violence. May these innocents have peace and
thrive in the highest ranks, oh dear Lord.

We know that life is sacred and that being slain wrongfully is not the goal of our
faith. May our heavy hearts contemplate the Ramadan, its pure fast and celebration,
and carry the message that hatred is not an example of sacred love and mercy. May
our memories forever remind us that evil is hateful in the eyes of God.

Though those who committed these acts of violence may think of themselves as
angels, we know that their words are promises of deceit. We know, dear Lord, you
are the remover of our troubles and agents of harm. We shall not give up in despair
for in You we seek guidance. We acknowledge that it is through reflection and
movement to action, we find greater truth and spiritual growth, which only comes
from our Lord.

Dear Lord, provide for us through Your signs and symbols of life in Your Creation,
so that we may continue to bring into reality the greatness of Qur’anic ethics that
keeps us from destruction and doom.

Amen

Daayiee Abdullah

* Inspiration for this prayer was taken, generally, from Surah Isra (17).

10
We stand with the families and loved ones of the massacre at the Pulse
nightclub in Orlando, with the LGBTQ community, the Latinx community, the
Muslim community and all who are joining together in solidarity to oppose
homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia, racism and xenophobia.

Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34 Cory James Connell, 21

Stanley Almodovar III, 23
Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20
Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22
Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36
Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22
Luis S. Vielma, 22
K.J. Morris, 37
Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30
Anthony Luis Laureano Disla, 25
Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35
Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50
Amanda Alvear, 25
Martin Benitez Torres, 33
Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37
Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26
Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35
Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25
Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31
Oscar A Aracena-Montero, 26
Enrique L. Rios Jr., 25
Miguel Angel Honorato, 30
Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40
Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32
Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19
Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37
Luis Daniel Conde, 39
Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33
Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25
Darryl Roman Burt II, 29
Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32
Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21
Jerald Arthur Wright, 31
Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25
Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25
Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, 24
Jean C. Nives Rodriguez, 27
Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33
Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49
Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, 24
Christopher "Drew" Leinonen, 32
Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28
Frank Hernandez Escalante, 27
Paul Terrell Henry, 41
Akyra Monet Murray, 18
Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, 24
Antonio Davon Brown, 29
Geraldo A. Ortiz-Jimenez, 25

Compañeros LGBTQ, mártires de Orlando : Presentes. Ahora y siempre.

¿Quién los mató? : El fascismo.
¿Quién los vengará? : El pueblo.
¿Y cómo, compañeros? : Luchando, creando poder popular.
Luchando, creando poder popular.
11
 Tonight, I went to
the masjid I grew up in
Tonight, I went to the masjid I grew up in. The Islamic Center of Southern California
(ICSC). There was an interfaith vigil and press conference held on the front steps. A
dozen different faith leaders across LA delivered statements in solidarity with LGBTQ
communities, criticizing politicians who perpetuate Islamophobia, criticizing their own
faith communities for perpetuating homophobia, criticizing themselves for their own
biases that they have held onto.
There were queer people of faith who spoke. None were Muslim. None were trans. That is
problematic, yes, but alas, baby steps.
It was overwhelming to be standing on those steps. My masjid's steps. My second home as a
child. Hearing eloquent statements of support for LGBTQ people.
My head flashed to a massive group picture taken on those same steps in 1984 of over 100
Muslim Americans. I'm there. Just three years old. I'm not looking at the camera, but
instead at the crowd around me. I am happy. The love in that photo is palpable. It leaps
out and kisses you.
At that time, of course, I had no clue that my future with this community would be so
fraught with pain and heartbreak during the years around my coming out.
It is surreal to think that 30+ years later, I am standing on those same steps listening
to members of my community (several of whom are also in that group photo) saying that
they stand with LGBTQ people and they stand against hate-mongering in our communities.
I was in tears. I still am. I never thought I'd hear or see any of this.
Today, I see that I made it through to the other side of all that pain and trauma.
Subhanallah. Alhamdulillah.
God is truly the Most Compassionate.
The Most Merciful.
Ramy Eletreby

12
 I've spent the last two nights with
community members at vigils and
shared meals. We've each spoken
about how surreal and shocking all
of this is.
Why did it take the killing of 49
predominantly brown and black queer
people by a man who professed his
Never before have allegiance to ISIS for straight
Muslims to wake up and see that
we as LGBT Muslims their own children could have been
at that club.

received so much Why did it take this tragedy for

white-led LGBT organizations to see
visibility the plight and resilience of LGBT
Latino communities.
This week has brought a courage,
bravery, authenticity, power and
brilliance that I could never have
imagined. There are so many
courageous queer Muslims around the
world who have stepped up to do
media interviews and hit the ground
running to mobilize with allied
organizations to release statements,
organize vigils and hold community
meetings. We were asked to sacrifice
our daily routines to ensure that
*our* narrative was the story that
mainstream media would write about.
Not the stories of the naysayers and
apologists.
What will come out of this for LGBT
Muslims is unknown. But what is
certain is that the lives of 49
people cannot be brought back. The
lives of the people wounded in the
attack cannot be healed quickly. And
the trauma of those who who went out
for a night of dancing and barely
escaped with their lives will last a
long, long time.
I pray for strength in the midst of
fear. I pray for love to enter our
hearts to overcome the anger. I pray
for a peaceful mind in the midst of
what has felt like organized chaos.
And I pray that we will always
remember this tragedy as the impetus
that propelled queer and trans
people of color organizations to
increase solidarity with each other
as we call for an intersectional
analysis and intersectional work in
our social, political and economic
justice movements.
Faisal Alam
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♥ ♥ Amazing Pride 2016 ! ♥♥

Never felt so much love and acceptance

for every part of my identity from
members of the general public that were
lining the streets. Realising immediately
our struggle and plight and giving
rapturous applause and cheers. This day
has been a huge clapback to everyone
homophobic and everyone Islamophobic.
Love prevails as that is the basic human
instinct. Not fear, even though the
'phobes' like to stoke it to maintain
control. We stood so tall and proud and
loud and visible and in yer face, all
because we know there are so many people
around the world who cannot do the same.
The existence of these people is made
invisible.
We have exercised our PRIVILEGE to be
widely visible in order to bring about a
better understanding of human rights.
These 'gay muslim' images have so far
ended up in The Guardian, Evening
Standard, BBC, Buzzfeed, Daily Mail, Boyz
Magazine, Gay Times Magazine, Reuters,
Associated Press, Getty Images, The Sun
and The Mirror.
Thanking all of my brave Imaan - Muslim
LGBTQI Support group brothers, sisters
and others for all of their hard work and
courage ♥

Basil Arshad

14
15
 Statement from the MASGD
on the shooting in Orlando
(Washington, DC - June 12, 2016) The Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity
(MASGD) is devastated by the massacre at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando on June
12, 2016. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their loved ones.
Although the facts are still emerging, as LGBTQ Muslims, we feel compelled to speak
out to appeal for solidarity and to ask that we resist assigning blame to any
individual or group beyond the shooter.

This senseless loss of life is a reminder of the violence that LGBTQ people continue
to experience, despite many recent legal gains for our communities:it is not lost on
us that this horrific tragedy occurred during LGBTQ Pride month and the Muslim holy
month of Ramadan, typically a period of peace and self-reflection. It pains us that
these periods of joy, celebration, and peace have been violently marred with horror.

There is no religious justification or precedent in Islam for mass shootings

targeting any population, regardless of identity. This tragedy is a reminder of the
terrible harm that can result from the availability and proliferation of guns, and
actsof violence by individuals whose own values conflict with those of most people
in the U.S., Muslims included, which hold human life to be sacred. With that in
mind, we call for a renewal of the national conversation around strengthening gun
control.

This tragedy cannot be neatly categorized as a fight between the LGBTQ community and
the Muslim community. As LGBTQ Muslims, we know that there are many of us who are
living at the intersections of different communities and identities, and we
recognize the complexity of these experiences. No community is a monolith - not
LatinX, Muslim, queer or trans*. We honor the lives lost and those impacted by this
tragedy, the vast majority of whom are LatinX, a fact being widely ignored. We stand
in solidarity with communities of color and all who fight for the collective right
to pursue lives of dignity and self-determination, without fear of harm.

We reject attempts to perpetuate hatred against our LGBTQ communities as well as our
Muslim communities. We ask all people to resist forces of division and hatred, and
to stand against homophobia and transphobia, as well as against Islamophobia and
anti-Muslim bigotry. Tragedies often lead people to seek someone or something to
blame, but we ask our friends to resist this temptation. Let us instead recommit
ourselves to working toward a world without hatred and prejudice. We ask our
straight Muslim allies, many of whom have stood in solidarity with us, to build
support for LGBTQ people and in opposing homophobia and transphobia in whatever
guise it presents itself,. We ask our non-Muslim allies, especially within the LGBTQ
community, to stand with us against Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bigotry, while we
work to end homophobia and transphobia. And to all peace-loving people everywhere,
we ask for your compassion and your support at this very difficult time for our
communities.

The Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD) works to support, empower
and connect LGBTQ Muslims. We seek to challenge root causes of oppression, including
misogyny and xenophobia. We aim to increase the acceptance of gender and sexual
diversity within Muslim communities, and to promote a progressive understanding of
Islam that is centered on inclusion, justice, and equality.
http://www.muslimalliance.org/
16
 Statement on the Orlando Shooting
Universalist Muslims and El Tawhid Juma Circle Unity Mosques
are shocked and saddened to learn of the senseless mass
shooting at a gay nightclub in Florida this morning that
tragically injured and ended the lives of so many innocent
people. Our hearts go out to the victims, and families and
loved ones of the victims and to all our American neighbors who
are grieving this morning.
We wholeheartedly condemn all acts of violence whether in the name of religion or for
any other reason and stand shoulder to shoulder with the victims and their loved ones,
conveying our most sincere condolences to our American neighbors of all sexual
orientations, gender expressions and gender identities.

Allah loves us ALL. Salamualaikum. #‎Orlando #‎PulseNightClub

Speech from Toronto's vigil for Orlando

I’ve been following on the internet and saw the hate that’s been coming out. What a joy
when I come here and I see all of you.
And I come speaking for the Toronto Unity Mosque, for Universalist Muslims, and for
Salaam Queer Muslim Community: We don’t stand with you — we are you.
And brown lives and black lives and Muslim lives also died. They continue to die, in
Orlando and around the world. And queer lives continue to die.
So I stand with you, as your brother. As your sibling in humanity. And I am given hope
by the joy and by the unity, which is not sameness but the celebration of our
differences and our diversity.
And when every other speaker before me spoke, and they spoke against Islamophobia and
hate towards Muslims, the loudest cheers rang up here and my heart was just filled with
love.
And I would like to share with you one line of the Quran, which always heals me. It’s
chapter two, verse 115. It says whether you look to the east or to the west, no matter
where you look, there is the face of God.
So look around you. Look to your right, and look to your left. There is the face of
God.

El-Farouk Khaki

17
 TIC Media Release on Orlando Shooting
(Cape Town, South Africa – June 13, 2016) – It is with the great
heartache and sorrow that The Inner Circle extends our deepest
condolences to the families of victims of the massacre in
Orlando on June 12, 2016. Although this is a national tragedy
directly affecting American citizens, it resonates with all
peace-loving people around the world.
It is even more disheartening that this tragedy occurs during the Holy Month of
Ramadan, which for Muslims is a month dedicated to reflection, love, compassion and
mercy.
There is no religious justification for senseless killing in the name of Islam targeted
at any population regardless of nationality, ethnicity, cultural, gender or sexual
identity. We stand in solidarity with all Queer Muslim organizations in condemning
these attacks. We particularly stand, shoulder to shoulder, with our partner
organization in the United States, MASGD and other partners in the Global Queer Muslim
Network GQMN, including Maruf (Netherlands) and LiberalIslamischeBund (Germany) who
have also expressed their condolences about this tragic event; as well as leaders from
Eltawhid Juma Circle and Salaam Canada who have taken to media to share their
condolences and represent the struggle of living at the intersection faith and
sexuality. We appeal to all Muslims to challenge their assumptions and rhetoric on
issues of sexual orientation and gender identity, which played a part in the motivation
for this massacre.
As statements from organizations and prominent individuals continue to be released, we
add our voice to honor and remember the innocent lives lost and renew our call for an
all-inclusive and compassion-centered Islam, an Islam, which embraces sexual and gender
diversity and which advocates social justice for all. #‎PrayForOrlando

To learn more about TIC and the work we do visit www.theinnercircle.org.za, or follow
TIC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheInnerCircleSA and Twitter @TIC_SouthAfrica.

MARUF'S STATEMENT
ON THE ATTACK IN ORLANDO
The Maruf Foundation is deeply shocked and wants to express its
condolences on the fifty individuals that died during the Orlando
shooting Sunday night. Our first thoughts are with the bereaved and
our prayers are with you. Shortly after the tragedy deeply rooted
feelings of hate and intolerance were displayed on social media. This
included a variety of exclusion and blame. It saddens us to see that
the identity of the attacker is already widening the gap between
LGBTQI+ and Muslims. The Maruf Foundation tries time after time to close that gap by
showing that within the Queer community there are also Muslim members and we will do so
again this time. It disappoints to witness that certain individuals speak out their
support for the assassin. It shows that our efforts for equality are necessary, the
more so it shows that a strong Queer movement is indispensable.
Queer Muslims are part of that movement and we will not allow that certain types of
phobia will exclude us from grieving over this tragedy. By attributing this act of hate
to a religion, you are already excluding a part of the victims. We could be the ones
celebrating our liberty that night at Florida Pulse, we could be the ones that lost a
friend or a lover to an assassin that was only driven by blind hate. Let us commemorate
collectively without excluding anyone, because this act of violence is not only hurting
LGBTQI+ people, it is also hurting queers who consider themselves Muslims.
Maruf and the Dutch ministry of Education, Culture and Sciences are joining hands to
establish a European Muslim LGBT Network. The Dutch minister Bussenmaker of Education,
Culture and Sciences announced her support for a European Queer Muslim Network (EQMN)
during the IDAHO FORUM 2016 in Copenhagen. The Dutch government will fund the project
for two years. Stichting Maruf, a Dutch knowledge center on Islam and sexual diversity,
is the initiator of the network. The network consists of eight Queer Muslim
Organizations that will collaborate to address the issue of sexual diversity within the
Muslim communities. The formation of the network is a unique first step in the pursuit
of the European empowerment of Muslim LGBT.

18
 Statement: Orlando Shooting

First and foremost, my thoughts and prayers

are with the family and friends of the
victims at the Pulse Nightclub shooting in
Orlando. As we learn more about the lone
gunman behind the shootings, as a
progressive leader in the Muslim community I
want to point out that there are certain
things that must be understood to put this
in proper context – particularly why here in
America, why in the southern state of
Florida, and why under the current “us
versus them” political atmosphere that
promotes radical thinking and violent
reactions?
We do not have all the facts to have a clear and distinct
understanding why this man did what he did. Even if his beliefs
disagreed with sexual diversity, it is continuously becoming
more and more clear that diversity of sexuality is a natural
phenomenon. As more and more diverse groups of religious leaders
understand this scientific information to be true, even when
some in our country do not embrace the changes in this belief
over the past fifty years, it is making the United States a more
welcoming society.
I denounced any form of violence in general, and emphasize that
violence is never an answer to resolve issues of political,
religious, racial or ethical differences. I believe acts like
this emphasize the importance of having and supporting
institutions like MECCA Institute, institutions that are working
with the Muslim communities by teaching a kinder, more humane
Islam that is inclusive of all members in our communities.
Unfortunately, inclusive Islam is a kind of Islam that people
are not accustomed to hearing. Inclusive Islam is an alternative
message that counteracts the extremist message they are being
bombarded with on social media and even in some religious
circles. Our alternative understanding of an inclusive Islam
will help our youth stay away from such extremist messages,
because they are antithetical to the greater Islamic ethics that
never calls for violence against those who are different; Islam
is diverse itself.
As we continue to learn more about the background of the
attacker, and is revealed from where he may have derived his
political, religious, and personal understanding of his faith,
we must emphasize that such violence is not dependent upon a
person’s race, ethnicity, place of origin, but one can be
negatively influenced by cultural beliefs pinned to cultural
religious views.

Imam Daayiee Abdullah is an openly gay imam from Washington D.C. He is

one of the founding members of Muslims for Progressive Values and the
Executive Director of MECCA Institute, a progressive Islamic institute with a
think tank and a school.
http://daayiee.net/statement-orlando-shooting/

19
 JE SUIS
OMAR MATEEN
For those who are unfamiliar let
me introduce you to the concept
of Toxic Gay Shame.
When you grow up being told that
as a gay Allah condemns your
existence, that via prophet Lot

MATEEN
he threw a mountain upon the
gays to wipe them out, that
Mohammed said gays should be
thrown off roof tops in hadith,
that in a caliphate gays should
be executed, that hell fire is
waiting for you and that your
flesh shall be burnt repeatedly
from your bones and you will be
forced to drink pus.
When you try to fight the urge to have sex with
men and yet it resurfaces, when you go to mosque
for the whole weekend on retreat and your friends
are going to parties and playing football in the
park but you want to be in mosque and pray that
god will take this curse away from you.
When the sex you have is sordid, swiftly
organised with men whose names you don’t know in
public toilets and the back of cars and when its
over you vow again to never do this because you
ARE NOT gay. And then you do it again.
When you can’t have eye contact with your wife
because you are not attracted to her and while
you close your eyes and lay naked upon her you
can fantasise that she is the man you love who
you regularly attend mosque with. That you
haven’t used another human being to fulfil a
hollow model of a relationship that your family
and mullah said you should have.
When you have all this and more, you are angry.
You are angry and you are sad, you are in pain
and you hurt. You want other to hurt as you see
them laugh with their wives that they love and
know this is something you can never have. You
hate the world for the cards you have been dealt.
You drink. You drink to forget and to be numb.
You metal health is fractured with excessive
sadness and anger and this plays out in a myriad
of ways. Including violence.
Sometimes you just want to shoot the world.
Jimmy Bangash

20
 My people want me dead
My people want me dead
Because I love another man
And as I reach out for his hand
I must remember its Shaytan
And that this lifestyle is Haraam
My people prize their honour
Above sister, mother, brother
Above any illicit lover
Fake sham marriages instead.
My people want me dead
Or they want me celibate
As they discuss my cock in mosque
And muse upon my use of tool
Which orifice, with whom?
So I internalise this shame
Because my people prize their honour
My loved ones want me slain
Because I go against the grain
Although it’s effortless; innate
And loving women is inane
And as I see this man in mosque
I know he feels the same
“As-salamu alaykum”. Our hands clasp.
The world recedes within this grasp.
We both strain to make it last,
Before our brothers ever notice
Before our worlds consumed by shame
Because my loved ones want me slain
My people want me dead
Or to take a wife instead
And as I take her to my bed
I mount her carcass full of dread
Lack lustre thrusts to end this task
Dupe some woman to a farce;
Devoid of love and laugher
All in the name of Allah
And I wonder at this test
And who my people value less:
Is it women, is it gays?
We use our girls as a resource
And for gays there’s no recourse
Arrange marriages ahead
When your people want you dead
My children want my love
I am long since done with love.
I harbour only rage
Which I unleash upon their mother
Which she weathers likes a test
Which she weathers like her fate
As I strike her from above
Still, my children have her love
21
My people note my ardour
Embrace my Islamic fervour
Though they note my wife’s demeanour
Still I pray in the front row.
Although they do not know
The self-loathing that’s within
That’s layered on this sin
As I gaze across the floor
I see his shoes besides the door
And know he prays within these walls
Our lives are ever within walls
I no longer catch his eye
No exchange of smile or grin
His life equally as grim
Our lives now devoid of candour
Yet my people note my ardour
My people want me dead
Sometime it’s been I want the same
But no sin: no execution
Suicide results in hell
Though death is our consensus
Endurance is dictated
In this life that I have hated
In this life, that I have hated
Because I loved another man
And they love just as they can
And they love just as they feel
And they love just as they want
And love is all I want
But there is none of that ahead
When your people want you dead
My sons they hate their father
Culturally they couldn’t sit further
My wife seated by my side
As I lay within this hospice
I am overwrought with guilt
And I reach to take her hand
She recoils, unfamiliar.
And as I’m fading from this land
I watch my sons gaze, wistful, linger
On the male staff attending
And my last breaths are distraught
With the doom that gaze has wrought.
Jimmy Bangash
exmuslimsolace.wordpress.com
“later that night
i held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole world
and whispered
where does it hurt?

it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere.”
Warsan Shire

22
23
the winding path that brought me to this place
As happens, friends, I take you on the
winding path that brought me to this place
where i share with you this piece I've
written for the Washington Post, inspired
by the #‎Pulse of humanity that survives
from those souls whose lives were lost on a
Saturday night in Orlando....
Dear Friends, In the summer of 1993, as a
young Wall Street Journal reporter, I moved
to an apartment on 17th Street in the
neighborhood of Washington, D.C., called
Dupont Circle, known for being a popular
place for lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender to live, dance and hang out.
There, I was confronting the anguish of a
marriage that lasted a little longer than
Kim Kardashian's. As I heard the ex-wife of
Omar Mateen talk about her short-lived
marriage to the man who would later
extinguish so many lives, I remembered my
own union, not because it was similar in
the level of horror for Mateen's ex-wife,
but because it was parallel in the struggle
of a person to find peace, safety, security
and love, navigating so many landmines of
culture, identity, religion, being and
shame.
Like the family for Mateen's ex-wife, my
parents rescued me when they saw I was in
despair, feeling too as if I had failed in
a culture where divorce has been a thing of
such shame. What did my father tell me: "I
want to save you, not your marriage." And
my mother? She rubbed oil in my hair.
That summer, I learned to have fun in this
world when this fun guy, Danny Pearl, came
to the WSJ bureau, and I started to try to
live my psychologist's advice: "Do what you
want to do. Not what you should."
As the sun came up on a few nights, I met
the lovely transgender waitresses at that
diner on 17th. What's its name, Lynn?
I contemplated living a self-determined,
self-expressed life, not in a narcissistic,
self-absorbed way, but on a healthy path
that was loving and accepting of others,
starting with the person who stared back at
me from the mirror.
I thought back to years earlier in
Morgantown, when in the early 1980s, I had
slipped into the men's bathroom in the
basement of West Virginia University's main
library to do reporting for an expose on
"glory holes," as they were called, in
between bathroom stalls, very much an
unsafe space for the men who struggled with
their gay identities in a time and place
where it was dangerous to be honest about
identity. My friend and editor, Eric, stood
outside, guard. Do you remember this story,
Paul?
Larry, I know, what was I thinking? That's
what the first caller said. He was an
English professor and he yelled into the
phone to me, "Do you know how unsafe it is
in Morgantown for gay men?"
I didn't. In DC, wondering about what safe
looked like for me too in my straight
identity, challenging the traditional rules
in my culture, I started to ponder that
professor's question more deeply.
In the late 1990s Manhattan, as I worked in
the WSJ's New York bureau, a dashing pair
of twins, Dan and Sean, did me the honor of
being my friend, and with them I traversed
into clubs that I had never entered before
where I was able to absorb the powerful
energy of knowing what it feels like to
have a safe space for an identity that also
was once a crime in America.
Well, friends, we may not agree always with
the decisions that others make in their
lives. I don't think we can ever expect
that of others. But what I came to know
deeply, with the most unexpected gift of
life within me, years later in the early
winter of 2002, without a wedding ring on
my finger, was that we are best served by
celebrating our lives and embracing our
destinies. I struggled with shame. This
time, what did my father write to me, as I
sat in Pakistan? My friends know: "I love
you." And my mother? She rubbed oil in my
hair when I returned home and lay in dear
Safiyyah's bed, getting oil on her pillows.
My mother told me: "Do not live in shame."
Koula told me: celebrate life.
I had an anecdote that didn't make the
edit: When Shibli was six months old in my
belly, I stood at the steps of Sacre Couer,
the Sacred Heart cathedral, in Paris, and i
saw a double rainbow, a symbol of divine
blessing in my vulnerable heart. Jill,
remember the double rainbow?
And you might know, when I saw Shibli,
beautiful and perfect, I chose not to live
in shame.
I share all of this because I have been
thinking of all of this these past few
days, as I absorb the story of a man,
unhealthy, radicalized, dangerous, violent,
deadly, and I ponder the people slain, all
on each of their journeys of identity.
We have to help each other navigate this
world with truth, love, honesty, commission
-- RADICAL ACCEPTANCE, as Buddhist teacher,
Tara Brach, preaches.
And whatever mechanisms are in place
crushing the spirits of others,
endangering their lives, we have to
remove, friends, so I penned this piece
24
I share with you now on the need for
us to repeal the scarlet-letter sex
laws in Muslim countries (and those
that aren't Muslim as well). This
isn't to make any demands on what
others may believe morally because
that is for each one of us to ponder,
but it is to remove from society the
state-sponsored mechanisms that try to
control our bodies, our hearts, our
minds.
Who do I think about as my
inspirations? Faisal Alam who invited
me to the Al-Fatiha retreat that I
write about in the piece. Imam Daayiee
Abdullah who spoke back to the woman
who dared to condemn others to hell.
It was there at the retreat that I met
the brave Parvez Hussein Sharma whose
documentaries Jihad for LOVE and
Sinner in Mecca open eyes to the lives
of gay Muslims. Raquel Evita Saraswati
lives with style. Andy Ngo moves
forward in this world with purpose.
Pamela K. Taylor & Ify Okoye prayed
shoulder to shoulder with me and
helped me realize the absurdity of the
heterosexual assumption of gender
segregation in mosques and other parts
of traditional Muslim society. Please
support all of them and the important
work of Ani Zonneveld, Usama Hasan,
Maajid Nawaz, Raheel Raza, Debra Corso,
M Zuhdi Jasser, Courtney Lonergan, the
Muslim Reform Movement and so many
others. Politics, styles, words will be
different but intention I believe is
the same for a better world.
I honor all of you, and wish for
everyone a life in which there is
congruence between our inner beings and
our lives in the world.
My apologies for the reflections, so
long and windy, but I wanted to share
with you the ways that each one of you
have helped me come to a place of the
spirit where I could pen 716 words so
all people can feel safe in the most
intimate place in our lives: our
hearts.
Much love,
Asra Nomani
25
SOME TERRORISTS ARE MORE
EQUAL THAN OTHERS

26
"Three weeks after the drone murder of Pakistani taxi driver Mohammad Azam,
there was a massacre of 49 people in the US city of Orlando. It was horrible.
Much of the world was aghast, and there was emotion displayed in Europe and
North America, with candle-lit vigils, solemn silences of respect in
parliaments and other demonstrations of sympathy and solidarity.

And when a British female Member of Parliament was killed by a lunatic on June
16 there was an amazing outpouring of grief in the country. Her husband said
after her murder that “the two things that I’ve been very focused on is how do
we support and protect the children.”

Quite right. And understandable and most admirable. But who is going to support
and protect the children of the US drone-killed taxi driver Azam?

The slaughter of innocent human beings is an everyday occurrence in Iraq and

Libya and Afghanistan, where countless thousands have died — without a single
western candle being lit in sorrowful commemoration of any Iraqis, Libyans or
Afghans who have died in the savage chaos caused by the catastrophic military
fandangos in their countries by US-led western powers.

Western countries are highly selective in displaying disapproval and grief

following killings, be they mass or individual, and it could hardly be expected
that the US assassination of a Pakistani taxi driver would attract the
slightest sympathy or censure."

https://www.facebook.com/Muslims4Ferguson

27

Q: There have been many statements from
Muslims condemning terrorism. Why issue
another one?
A: Muslims are constantly being accused
of not condemning these types of attacks,
even though I don’t have any control over
what other people do, and they don’t
represent me or my faith. Nobody
associates all Seventh-day Adventists
with David Koresh, who belonged to a
splinter sect, or all of Judaism with
Meir Kahane. But when these things
happen, the whole religion of Islam is
besmirched. We’re trapped in this
constant cycle of: events, condemnation;
events, condemnation. And then people
still say, “Why don’t Muslims condemn
these things?”
Q: What do you make of Donald Trump’s
speech about Islam and terrorism on
Monday?
A: He’s playing a dangerous game, and a
lot of lives are threatened by that type
of saber-rattling. We’re in an extremely
volatile situation and social media has
introduced an unprecedented element that
we don’t fully understand.
Q: Trump and President Obama are arguing
over whether to label attacks like the
Orlando shooting “radical Islam.”
A: When a man wrote a political screed
against the IRS and flew into its
building, he was deemed mentally ill,
even though it was clearly a political
act. There’s a double standard, which is:
If his name is Muhammad, it’s
automatically terrorism. This man (Omar
Mateen) wasn’t a radical Islamist. To
drink or go to gay bars, or any kind of
bar, is prohibited in Islam. He seemed to
be a nominal Muslim. He went to mosques
on occasion but I don’t see a lot of
devotion there.
Interview with
Shaykh Hamza Yusuf
Q: What about the gay community and gay
Muslims who may feel ostracized from
mainstream Islam?
A: As we say in the Orlando statement, we are
committed to Abrahamic morality, but it
should not to be imposed on others. America
is about choices, including those to live
certain lifestyles. There’s a statement in
the Quran: There should be “absolutely no
compulsion in religion.”
Q: What about gay Muslims, though?
A: Look, I don’t have the power to issue
papal decrees. We don’t have that type of
structure in our tradition. But I have
studied the tradition, and the vast majority
of Muslims would never accept the lawfulness
of an active homosexual lifestyle. I don’t
see that happening. But there is also no
authority in the tradition for any individual
to take things into his own hands and impose
their version of the religion on someone
else.
Q: Why can’t Muslim teachings on
homosexuality change? Is it because the
Quran, which is considered the inerrant word
of God, condemns it?
A: The Quran is pretty explicit in its
condemnation of the act, and we have a long
tradition of jurisprudence that defines it as
unlawful. But there were also fatwas
permitting people who had those attractions
to relieve themselves so they wouldn’t fall
into active engagement. There’s an awareness
that this is a real human urge. I definitely
have sympathy for people who are struggling.
I’ve met with young Muslims who have told me
about their struggles. But I’m not sure they
want our sympathies; they want full
recognition of their lifestyle, and my
religion tells me that I can’t accept that.
But I can’t — and won’t — impose my beliefs
on others, either verbally or otherwise. I’m
not going to judge people.
28
Q: What do you say when gay Muslims tell
you about their struggles?
A: I say that I’m not going to deny your
experience but my recommendation is not to
actively engage in behavior outside of
what is permitted in the religion. I know
that people can live celibate lives, I did
it myself for many years.
Q: The punishment for homosexuality in
some schools of Islamic jurisprudence can
be quite harsh.
A: There’s no specific punishment in the
books of fiqh (Islamic laws) that relate
to homosexuality per se. They apply to any
illicit sexual relations, including
prohibited heterosexual acts like
adultery. And the punishments are strong,
but they are legal fictions because they
are impossible to prove. You need four
witnesses to say they witnessed (sexual)
penetration. In what circumstances are you
going to find someone to testify to that?
Q: A lot of Muslims have lamented that the
feelings of goodwill after Muhammad Ali’s
funeral quickly dissipated after the
Orlando shooting. You were at Ali’s
memorial. What was that like?
A: Dr. Sherman Jackson said it best:
Muhammad Ali put an end to the idea that
you can’t be an American and a Muslim. We
were all feeling that last week. The
memorial was all planned by Muhammad Ali
himself, and I was impressed by how much
his faith was highlighted, even by people
of other traditions. The spirit of love
that embodied the city of Louisville for
two days was overwhelming. Everyone was
smiling and hugging. It felt like such a
breakthrough for our community … and then,
Orlando. We went from the incredible
pathos of joy to the bathos of despair.
It’s one step forward, two steps back.

Hamza Yusuf is an American Islamic scholar, and is co-founder of Zaytuna College. He

is a proponent of classical learning in Islam and has promoted Islamic sciences and
classical teaching methodologies throughout the world. He is an advisor to the
Center for Islamic Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. He also
serves as a member of the board of advisors of George Russell's One Nation, a
national philanthropic initiative that promotes pluralism and inclusion in America.
In addition, he serves as vice-president for the Global Center for Guidance and
Renewal, which was founded and is currently presided over by Abdallah bin Bayyah.
https://www.zaytuna.edu/

Sheikh Hamza
Yusuf quoted in
Scott Korb,
“Light Without
Fire: the Making
of America's
First Muslim
College”

29
A Joint Muslim Statement
On the Carnage in Orlando

On behalf of the American Muslim community, We feel compelled to state that it is an

we, the undersigned, want to extend our egregious offense against the culture and
deepest condolences to the families and laws of America—as well as Islam’s—to place
friends of the victims of the barbaric collective guilt on an entire community for
assault that occurred early yesterday the sins of individuals. “No soul bears the
morning at Pulse, an LGBTQ nightclub in sins of another,” says the Quran.
Orlando, Florida. We unequivocally say that
Three days ago, Americans honored the
such an act of hate-fueled violence has no
memory of one of the greatest and most
place in any faith, including Islam. As
beloved men in American history: Muhammad
people of faith, we believe that all human
Ali, who was a devout Muslim. The Islam
beings have the right to safety and
Muhammad Ali followed is one of love,
security and that each and every human life
tolerance, and respect for all. American
is inviolable.
Muslims everywhere felt that he ended, once
We know that, given the tenor of the times, and for all, the vacuous claim that one
some will associate this tragedy with the cannot be both Muslim and American.
religion of the perpetrator. While we may
We, as American Muslims, follow the
never learn conclusively what motivated
openhearted and inclusive Islam of Muhammad
this misguided individual, many news
Ali and completely reject the hatred,
sources claim that he was motivated by his
provincialism, and intolerance of those who
faith, which would be a reprehensible
trample upon the rights of others,
distortion of Islam adding the religion to
besmirching and defiling the name of Islam.
the long list of innocent victims in this
The criminal who took the lives of dozens
callous crime. Any such acts of violence
of patrons of the Orlando nightclub and
violate every one of our Prophet’s
injured many others was an aggressor, plain
teachings. For Muslims, that this carnage
and simple. The Quran says, “Do not be
occurred in the blessed month of Ramadan—a
brutal or commit aggression, for surely God
month of charity, introspection, and self-
does not love brutal aggressors.”
purification—only adds to the foulness of
this enormity. There are extremists in America and abroad
who view the world through a Manichean
Since September 11, 2001, many Muslims have
lens: American Manicheans want Americans to
been victims of collective guilt; yet,
see themselves as entirely “good” and all
numerous Americans of good conscience have
Muslims as entirely “evil.” Muslim
stood by their fellow citizens, despite
Manicheans want Muslims to see themselves
differences in faith or lifestyle,
as entirely “good” and all Americans as
including many members of the targeted
entirely “evil.” This is a catastrophic
community. Difference is no justification
recipe for unrelenting violence, and it
for violence. While most American Muslims
must be rejected: We will not allow the
adhere to a strict Abrahamic morality, the
extremists to define us, mold us in their
Quran is clear that its injunctions apply
benighted image, or sow the seeds of
only to Muslims who choose to follow them:
discord among us. We are one people, so let
“There is absolutely no compulsion in
us all in good conscience and human
religion.” In America, individuals are at
solidarity reject this extremist narrative
liberty to pursue happiness as each sees
and assert our shared humanity and mutual
fit; it is our cherished political right.
respect for the sanctity of all human life.
Those of us who live in this country,
irrespective of our beliefs, must respect
the equality of all Americans under the
laws of the land.

(The Orlando Declaration was signed by more than 450 Muslim leaders and community
organisers in the United States http://orlandostatement.com)

30
 ASSOCIATION oF BRITISH MUSLIMS
Statement on the Orlando Attack
The Creator does not tell us to hate, let alone harm,
anyone because of their differences to us. We have all
been created by the same Merciful and Gracious Creator.
We cannot but condemn this attack on the innocent people
of Orlando, Florida.
LGBTQ people are too often targets of violence. Our
deepest condolences to the loved ones and families of
the victims of this attack. We stand in solidarity with
them and pray the Most High eases their suffering.
Our Creator didn’t create us to hate or to cause friction between people,
therefore we at the Association of British Muslims (AoBM) will redouble our
efforts to oppose all forms of violence and bigotry in the name of religion and
we ask that people of all religions and the wider society challenge homophobia
alongside anti-Muslim hate, rascism, anti-Semitism, in fact all forms of
extremism and bigotry.
We will not let hate and violence succeed. We will stand together united and
those who wish to cause division will know they cannot succeed.

Daesh and Orlando

Thousands of people gathered in London’s Soho district on Monday 13th June 2016
to hold a vigil for the 49 people killed by the terrorist Omar Mateen in Orlando,
Florida. The Association of British Muslims was proud to be among those paying
their respects. We watched in silence as 49 balloons rose into the sky
symbolising the needless deaths carried out by a Daesh supporting assassin.
Daesh would like to drive a wedge between the LGBT community and Muslims – as
would the Far Right. The AoBM is determined to stop that happening. We are the
oldest Muslim association in Britain and it’s our aim to build unity between all
Britons regardless of faith, ethnicity or sexuality.
It was heartening to see many LGBT Muslims in Soho on Monday standing in
solidarity with their brothers and sisters. All of us expressed our disgust at
the murderous acts of Daesh. The terrorists direct vulnerable or unstable people
to commit murder without any thought for the consequences. Individuals like
Mateen are just pawns in their battle. Once they have served their purpose, Daesh
looks for others to brainwash with their distorted version of Islam.
It is sickening that the gunning down of people in Orlando happened during
Ramadan. Daesh and their puppet Mateen clearly had no idea about the true meaning
of the holy month. This shows the bankruptcy of Daesh as it loses territory and
descends to becoming a blood soaked terrorist gang. The threat it poses in our
communities is very real and the AoBM will be at the forefront of pushing back
against extremist narratives and the ideology of terrorism.

he Association of British Muslims (AoBM) is the oldest extant organisation of British

Muslims. Established in Liverpool in 1889 as The English Islamic Association by HE
Shaykhu-l Islam Abdullah Quilliam Bey, Shaykhu-l Islam of the British Isles by
appointment of the Caliph, HIM Sultan Abdul Hamid II, jannat makan, (which appointment
was endorsed by the Queen-Empress, HM Queen Victoria, and also by HE the Emir of
Morocco, HM the King of Afghanistan, and HIM the Qajar Shah of Iran).
The Association of British Muslims affirms the equal worth of all human beings,
regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, creed, sexual orientation or
ability. We believe that critical thinking is essential to spiritual development. We
repudiate militarism and violence, whether on an individual, organisational or national
level. We embrace religious pluralism and the diversity of inspirations that motivate
people to embrace social justice.

31
 Belgian Muslim Executive
The
condemns the attacks in Orlando

During the night from saturday june 11 til sunday june 12 the horror and hatred have
struck again, this time in Orlando.
The Belgian Muslim Executive (EMB) unconditionally condemns these terrorist attacks,
aggravated by homophic hatred.
The EMB will never ceise to repeat that in Islam the value of a human life is sacred and
that everybody who kills a human being is equal to one who has killed all of humanity.
Everybody is free in the choices they want to make. No form of intimidation, aggrssion
or assault in the name of ethnic, sexual or philosophic differences can be tollerated.
In these difficult times, our thoughts go out to the families and loved ones of the many
victims. We want to offer them our condoleances. To the many wounded who survived the
attack, we want to offer our solidarity and support.
The EMB will continue to fight all forms of extremism and we continue to plead for a
peaceful and tolerant society so that muslims and their fellow citisens of all creeds
and lifestyles can live together in peace.
Salah ECHALLAOUI
chairman

The Muslim Executive of Belgium is the official Muslim interlocutor of the Belgian federal
government for the implementation of the July 19, 1974 law recognizing Islam as one of the
subsidized religious or secular communities in Belgium according to the law of March 4, 1870.
It was set up by a royal decree on July 3, 1996.

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA

Condemns the Senseless
Night Club Shooting in Orlando
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA urges calm after a shooting in an Orlando nightclub
left at least 20 dead and 42 injured. Reports state that the shooter has died following
a shootout with SWAT officers. The FBI is looking into whether this was an act of
international or domestic terrorism. The shooter has been identified as Omar Mateen.
“This is really tragic and sad,” said Dr. Nasim Rehmatullah, National Vice President of
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, “Reverence for all human life is the essence of Islamic
teaching. This is a time for prayers and efforts to stop such senseless violence in our
nation.”
We pray for the speedy recovery of the injured and offer our deepest condolences to the
families and friends of the victims.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believe that the long-awaited messiah has come in the person of
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) of Qadian. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claimed to be the metaphorical
second coming of Jesus(as) of Nazareth and the divine guide, whose advent was foretold by the
Prophet of Islam. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believes that God sent Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, like
Jesus, to end religious wars, condemn bloodshed and reinstitute morality, justice and peace. Most
Muslim scholars reject this claim and on this ground some scholars believe that members of the
Ahmadiyya community are not real Muslims.
32
Queer Muslims and allies call out
hypocricy

33
34
35
Negative comments about homosexuality
by Muslim groups and individuals

Mukhtar K. Ahmed Al-Mesalati Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi

of the Islamic Society
Mukhtar K. Ahmed Al-Mesalati is the author of a book of North America
titled: "Introducing the QUR'AN: The book of ALLAH." In
it, the author attempts to show that the Qur'an is
(ISNA)
scientifically valid, that Islam is a religion of
peace; that it teaches tolerance; and that it is the "Homosexuality is a
only valid religion in the world. He also attempts to moral disorder. It is a
clear up many of the misconceptions about Islam that moral disease, a sin and
are widespread in the West. corruption... No person
The author discusses three passages from the Qur'an is born homosexual, just
which touch on same-sex sexual behavior. He concludes: like no one is born a
thief, a liar or
"Sodomy is one of the most gruesome and detested
murderer. People acquire
crimes, the punishment for do so is also one of the
harshest penalties, it is the capital punishment....The these evil habits due to
punishment is obviously hard, but the crime is of a a lack of proper guidance
harder effect on the society if the culprits are let go and education."
unpunished. They should not be allowed to live in "There are many
society, for the epidemic they could spread is
reasons why it is
overwhelming. Imagine a society with a bunch of
sodomites living in it. It will be a society without forbidden in Islam.
chastity, morality of virtue, because these values will Homosexuality is
be executed and killed. Certainly, executing these sick dangerous for the health
and dangerous sodomites is much better and safer for of the individuals and
the society than executing morality, chastity and for the society. It is a
virtue." main cause of one of the
"Some people claim that a sodomite is genetic, but most harmful and fatal
this is wrong. A sodomite is an evil habit, like diseases. It is
alcohol. It can start as a trail and experiment and disgraceful for both men
then turn into addiction and disease." and women. It degrades a
person. Islam teaches
that men should be men
Beliefs of Investigating Islam and women should be
women. Homosexuality
In their essay "What is Islam's view of deprives a man of his
homosexuality?" this web site expresses views
manhood and a woman of
which are very similar to those held by her womanhood. It is the
conservative Christians:
most un-natural way of
● Homosexuality is considered sinful within life. Homosexuality leads
Islam. to the destruction of
● Homosexuality is a profound mistake. family life."
● Humans are all naturally heterosexual.
● Homosexuality is caused by environmental This statement has since
factors, particularly near the time of puberty. disappeared from the ISNA
● People can control their thoughts and steer web site.
themselves away from homosexuality.
● Homosexuality is a chosen sexual orientation.
● Any homosexual can become a heterosexual.

source:

36
British Muslim group Al-
Muhajiroun
According to www.RainbowNetwork.com, the
British Muslim group Al-Muhajiroun
issued a fatwa (religious decree) on
2001-JUL-16 against a Muslim homosexual
rights group Al-Fatiha. The alleged
fatwa said:
"The very existence of Al-Fatiha is
illegitimate and the members of this
organisation are apostates. Never will
such an organisation be tolerated in
Islam and never will the disease that it
calls for be affiliated with a true
Islamic society or individual. The
Islamic ruling for such acts is death.
It is a duty of the Muslims to prevent
such evil conceptions being voiced in
the public or private arena."
A spokesperson for Al-Fatiha said:
"Al-Fatiha has concluded that the
statement from Al-Muhajiroun is only an
alleged fatwa. We believe that it was
only sent to press in the United Kingdom
in reaction to the Al-Fatiha conference
that was held in San Francisco, and Al-
Fatiha’s participation in the San
Francisco LGBT Pride Parade. But whether
it is an official fatwa or not, the
rhetoric used in the statement was
extreme, and cause for concern."
Ahmadiyyah Muslim Community
Ahmadiyyah Muslim Community was a Canadian
Muslim group. They published an essay
"Homosexuality & Islam" which views homosexual
behavior as a symptom of the decadence of
society. "As this process continues, people
find and invent even more bizarre and
perverted means to satisfy natural urges, and
trends like child and adult pornography,
bisexuality, homosexuality and bestiality
appear." They make a number of points:
"....either the sexual license will cure
itself through its own excesses (as it is
doing now in the shape of numerous venereal
diseases) or the wrath of God will fall in
shape of multitudes of Sodoms, Gomorrahs and
Ubars."
Homosexuality has been considered deviant
behavior throughout human history.
Homosexuals have redefined sexual abuse of
children as "natural and acceptable."
Homosexuality cannot be caused by genes
because:
there are essentially no gays and lesbians in
Russia, China and many other countries
if there is a "gay gene" it would cause
homosexuality to die out quickly because
homosexuals typically do not have children.
Homosexuality "is utterly contrary to every
natural law of human and animal life, and
counter to the morals, purposes and
institutions of a procreative society."

Mission Islam
"We as Muslims need to state unequivocally and unambiguously that homosexuality is a
deviant behavior and that there is not even an iota of doubt that Islam condemns the
behavior.
The most important thing for us as Muslims is that Islam is not our ethnicity, it is our
religion which regulates our lives and from which we derive our values.
ven though our religion allows us latitude, more than most, to ponder and reconsider some
issues, homosexuality is clearly and explicitly condemned by the Quran (7:80-83, 11:77-
79), the Prophet, and his progeny.
When we have a conflict with the Quran, which is the word of God verbatim, we do not ask
where the Quran went wrong but rather why are we, limited beings, in conflict with the
wisdom of the absolute, God Almighty.
As Muslims we do not make up our religion, but we receive it and we obey it.
Thus stated, we need to clarify, that it does not mean that we hate the homosexual person
but rather that we find the behavior abhorable. We want to help with sensitivity and care
whoever has these tendencies, or practices such behavior. We can further point out the
following:
God has created everything in pairs each endowed with physical and psychological
characteristics to complement and complete one another. The Quran (4:1) indicates that
human beings have been created from one living entity (nafs), which represents the origin
of both the male and the female. The human species though has included male and female
since its existence. The "mating" or "spousing" of male and female sexes is original in
human nature and out of this instinctive relationship the human race develops, continues
and spreads....."
"We, as Muslims, have benefit and blessings of divine guidance and wisdom. The Quran
reminds us that Allah (SWT) will change the condition of the people only if they
themselves put forth the effort (13:11). If the homosexuals can promote their wrong
values with vigor and succeed, we have a duty and a responsibility to not only make an
effort to arrest this trend, but also to invest our time, energy, and resources to
promote the divine values with as much zeal."
37
Even the Ahmadiyaa Muslim community
hate gays

Even the Ahmadiyaa Muslim community hate gays. You would think that
with the abject humiliation they suffer at the hands of other Muslims
they would be more tolerant and accepting. No.
This is from their official website. I have always been a supporter
of Ahmadiyaa. The treatment they face is Pakistan is akin to the
treatment gays face. I am getting bored of aligning with members of
society who will not stand for my rights.
The last sentence left me speechless.

38
 I am
Qandeel
Baloch

I’m Qandeel Baloch. You just heard the wrong news that I have been murdered
today, it’s quite funny how the media uses the surprise news and gets my story
going to catch TRPs but I want to clarify that I’m still alive. I cannot be
murdered, I’m the rebel, you can see me on each and every page, line and verse
of history. I might have had different names, different features, but yes
you’ll see me with the same nature of being a fighter. Every form of me will
have the same story, the story of the underprivileged people who have big
dreams but are not ready to give up, who are the ones born to resist, who
refuse to die in the state in which they were born. For them, their dreams
stand above their soul, life and everything else in the world. They prefer
dying young over dying in misery. For them, rules are just intoxicants, they
are here to tell the world that they are a free soul.

You can kill me but can’t kill my ideology of going against the wind. You may
disagree with my actions; you may consider them wrong but what else do you
expect from a poor lady with a pathetic past. What other ways have you given
her to discover her talent, how much do you support her?

It is funny how nobody raised a single voice when I was married as a juvenile
at the age of 17, it is funny how nobody cared about me when I was divorced and
had to starve with my hunger, when I had to give up on my son as I could not
afford his medical treatment. Nobody cared. If you cannot acknowledge that
despite being so much under privileged and unknown, I stood out and became an
entertainer, then you have no right to mourn upon my death because I hate
cowards, I hate those who close women behind bars of their obsolete mentality.

Dreams don’t mean twerking on TV, it means to be free and taking decisions at
your own free will. I’m not being murdered by some man named Waseem, apparently
my brother, I’m being killed by the people who suffocated my dreams. Ladies and
gentlemen, if you wish to judge me, judge all you want but all I have to say is
each time a dream dies you’ll see a Qandeel Baloch being born.

– Written By: Millons of Supressed Qandeel Balochs

http://ladiesofpakistan.com/i-am-qandeel-baloch/

39
The Intersections Between
Homophobia and Islamophobia
by Barry Kade
http://socialistunity.com/the-intersections-between-homophobia-and-islamophobia/
I would like to see a reasoned debate about
the complex intersections between
homophobia and islamophobia, and the
challenges these pose for the left. I think
discussions on the internet show how
theoretically impoverished we on the left
are, which makes us unable to deal with
this complexity. Thus all we get is a ‘for’
or ‘against’ gossip column about the merits
and demerits of a certain celebrity
activist under discussion.
In a discussion on the original Green Left
open email list, I think it was in 2008 or
2007. This had a long thread under the
heading ‘Salma Yaqoob’, which had started
with the helpful suggestion that someone
should approach Salma and ask whether she
might like to join the Green Party. This
was met with a hostile response from two or
three persistent posters – over dozens of
emails. These emails were from white gay
secular humanist comrades. (I also am gay
and an atheist, but as you will see, take
an opposite view).
The central thrust of these emails were
that we should not work with Salma Yaqoob,
as she was an ‘Islamicist’ and a homophobe.
The accusations became more wild, making
accusations of “Islamo-fascism’, and
equating all Muslims with reactionary
views. There was very little in the way of
refutation from others on the list.
Obviously the ‘anti-Salma’ posters had no
knowledge of Salma’s actual politics. I
pointed out that Salma was not an
‘Islamicist’, but a left-progressive Muslim
woman, with progressive views on women’s
liberation etc. Fortunately, this has now
been understood by the Green Party and the
Green Left, but this was not always the
case. The posters against Salma on the
Green left list in 2008 were defamatory,
ignorant and often abusive.
I was particularly interested in this
discussion, being involved in both the
fight against homophobia and Islamophobia.
This is a central but highly difficult twin
task, but none the less essential if we are
to unite the working class against the
coming capitalist attacks, and build a new
left progressive counter-hegemonic alliance
of all the different sections of the
exploited and oppressed.
At the heart of this ‘debate’ was a view
prevalent amongst many gay rights and
secular humanist activists. This view may be
described as simple enlightenment secular
humanism. It takes the standpoint epitomised
by Voltaire’s polemics against the
eighteenth century religious establishment,
but then deploys them against the racially
oppressed migrant workers of Europe of
Muslim heritage.
Voltaire and his comrades were resisting the
most powerful force in European society –
the church, which stood as a central bastion
of feudal power. The overthrow of this power
was a central task of the rising
enlightenment bourgeoisie. However, today we
have many wannabe petite-Voltaire’s whose
central task is not to attack the most
powerful, but the most powerless. This is
epitomised by the publication of the
‘Prophet-Cartoons’ by the right wing Danish
newspaper the Jyllands-Posten. Framed in the
enlightenment language of free expression
against religious obscurantism, these
cartoons were about degrading and
denigrating the belief systems of Muslim
people, who are racially oppressed in
Europe.
And this is the heart of the issue. Since
the end of the cold war against ‘communism’,
the west has had to invent another enemy.
Orwell in 1984, had parodied this continual
construction of enemies to keep the
population docile and in control, with the
seamless shift between enemies and allies,
Oceania and Eurasia – or in our time,
between ‘communism’ and an essentialised
‘global Islam’. This involves not only a
series of imperialist wars and occupations
to subjugate countries such as Iraq and
Afghanistan – but also an increased
oppression of Europe’s already oppressed
racial minorities of migrant workers and
their descendants, with an additional layer
of Islamophobia. Thus ‘Islamophobia’ is now
an official of western power, uniting
capitalists and workers, in both foreign
wars and domestic racism. It is also the
most serious contemporary threat to the
socialist project of creating a united
working class resistance of all races and
religions.
Yet this racism is veiled in the language of
40
enlightenment liberalism and secularism.
The rightwing thugs of the English Defence
League can claim that ‘Islam is not a race’
and that they are not being racist, they
are merely standing up for secular
humanism. This claim was also made on the
Green Left discussion list by my fellow gay
rights activists. However, this ignores the
dangers of the persecution of religious
minorities. Ethno-religious persecution has
an ugly history, from the persecution of
Jews and Catholics, and other ethnic and
religious minorities. With Europes Muslims
this is combined with race. In Britain,
workers of Pakistani and Bangladeshi
ancestry have long been on the bottom rung
of our society, at the receiving end of the
lowest pay, worst housing and also the
worst street violence and racial
oppression. Now the new ideology of
Islamophobia is added on, in a dangerous
and volatile mix.
Gender and sexuality have become frontlines
in this new battle. Our previous hard
fought battles against sexism and
homophobia by the women’s and gay
liberation movements are now being
appropriated by the establishment and other
oppressive forces. Thus the war in
Afghanistan is sometimes justified with
reference to fighting sexism and
homophobia. And the BNP and the EDL in the
UK, and Dutch right wingers such as Geert
Wilders sometimes try to hijack our
struggles against sexism and homophobia to
promote their racist and Islamophobic
agenda.
Leading figures in the feminist and gay
liberation movements need to speak out
against this hijacking and appropriation of
our struggles by the far right and the
warmongers. Yet all too often they
collaborate with it, attending ‘freedom of
expression’ events, etc.
And just because the right try to
appropriate gay liberation and feminism in
their Islamophobic crusade, this does not
mean that they are not also homophobic and
sexist. I’ve just witnessed first hand the
rising anti-gay bigotry in the USA, around
an orchestrated backlash against gay
marriage proposals. The thugs of the EDL
might try to use us as cover for their
Islamophobic racism, but this all male
group of football hooligans are just as
capable as going queer bashing as embarking
on an Islamophobic pogrom.
It is also just as important to challenge
homophobia amongst the Muslim working
class. Racially and religiously oppressed
minorities will not be able to defend or
liberate themselves if they remain in
thrall to backward and reactionary
prejudices. But this will not be done by
aligning ourselves with the racist right
wing, and using homophobia as a stick to
beat Muslims with. People retreat into their
religion as a form of comfort, as a defence
against a hostile, racist and exploitative
world. As Marx said:
“Religious distress is at the same time the
expression of real distress and the protest
against real distress. Religion is the sigh
of the oppressed creature, the heart of a
heartless world, just as it is the spirit of
a spiritless situation. It is the opium of
the people. The abolition of religion as the
illusory happiness of the people is required
for their real happiness. The demand to give
up the illusion about its condition is the
demand to give up a condition which needs
illusions”.
(Karl Marx, Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right)
Thus Marx’s atheism was the opposite of
Voltairian secularism or bourgeois
enlightenment atheism. Marx did not believe
religion would disappear in a cloud of
scientific logic, but that it has material
roots in social relations of alienation and
oppression. If religion is a painkiller,
then bourgeois atheists ridicule the
oppressed for needing painkillers, while
Marxist atheists seek to help the oppressed
remove the cause of the pain.
And if homophobia amongst Muslims is to be
challenged, then we must first unite with
Muslims in common struggles against war and
racism, and build alliances with progressive
Muslims. That this can be done is shown by
the recent courageous statements by Inayat
Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain
who recently spoke up for Muslim support for
gay rights, saying:
“At its best, Islamic civilisation was more
than willing to learn from other surrounding
countries and cultures and adopt the best
aspects as its own. Actively working to
ensure that people are able to live free of
discrimination based on one’s ethnicity,
gender, religion or sexual orientation is a
worthy goal and should be viewed as an
Islamic goal”.
I seem to have written a long and hasty
post. I will rework this further in my own
blog soon. I will also repost the ‘Gay
Imperialism’ article from ‘out of place’ or
at least sections of it and a full exegesis
and commentary.
However, given the tone of this blog thread
here, I expect to be quoted out of context
and denounced by our influx of petite-
voltaires and uncritical inheritors of the
bourgoise enlightenment secularism. Enjoy!
41
"Never before have
we as LGBT Muslims
received so much visibility"
(Faisal Alam)

42
A good note when our shuyukh offer nothing but PR moves and
apologetics for their criminalization of love, when they
fail to give care to wounded people IN their communities,
when they speak violence with a soft and polite voice…and
then their defenders tell YOU to watch your adab and insist
that you only gently nudge them towards treating you as
human. Watch how selective they are when it comes to using
adab as a weapon. Watch the wallahi bros with Malcolm X and
Muhammad Ali profile pics telling you to speak softly and
not push too hard.

Perhaps especially relevant at this time of year when people

will also weaponize the fast against you. Temper, temper.
Fuck em.

FB-status by Michael Muhammad Knight.

43