As more states in the U.S. legalize same-sex marriage, it is easy to forget that in many communities, such as the Islamic one, homosexuality is frowned upon. The U.S. based Washington Post tells the story of Imam Daayiee Abdullah who is seeking to make a change. The openly gay African-American convert to Islam quietly helps same-sex Muslim couples marry and keep the secret from their families. Abdullah led a particularly sensitive marriage ceremony for a Muslim marrying his Quaker partner. We had to ask all our guests to do a social-media blackout of our wedding. No Facebook, no Twitter no Instagram, said M.Q., the Muslim partner, our relatives could be killed, their homes could be destroyed if our wedding was on the internet. The atypical imam is regarded as something of a hero within the local gay Muslim community. He has been immensely helpful for individuals who are trying to reconcile our sexuality with our faith, said Faisal Alam, a Muslim activist formerly based in Washington, in an interview with the Washington Post. Despite some support, Abdullah has plenty of detractors. Some local imams refuse to say Salaam (a greeting) to me, he says. There is also strong anger prevalent on internet forums. Abdullah has been called twisted and perverted, and a champion of ideas clearly forbidden in Islam. http://english.alarabiya.net/en/per...age-and-the-Muslim-community-in-the-U-S-.html Will This lead to major Migration from Arab and Muslim countries to Washington ? No Facebook, no Twitter no Instagram, the Muslims gay says ... our relatives could be killed, their homes could be destroyed if our wedding was on the internet. Yes, Human rights in Arab countries at it's best.
idk either. i wish it were clearer so i could join in....unless it's that he's black-i couldn't do that, it would be racist.
So it's an attack on peripatetic gay black muslims ? I'm still unsure. And who's getting their back lashed ?
An interesting question. I wouldn't say "major". Maybe a small uptick if there's any noticeable difference at all. I think more likely is a small emigration from unfriendly states with significant concentrations of native Muslim populations (Michigan, for example) to Washington. But I don't think much of anyone will notice outside the specific communities directly affected. These kinds of changes are largely imperceptible to the general public. It's not hard to imagine the fearmongering we can expect from gay-hating, muslim-hating conspiracy-theorists about an imaginary "gay jihad".
Yes really, tolerance from the Muslim world is something we rarely see, this is an encouraging event, too bad this is such an extremely marginal view within the Muslim world.
