From the Kansas City Star - June 10, 2008
A plea for Muslims who are gay
A Jihad for Love" is a documentary about young gay and lesbian Muslims' struggles with their faith. Jihad means "struggle" in Arabic and particularly the struggle we have within ourselves to do the right thing.
The movie will be shown as part of the weeklong Kansas City Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, which starts June 27.
When I previewed it, I had two overwhelming and paradoxical reactions.
The first was how incredibly beautiful Islam is. I would not expect most non-Muslim viewers to have this reaction. But I have been to some of the sacred sites the movie shows, and I have participated in some of the Muslim rituals.
I cannot get out of my mind the tenderness and devotion of a lesbian couple who trace calligraphy in stone of a passage from the Qur'an as they seek to find their place in their faith.
In a way, the film parallels, say, some Roman Catholics who love the church with its music, liturgy and sacraments, who follow a loving Jesus, for whom the warmth of family embrace is molded by reverential practice of the faith, but who are officially "disordered" because they love someone of their own sex.
My second reaction was grief at seeing devout young people suffering, with their lives threatened in the name of their faith. I don't like hearing an imam talk about stoning and beheading as punishment for loving another human being.
As the film follows individuals and pairs in their jihad for love, we see fear, curiosity, anguish, grief, lamentation; but because they are unwilling to abandon their faith, the anger is restrained.
Parvez Sharma made the film in secrecy and obscures some of the faces. The stories unfold in India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, South Africa and France, with an escape to Canada. We learn about the harsh traditional Islamic law but also Islamic interpretations that permit, and even legitimize, same-sex relationships.
It is ironic that Islam contains a long and at times honored tradition of same-sex relationships. The film includes a Pakistani holiday celebrating one such couple. But when the West colonized many Muslim countries, anti-gay laws were adopted.
The 81-minute movie shows at 4:45 p.m. June 29 at the Tivoli Cinemas. After the film, in cooperation with OpenCircle, I will lead a panel and audience discussion. Panelists are Josef Walker (Christian), Ahmed El-Sherif (Muslim) and Lynn Barnett (Jewish).
I'll ask, "How does the jihad you see portrayed in this movie compare with struggles you know about that people in your own faith have dealt with?"
2 comments:
As Salaamu Alaikum,
This is strange for me. I am a revert to Islam so the subject of homosexuality is not new or even a top priority with me. However how can anyone who is gay really expect Muslims who are not gay to openly except you when your lifestyle is against scripture (Quran, Torah and Injil)?
Why are you so surprised or seem to be surprised when people in traditional masjid/Islamic centers are spooked by your pressence?
What you have decided to so with your private life is yours to do (especially is you are of legal age). Only Allah knows the heart and only Allah is your judge.
It is complicated however I don't understand the surprise from those of you who claim to be gay about being totally accepted.
This does not mean I condone any wrongdoing by anyone in the name of Allah to hurt someone, vandalize property, etc because they think they are gay or maybe they have come out.
It's complicated.
Hadayai
Just a humble Muslimah trying to make it to the Jinnah.
I'm glad to see this in an American paper.
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