(published inside ” Progressive,reformist Muslims” N.4 on 214.000 entries as you can verify here at 2/7/16 a4 7.00 CET)
—————
(… cllick here to find I/XI) …
…
God in the Qur’an to reflect upon our differences,the concept of Tawheed also requires of us that we look past our differences and our diversity and
be cognizant of our common humanity and dignity and our basic equality in the face of our Creator.
As the testimonies in this Green Book show, without reform, many LGBT Muslims will continue to live double lives or have compartmental
ized lives in which their sexuality is separated from their faith; or they will leave their faith altogether or even in some tragic cases commit suicide,
not being able to bear the heavy burden placed upon them by their families and their faith.
And yet,no LGBT Muslim should ever feel that they must bear such a crushing burden. As the Qur’an says, “On no soul doth Allah place a burden greater than it can bear”.
Islam is for all people, includingLGBT people. As one young gay Muslim said in the testimonies in this Green Book, “He’s my God
too.”.
Ultimately, dogmatic, heterosexual Muslims owe it to themselves to transcend homophobia,lesbophobia, biphobia and transphobia and acquire t
heir own authentic, personal and intimate relationship with the Divine, one that recognizes that their own worth is not based on being better
that someone else, but exists because of their being in relationship with God. That is far superior for them than to believe that they are better than others or that their sexuality is better than that of others, for that is the sin of pride, the sin of Shaitan who said, “I am better than him”.
.
ANAS GILGAMESH – Iraq
AlSalam Allikum!
First thing I did is to login to CALEM website to read more, and although that the Arabic pages are not fully completed but I can have more a
nswers at the English ones. I am really so proud that there is now a Islamic networks for LGBTQ groups, when I read about both operational &
strategic goals of CALEM I just feel that I am partof it.
As for me, I am LGBTQ Rights Activist that is mostly working in hidden as you know how the situations for LGBTQs community & activists inside
Iraq. In many of Arab communities it is very difficult to organize around issues of sexuality and gender identity and gender expression, and the
models from other regions for this kind of organizing may not make sense in my own contexts, and thus I need I think to establish my own model that is culturally appropriate with societies of the Arab World.
I used to work on this as hidden person, not using my real name and actual info especially that it is still dangerous here in Iraq comparing w
ithin the other Arab countries. All of my work in LGBTQ rights are volunteering since that I believe that this is my rights and I must living for it not
living by it, so that I am involving in some of activities most of it are webbased like Facebook,Twitter, email groups, etc.
It shall be so interesting to have this valuable chance to be part of your vision, this will helpsme a lot to know what are the steps that you walked
on it so that you reach the nowadays.
Yours respectfully, Anas.
NEVIN ÖZTOP – Turkey
Representative of KAOS GL – Turkish LGBT organizat
ion, Ankara ; leader of the RNAH
(Regional Network
Against Homophobia)
editor-in-chief of Kaos GL Magazine
Nevin is offering us a unique perspective on their engagement against homophobia: “Why Regional? Creating the Regional Network Against Hom
ophobia aims to provide a solidarity shelter for all the individuals suffering from hate based on homophobia, transphobia and sexism in and
around Turkey. We live in a region popular for its border problems and religious clashes; however when it comes to different kinds of hate forms, there seems to be no borders or clashes.
We as theLGBTs in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Palestine, Iran, Iraq, Tunisia, Algeria, Israel, Serbia, Lebanon,Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania, we do not stand only against heterosexism but also against nationalism and militarism that go hand in hand with it.Our regional network aims to create a ground to stand up for each other as we share similarpolitical patterns and break mental and physical borders that separate us. We want to live with each other; we want to live for each other.”
MARWAN BENSAID – Morocco
Marwan is founder of an LGBT Moroccan organization
and editor in chief of the gay magazine ASWAT (“The
Voices”)
This is so that among the third world countries, especially in the ArabMuslim world, the subject of homosexuality continues to be a taboo wh
ich we do not talk about, because some believe that talking about topics related to sexuality in general and homosexuality in particular is
contrary to decency; that the issue of homosexuality is set and its legal status, under Islamic law, is obvious.
They base this on the history of the people of Lot,which is recounted in the holy Qur’an.
Besides other voices, in order to deny the existence of such practices within the society, stressed the fact that homosexuality is a Western lifestyle, which is not compatible with Arab societies.
To date Arab LGBT community is still far behind, and we find ourselves as Arab LGBTs facing a battle against ignorance, first, before even we c
an fight homophobia, since the major part of the Moroccan people still see homosexuality as a deviance and contrary to human nature, striking
against the wall all the research and studies showing otherwise.
With regard to the marginalization and stress we feel as a gay, as result of the rejection by the society, we are also exposed everyday to variou
s forms of verbal and physical violence and discrimination in the Street, the place of our studies and the workplace…
This is so that among the third world countries, especially in the ArabMuslim world, the subject of homosexuality continues to be a taboo wh
ich we do not talk about, because some believe that talking about topics related to sexuality in general and homosexuality in particular is
contrary to decency; that the issue of homosexuality is set and its legal status, under Islamic law, is obvious.
They base this on the history of the people of Lot,which is recounted in the holy Qur’an.
Besides other voices, in order to deny the existence of such practices within the society, stressed the fact that homosexuality is a Western lifestyle, which is not compatible with Arab societies.
To date Arab LGBT community is still far behind, and we find ourselves as Arab LGBTs facing a battle against ignorance, first, before even we c
an fight homophobia, since the major part of the Moroccan people still see homosexuality as a deviance and contrary to human nature, striking
against the wall all the research and studies showing otherwise.
With regard to the marginalization and stress we feel as a gay, as result of the rejection by the society, we are also exposed everyday to variou
s forms of verbal and physical violence and discrimination in the Street, the place of our studies and the workplace…
In the ArabMuslim countries, where all problems are classified in these societies visàvis the lawful issue of licit halal and illicit haram , Islamic law is seen as the weapon and primary justification for rejection of all forms of violence faced by homosexuals, by society, law, family…
Furthermore, although there are several schools of Islamic jurisprudence, which virtually never agreed on almost all religious issues, yet these sc
hools are all agreed on the fact that homosexuality is illicit; the only element of jurisprudence on which Muslim scholars diverge, about this subject, is how to execute homosexuals who would be found, with out any possible doubt, engaged in sexual practices of this type These problems listed above, on which Muslim scholars publish without any awareness on their part as to the reality of the facts they describe, is equivalent to encouraging the violence by giving carte blanche and invite people to commit violence, to increase homophobia, while making
licit these acts of violence against these marginalized minorities.
There is not long ago, the Shiite cleric Ayatollah alSistani, has published on its website astatement permitting anyone to kill homosexuals, by
applying Islamic law. There was also thisstatement saying that “homosexuals should be killedin the most brutal way”; a statement which was
behind the killing of homosexuals in Iraq, since a large number of homosexuals were executed without any evidence of crime. One of the survivors
reflects the fact that “the killers entered the houses; people were taken from the streets and tortured, before being killed, to obtain the names of
other potential victims.”
Through internet, television news and social networks, have circulated many photos of some of the homosexuals who were killed because of their
homosexuality. As the BBC reports about one of these gay Iraqi, someone would have told his brother: “in these times of chaos, it is possible to kill
your gay brother, without incurring any penalty and end this disgrace.” …
(… to be continued next sunday)
inside the World all begins locally,(LOCGLOB),and then turns into global,(GLOCAL):the 45 Geopolitical Regions and the 296 leading Towns 