Al-Fatiha

As-salaam alaikum wa rahmatolahi wabarakato!

Faisal, I am pleased to read your message to this group, and my immediate reaction was that these conferences must be a good thing.  

I have to apologize for being so ingorant of this topic, and I am also new to this group and this way of approaching Islam.  Here in Norway, the sort of Islam that is practiced is very much colored by the strict salafism, with only the narrow way to salvation.  Or the madhabs.  I have for the last years felt some sort of breathing problems among the muslims here.  Reality is just not as they want it to be.  What about islamic practices, when the map does not fit the landscape?  

I see myself as an open minded person, and I have often wondered about the case with homosexuals in Islam.  I believe that it is definitely possible to be born a gay or a lesbian.  So it should be a part of Allahs creation.  The official standpoint to Islam, is that homosexuality is a grave sin.  I have missed convincing sources to this argument (tell me if they exist), but I am not a scholar, so I respect the official standpoint with some doubts.  I suppouse my standpoint is something like:  We all come to this world with challenges to solve.  We have to find ways of living with it.  In my opinion it is rarely something is purely wrong or purely right.  Most of lifes choices is something in between.  I think one of the challenges about being a homosexual, is the curse they get from the rest of society.  And the fact that this is something that (at least in Norway) one does not talk to others about, especially in the mosc.  

However, there seems to be some prejudices, and I have to say that taking a look at the discussion group for Fatiha at yahoogroups, it shocked me.  While I can accept and respect two people from the same sex living together as married people, I still think that Islam has given us someguidelines to life that we have to fulfill.  I do believe that pornography is against Islam and can cause harm.  i believe that changing sex partners often, for the sake of sex, is haram, no matter if you are a gay or a heterosexual.  However, the emailgroup did not leave me with a feeling that this is decency, with all the messages advertising for sex sites.  What is al Fatihas official stand point about this?  When they have the aim of enpowering and enstrengthening the muslim homosexuals, does that mean that they are enstrengthening their imam and how to live with oneself?  Or are they trying to proove that it is completely halal to be a homosexual?  If so, what is their sources?

Does Al-Fatiha have an official web site so that I can read more about this organisation?

Excuse me again, if you feel that I have some prejudices.  If I donæt show them up, they can never be changed.  

Wa alaikum salaam
Chahida
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  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: [email protected] 
  To: [email protected] 
  Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2004 6:42 PM
  Subject: [Progressivemuslimsnetwork] Re: Praying side by side and women leading prayer


  its interesting reading these postings as a queer-identified Muslim.  Al-Fatiha, an organization in the US dedicated to supporting and empowering queer Muslims decided back in 1999 (only one year after it formed) that it would not separate men and women in prayer, and we also agreed at that time to let women lead prayers.

  whats even more exciting for us is that many straight muslims come to our conferences and events and are amazed at how progressive a lot of queer muslims are in their thinking about Islam.  i guess when you are oppressed you begin to "think outside of the box" a lot quicker...

  in toronto, our sister organization Salaam has regular friday prayer services that they hold with an organization called Muslims for Social Justice, where men and women pray side-by-side and women are also allowed to lead prayers.

  as always, we allow everyone to pray wherever they feel most comfortable (ie. next to a man, next to a woman, or behind men, behind women, etc).  we also allow non-Muslims to pray with us and do not require any hijab or other "appropriate" clothing that might be needed for prayer... again that is up to the individual.. we just want them to feel comfortable...

  whats really amazing about all of this for us as queer muslims, especially women, is that prayer has become a source of spiritual violence and it is the source of a lot of pain for many of us... for a lot of lesbian and bisexual women, the thought of praying without hijab is inconceivable, so many in fact bring a headscarf when they come to prayer... for others, they will sit back and watch while others pray and join us later on in the conference....

  at all of our conferences (more than 7 so far, since 1998), only 20 - 30% of the people (from about 100 people) pray the first day, but by the end of the conference at least half of the participants has stood in prayer...

  may Allah continue to bless us all... inshallah one day there will be progressive mosques around the globe.. welcoming everyone regardlness of their identity!

  -faisal