The voices of Muslims who face a conflict between their sexuality and their faith are seldom heard in discussions about modern Islam, but they were given an airing in “Gay Muslims: Out and Proud?” in a packed out junior common room at SOAS.

The event on November 26th saw guest speaker Dr Andrew Yip, from the University of Nottingham, energetically expound his research. His study “A Minority Within a Minority”, looked at a spectrum of experiences within the Muslim LGBT community.

“We need to be able to hear the political, cultural and social experiences of LGBT Muslims,” said Yip. “These voices we don’t hear very often, and this event provides a way. What we’re not trying to do, is argue that LGBT Muslims are in any way victims [just because of their sexuality].What we’re trying to do is question the Islamic faith and provide a better understanding of sexuality within those surroundings.”

The purpose of the night was to promote better understanding of a subject that many people within the LGBT and Muslim communities simply don’t hear about.

Dr Yip hit out at those Musims who persist in “this perverse perception that homosexuality has no space in Muslim discourse.” He also highlighted the problem of the “very powerful cultural norm within the Muslim community,” which can prevent many Muslims from coming out: “The pressure to hold the line.”

His research highlighted the shocking statistic that 20 per cent of women interviewed and 30 per cent of men had married to follow these cultural norms.

Denying sexuality, however, can be both personal and cultural, as Dr Yip pointed out. “You don’t need me to tell you that many Muslims will tell you that there’s no LGBT community within Islam.”

Dr Yip is also a senior researcher with the Queer Spiritual Spaces (QSS), “an investigation into the practices of non-hegemonic queer spiritual communities using case studies.” Or, in other words, a study of how people combine their sexuality and their religious practices. The study, in which QSS included 21 Muslims, is funded jointly by the Economic and Social Research Council UK, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK) and Religion and Society Programme.

The “Minority Within a Minority” study interviewed gay Muslims who were mainly South Asian, under 30 and highly educated. This statement provoked sighs of disapproval from a small number of hardliners gathered there.

Despite being a methodical sociologist, Dr Yip was keen to hammer home the human aspect of his work: “At the end of the day it’s about people. Whatever you think, we shouldn’t just reduce people to their sexuality. Let us not reduce people to a part, let us not pigeon-hole them or reduce them to a category, let us recognise and appreciate the diversity.”

Rowena Razaq, a SOAS history student, proudly agreed, saying, “I’m not a Muslim-Lesbian and neither am I Lesbian-Muslim, I happen to be both.” Despite the obvious conflict between current interpretations of Islam and being gay, she was keen to point out “I don’t think my sexuality makes me any less of a Muslim.” Hana Raizuddin alspo agreed, saying, “my identity is made up of a lot of things. It’s Muslim, it’s British and it’s Pakistani, and it’s bisexual.”

All of those gathered were there to expound a similar message of tolerance for the individual. Well, almost all. Twisting his keffiyeh through his hands, Riz Ahmed was uncomfortable as fellow Muslims proudly proclaimed their sexuality alongside their faith. “You’re being really provocative,”he said. In the Q+A he went on tell an anecdote about a Catholic friend who came out to him, but after some extensive soul searching cured himself and got engaged.

Well, everyone enjoys a happy ending. The SOAS audience was in a tolerant mood and the worst it drew was a few chuckles. His next comment, “people say it’s in your DNA but I don’t think so,” did not go down so well. Silence greeted that particular bombshell, and the atmosphere got a little tense as the more liberal members of the audience started shifting in their seats amid the sound of inrushing breath.

As Harri Weeks, the NUS LGBT rep pointedly read out the NUS’ harassment policy, the hard-line group decided to leave, with one member adding the prescient parting shot: “The issue of homosexuality is black and white in the Qur’an, it says it’s wrong, I mean I don’t want to sound intolerant.”

The issue of tolerance within Islam is a controversial point for many non-Muslims, but Rowena and the panel were keen to state that “Islam is a tolerant religion, maybe it’s just people who make it intolerant.”

Mas Naina, the SOAS LGBT rep, was philosophical about the tense atmosphere and the intolerance that had been brought up: “Yeh you get quite a lot of homophobia outside SOAS, but the worse they can do here is make that uncomfortable tense atmosphere.”

Mas laughed when asked about his own experiences of coming out to his family: “Yes I did come out to my family, I mean they still carry on like I’m straight [laughs], as long as the good name of the family isn’t dragged down.

“Things are getting better, I mean it’s still a problem, but it’s a big step forward and this next generation will hopefully be better. Gay marriage after all was only legalised a few years back and homosexuality was only decriminalised forty years ago,” he said.

After the chairs were packed away and the free food demolished, LS sought a little perspective from those who had spoken against gay Muslims. “Well the point is” Riz said, “that from a Western point of view Islam is a new religion, I mean it’s been in Europe for hundreds of years, but we don’t feel like we’re trying to make Islam Western.”

And the objection to homosexuality specifically? “It’s like adultery – I mean we accept it happens, but that doesn’t mean we approve of it.”

As fellow believers gathered round, the main objections seemed to be that no-one at the debate provided evidence that homosexuality was acceptable under Islamic scripture, and that they had not been invited to sit on the panel, making it a one-sided debate.

“She [Rowena] said it herself – she knows it’s wrong so it’s up to her. It’s not subjective it’s objective, God has given these commands. No-one could provide evidence that it’s halal – we’re only trying to establish a dialogue,”said a young man who refused to be identified, saying “I know how the media works bruv.”

One Response to “Homosexuality: halal?”