Activist speaks out for ‘hidden voices’

One of the last speakers of “Gaypril,” which ended last week, was Faisal Alam, a Queer identified Muslim activist. He spoke about the struggle LGBTQ Muslims go through in trying to reconcile their faith and sexuality. The event was well-attended and had a diverse audience.

“I came here to find out more about the troubles Muslims never talk about,” Mahnaz Rezaie ’13.

Alam founded an international organization when he was 19 years old “dedicated to Muslims who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, questioning, those exploring their sexual orientation or gender identity, and their allies, families and friends.” The group, called Al-Fatiha, means “The Opening” or “The Beginning.”

According to Alam, Muslims who identify as LGBTQ face a few main issues that make it difficult for them to openly admit their sexuality. Other than a general lack of institutional support, there is also the fear of being ostracized from family and no visible “out” community to look to.

Although coming out is a necessary step for Muslim LGBTs to take, Alam also said “It is a step they need to be strategic about. It’s not necessarily something that needs to be rushed into and they need to be prepared for all sorts of reactions.”

One of the main points of controversy over Muslims identifying as LGBT is that there is a widespread belief that the Qu’ran, the holy book of Islam, is not meant to be interpreted but instead accepted word-for-word. This causes issues because many believe that certain passages in the Qu’ran are specifically against queer relationships. In response to this, Alam stated, “The Qu’ran has been interpreted. You cannot read it literally because you’re interpreting it as a man or as a woman.”

The idea of an internal Jihad was also brought up in the talk. Literally translated, Jihad means “struggle.” The belief in Islam is that there are two types of Jihad, one that is internal and one that is external. The external Jihad is the widely known “holy war.” The Jihad of the inside is an internal struggle that is a part of the human psyche. Many of the real life examples Alam gave spoke of this internal Jihad, and Alam himself said, “For me, there is a struggle that continues to happen because I haven’t fully reconciled the issues of my sexuality and my faith. That interntal struggle is taking place right now and will probably continue to do so for a long time.”

Jean Lin ’10, co-president of MOQA and an organizer of the event, learned much from the talk.

“I didn’t realize, or never considered, the degree of difficulty for those who are both Muslim and queer to intersect both identities in their lives,” said Lin.

“There are churches where LGBTQ Christians can find acceptance, so I can’t imagine having to abandon my sexual identity entirely when it comes to matters of faith. For many Muslims, coming out, for a variety of reasons, isn’t an option and probably won’t be until there is more acceptance within Islam.”

Islam is currently undergoing a transformation that could lead to more acceptance in the future, starting with women playing a larger role in the religion according to Alam.

“For Islam, gender is really the next frontier,” said Alam.

The audience response to Alam’s talk was very positive, and many students remained after he finished to speak with him personally.

“This is something we don’t see a lot of on campus,” said Kristen Faiferlick ’10. “It’s nice to bridge two different academic topics that don’t often get brought together.”