Imam calls gays to worship, marry

[mota bhai 2,675]

WASHINGTON -- Imam Daayiee Abdullah arrives by bus, sweaty and lugging a green bag stuffed with a Koran, two books of poetry by Persian mystic Rumi and three Islamic prayer rugs. Tonight, he's speaking to a room full of young, gay activists and progressives after a screening of the documentary "I Am Gay and Muslim" at the Human Rights Campaign's bright white Equality Center in downtown Washington.

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"I think we're at the start of a movement: a more inclusive Islam in America," says Abdullah, who runs Washington's Light of Reform mosque and is thought to be the only publicly gay Muslim leader in the Western Hemisphere.

"So if you have any same-sex marriages," he says with a soft smile and a shrug, "I'm available."

Some young Muslims in attendance mumble, "Wow!" and "Seriously?"

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For many gay immigrants, the values of their adopted and native countries are at odds. The gay Muslim Americans who live relatively public lives in the U.S. are a case in point. They date openly, and are often out at work, but when it comes to getting married, they don't dare share the news with family back home, who could become targets of abuse or economic boycotts and even jailed if it became commonly known.

Abdullah, an African American convert to Islam who is part of a national network of progressive Muslims, keeps their secrets. He quietly helps gay Muslim couples get married, counseling them beforehand and keeping the ceremonies low-profile.

"We had to ask all our guests to do a social-media blackout of our wedding. No Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram," said M.Q., 35, a Muslim married by Abdullah to his partner, J.C., 40, a Quaker. "Our relatives could be killed, their homes destroyed back in the Middle East if our wedding was on the Internet."

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Abdullah has plenty of detractors. Local imams who " refuse to say 'Salaam' hello and peace to me," he says.

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Abdullah's first act as an imam was performing Muslim funeral rites for a gay Middle Eastern American in Washington who died of complications from AIDS. No other Muslim leader in the area would perform the ceremony, Abdullah said.

http://www.columbian.com/news/2013/apr/20/imam-calls-gays-to-worship-marry/

[Darnell 8,478]

I think Islam should be more inclusive in America, since Sharia law isn't followed by federal, state, or county authorities.