#queer muslims

[hummussexual]

[queerdisabledmuslimlove]

hope everyone had a good pride and happy disability awareness month!

[hussyknee]

Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani’s Kitab al-Aghani records the lives of a number of individuals including one named Tuways who lived during the last years of Muhammad and the reigns of the early Muslim dynasties. Tuways was mukhannathun: those who were born as men, but who presented as female. They are described by al-Isfahani as wearing bangles, decorating their hands with henna, and wearing feminine clothing. One mukhannathun, Hit, was even in the household of the Prophet Muhammad. Tuways earned a reputation as a musician, performing for clients and even for Muslim rulers. When Yahya ibn al-Hakam was appointed as governor, Tuways joined in the celebration wearing ostentatious garb and cosmetics. When asked by the governor if he were Muslim Tuways affirmed his belief, proclaiming the declaration of faith and saying that he observes the fast of Ramadan and the five daily prayers. In other words, al-Isfahani, who recorded the life of a number of mukhannathun like Tuways, saw no contradiction between his gender expression and his Muslimness. From al-Isfahani we read of al-Dalal, ibn Surayj, and al-Gharid—all mukhannathun—who lived rich lives in early Muslim societies. Notably absent from al-Isfahani’s records is any state-sanctioned persecution. Instead, the mukhannathun are an accepted part of society.

...

Far from isolated cases, across Islamic history—from North Africa to South Asia—we see widespread acceptance of gender nonconforming and queer individuals. - Later in the Ottoman Empire, there were the köçek who were men who wore women’s clothing and performed at festivals. Formally trained in dance and percussion instruments, the köçek were an important part of social functions. A similar practice was found in Egypt. The khawal were male dancers who presented as female, wearing dresses, make up, and henna. Like their Ottoman counterparts, they performed at social events.

- In South Asia, the hijra were and are third-sex individuals. The term is used for intersex people as well as transgender women. Hijra are attested to among the earliest Muslim societies of South Asia where, according to Nalini Iyer, they were often guardians of the household and even held office as advisors.

- In Iraq, the mustarjil are born female, but present as men. In Wilfred Thesiger’s The Marsh Arabs the guide, Amara explains, “A mustarjil is born a woman. She cannot help that; but she has the heart of a man, so she lives like a man.” When asked if the mustarjil are accepted, Amara replies “Certainly. We eat with her and she may sit in the mudhif.” Amara goes on to describe how mustarjil have sex with women.

...

Historian Indira Gesink analyzed 41 medical and juristic sources between the 8th and 18th centuries and discovered that the discourse of a “binary sex” was an anachronistic projection backwards. Gesink points out in one of the earliest lexicography by the 8th century al-Khalil ibn Ahmad that he suggests addressing a male-presenting intersex person as ya khunathu and a female-presenting intersex person as ya khanathi while addressing an effeminate man as ya khunathatu. This suggests a clear recognition of a spectrum of sex and gender expression and a desire to address someone respectfully based on how they presented.

Tolerance of gender ambiguity and non-conformity in Islamic cultures went hand-in-hand with broader acceptance of homoeroticism. Texts like Ali ibn Nasir al-Katib’s Jawami al-Ladhdha, Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani’s Kitab al-Aghani, and the Tunisian, Ahmad al-Tifashi’s Nuz’ha al-‘Albab attest to the widespread acceptance of same-sex desire as natural. Homoeroticism is a common element in much of Persian and Arabic poetry where youthful males are often the object of desire. From Abu Nuwas to Rumi, from ibn Ammar to Amir Khusraw, some of the Islamic world’s greatest poets were composing verses for their male lovers. Queer love was openly vaunted by poets. One, Ibn Nasr, immortalizes the love between two Arab lesbians Hind al Nu’man and al-Zarqa by writing:

“Oh Hind, you are truer to your word than men. Oh, the differences between your loyalty and theirs.”

...

Acceptance of same-sex desire and gender non-conformity was the hallmark of Islamic societies to such a degree that European travelers consistently remarked derisively on it. In the 19th century, Edward Lane wrote of the khawal: “They are Muslims and natives of Egypt. As they personate women, their dances are exactly of the same description as those of the ghawazee; and are, in like manner, accompanied by the sound of castanets.”

A similarly scandalized CS Sonnini writes of Muslim homoerotic culture:

“The inconceivable appetite which dishonored the Greeks and the Persians of antiquity, constitute the delight, or to use a juster term, the infamy of the Egyptians. It is not for women that their ditties are composed: it is not on them that tender caresses are lavished; far different objects inflame them.”

In his travels in the 19th century, James Silk Buckingham encounters an Afghan dervish shedding tears for parting with his male lover. The dervish, Ismael, is astonished to find how rare same-sex love was in Europe. Buckingham reports the deep love between Ismael and his lover quoting, “though they were still two bodies, they became one soul.”

...

Today, vocal Muslim critics of LGBTQ+ rights often accuse gay and queer people of imposing a “Western” concept or forcing Islam to adjust to “Western values” failing to grasp the irony of the claim: the shift in the 19th and 20th century was precisely an alignment with colonial values over older Islamic ones, all of which led to legal criminalization. In fact, the common feature among nations with anti-LGBTQ+ legislation isn’t Islam, but rather colonial law.

Don't talk to me I'm weeping. I'm not Muslim, but the grief of colonization runs in the blood of every Global South person. Dicovering these is like finding our lost treasures among plundered ruins.

Queer folk have always, always been here; we have always been inextricable, shining golden threads in the tapestry of human history. To erase and condemn us is to continue using the scalpel of colonizers in the mutilation and betrayal of our own heritage.

[enbycrip]

I am *really* getting sick of people trying to use the “queer people shouldn’t support Palestine because they’d kill you for being queer there” card. Particularly at a time when institutional transphobia is ramping right up in the US and UK.

I’ve been in contact at various points over the last 10-15 years with queer Palestinians living authentically and with openly queer foreigners bringing in aid in solidarity. No one tried to lynch anyone. Pretty much everyone was kind and welcoming to foreigners.

Queer Palestinian lives are made *so*, *so* much worse by *the fucking ongoing genocide* than by homegrown queerphobia that trying to even compare them is sort of horrifically laughable? Honestly, they seem to be facing the same kind of level of that *from some people* that I and people I know face pretty regularly? It’s unfun, and I’d very much like better for all of us, but it’s hardly comparable to *being fucking bombed into the ground*.

This is just Islamophobia with a queerbaiting flavour. The implication that every country with a Muslim population is the same as extremist Islamist theocracies where queer folk are judicially murdered is just incredibly racist.

Queer Muslims - including trans binary and nonbinary Muslims - and queer folks who are culturally Muslim whether they actively practice or not exist all over the world, same as queer folks from every other faith community and cultural background. The othering of Muslim people is really shitty and I refuse to see my marginalised community used in this way even when it’s *not* being used as a cover for a racist genocide.

[kushamisaru]

Being queer and religious is so fucking difficult. If you're queer and religious I see you, and I love you. Don't let anyone take your faith from you 🧡

[fandomsareforlife]

Hot take but I think Muslims who are queer should be allowed to be open in supposedly lgbt spaces about being Muslim and queer

[bigenderrevert]

It's pride month and ive decided to make lesbian OCs more specifically Muslim lesbians both are yet to be named

This will not be last y'all see of them, they will be back and even gayer next time

[queermuslimlove]

Happy TDOV and Ramadan Kareem to my Trans Muslims out there!

And sending religious solidarity love to my Trans Christian siblings! Happy Easter!

☪️🏳️‍⚧️✝️

[sugarplum-sapphic]

I'm probably never going to be a "good" Muslim. I haven't said my Shahada yet, but when I do, will it be enough?

Will I ever be able to do 5 prayers daily and pray meaningful salat- will I ever be able to do it without physical pain? Will I ever be able to perform the Hajj? Will I ever be able to fast during Ramadan?

Will I ever be able to fully follow the "rules" of Islam? Will I ever be able to give up my attachments to things like christian saints or hellenic gods? Will I ever be able to do what I'm "supposed" to do?

More than that- will I ever find acceptance and validation from others when I fail? When I inevitably stumble, will I ever be able to find comfort in my religious siblings?

Will I ever be strong enough to do this?

[blusthings]

[Religion trauma | Religion stigma | sexuality vent below]

I can't express what goes on in my head. When the world views my Religion as barbaric, backwards and uncivilised, i get so upset. And when my Religion views my identity wrong, i also get upset. I always think, what does that make me? I can't exist in two separate universes, but I can't leave either.

I truly question how I'll go forward like this. Islam is beautiful in its nature, but it keeps getting tainted by twisted thoughts of men in power, and I feel everyone thinks I'm oppressed or something.

I truly am not. I'm not brainwashed, I'm not in a cult or something. Islam is why I am the way I am, yknow? And in the same perspective, being queer is the reason I am the way I am, too.

But I feel like these days when you tell someone "I'm muslim" they kinda get their red flags going for them. And god forbid I tell any Muslim that I'm queer.

All I really want is peace of mind. To be comfortable in my own skin. And feel like I belong somewhere. With a community thats accepting and friendly. But I don't find it in either worlds, not entirely. But then again, you can't have everything can you?

I feel isolated from both communities. Somehow I float in between, and it all adds to the sense of loneliness.

[thequeermuslim]

muslim lesbian, muslim vincian, and muslim terrarian pride flags

muslim lesbian

lesbian: queer attraction towards women and other genders

colors meaning: inclusivity, faith, relationship (with yourself, God and others), Allah's light, community, independence, gender nonconformity

muslim vincian

vincian: queer attraction towards men and other genders

colors meaning: tenderness, faith, patience, Allah's light, love (any form or the lack of it), fortitude, diversity

muslim terrarian

terrarian/terraric: a homosexual and/or homoromantic non-binary individual; a non-binary person attracted to other non-binary people or to genders of their own.

colors meaning: identity, faith, gratitude, Allah's light, nature (of genderqueerness and transness), attraction (or lack thereof), firmness

[hummussexual]

It seems like the West dictates how advocacy for queer folks can look: a public parade of scantily clad white men surrounded by gratuitous images of sexuality and Western queer iconography. Queer Qataris (and, by extension, queer Khaleejis) are reduced to “self-hating queers” with internalized homophobia when we try to make space for our own heritage, value, or belief systems, or to find symbols, slogans, and acronyms within our own experience of queerness. We are, instead, spoken for and subsumed into the LGBTQ+ acronym that is not part of our native vernacular.  What these Western pundits fail to realize is that our rejection of the oppression we face for our queerness does not mean we necessarily hate our countries, our national or cultural identities, or our religion. And, it certainly doesn’t mean we are willing to become conduits for advancing their fundamentally racist and Islamophobic ideology under a banner of “inclusion.” 

- QUEER QATARIS AND THE WORLD CUP: A CRITIQUE OF THE WESTERN MEDIA STORM

[queerdisabledmuslimlove]

Shout out to

LGBTQ reverts in a homophobic and islamophobic household

Aromantic allosexual Muslims

Lesbian couples who can’t decide who pays mehr /hj

Queer Muslims who have cried to Allah SWT, begging for forgiveness for being queer

Queer Muslims who tried to “pray the gay away”

Transmasc Muslims who still wear their hijab and transfems who can’t wear hijab

Genderqueer and multigender folks who can’t decide if they should wear a hijab or not

neurodivergent Muslims

Muslims who can’t recite prayer in arabic because of neurodivergence

Muslims who are in DID/OSDD systems

Muslim system who feels guilt when a non muslim alter fronts

Muslim alters in non Muslim systems and vice versa, that’s probably pretty rough :(

Muslims who forget prayer because of amnesia

Muslims who forget prayer due to Maladaptive Daydreaming Disorder

Muslims with invisible disabilities that prevent them from prayer

Muslims who can’t fast during Ramadan for any reason

Poor Muslims

White and Black Muslims

Arabs who have been accused of t3rrorism

Any Muslim who have been accused of t3rrorism

Muslims with addictions

Muslims who are therians, otherkin, or nonhuman in anyway

Muslims reverts who aren’t sure if they can still identify as a therian, otherkin, or nonhuman

Hijabi quadrobists

Hijabi cosplayers. Your hijab looks great

And anyone who feels they don’t fit into the community. You are loved, I promise. There’s people out there for you 🤍

[danepopfrippery]

I made a queer palestinian flag not because countries need one, but because i am sick of hearing ziots say ooo try being gay there (they just outed a man who wouldnt spy for them).

Theres a long history of queerdom in the ottoman empire, what palestine was for 402 years before israel and the uk. Being gay was decriminalized in the 1860s, and being trans was not frowned upon.

I free it to be used by any queer palestinians and/or their supporters (not u corporations). Idk what being queer will look like in a free palestine, but that doesnt mean everyone shouldnt be free

[spacewives-in-spacetime]

eid mubarak to all gay and queer muslims, thou art forever loved

[silly-fox-and-its-stuffies]

im sorry Allah (SWT). im so sorry.