duskenpath: haramzayn: Meet America’s first openly gay imam He’s been condemned by other
duskenpath:haramzayn:Meet America’s first openly gay imamHe’s been condemned by other Muslim leaders, and some local imams have even refused to greet him. But Imam Daayiee Abdullah – believed to be the only openly gay imam in the Americas – is proud of his story.He was born and raised in Detroit, where his parents were Southern Baptists. At age 15, he came out to them. At 33, while studying in China, Abdullah converted to Islam, and went on to study the religion in Egypt, Jordan and Syria. But as a gay man in America, he saw that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Muslims had unmet spiritual needs and he became an imam to provide community support.“Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention. And because of the necessity in our community, that’s why I came into this particular role,” he told America Tonight about his journey.His first act as an imam? Performing funeral rites for a gay Muslim who died of AIDS.“They had contacted a number of imams, and no one would go and provide him his janazah services,” he said, referring to the Muslim body cleaning ritual. That pained him.“I believe every person, no matter if I disagree with you or not, you have the right as a Muslim to have the proper spiritual [rites] and rituals provided for you. And whoever judges you, that will be Allah’s decision, not me.”It’s one of the mantras he lives by in his work, even as others condemn him.Read the rest of the articleThis man is doing the world a great service. Best of luck to him. HonestlyThis is good, but it shouldn’t fall on this one man to perform funeral rights for somebody who dies of AIDS. I don’t want a repeat of the first epidemic where bodies lay where they fell and Ruth Coker Burkes had to take over what thousands of priests should have been doing because it was literally their job. If, as a holy man, you won’t say the words over a dead body, then what damn use are you? -- source link
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