South African queer Muslims denounce hateful fatwa
mambaonline.comQueer Muslims participate in the 2019 London Pride march A group of South African queer Muslims and allies have asserted that it is indeed possible to be LGBTQIA+ and Muslim, in defiance of a recent anti-LGBTQIA+ fatwa. Last week, the South African Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) issued a fatwa – a ruling by Islamic religious leaders and scholars – which said that queer people could not be part of the Islamic faith.
The imams instead called on members of the LGBTQIA+ community to not act on their desires and abstain from the “sin” of homosexuality so that they “will be rewarded.” In response, queer Muslims and their supporters have published an open letter to the MJC, describing the fatwa as ignorant, reinforcing oppression and inciting hatred.
Below is their letter in full. ————————————————————————————— The Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) and the Jamiatul Ulama of South Africa have announced that those who consider themselves homosexual are out of the fold of Islam.
They have called for takfir (excommunication) of the Muslim lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual(LGBTQIA+) community.
