In conversation with my elder, amina wadud
amina wadud invited me to talk about our explorations of sexual diversity and human dignity— and the ethical question of our time for Muslims everywhere.
Remembering and expressing gratitude (The Signs In Ourselves, Part 12 of 12)
Reframing the journeys of our life and earth as experiences of gratitude can be healing, humbling, and empowering for many queer and sexually diverse Muslims.
Imagining our dream futures (The Signs In Ourselves, Part 11 of 12)
I asked queer Muslims: What does the future of your dreams look like? And then artist Dhiyanah Hassan lovingly illustrated their answers.
Lessons from us for everyone else (The Signs In Ourselves, Part 10 of 12)
What if we allowed ourselves to see the lives of queer Muslims as a manifested source of rich Divine understanding for others?
Letters to our past selves (The Signs In Ourselves, Part 9 of 12)
In this part of the series, queer Muslims send messages back in time to their younger selves.
Intersectional paths to the Divine (The Signs In Ourselves, Part 8 of 12)
A Muslim falls in love with the Psalms. A genderfluid person finds their way back to Islam by honouring their ancestors. A teacher assigns his students time with a community of sex workers.
Some inspiring elements of Islam (The Signs In Ourselves, Part 7 of 12):
In this part of the series, you’ll find stories about why queer Muslims hold fast to our status as believers, and what is it about Islam that inspires in us comfort and growth.
Experiences of Divine Love (The Signs In Ourselves, Part 6 of 12)
Some say they experienced Divine love in their own journeys in specific interventions such as in dreams and people. But some pushed back on this question altogether, reframed it, and shared a broader and more perpetual experience of Divine love instead.
Building belief and narratives of our faith (The Signs In Ourselves, Part 5 of 12)
Many of us have experienced a disconnect between our faith and queer aspects of our identity. Was this the case for you? Muslims reflect on how their understanding of God changed with their understanding of themselves.
Connecting truth and the Divine (The Signs In Ourselves, Part 4 of 12)
In this part, a lesbian confronts her internalised homophobia, a loving mother prays with her trans son in an Islamic boarding school, and a waria community teaches a conservative man something about God.
Our daily lives, challenges, and priorities (The Signs In Ourselves, Part 3 of 12)
A young woman decides to leave all that she has known behind in search of love, and a man brings his collection of classical texts to face a mufti in person. Queer Muslims answer: What's really important to you right now?
Describing the Muslims we live with (The Signs In Ourselves, Part 2 of 12)
How would you explain the interaction of Islam with politics, geography, and history in your social context to diverse Muslims from somewhere else?