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The Signs In Ourselves

Adapted from the workbook, The Signs In Ourselves: Exploring Queer Muslim Courage is a free wellbeing resource inspired by Quran verses 41:53 and 51:20-21, full of queer Muslim voices from Southeast Asia and all over. Written by Liy Yusof and illustrated by Dhiyanah Hassan, the pdf was made available online in 2020 by the Coalition for Sexual & Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies, with the support of Rima Athar.

Here is a queer Muslim wellbeing workbook to help you feel less alone

The Signs In Ourselves

Here is a queer Muslim wellbeing workbook to help you feel less alone

Sheltering indoors in the holy month of the first year of the global pandemic, encouraged by a friend, I made a love letter to God and to all the queer Muslims who changed my life.

Rethinking a social emphasis on procreation and proliferation

Rethinking a social emphasis on procreation and proliferation

When confronted with this growth-oriented worldview, the burden is often placed on sexually diverse Muslims to change ourselves to conform to it.

The Tawhidic paradigm for human rights

The Tawhidic paradigm for human rights

This is a brief adventure into the world of Islamic ethics. Tawhid is a fundamental Islamic principle, often translated to as 'monotheism', but as we'll see, there are more layers to it than that.

The four-arched portal of Rahma

The Signs In Ourselves

The four-arched portal of Rahma

What do we do when encountering social rhetoric, verses, and hadith that seem to violate the higher Qur'anic ethical principles of love, rahma, beauty, justice, and equity? Dr Ghazala Anwar offers this Qur'anic portal of Rahma to negotiate this apparent challenge to our faith.

Women as authorities and producers of Islamic knowledge

The Signs In Ourselves

Women as authorities and producers of Islamic knowledge

The struggle to decriminalise sexual diversity from within an Islamic framework holds hands with the intergenerational struggle to democratise authority and justice for women.

Remembering and expressing gratitude (The Signs In Ourselves, Part 12 of 12)

The Signs In Ourselves

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)

The Signs In Ourselves

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)

The Signs In Ourselves

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)

The Signs In Ourselves

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)

The Signs In Ourselves

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):

The Signs In Ourselves

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)

The Signs In Ourselves

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.