When activist Rafiul Alom Rahman gave up a lucrative scholarship at the University of Texas a couple of years ago, he took a risk he could barely afford. But he had a compulsion, he had to “undo” years of guilt most Muslim queer people like him grow up with. That is why he wanted to build a safe space for queer Muslims in India, both online as well as offline.
“For a long time, I couldn’t come to terms with my own desires. I always felt there was something abnormal about it. I remember, long back, when I was 14 or 15, I approached a maulana and told him about how I feel, that I don’t know what this is. He said. ‘You’re very young. Otherwise, I would’ve advised you to marry a woman. But since you’re young what you can do is offer prayers and fast. And each time such thoughts cross your mind, just take cold showers.’ So I grew up with this very skewed idea about sexuality,” says Rafiul.
Once Rafiul came to Delhi, to pursue an undergrad course in DU, he became involved with the queer activist community and there was no looking back for him. But, even in these queer friendly spaces the erasure of Muslim identities made him uncomfortable. Going to the US lead him to finding communities that convinced him to come back and ultimately start The Queer Muslim Project in 2017.
“While I was still in the US, I learnt about interfaith groups and realised that there were a lot more interesting conversations happening where religion and faith was used more progressively to address sexuality, LGBTQ and women’s rights. I learnt about this group called Muslim Alliance For Sexual And Gender Diversity who had been working for a long time on pluralistic and inclusive versions of Islam. I also learnt about feminist scholars who have been re-looking at Islamic verses that were problematic in dealing with women and LGBTQ people,” Rafiul pointed out, “In India these ideas were not easily accessible. This is still a conversation that is restricted to the West and a certain class of people here who have access to that kind of academic discourse.”
He added, “Even in queer spaces you sometimes come across people who make Islamophobic jokes. There is no diversity in their experiences. If you’re a gay Muslim, you’re often told ‘How can you be holding on to Islam, a faith which is so oppressive?’ and it is so dismissive. There could be queer people who are still negotiating their experiences with faith. Their experiences often getting ridiculed or dismissed. Even in Islam, we’re told that homosexuality is haram (sin). I wanted to create a space that starts conversations around progressive and inclusive Islam.”
Almost two years down the line, The Queer Muslim Project has already become a safe haven for young Muslim LGBTQ folks to share their stories, in solidarity with others like them. From trans Bengali Muslim women to queer Muslim Palestinians, their social platforms are flooded with touching stories from all over the world, that have been contributed for their campaign #2019QueerMuslimGoals.
Rafiul said, “LGBTQ Muslims are as diverse as it gets. Some people are close to their faith, some are questioning it, some have distanced themselves from it. The #2019QueerMuslimGoals campaign has been created to increase visibility of all such narratives.”
Now they’re taking their safe space offline. For the first time, they are about to have a one of a kind retreat over three days from January 25th to 27th. Supported by Planet Romeo Foundation, the India LGBTQ Muslim Retreat will be attended by almost 30 queer people from all over India.
