According to BBC News1, a Mosque catering to gay Muslims has opened on the outskirts of Paris.
It is the brainchild of Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed, a gay Islamic scholar and founder of Homosexual Muslims of France, ‘married to a man.’
The Algeria born scholar regularly attends the Grand Mosque in Paris.
He said that he wanted to create a more ‘inclusive’ place for gay, lesbian and transgender Muslims.
This has been criticised by many Muslim scholars, quoting the Quranic authority of the story of Prophet Lot (Lut, as) and God’s destruction of the city of Sodom because of its citizens’ sins.
“The fact that he is opening a Mosque or a prayer room is something that is outside the Islamic community. The Quran condemns homosexuality. It is banned,” a spokesman of the Paris Grand Mosque said.
“Homosexuality is a choice; it is a desire; it is not something that you are born with,” London Imam Ajmal Masroor said.
He said that homosexuality is not acceptable for either Sunni or Shia Muslims, because God intends for sex to occur between men and women only, within marriage, and any sexual relationship outside marriage is a sin.
“However, it does not mean that Muslims should discriminate against homosexuals. Mosques are open to everyone. Rather than trying to separate themselves, homosexuals should be attending the Mosque like other Muslims. They should not try to change the religion. If you join Islam, you must conform to Islamic teachings,” the Imam said.
Zahed is also trying to integrate the sexes in Islam.
He wants men and women to be able to pray together.
“Men and women pray together in Mecca,” he said, and asked, “therefore, why can’t they pray together in ordinary mosques?”
The above news item appeared in ‘Rocket Science,’ the monthly newsletter of Mt Albert Islamic Centre in Auckland.
