Aids-related deaths in SA: 2 326 100 at noon on December 5
Suhail Abu al-Sameed looked calm, yet he was shaking inside. He was seated before a row of ulama, distinguished Islamic scholars, from Afghanistan to Yemen, at the International Consultation on Islam and HIV/Aids, organised by the charity, Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), in Johannesburg last week.
The previous day several of them had denounced homosexuality as un-Islamic and evil. Today, Abu al-Sameed had something to tell them. ‘As a gay Muslim, I feel unsafe, unloved and unrespected in this space,” he said. ‘Were I to become HIV-positive, the first thing I would lose is my Muslim community. I couldn’t come to you guys for support.”
Al-Sameed continued: ‘I wish you did not refer to gays with the (Arabic) words shaz and luti — perverts and rapists — because we are not.”
Spellbound, the audience listened as al-Sameed, a Jordanian living in Canada, did the unthinkable — outing himself.
The groundbreaking consultation brought together Muslim community leaders, academics, doctors, relief workers and HIV-positive activists to rethink the Islamic response to HIV and Aids. One key issue was HIV prevention among hard-to-reach vulnerable groups like sex workers, street children, injecting drug users and men who have sex with men.
Homosexuality is forbidden and considered a crime in most Islamic countries. Six officially Islamic countries (Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and the 12 northern states of Nigeria) invoke sharia — Islamic religious law — and maintain the death penalty for consensual same-sex sex, according to human rights watchdog Amnesty International.
Not surprisingly, al-Sameed was fearful: ‘I saw their gaze, their body attitude, and my memory told me there could be a physical reaction.” But he had nothing to fear.
‘Afterwards, veiled women and bearded men, the most religious types, came to me and apologised if they had said something offensive, if they had made me feel unloved or unsafe.”
The following morning, the ulama had a surprise. Conference spokesperson and IRW head of policy Willem van Eekelen read their collective statement, saying that although Islam does not accept homosexuality, Islamic leaders would try to help create an environment in which gay people could approach social workers and find help against Aids without feeling unsafe.
‘This is the first time ever that a high-level religious forum has talked about, acknowledged and accepted gays,” said al-Sameed. ‘This will open the door to talks with the Muslim gay community and help other gay Muslims to come out in a safer space.” — PlusNews