Masjid Al-Rabia

On June 12, 2016, the American-born, 26-year-old man Omar Mateen killed 49 people and wounded 53 at Pulse Nightclub, a gay nightclub in Orlando. Considered the deadliest terrorist attack since the September 11 attacks, the deadliest mass shooting carried out by a gunman until the 2017 Mandalay Bay incident, and the deadliest violent attack on LGBTQ+ persons in American history,  the incident was inspired by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, more commonly called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

In response to this tragic event that impacted LGBTQ+ Americans, Muslims, and especially LGBTQ+ Muslims, Mahdia Lynn, a proud Muslim bisexual trans woman, felt compelled to fight for and form an inclusive mosque, open to, and accepting of, all, thereby establishing in December 2016, the first “trans-led, women-centered, and LGBTQ+ affirming mosque in North America.”

Throughout Islamic history, the rights of gender and sexual minorities have oscillated. Evidence points to the celebration of homoeroticism in Arabic literature and poetry and the pragmatism of Muslim jurists in adjudicating the rules of cleanliness after male-male sexual acts. The tolerance reached its apex in the Ottoman Empire with the 1858 Tanzimat that decriminalized private consensual homosexuality, but it has since declined, with many states criminalizing, or even executing people for, homosexuality and homosexual acts. Likewise, while Islam extended to women the right to hold private property and outlawed female infanticide, it also sanctioned female concubinage, as expressed in the Quran (holy book in Islam), hadith (the prophet’s sayings and actions), and jurisprudence. Furthermore, while the later Ummayad Empire ushered in an era of the domesticated role of women, the Ottoman Empire promoted the education of women. Whereas general oscillations can be traced throughout Islamic history, we are living at a critical point where progressive Islam is at odds with the Wahhabi movement that hinders efforts that embrace human rights within an Islamic context, and where some feminist actions, such as Dr. Amina Wadud’s leadership of a mixed prayer, are deemed extra-religious and bidʻah (innovation or novelty).

Much of the gender- and sex-based discrimination can be traced to Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). In many Islamic law theories, the Quran and Sunnah texts form the foundation, in addition to devices that assist the jurist in reaching their ruling, including consensus (ijmaa’), analogy (qiyas), juristic preference (istihsan), public interest consideration (istislah), the presumption of continuity (istihsab), and underlying principles (maqasid). The prohibition of homosexual intercourse stems from the story of Lut in the Quran; however, many have provided novel exegeses that are more rational than the conventional ones, deemed the Sunnah evidence inauthentic, established that the definition of consensus is variable and dynamic, and underscored the absence of illa’ (“cause”: shared characteristic between different circumstances in qiyas) in homosexual intercourse when compared to heterosexual intercourse. With those changes put forth, homosexual intercourse and relationships can be reconciled with many reformist frameworks, especially those that emphasize secularism, the optimization of maslaha, the careful contextualization of legal texts and the legal corpus, or broad value-based interpretations based on the maqqasid, or underlying principles. Yet, Muslim tolerance and acceptance have been strained, as evidenced by the Muslim discourse posterior to the Pulse Orlando Shooting, when Muslim leaders from Chicago led discussions with LGBTQ+ Muslims who were battling the dichotomous perception afforded to them: Queer groups that see Islam as homophobic and Muslims who categorize them as sinners and outsiders. Yet, those discussions led nowhere, leaving LGBTQ+ Muslims feeling outed and unappreciated in their Chicago community.

Another hindrance is the conservative operative definition of marriage. Ali compares classical jurisprudential perspectives of marriage with concurrent discussions regarding slavery, a synthesis that produced a long-held jurisprudential viewpoint that is rooted in milk-al-nikah, a man’s control of the marriage tie, which involves the exchange of a female’s sexual exclusivity with a dower. The absence of gender roles and clear ownership in same-sex union presents a dilemma for scholars who affirm the value in precedents. This issue forms many of the hindrances and obstacles in affirming an egalitarian society that celebrates gender and sexual diversity. Masjid Al-Rabia’s efforts could be seen in that context; its existence and continuity celebrate such a diversity, although its effect on the traditional viewpoint and traditionalist scholars remains elusive.

Notwithstanding the polarity of thoughts and beliefs, progressive Muslim communities have been on the rise, especially in the western world. In the United States, the Fatiha Foundation, founded in 1998, advanced LGBTQ+ rights. Muslims for Progressive Values and the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity have also been active contributors in LGBTQ+ rights, comprehending in their membership, and standing with, many LGBTQ+ Muslims, including, Daayiee Allah, Ludovic-Mohammad Zahed, El-Farouk-Khaki, Parvez Sharma, and many others. Notably, both Allah and Zahed have established LGBTQ+ friendly mosques in Washington, D.C. and Paris, respectively. Standing on those precedents, Lynn wanted something more. She did not want only an LGBTQ+ friendly mosque, but an even more inclusive institution.

In 2015, an unheard-of thing happened. The Women’s Mosque of America in Los Angeles was built exclusively to be led by women, giving them the chance to give sermons behind a lectern and upon a pulpit in public, whereas before, they resorted to private, collective gatherings. Even though the project involved both men and women, the former President Maznavi had to write pen an article to detail that it was open for both genders, not segregated by gender, and—certainly—not a rebellion against men. While the backlash against women-centered institutions has been evident in many feminist movements with the rise of the so-called men’s rights movement, counteraction from men dampens movement toward egalitarianism and acceptance by prompting organizations to appeal to all people in lieu of those who need it the most; however, Mahdia Lynn has been able to preempt the counteraction by embedding revolutionary elements within the mosque’s mission.

Situated on Dearborn St. in Downtown Chicago in a third-floor conference room with neighboring tech start-up offices, Masjid Al Rabia represents even more radical progressivism: a mosque where all are welcome. It is not segregated by sect. It is not segregated by gender or sex. It is not segregated by sexual orientation. In opposition to The Women’s Mosque of America, it permits congregants to lead, not necessarily stipulating they must be of a specific gender. While the leaders underscore their support and focus of women’s rights—especially because women have long been discriminated against in Islamic jurisprudence—the masjid (mosque) is welcoming of all. Not only that, but the Friday sermons are conducted around a circular table with discussions that permit all participants to join, which is what Lynn nicknames a “community-led khutbah” (sermon), highlighting the shared intimacy of a minority within a minority, an intimacy that acknowledges differences between members and embraces it in the pursuit of knowledge and love—the essence of Islam.

Unfortunately, security is a serious concern amongst congregants and leaders of the masjid, and Lynn resorts to buzzing in congregants in and making sure they are progressive regarding sexually and gender-diverse persons so as not to hinder the spiritual acceptance for which many Queer Muslims are in need. Whilst this solution is exclusionary, it can be justifiable when some congregants are closeted and in the process of healing from the internalized homophobia common in Muslim settings. This dichotomous relationship between inclusivity and exclusivity reflects the masjid’s ongoing commitment to open discourse as long as it is embedded in acceptance and open-mindedness with no basis on persecution or queerphobia. 

Masjid Al Rabia’s mission of justice and equity also informs their decisions. Lynn’s efforts do not stop at making the masjid a welcoming place for all Muslims, but she makes sure to extend the ethical consideration toward others, too. Indeed, Kugle asserts that Islam sensitizes Muslims to persecution anywhere to anyone. For many Muslims, the persecution ends when they earn equal secular rights in the countries in which they reside, forgetting that persecution exists on the borders, in the penumbras of decision-making in individuals and institutions. For example, a gay Muslim may face persecution that is begotten by neither their sexual orientation nor their religion but rests on the combination of identities. That is why Masjid Al Rabia under the leadership of Lynn has partnered with the Queer Detainee Empowerment Project and Black and Pink, to form the Black and Pink Crescent Initiative that allows any volunteer to contact incarcerated queer and trans-Muslims, who, by virtue of their intersectionality, are not supplied with the spirituality, communication, and understanding they need. The mosque also enacts another initiative that raises funds to bail Muslims out and offer them spiritual services.

To many, homosexuality, which Masjid Al Rabia supports, is against the tenants of Islam, a major sin. To publicize it and affirm acceptance of it is a double sin because it could mislead oneself and others. However, no material progress can be achieved without pushing the societally-constrained limits to strive toward a more loving society, rooted in mutual respect, love, and acceptance.

Ibn Hazm, one of the most influential Muslim jurists within the Zahiriyah (a framework that emphasized plain text meaning), authored a book about love, underscoring that it is a natural part of life and living. He said, “Love is neither disapproved by Religion, nor prohibited by the Law; for every heart is in God's hands.” As Kecia Ali maintains, to characterize homosexuality as deviant sexuality is to eschew innate and natural sexual diversity within persons of Islamic faith, videlicet God’s (or Allah’s) divine plan, qada’ (Allah’s decrees) and qadr (destiny set forth by Allah)—pillars of belief within Islamic theology—if the premise that homosexuality is beyond one’s choice is accepted.

Masjid Al-Rabia is an effort to strive toward the principles of Islam while embracing sexual and gender diversity, giving alienated persons the opportunity to congregate and accept themselves. Notwithstanding, its greatest legacy lies in its perpetual advocacy to establish social justice and eliminate discrimination for those alienated by arbitrary social customs and traditions. Islamic decrees formed to belie patriarchal practices common to tribal Arabia, prohibiting female infanticide and unjust inheritance customs, to name a few. Despite that, to accept that Islam is a timeless, universal religion it claims to be entails that injustice is eliminated via theological interpretation and reinterpretation, as texts draw their meaning from both the original context and the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.

As Mahdia Lynn suggests, Islam is not about subscribing to notions of morality from the past, of believing in juristic opinions based ijmaa’ and qiyas whose premises and illa’ may be antiqued. “The real truth of Islam,” she says, is “that’s about faith and justice and equality and doing good deeds in the face of injustice.” 

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