Speaking about his struggle against Muslim prejudice and homophobia, a gay imam in Australia recently revealed how he was petrified to share his religious views or sexual orientation in the same breath for decades before finally deciding to come out. Nur Warsame, a resident of Melbourne, spoke to Waleed Aly of The Project about the trials and tribulations he has had to face as a gay Muslim and how Islam needs to change its take on homosexuality in a 21st century world that boasts of being more inclusive than ever before.

Calling Islamic law outdated, Warsame, who is Australia’s first openly gay imam, said Muslim leaders who preach that homosexual practices should be punished with death are archaic and no longer relevant.

“It's disgusting, because you suffer from [fear of Islam], from both the mainstream non-Muslim community and even some in the LGBT community, and homophobia from both,” he said. “The risks are great in the Muslim community. If you come out you will be excommunicated, you will be ostracized, you risk losing even your life, at times, in different parts of the world. It is promising to see activists — and I know many of them, in places like Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan — who are trying to address these issues.”

The internal conflict Warsame suffered because of the way in which Islam looks down upon gays even led him to attempt suicide. In Somalia, where he was born, and many other Muslim countries, homosexuality continues to be punishable by imprisonment or extrajudicial killings.

In a defiant message to Australian leaders, who have attempted to discredit him, Warsame said, “I am here, I am gay, I am Muslim, I am an imam.”

While he is absolutely fine being Muslim and gay at the same time, Warsame said those interpretations of the Quran that reject homosexuality are outdated and need to be replaced with more tolerant and inclusive interpretations of the text.

In a desperate attempt to fit in, Warsame decided to get married and even birthed a daughter afterwards, but failed to find happiness. That is when he realized the problem was not his being Muslim or gay. Like other religions that have at least tried to address the subject of homosexuality, Warsame believes it is time Islam started doing the same.

Warsame studied to be an imam in South Africa and Egypt, before receiving the title in 2000.

“They [other imams] are entitled to their opinions but I am a person who studied theology,” he said. “I am an expert in my field, I am gay, they can say what they say but my presence refutes their opinion. Islam is a religion that came in the eighth century. The sharia law and the laws that applied back then are not applicable to our society today. The individuals you mentioned and others in our communities are people who have ways of thinking that are no longer relevant. I don't discredit them, but their voices and opinions are, you know, proof that these old, archaic ways of thinking exist and they are simply no longer relevant and the youth are finding that out and they are saying, hey, this is not on.”

He said his proposed changes are not impossible to attain, as he has noticed changing attitudes among young and educated Muslims.

“However, we still have leaders in our communities of faith that hold onto those old, outdated ways of thinking that are no longer relevant in our contemporary society. We have a problem and we need to address it and if we are going to do it this time, we need to do it right,” he said.

Warsame has been working with LGBT Muslim youth through his organization Marhaba Melbourne for years now.

“I have dealt in the past two years with hundreds of these people from all over the country and people travelling from parts of New Zealand, and I am only one man,” he said. “That is what gives me the strength to continue what I am doing. It has been very promising to have young, educated LGBT Muslims and straight Muslims come and say thank you. The vast majority of those in positions of leadership in our community are trained overseas and they somehow cannot or find it difficult to relate to contemporary, modern youth.”

He said as he continues to play an important role in Australia’s LGBT community, he hopes to see same-sex marriage being legalized by the federal government, so as to incorporate the cultural changes necessary to protect the emerging generations from discrimination.

Photo Credits: TenPlay