America’s 1st Openly Gay Imam Daayiee Abdullah Was Born A Christian

Meet the first openly gay Imam in the history of
America, Daayiee Abdullah who was born and
raised in a Christian family in Detroit, Michigan.
Daayiee Abdullah's parents were Southern
Baptists. At age 15, he reportedly told his parent he
was gay. At age 33 while doing his higher education
in China, he converted to Islam. He later travelled to
Syria, Jordan and Egypt to learn more about Islam.
But as a gay man in America, he saw that lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender Muslims had unmet
spiritual needs, so he decided to become an imam to
attend to their needs.
He's been condemned by other Muslim leaders, and
some local imams have even refused to greet him.
According to Aljazeera, his first act as an imam was
performing funeral rites, Muslim body cleaning ritual
for a gay Muslim who died of AIDS.
Pained Abdullah said:
"They had contacted a number of imams, and no one
would go and provide him his janazah services. This
pained me. I believe every person, no matter if I
disagree with you or not, you have the right as a
Muslim to have the proper spiritual [rites] and rituals
provided for you. And whoever judges you, that will
be Allah's decision, not me.
"The beautiful thing about God is that when you
change your attitude, and say, 'God, I need some
help,' and mean it sincerely, God is always there for
you,"
Abdullah serves as the imam and educational
director of the Light of Reform Mosque in
Washington, D.C. A mosque he helped form more
than two years ago, to be a safe space for values and
practices that other mosques may eschew.
In his mosque, women and men kneel side-by-side
and women are allowed to lead prayers – actions that
have sparked controversy even among American
Muslims.
His mosque's congregants are diverse and represent
a wide range of cultures, religious upbringings and
sexual orientations.
For its LGBT congregants, the Light of Reform
Mosque is a rare safe space. But not all of them are
gay. Many are just Muslims looking for a mosque that
accepts all kinds.
Not everyone is happy with the mosque though.
Some local imams have refused to greet Abdullah,
and many others across the country argue his work
performing same-sex marriage is not legitimate, and
that he should control his "urges."
But Abdullah is firm in his belief.
"Being an openly gay imam and having been
identified as such, I do get a lot of feedback and also
kickback, but that's OK. "I think that when people are
unfamiliar with things, they tend to have an
emotional knee-jerk reaction to it.
"It is our relationship with God and our relationship
with each other that really establishes our faith." Not
whether you are gay or straight. – Abdullah told Al
Jazeera network.

Sent From David Aniemeka