MUSLIM WORLD: Film about gays and Islam shown for first time in Arab world

Can one be gay and a pious Muslim at the same time? 

That's the topic that Indian Muslim film director Parvez Sharma explores in his controversial 2007 documentary "A Jihad for Love" through a range of colorful characters.

Among others, viewers are introduced to a group of homosexual Iranian asylum seekers in Turkey, an openly gay Muslim imam, and a devout Egyptian lesbian who is struggling to cope with her faith and her sexual orientation.

Sharma recently traveled to Lebanon for the screening of his film in Beirut, which marked the first public showing of "A Jihad for Love" in an Arab country. 

Babylon & Beyond sat down with Sharma to talk about his film, Islam and homosexuality, and his upcoming controversial projects.

"I was a bit apprehensive at first because I realize that people in Lebanon have a complex relationship to religion, so I was worried how they would react to such a shamelessly religious film," he said. "At the same time I was aware it was elite crowd. It wasn't exactly Hezbollah coming to see it. So I don’t think all of Beirut saw my film. I think a small bubble of it did."

You've shown the film in other countries with large Muslim populations but never before in an Arab country. Why is it so hard to screen it in the Arab world but not in Indonesia for example?

I think there is a greater influence of Wahhabi ideas in the Arab mindset. But I also think it has to do with democracy. Being censored as an artist is part of life [in the Arab world], which is not really the case in Indonesia or in India. There is greater artistic freedom elsewhere than Egypt, which is like a dictatorship and a police state. There is also sometimes a close-mindedness when it comes to people who are not being in a complete participatory democracy. 

I am not saying India and the others have problems but they are different in that experience than people in the Middle East. War and totalitarian regimes .... such things close cultural spaces somehow. You can feel it in the air.

What was your goal with the film and do you feel like you have accomplished it?

My goal was to open the discussion and to stop the silence. Have I stopped the silence? Yes. Have I found a solution for this issue? No. I don't know if a Koranic solution is possible. First, because I think Muslims are taught not to mess with the Koran. Secondly, there are more than 1 billion in the Muslim world. Do you think the entire umma will agree that homosexuality is OK? Muslims are too divided to agree on one thing.

So what's the solution in your opinion? 

Does one approach the issue from a religious or from a human rights perspective? I don't know. But one thing is important: to reform religion you need to do it from within the religion. Only religious people will find a solution. Religious Muslims will find a solution but someone from outside will not.

Do you feel that there is a difference in how Shiite Muslims and Sunni Muslims view homosexuality?

I think Sunni is influenced a lot by the Wahhabi ideology, and I think cultural of disagreement is more pronounced in Shiite Islam.

What's the overall feedback on the film been like?

It’s been divided. But ... the film has not been attacked by conservative Muslims because I think they realized that mine is a Muslim camera. I am not attacking my own religion. The film is not an attack on Islam. If it was, I would be dead.

-- Alexandra Sandels in Beirut

Photos, from top: "A Jihad for Love" film poster; film director Parvez Sharma. Credit: Parvez Sharma

Comments

[kusum lata]

though i am not a muslim but certain facts are quite obvious. there are many things prohibited by islam yet they are quite popular and prevalent among muslims just like any other community. for example Adultery, Zina, INCEST, Bestility, ALCOHOL, prostitution, USURY, pornography, usurping rights of poor people etc etc. all these things are prohibited yet even among a section of religious people these practices are quite common. i do think that Mr parvez Sharma will always succeed. firstly becouse many influntial think tanks in West Like RAND corporation etc have openly proclaimed that they will support all movements in muslim world which are compatiable with western values. secondly as far as Forecast of Prophet muhammed is concerned he also predicted that many evils (Evils as per interpretation of prophet and not mine defination) will become very common when time of doomsday will come. Prophet predicted that gay sex will become so common that STRAIGHT people will be forced and compelled to adopt gay sex. so over all position of our GLBT movement is very strong even as per interpretation of Prophet

[mohamed hosny]

I would say no for sharma thoughts. for example this thing about Quran argument,we can't correct anything in quran as he said because we didn't make it.Quran is From Allah (god) and we take it and learned as it is.and Allah said on Quran we will keep it through the human long life. so this one is closed chapter.about the sexual orientation is also a closed chapter.because just think about it.
Is homosexual normal thing OR against the human natural??
Allah made us male & female, The reason..Reproduce
and Allah made sex for us to make the reproduction in a very interesting way so we like it.
so the sex itself is a way not a target.although Allah make sex open not limited to reproduction so we can make as many as we want but with restrictions which is Marriage not in open relation.
Imagine that.all of that for the natural sex.what about homosexual.it's totally prohibited in Islam no way I mean no way to allow it even if you get the greatest imam in Islam to allow it and he does.we have a mind to think.
Islam is not a religion that make you stop thinking and you just have to follow imam.you have to think before you do.
So whatever is the consequence of homosexual or straight sexual there is a rules and nature we have to follow as a human being and also as Muslim.like for example
straight sex in marriage relationships.
Not drink alcoholic or anything that turn off my brain.
Not eating pork or dead animal
I hope that I delivered my thoughts in a good way

[MissMarple]

Justin, you are very much off the track. Scientists who have studied where HIV/AIDS came from, have determined that it was initially a very weak strain of the virus in a small population in Africa. Because it was transmitted heterosexually, in a society that was socially conservative, there was very little transmission. The virus did not always lead to death.

It is believed that there may have been a transmission as early as the 1930's, but more probably in the 1950's. The spread was very slow, and was probably again, heterosexual. It was not until the late 1970's, that we see the very beginning of some symptoms of AIDS in the homosexual community. HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, had mutated between the 50's and 70's, here or in Africa, and took the form we saw in the 1980's. It is possible that it will mutate back to something less virulent, the way the Spanish Flu virus of the First World War did.

[David]

Actually Justin you are skewing the facts to make your argument more appealing. The link that you provide does not back your claim that "homosexual sodomy is 44 more times likely to transmit HIV." Point of fact is that your claim does not make sense. 44 tames more likely as opposed to what? Heterosexual sodomy? Are you speaking of anal intercourse without a condom. What about two gay guys who do not have HIV?

The truth is that anal intercourse using quality condoms and water-based lubricant is a very safe form of sexual expression for folks of any sexuality. Condoms break during any form of sexual intercourse usually because they are low quality, the participants are not using lubricant or they are using the wrong kind of lubricant (hand cream!) that weakens the latex.

"If a person has anal sex, they are far more likely to get an STD which then gets transferred to the entire community." This is a lie. There is no basis of fact for this statement. A person with an STD can infect their partner with most forms of sexual contact; oral, vaginal or anal, heterosexual or homosexual. If a heterosexual man's female sex partner has a vaginal STD and he performs oral sex upon her and then has vaginal intercourse with a condom he can still be infected, he just has it in his mouth and not his penis. And then he can pass it to another partner with something as simple as a wet kiss! Sex acts are morally neutral - but they can all be dangerous at times.

[Joe]

This is one ritual from ancient Greece which 99% of world don't want to advertising it as a normal practice, they do exist and society leaders and media should stay away from acknowledge it for part of that group which are only interested in it for sake of experiment as oppose to way of life!

[Melanie MacQueen]

"If it was I'd be dead". That's from his own mouth. Speak against Islam or anything about Islam and die. Tells you all you need to know.

[AB]

Charles, your cute little 'book banning' idea reminds me of a certain backwoods pastor in Florida and a half-wit ex-governor from Alaska. You'll be in good company with them.

[Tom M.]

Iran's dear leader says there are no homosexuals in his country.

[Justin]

To Jim: The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states: "Unprotected (without a condom) anal sex (intercourse) is considered to be very risky behavior. It is possible for either sex partner to become infected with HIV during anal sex... Not having (abstaining from) sex is the most effective way to avoid HIV. If people choose to have anal sex, they should use a latex condom. Most of the time, condoms work well. However, condoms are more likely to break during anal sex than during vaginal sex. Thus, even with a condom, anal sex can be risky."

http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/qa/transmission.htm

The disturbing spread of HIV originated in the gay community because of anal sex. This is the original reason why sodomy laws existed in the first place. If a person has anal sex, they are far more likely to get an STD which then gets transferred to the entire community. So yes, what you do in your bedroom does affect other people because it is simply not possible to have risk-free anal sex. These are medical facts, not homophobic bigotry. The radical homosexual activism displayed in movies like "A Jihad for Love" is dangerous for society on medical and social grounds.

By the way, I don't support persecution or harassment of gays, so don't call me a homophobe or a religious nut. I'm just dealing with the hard facts.

[KBKBKB]

While conservatives have no problem trotting out the old "Guns Don't Kill People, People Kill People" line when defending the Second Amendment, they refuse to accept that only unsafe sex transmits HIV, not homosexuality or sex between members of the same sex. Hypocrites!

Homosexuality exists in every society in the world (as well as being documented in over 200 animal species). Being gay is not a choice - those who believe so are never able to produce gays who claim they made a choice. Films like this are necessary to understand the challenges of living and loving in an unaccepting environment.

[Edward]

Parvez Sharma is a very brave filmmaker. Thanks from everyone on the planet for helping reform Islam from within. He is quoted in the interview that "to reform religion you need to do it from within the religion. ... Religious Muslims will find a solution but someone from outside will not." and his "goal was to open the discussion and stop the silence." So important for so many people's emotional health, to begin to talk, to see that each person is not struggling alone-- whether an individual is straight or gay, there's plenty of painful questions to go around. Thank you Parvez Sharma for your artistic expression of honesty and compassion, which can deeply touch people who need to think more deeply.

[Jim W]

To Justin: Did it ever occur to you that anal sex is practiced far more widely in the heterosexual world? It's the original form of birth control used in many societies. The issue here is practicing safe sex, which needs to be taught to everyone. It would save many lives and the world a better place; but there are those--the cruel religious fanatics--who'd rather condemn and punish people for being human.

[Charles Dews]

Religion, no matter what flavor, is incompatible with reality. No use denying homosexuality exists--it is even widespread in the world of "lower" species (although they have no holy books proscribing it and seem to harbor no unnatural prejudices against it)--but that is what practically all, especially "one god" religions like Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, the sick folk of "the book," attempt to do. Because their beliefs cannot handle reality, they have to deny it exists or punish it severely. When will they ever learn? The solution? Ban "holy" books and tax the hell out of religion!

[Justin]

This is more poisonous propaganda trying to change 1400 year old time-tested teachings of the religion based on the abnormal sexual desires of a very small minority. Islam is about controlling your sexual desires, not embracing an identity based on them. Being a homosexual Imam is like being an Imam who worships two Gods. Completely backwards. If Muslims can be openly homosexual, then the religion no longer means anything. It just becomes a cultural artifact.

Furthermore, under the surface this film promotes the normality of anal sex which is a dangerous, high-risk behavior responsible for spreading HIV the world over. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, homosexual sodomy is 44 more times likely to transmit HIV, but this inconvenient fact escapes most homosexual activists.