Amplify Queer Muslim Voices | Spaces By Us, For Us | Collective Spiritual Healing
Amplify Queer Muslim Voices | Spaces By Us, For Us | Collective Spiritual Healing
Amplify Queer Muslim Voices
The Halal And Queer Collective amplifies the leadership and voices of queer Muslims; each member of the steering committee identifies as a trans and queer Muslim of color, and every project is implemented in collaboration with other queer Muslims in our community through encouraging collective leadership. By creating spaces to engage people who identify as queer and Muslim, and inviting them into the room to build power collectively, we are directly transferring power and resources into our own communities so that we do not have to rely on mainstream spaces to give us what's left over. Queer organizations and Muslim organizations separately often take us for granted, tokenizing us or utilizing our labor, but by creating our own spaces and projects, we are reclaiming that power for ourselves. Our organization directly compensates all contributors for their work, as one of the many ways to copower community members and redistribute resources. Another way we redistribute resources is through our Mutual Aidee fund twice a year.
One of the best parts of amplifying queer Muslim voices is that HAQ gets to host amazing events such as movie screenings centering around queer Muslim representation, or workshops where we can share knowledge and learn new skills. The Collective seeks out queer Muslims who are doing dope work, and compensates them for their time spent on a panel or teaching community members something they are passionate about.
Spaces By Us, For Us
Our work mainly focuses on creating spaces for individuals who identify with being both Muslim and queer, keeping in mind that our community is not a monolith and that everyone will have different relationships to those identities. Creating a space is the first step towards healing because, when being visibly out can be life-threatening, many members of this community struggle with finding others to connect with. Spaces created by us, for us, are the most important step towards healing and, subsequently, collaboration, inspiration, and collective liberation. It is clear that if queer Muslims believe they are alone in their struggles, or are aware they may not be so alone in their experiences but haven't been able to connect with others on that shared-identity level, it can take a severe toll on their mental health and well-being. If one is always having to leave some aspect of one's identity at the door when engaging in certain spaces, this can lead to isolation and despair.
We have monthly community discussions where we take and make space for each other, share with each other, and learn with each other, but we also have special events outside of that routine.
The Halal And Queer Collective provides spaces for queer Muslims to show up as their full, authentic selves in a variety of ways: some spaces are educational and community-building, such as workshops over various topics; other spaces are purely fun and celebratory, such as the halalentines zoom dance party or picnic outings in the park; and finally some spaces are centered around spirituality, such as the Queer Qur’an Studies or our nightly virtual tarawih during Ramadhan.
One of HAQ’s goals is to build a queer and affirming masjid in the DC area. This means that there will be a physical, permanent space accessible to members of our ummah to come and pray, host their own events in the space, or gain access to community resources. We believe in this beautiful possibility!
Collective Spiritual Healing
In the current political environment, healing is tantamount to our resistance, survival, and liberation. There is a lot that healing can encompass but, at the Halal And Queer Collective, when we talk about healing, we mean the life-long process of repairing, growing, and nourishing our relationships with ourselves, with one another, and with Allah. We understand there is an individual responsibility to do inner work, and that there is also a community responsibility to support one another through this work as we strive to become more connected to our inherent divine power, sense of balance, and step into our own agency. To this end, our organization provides community spaces where trans and queer Muslims can come to worship, learn, grown, and form bonds in a specifically Muslim environment through the shared values of justice and liberation for all people.
Creating spaces is one of the first steps towards healing, but not the only steps we take. HAQ also encourages our trans and queer Muslim community to join us in reexamination and reframing of the ways we interact with our spirituality and the wider communities we are a part of. While most of the spaces we create provide an atmosphere of acceptance and healing from the compounding oppressions we face as multi-marginalized people, we hold religious and spiritual-specific events to engage in the difficult communal work of building the ummah we wished we had as queer young Muslims coming into our own. An ummah where we can be our true, authentic selves and practice our religion without fear.
Receiving community support and being able to exist in spiritual spaces that are not just trauma-informed, but are healing-centered across cultures and across generations is especially powerful and cathartic for trans and queer Muslims, and unlearning years of religious stigma is a constant process. We hold traditionally religious spaces such as Eid celebrations, communal virtual prayer, and weekly iftars during Ramadhan, but we also host events to engage with the exegesis and text of the Qur’an through a queer and abolitionist lens.
HAQ recognizes diversity as we strive for communal healing, and our focus is on uplifting our most marginalized members: Black and Brown Muslims, trans and gender non-conforming Muslims, disabled Muslims, and Muslims of all sexual identities. By centering those on the margin, we can bring about a much-needed power shift.
The Collective is aware that spiritual healing is empty without historical and racial awareness; we must also be addressing anti-Blackness in our respective communities and making sure all of our spaces are welcoming to Muslims of all races, ethnicities, abilities, sects, genders, and sexualities. Read more about our communal agreements here.