For context, I’m a USian who became interested in Islamic cultures as a young adult, and from there found something magnetic about the faith of Islam.
I have many LGBT friends, and whenever I’ve reached out to mosques, the answers I get are rather disappointing. The best one I’ve gotten still invalidates homosexual relationships. I’m cishet, but as I said I have many LGBT friends, and I’m also poly. I have a comrade who is trans and converted to Islam, and I see that many LGBT Muslims exist, but this confounds me, too. Even the most open-minded of them will say something is “what Muslims believe” and then clarifies that it is from a Hadith, not strictly from the Quran. The comrade I know is a “Quranic” Muslim - one who follows the Five Pillars and the teachings of the Quran itself, and I know the Hadith are controversial outside of the majority of Sunni Islam.
I want to be a more spiritual person, but the type of Islam I encounter promotes teachings I know in my heart to be wrong. I know, too, that many Christians, Muslims, and Jews have this odd personal combat with God, for lack of a better term - a struggle with the divine, wherein they work out various personal sins/failings or disagreements with the scripture. I know Jews that eat pork, Muslims who drink, Christians who don’t pray. I sense there’s a spirit to the faiths that is more important than adherence to prescriptions of the text.
I am white (part Native American, but this isn’t visible in my appearance or culture). No part of my lineage comes from any land associated with Islam. It feels like appropriation for me to want to convert to a faith, but then pick and choose which parts of it I want to believe and follow. I dabble in tarot and the occult. I’m poly. I believe all consensual love is valid and sacred. So, I guess my question is aimed more towards the Muslim comrades here who are LGBT or allies, who balance the secular with the spiritual, who might be able to show me the way:
How can I call myself a Muslim without compromising my beliefs? Is there a sect or denomination I can seek guidance from? Am I just wasting my - and your - time?
I’m an atheist, so my advice might be biased.
I don’t think you should convert for the sake of having a religion. In my opinion, if what interests you is the philosophy, then try to practice it on your own. At least the parts you like. If you aren’t interested in the rituals, then there is no reason to officially convert.
As you’ve observed, organized religions are millenia old, and as such, they carry a lot of cultural archaic baggage that they can’t get rid of, because it would invalidate their dogma. You don’t have to abide by those traditions if they don’t represent you.
If you want the community that accompanies religious practice, I’d suggest looking up for a Unity Church near you. Although it’s based on Christianity, it’s a place of worship for people like you, who want a religion but are not attracted to the whole of it. They encourage you a lot to talk about your own version of what you worship and why. I tried it a few times in the UK and it was fun talking to Muslims, Budhists, Christians and Wiccans amicably in the same room.
I do like the rituals. It’s just certain elements I disagree with that I see other Muslims disagree with. I am attracted to the religion, not merely their philosophy. Perhaps I could see if there are any Muslims at a Unity church and see their takes on the topic. It’s largely the community and main body of beliefs and values, the practices and rituals, that Islam has that appeals to me. I’ve felt most comfortable in mosques, the most spiritual there.
Thank you for the advice.
May your spiritual journey bear fruits you enjoy comrade