Muslim

Poet & Activist

b. September 1946
d. July 22, 2011

“I don't practice [Islam]. But I compensate by helping other people, by doing my activism ..." 

Ifti Nasim was a gay Pakistani-American poet whose unique LGBT-themed collections, written in Urdu, were published internationally. He helped establish Sangat Chicago, an organization supporting South-Asian LGBT youth.

Nasim was born in Faisalabad, Pakistan. He was the middle child in a large, traditional Islamic family. Throughout his teens, Nasim experienced bullying, ostracization and loneliness as a gay youth. A passionate poet and an activist who opposed Pakistan’s martial law, Nassim was once shot in the leg during a protest.

Inspired by a Life magazine article touting America’s acceptance of gays, Nassim emigrated to the United States at the age of 21. He enrolled at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, where he continued his poetry. He spent most of his life in Chicago, Illinois, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen. Some of his siblings joined him in America.

In 1986, at the age of 40, Nasim helped found Sangat Chicago, an advocacy organization and support group for young people of South Asian origin. Sangat’s participants found solace connecting with one another and sharing experiences, particularly of being LGBT Muslims. Nasim also regularly hosted a weekly radio show and contributed to an American Pakistani newspaper.

Nasim wrote poems in English as well as in Urdu and Punjabi, two of the languages spoken in Pakistan. He published three books of poems in Urdu, which conveyed novel themes of the plight of LGBT people in Muslim and third-world countries. His most popular collection, "Narman" (1994), which translates to "hermaphrodite," became the first published articulation of gay themes in Urdu and sparked a movement of "honest" poetry. "Narman" was distributed in the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden and Germany, and underground in India and Pakistan. His other two books of poetry, "Myrmecophile" (2000) and "Abdoz" (2005), explored gay love, longing and the pressures of heteronormativity.

In 1993 Nasim became the first poet from a developing nation to read his work at Chicago’s Harold Washington Library Center. The following year, Chicago’s South Asian Family Services awarded him the Rabindranath Tagore Award for his poetry. In 1996 he was inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame.

Nasim died in Chicago of a sudden heart attack at the age of 64. The Chicago Tribune published his obituary.

LGBT Muslim Activist

b. June 21, 1977, Frankfurt, Germany

“Our mission is to try to help Muslims to reconcile two identities.”

Born to Pakistani parents and raised in Connecticut, queer Muslim activist Faisal Alam has navigated the precarious terrain of clashing identities. From an early age, Alam felt a strong connection to his Islamic faith. He was an active member of Muslim youth groups as a way of engaging with his faith and his community; he became a model of Islam’s focus on goodwill and strong communal ties.

When Alam first recognized his queer identity, the seemingly irreconcilable disparity between being Muslim and being queer was devastating. Homosexuality is perceived as contemptuous, even criminal, in many Islamic societies. Alam said, “We really felt caught in between. The last thing you could do was call the mosque for help.”

From this inner conflict emerged Alam’s vow to help other struggling LGBT Muslims. “This level of schism in one’s life can only last for so long until it takes a toll on your body, your soul, your psyche,” he said. “The promise I made to God, to my creator, is that I would never let what happened to me ever happen again.”

At age 19, Alam created the Al-Fatiha Foundation for LGBT Muslims. Al-Fatiha—literally “the opening”—offered new possibilities for people who live at the intersection of Islam and queerness. What started as a tiny e-mail listserve blossomed into an international organization that held regular conferences and engagements for LGBT Muslims.

By striving to embrace these two identities and encouraging other to do the same, Faisal Alam challenges notions of identity and reflects the positive attributes of his communities.

Muslim Reformist

b. 1968

“My journey is about speaking out against injustice, no matter who is offended.”

Irshad Manji is an award-winning Muslim author, feminist and advocate for Islamic reform. The New York Times described her as “Osama bin Laden’s worst nightmare.”

Manji was born in Uganda to an Indian father and an Egyptian mother. In 1973, when Asians were deported from Uganda, her family immigrated to Canada as political refugees. She attended public school during the week and the madrasah, an Islamic religious school, on the weekend. At 14, she was expelled from the madrasah for asking too many questions.

In 1990, Manji graduated at the top of her class from the University of British Columbia. She worked as a legislative aide to Parliament and became the speechwriter for the leader of the New Democratic Party. At 24, she wrote editorials on national affairs for the Ottawa Citizen.

In 1998, Manji hosted Citytv’s “QueerTelevision,” the world’s first commercial broadcast exploring the lives of gays and lesbians. The show won a Gemini, Canada’s top broadcasting award. She produced the Emmy-nominated PBS documentary “Faith Without Fear” (2007), which follows her journey to reconcile faith and human rights.

Manji authored “The Trouble with Islam Today” (2004), an international best seller published in more than 30 languages. In its first year, the Arabic translation was downloaded 300,000 times. She wrote “Allah, Liberty, and Love” (2011), her guide to becoming a robust global citizen.

In 2004, Oprah Winfrey awarded Manji the first Chutzpah Award for her “audacity, nerve, boldness and conviction.” In 2007, she was named one of the country’s 50 most powerful gays and lesbians by Out magazine. The Jakarta Post in Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, named her one of three Muslim women creating positive change in Islam.

She is the director of New York University’s Moral Courage Project, which develops young leaders to challenge conformity. Manji travels the world speaking about religion, LGBT issues and human rights. Her columns have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Times of London, and The Globe and Mail (Toronto). She is a frequent guest on CNN and other television networks.

Sufi Mystic/Poet

b. September 30, 1207
d. December 17, 1273

"Only from the heart can you touch the sky."

Jalal al-Din Rumi was a poet, theologian and Sufi mystic. He founded the Order of the Whirling Dervishes, a branch of the Sufi tradition that practicies a gyrating dance ritual representing the revolving stages of life.

Rumi was born in the Persian province of Balkh, now part of Afghanistan. Rumi’s father was an author, a religious scholar and a leader in the Sufi movement—the mystical dimension of Islam.

When Rumi was 12, his father moved the family to escape the impending invasion of Mongol armies, eventually setting in Konya, Anatolia, the westernmost tip of Asia where Turkey is today.

In 1231, after his father died, Rumi began teaching, meditating and helping the poor. He amassed hundreds of disciples who attended his lectures and sermons.

Rumi was married and had one son. After his wife’s death, he remarried and fathered two more children. In 1244, Rumi met a man who changed his life. Shams of Tabriz was an older Sufi master who became Rumi’s spiritual mentor and constant companion. After Shams died, Rumi grieved for years. He began expressing his love and bereavement in poetry, music and dance.

Rumi had two other male companions, but none would replace his beloved Shams. One of Rumi’s major poetic works is named in honor of his master, "The Works of Shams of Tabriz." Rumi’s best-known work is "Spiritual Couplets," a six-volume poem often referred to as the greatest work of mystical poetry.

In “Rumi: The Book of Love Poems of Ecstasy and Longing” (2003), Rumi expresses his perception of true love. "Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along."

Rumi died surrounded by his family and disciples. His tomb is one of the most revered pilgrimage sites in Islam and is a spiritual center of Turkey.