What We Do
- Al-Fatiha Chapters
- Al Fatiha Retreats and Conferences
- Asylum Support
- Family / Community
- HIV/AIDS
- Social Justice
- Human Rights Advocacy
- Theological Work
- Interfaith Work
- Education & Advocacy
Al Fatiha Chapters
Al Fatiha comprises of seven chapters in the United States, which act as primary places of social support for LGBTIQ Muslims. It is often the first place that many LGBTIQ Muslims have the opportunity meet others who face similar cultural and religious struggles, in a safe environment. Our chapters also act as a conduit for our members to interact with others from their city and region, often creating life-long friendships and partnerships.
Al Fatiha Retreats and Conferences
Al-Fatiha's major events which occur once every year in cities across the United States, serve as a vital place for LGBTIQ Muslims to gather and learn from each other, gain institutional resources from different organizations (including HIV/AIDS and asylum/immigration groups), and to meet other LGBTIQ Muslims from around the world. Al Fatiha retreats and conferences also serve as the venue for meetings between the board of directors and the chapter coordinators. Al Fatiha retreats and conferences also serve as the venue for publicizing the organization and its work to the larger mainstream LGBT movement.
Asylum Support
Al Fatiha regularly receives requests for information on seeking asylum based on sexual orientation from individuals who are living in the United States as well as LGBTIQ Muslims living in Muslim countries. These individuals who are often under very strenuous conditions write to Al Fatiha for help with their asylum cases. To date, Al Fatiha has worked on more than two- dozen asylum cases. We have written letters of support, legitimizing claims made by individuals about harsh conditions for sexual and gender minorities in their home countries, and we have also helped by sending "expert witnesses" to testify in individual cases. Additionally, Al Fatiha has developed an excellent relationship with the Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force (LGIRTF) and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). Al Fatiha often refers clients to LGIRTF who in turn provide individuals with contact information for pro-bono lawyers who work on sexual orientation and gender identity asylum and immigration issues. Meanwhile IGLHRC helps both LGBTIQ asylum and immigration cases by providing country packets that describe human rights conditions for sexual and gender minorities for the country in question.
In a post 9/11 world and as the INS cracks down on Muslims in the United States, Al Fatiha's caseload of asylum and immigration cases has increased dramatically.
Family/Community
Al Fatiha continues to support family members who discover their children's sexual orientation or gender identity. An Al Fatiha board member also sits on the Families of Color Network, a project of the national office of PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). Al Fatiha hopes to work with PFLAG to develop culturally and linguistically appropriate brochures and resources for LGBTIQ Muslims who come from diverse communities.
HIV/AIDS
The HIV and AIDS epidemic continues to ravage across the Muslim world, while the majority of the Islamic community in the United States remains silent on the issue. People living with HIV/AIDS in the Muslim community are often stigmatized and those that pass from complications are often not given proper Muslim burials. Al Fatiha has begun to work with HIV/AIDS organizations in various cities to include concerns of Muslims who are gay, bisexual or those men that have sex with men, to ensure that an Islamic approach to the HIV/AIDS epidemic is incorporated in the wider HIV/AIDS movement.
Social Justice
Al Fatiha has adopted a clear social justice vision and perspective into its work. It was the first queer religious organization to include transgender and bisexual people at its inception. The organization also incorporates racial justice, economic justice, and gender equity into its work. The vision of Al Fatiha is to make the connections between homophobia, racism and sexism clear to the LGBTIQ Muslim community, to fight injustice and oppression on all levels.
Al Fatiha Brochure
Muslim countries continue to be some of the oppressive towards sexual minorities and other marginalized communities. Unfortunately under the guise of religion, authoritarian regimes across the Muslim world use colonial sodomy laws to crackdown on sexual and gender minorities. Since 2001, when the Egyptian government launched a very public crackdown on the local gay population, Al Fatiha has found itself in a very unique position to confront human rights abuses across the Muslim world, by speaking out and advocating on behalf of sexual and gender minorities in these countries. Working with organizations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Al Fatiha continues to be the queer Muslim voice, often when human rights are dismissed as western imports. As the "war on terrorism" looms over the Muslim world, marginalized communities including sexual and gender minorities face more injustice and prosecution. Al Fatiha will be ready to speak out against this oppression when this happens.
Theological Work
Scripture and Theology is perhaps the biggest barrier to dealing with the mainstream and orthodox community. To counter the spiritual violence that so many LGBTIQ Muslims face, which is perpetuated by anti-gay scripture and theology, Al Fatiha has brought together LGBTIQ and queer friendly Muslim theologians and religious academics to its major events (including retreats and conferences). These individuals offer alternative interpretations of the Quran, while also serving as spiritual resources to the LGBTIQ Muslim community. Al Fatiha has also created a "scholarship committee" comprising of twelve individuals who will put together a booklet and resource manual for the LGBTIQ Muslim community. This booklet serves to counter the anti-gay rhetoric faced by many, while also challenging traditional interpretations within the mainstream and orthodox Muslim community.
Interfaith Work
Al Fatiha continues to reach out to other faith-based organizations that do work around sexual orientation and gender identity. Members of the board sit on the National Religious Leadership Roundtable, an interfaith network of LGBTIQ religious leaders in the United States. Additionally Al Fatiha representatives have spoken at numerous queer interfaith services and participated in dozens of LGBTIQ interfaith panels across the country. Work has also started on developing relationships with the LGBTIQ Jewish and Christian communities, to create dialogue around peace and justice, especially as it relates to the conflict in Israel and Palestine.
Education and Advocacy
Al Fatiha often finds itself in the unique position of educating the mainstream LGBT community on the religion of Islam, a religion that continues to be misunderstood in the Western world. Advocacy on behalf of LGBTIQ Muslims continues to be a priority for Al-Fatiha, as the only organization in the United States dealing with the concerns of Muslims who are sexual and gender minorities. Meanwhile Al Fatiha has also started doing outreach to the mainstream Muslim community to initiate dialogue around issues of sexuality and gender. In the future Al Fatiha hopes to create a curriculum and develop a workshop to implement in mosques, Islamic schools and other Muslim religious institutions.
