Customer Reviews

A Jihad for Love

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Director Parvez Sharma spent more than five years traveling throughout the Muslim world and interviewing lesbians and gay men about their life, their faith and their fears as followers of Islam. The results are enlightening, heart rendering and, at times, shocking. Like the documentary about gay people in the Orthodox Jewish world, Trembling Before G-D, A Jihad For Love restricts itself to the paradox of religious followers of a faith that seemingly rejects their existence. Of course, the penalty for homosexuality is far more severe in countries ruled by Sharia law, but it is amazing to see and learn how the faithful deal with what must seem like overwhelming obstacles in simple things that gay people in the Western world take for granted.

I learned quite a bit from this film that I was previously unaware of, such as the fact that Turkey, although overwhelmingly Muslim, has no laws forbidding homosexuality, and attitudes there concerning homosexuality have always been more relaxed than other parts of the Muslim world. I also was under the false impression, as many Westerners are, that jihad means "Holy war". It actually means "struggle". Thus the film's title is quite apt, and because the film's creator / director is himself a member of the Muslim faith, the film exudes an aura of self-assured confidence, familiarity and respect for its subject matter that many documentaries cannot hope to achieve. In modern Pakistan, of all places, the Sufi sect celebrates the love of a 16th century poet and Sufi saint, Shah Hussain, for a Brahmin boy named Madho Lal. Each year on his urs (death anniversary) their love is celebrated through ritual dances held in the shrine near the tomb of the two lovers. The scenes of Muslims dancing and celebrating this love are jarring, and totally at odds with what many in the West have come to expect from the Muslim world.

One of the most striking things about this documentary is how Mr. Sharma managed to get the men and women interviewed in the film to openly talk about themselves, although most of their faces are not shown. Even though a gay Muslim himself, it must have been very difficult to gain their trust. More striking still is the devotion to their religion that these people still have, and one contrast with Western culture is how close they still are to their parents, and how accepting their fundamentalist parents seem to be, despite the cultural and religious taboos against same-sex love. That is to say, many of the gay people profiled in the film are still close to their families, whereas in Fundamentalist Christian families, many gay children are rejected by their parents completely. There is even a wonderful segment where a Turkish lesbian brings her partner to meet her mother.

There is also a scene where a South African Muslim confronts an Imam, and tells him that the verse in the Qur'an which condemns homosexuality (there is only one, outside of the story of Sodom & Gomorrah) is open to interpretation. The Imam responds that the only portion of Muslim law about homosexuality that is open to interpretation is the severity of the punishment to be inflicted. Such complete close-mindedness will not surprise anyone who has ever tried to argue gay rights with a Christian fundamentalist. It has long been my understanding that one of the most severe problems with homosexuality and Islam is that the Muslim religion has no central leadership, in that almost anyone who is a member of Islam can study to be an Imam and so become a spiritual leader and recognized as an authority on the Muslim religion and what it teaches. As such, many of the leaders of the Islam faith are those who are most fundamental in their interpretation, although the term Imam itself differs completely depending on whether one is a Sunni or a Shiite, the two largest sects in Islam. This documentary is extremely eye-opening, shedding light on what heretofore has only been a shadowy world of isolation and self-hate. It is sure to engender discussion among Westerners, and may even result in some dialogue within the Muslim world. And at least that's a start. Highly recommended.

This is (Not Without My Daughter..another good film..) so marvelously splendid..The absolute beauty of Iran and Egypt by night.The raw and powerful,emotional and moving stories of Mazem,Ferda,Amir,their punishments.The glorious and rare glimpse of Sufi church services,facts about Muslims in the countries of France,Egypt,India,(a turn on..) Bangladesh,Pakistan..The moving story of the celebration of the love between Shah Husain and Madho Lal.Makes al-Suhaq look pretty good if you ask me.Let's all use Ijtihad (independent reasoning) to go on a Jihad ul-Nafs: A struggle with the self.

It was interesting to see how gays and lesbians in prominently Muslim countries view themselves and their religion. A Jihad For Love does not just focus on gay men as many studies, reports and documentaries but also gives us a view into what life is like for lesbian Muslims. However, I have two problems with the film. The first being the lack of depth for the people in the film. We see people in the park but very little information about who they are, where they comes from and the react from friends and family. Also the camera work at times was out of focus and very shaky. It will be interesting to see where the subjects are and if they have found inner peace in a few years.

A Jihad for Love showcases the plight and suffering of the gay and lesbian community in countries where Islam is practiced; the laws of Islam dictate that homosexuality is illegal, immoral and sick and that gay people should (or at least could) even be stoned to death for their "sins!" The film is an excellent documentary that lets us meet several gay and lesbian people, some in relationships and others not, who must struggle to reconcile their Islamic faith with their being gay or lesbian. Some of them are expatriates and others still live in Islamic countries and chose to hide their faces for fear of retribution from the local police and other legal authorities. I truly felt that I knew these people by the time the film ended and the bonus features helped me even more to understand their struggle and the situation for gay and lesbian Muslims, even in our country. In addition, the cinematography is excellent and the film moves along at a good pace; it moves neither too slowly nor too quickly and the interviews with these gay and lesbian people make them stand out as human beings with rights and that's terrific.

The film essentially consists of interviews with gay and lesbian Muslims; they all bravely and honestly tell their stories in such a way that it's impossible not to empathize with them and their struggle. One interesting situation is that of a lesbian couple who live apart in separate countries, getting together from time to time yet, at least for one of them, unable to accept that being Muslim and being homosexual can go together. We also see how one man received one hundred lashes for being gay. Another brave soul, who was married and has visitation rights with his children, explores his children's feelings about homosexuality and the results are powerful and moving at once. We also see (in one of the bonus features) a relatively new organization of gay and lesbian Muslims in the United States where they are respected more and are able to organize more openly than in other countries.

Overall, I highly recommend this film for anyone studying gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender issues. It does fall somewhat short of discussing transgender issues but it's still a good film; at least we do see how one man dresses up as a woman to essentially belly dance in a Parisian restaurant. This is also an enlightening film for anyone who wants to understand the religion of Islam as it relates to homosexuality and its other religious laws in general.

that I helped fund with my measly 200 buck donation to the Hartley Film foundation.I'm kind of proud of that so I'm bragging.SO anyways..since it's a groundbreaking film,it's a must see.Gender is neutral (Sufism is pretty neat..)in Allah:Not a he or a she.Pretty cool.I like Not Without My Daughter as a movie. Dangerous Living - Coming Out in the Developing World is also about this kind of thing."There is no he,there is no she" a Sufi once said that I think..

A doco presents meticulously collated facts from around countries traditionally-Muslim and tells of both prosecution in native lands and mercy of the First World providing asylum to otherwise strictly Islam-obedient victims of homophobia depicted.

Intentionally or not, by letting on sexual discrimination grounds such different culturally newcomers in rather rich with a mirage of opportunities contemporary, developed, civilized etc places of "non-believers", a very controversial issue had been popped up.

In general. this work initiated a positive impression of Muslims not short of any common "mortal sins", according to clergy overwhelmingly, a same gender attraction surely is.

Thank God the secrets are out! Tolerance and do no harm! What we fear and disagree with seems to be what we fear may become true in ourselves or forced upon us. May God help us to tolerate each others differences as we try to harm none. None of us are perfect or superior. Death makes us all equal and memory is gone!

An important film. While the media and advocacy groups try to force feed us nonsense about how Islam is a peaceful religion of love and tolerance, here is a film that tells the truth: An Imam (Islamic religious scholar) is shown saying that the question in Islam is not whether gay people should be murdered but how. Even more importantly, he seems to lament the fact that he doesn't live in an Islamic country where capital punishment could be carried out against gay people. After gays, they go after adulterers, victims (yes, victims - not just the perpetrators) of rape, Christians, Jews, atheists, anyone who uses free speech to question the truth of Islam, people who educate girls, and, well, the list of those who are enemies of Islam and deserve death is almost endless. Want to see the world descend back into the darkness of barbarism? Simply let this religion gain a foothold in the West, and you can kiss all reason and civilization goodbye. What will be left of the world will be little more than a lunatic asylum and a slaughterhouse.

Some people may have the impression that Muslims are commanded to murder gay people. They probably got this idea from one or two media reports about homo's in Islamic countries. Allah has given humanity a set of rules to follow in order to ensure that societies run smoothly. He has told us what we can eat, drink, and how men and women should interact with each other. He has also told us what we should not do. In order for there to be a moral and just society, people must follow the rules that God has made and when those rules are broken, then the punishment must come.The people behind this film are ignorant of this basic Islamic teaching and it lacks a balanced approach to the subject.

A clip is shown in the film of a woman praying and the camera is positioned to show her rear end while she is prostrating. Many non-Muslims out there will be fine with a woman bending over in front of the camera while she is praying, but true Muslims will have a problem with this. Why. Because it opens the door to thoughts that should not be in the minds of men. The reason why women and men are separated during prayer is to prevent men from seeing women in positions that would be tempting. The director tells me by showing a woman bending over in prayer that he is ignorant of the system that Allah wants men and women to follow.

There was also a scene when two gay men began to cry because they are about to be separated from each other. They eventually show them walking under a copy of the Quran asking it to give them blessings. This, according to the scholars, is an act of ignorance in Islam. It is the same as going to a person's grave and asking for help. This is the kind of superstitious behavior that the ignorant followers of Islam practice and it shows what kind of mindset a gay Muslim man or woman has.

The ending of this film had a nice touch. It showed Muslim youth reading the Quran and swaying back and forth like they were robots or parrots who do not understand what they are reading. It's as if the director wants to say that either you are like these narrow minded Muslims or you are an open minded Muslim that accepts homosexuality in Islam.

There is a man who actually attempts to justify homosexuality through the Quran. His position is that the people of the Prophet Lut were criminals and rapists and that is the only reason Allah destroyed them. It has nothing to do with them being gay. In other words Allah does not have any problem with men being homosexuals as long as they don't rape other men.

Now I am all for using your mind and not being a blind follower of any religion including Islam, but I have a real problem with someone looking at the color black and saying that there is a possibility that it might be gray.


Here are ten different translations of chapter/verse 27:55 in the Quran so that there will not be any confusion as to what the meaning is:


Yusuf Ali - "Would ye really approach men in your lusts rather than women? Nay, ye are a people (grossly) ignorant!" Pickthal - Must ye lust after men instead of women? Nay, but ye are folk who act senselessly. Arberry - What! do you approach men lustfully instead of women? No, you are a people that are ignorant.' Shakir- What! do you indeed approach men lustfully rather than women? Nay, you are a people who act ignorantly. Sarwar - Do you have carnal relations with men rather than women? You are ignorant people". Khalifa - "You practice sex with the men, lustfully, instead of the women. Indeed, you are ignorant people." Hilali/Khan- "Do you approach men in your lusts rather than women? Nay, but you are a people who behave senselessly." Malik - Do you approach men for your sexual desires instead of women? The fact is that you are a people steeped in ignorance." Maulana Ali- Will you come to men lustfully rather than women? Nay, you are a people who act ignorantly. Qaribullah - "Do you approach men lustfully instead of women! No, you are an ignorant nation."

A similar verse is found in 7:81 which it calls homosexuals transgressors or rule breakers. So is there any doubt as to what position Allah- the author of the Quran and creator of the universe- has in regards to homosexuals? It is as clear as daylight that men are only to have relations with women and vice versa in Quran. So you either believe in Allah and his revelation or you don't. I wish the director or producer would have allowed a Muslim to use this simple logic instead of the rigid Imam that was in it. One could even go to non-Muslim countries like China or Russia and you will find that homosexuality is something to be frowned upon. So before people start criticizing Islam for prohibiting the gay lifestyle, there should be an honest look at why it is something that the majority of mankind have a problem with.