LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Omar Akersim prays regularly and observes the dawn-to-dusk Ramadan fast. He is also openly gay.
Akersim, 26, is part of a small but growing number of American Muslims challenging the long-standing interpretations of Islam that defined their parents’ world. They believe that one can be gay and Muslim; that the sexes can pray shoulder-to-shoulder; that females can preach and that Muslim women can marry outside the faith — and they point to Qur’an passages to back them up.
Categories: Americas, Hijab, Homosexuality, Islam, Marriage, Prayers, Quran, United States