queer muslim resistance

By OPIRG Kingston

A podcast from OPIRG Kingston centring queer Muslim dreaming for collective liberation.

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Islam! The O.G. House of Anti-Capitalism - A Conversation with Elias

queer muslim resistanceNov 14, 2021

00:00

01:14:10

Islam! The O.G. House of Anti-Capitalism - A Conversation with Elias

This episode, Elias and Maha talk about artivism, sex education, mutual aid and turning outdoor gatherings and protests into queer masjds-on-the-go. Taylor joins Maha for a debrief.

You can find Elias on Instagram @strawberreli and their website here.

References and further reading:

Nov 14, 202101:14:10

Hello Islam, My Old Friend: A Conversation with Ejel

This episode, Ejel and Maha talk about revisiting Queer Islam like a steadfast friendship, the rise of Islamists in the UK by the 1990's, the need for Queer Muslim in-person meetups, and TAKING TO THE STREETS! (as safely as possible :) ) Taylor joins Maha for a debrief.

You can find Ejel on Instagram @muslimlgbtnetwork

Thanks again to Abrar and Aram, our lovely volunteers. Go Team Go.

References and further reading:

Muslim LGBT Network

Hidayah

Imaan

Unmooring the Komagata Maru

Jaspreet Ranauta - Transnational Modernity/Coloniality: Settler Colonialism, Environmental Justice, and Punjabi Diasporic Positionalities for Critical Solidarity on Turtle Island

Mohamed jean Veneuse - Islam and Queer Muslims: Identity and Sexuality in the Contemporary World

Aqdas Aftab - “Invisibilized Resistance”

Global Muslim Resource Guide

Kai Cheng Thom - I Hope We Choose Love

Lisa Lowe - The Intimacies of Four Continents

Mohamed Jean Veneuse - “transnational decolonization is the solution”

Tiffany Lethabo King Interviewed by Feral Feminisms

Tuck and Yang - “Decolonization is Not a Metaphor”

Gloria Wekker - The Politics of Passion

David Valentine - “Chapter 4: The Making of a Field” in Imagining Transgender: An Ethnography of a Category (email for access)

Joseph Massad - “Re-Orienting Desire: The Gay International and the Arab World”

On respectability politics

Al Qaws on pinkwashing

May 25, 202101:36:44

Sari Not Sorry - A Conversation With Sari

This episode, Sari and Maha talk about Islamic culture vs religion, culture X religion, Maghrebian Tunisian diaspora communities, & being Muslim enough. Taylor and Nicole join Maha for a debrief.

You can find Sari on Instagram @sarihellara and @livingearthlings

A huge thank you to our volunteers, Abrar and Aram; their compassion and generosity has fuelled this project’s continuation. We owe them a lot!

References and further reading:

Inclusive Mosque UK
https://inclusivemosque.org/

The Arabization of Islam
https://www.thepvblication.com/post/the-arabisation-of-islam
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/altmuslim/2008/01/the_arabization_of_islam/

Omid Safi’s Radical Love
https://bookshop.org/books/radical-love-teachings-from-the-islamic-mystical-tradition/9780300248616

Omid Safi’s Sufi Heart Podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sufi-heart-with-omid-safi/id1427714471

Sari’s Living Earthlings Podcast
https://open.spotify.com/show/5N9Xndhm1ynK09C9GOwUU3

Muslims for Progressive Values
https://www.mpvusa.org/

Apr 27, 202101:21:00

Not Today Haram Police, Not Today: A Conversation with Sufi

This episode, Sufi and Maha talk about harmful judgements, being outed, eventually finding a plethora of Queer Muslim communities online, Queer Ummah and Queer Muslim Liberation. Taylor and Nicole join Maha for a debrief. You can find Sufi on Instagram @sufi.sun and on Twitter @sufisun7 Follow us on Instagram @queermuslimresistance for queer muslim content. Email: queermuslimresistance@gmail.com A huge thank you to our volunteers, Abrar, Aram and Zara; their compassion and generosity has fuelled this project’s continuation. We owe them a lot! References and further reading: https://www.malikah.org/ https://www.hidayahlgbt.com/ http://www.queercrescent.org/ https://hearttogrow.org/ Halal if You Hear Me - Fatimah Asghar & Safia Elhillo ["Queer Brown Futures (Or Lack Thereof) Pg 153] https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1273-the-breakbeat-poets-vol-3

Mar 30, 202155:60

There's Always Room to Grow - A Conversation with Noor

This episode, Noor talks to Maha about being “disabled and”, and the importance of centring accessibility in community spaces. Taylor and Nicole join Maha for a debrief.

You can find Noor on Twitter @snoringdoggo and on snoringdoggo.dog

The transcript will be linked ASAP.

Follow us on Instagram @queermuslimresistance for queer muslim content, and information and updates on the podcast. Visit patreon.com/queermuslimresistance to support us financially. Email: queermuslimresistance@gmail.com

Mar 02, 202101:29:23

Dreaming Abolition - A Conversation with The Abolitionist Dream Mappers

This episode, Maha, Muna, Beverly and Renée talk about abolition as a relational project, and the central role dreaming has in imagining and co-creating futures of collective liberation.

The Abolitionist Dream Mappers’ website will be live in 2021.

References and further reading:

RUTH WILSON GILMORE MAKES THE CASE FOR ABOLITION
“Muslim Abolitionists on Islam, Carceral Systems, and the Surveillance State” by Vanessa Taylor
The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning & Black Study - by Fred Moten and Stefano Harney

Dec 09, 202051:39

Love and Compassionate Rage - A Conversation with Rachel

This episode, Rachel and Maha talk about loving hard as queer Muslims. Taylor joins Maha for a debrief.

You can find Rachel on Instagram @transcendentalrach

References and further reading:

Inclusive Mosque Initiative
MAY PROJECT GARDENS
Homosexuality in Islam - Scott Kugle (available in our resource guide! Link in our Instagram bio)
Believing Women in Islam - Asma Barlas
Mohammed Jean Veneuse’s work (available in our resource guide! Link in our Instagram bio)
If They Come For Us - Fatimah Asghar

Dec 02, 202001:10:10

Land Back! - A Conversation with Ismat

This episode, Ismat and Maha talk about revolutionary politics and what it looks like to learn and unlearn as queer Muslims. Taylor and Nicole join Maha for a debrief.

You can find Ismat on Facebook facebook.com/ismat.hammer.9, Instagram @nammmmmmu and Twitter @iovingeme

References and further reading:

Simone Browne - Dark Matters
NAZAR - an independent journalism project on surveillance - https://nazar.substack.com
“The white working class is a political fiction: American media needs a better understanding of class if we are to avoid the mistakes of the past” by Adam Theron-Lee Rensch https://theoutline.com/post/8303/white-working-class-political-fiction
Organizing to Win the World - Chris Dixon https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/organizing-to-win-the-world?fbclid=IwAR0UsUjTJRXRpPcjCj6un_Ti-eDesVJc5-CU5H3IReDD6fn3FlYUmM_0u7s

Nov 17, 202001:24:28

Reframing Faith to Work for Us - A Conversation with Masooma

This episode, Masooma and Maha talk about navigating the world as queer Muslims while centring joy and allowing room for questions and growth. Nicole and Taylor debrief with Maha.

You can find Masooma on Instagram @geminiholograms and find her writing on substack: geminiholograms.substack.com

References and further reading:

Gayatri Gopinath - Impossible Desires (email us for access)
Heteronationalism IS a thing!! Latoya Lazarus - Heteronationalism, Human Rights, and the Nation-State: Positioning Sexuality in the Jamaican Constitutional Reform Process (email us for access)

Nov 10, 202001:04:23

We Are All We Have - A Conversation with Ameera

This episode, Ameera and Maha talk about what it means to be in right relationship with the land as queer Muslims on Turtle Island. Nicole and Taylor debrief with Maha.

You can find Ameera on Facebook (facebook.com/bengalbrony) or Instagram @bengalbrony

Other podcast episodes Ameera is featured in:

What the Faith Podcast. “Faith as a Queer Muslim with Ameera Khan” https://anchor.fm/whatthefaith/episodes/Faith-as-a-Queer-Muslim-with-Ameera-Khan-efsgu2/a-a2i1bos
Queerology podcast. “#QYFDay” https://matthiasroberts.com/queerology/qyfday/

References and further reading:

Jodi Byrd - The Transit of Empire
Vimalessery et al - “Introduction: On Colonial Unknowing” https://muse.jhu.edu/article/633283
Taylor Amari Little - @controversialtay on Instagram
Podcast recommendation: All my relations
Katherine McKittrick - Demonic Grounds (to learn more on Black geographies)

Nov 02, 202053:07

Pleasure and Bawdy - A Conversation with Kathryn (Part 2)

This episode, we’re back with Kathryn for Part 2 of our conversation! She shares her work on re-centering sex and pleasure for BIPOC, queer folk and people of marginalized genders through her adult novelty business, House of Bawdy. You can listen to part 1 in our previous episode. Nicole and Taylor debrief with Maha.

You can find House of Bawdy on Facebook or Instagram @houseofbawdy, and their website houseofbawdy.com is set to launch on November 27 2020.

Butch Queens Up in Pumps: Gender, Performance, and Ballroom Culture in Detroit by Marlon Bailey - a great read on ballroom culture (email us for access)
Kimberlé Crenshaw: The urgency of intersectionality | TED Talk
Audre Lorde: Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power
Pleasure Activism by adrienne marie brown - an essential read!

Oct 26, 202057:49

Difference In Islam - A Conversation with Kathryn (Part 1)

This episode, Kathryn shares her story of finding selfhood as a sexually fluid Black Muslim woman born into a Nation of Islam family. We talk about Blackness and Islam and Islams of difference. Next week, we’ll hear all about Kathryn’s work on re-centering sex and pleasure through her adult novelty business, House of Bawdy. Nicole and Taylor debrief with Maha.

You can find House of Bawdy on Facebook or Instagram @houseofbawdy, and their website houseofbawdy.com is set to launch on November 27 2020.

“Towards a Black Muslim Ontology of Resistance” by Muna Mire: https://thenewinquiry.com/towards-a-black-muslim-ontology-of-resistance/
“What Is Transformative Justice?”: https://youtube.com/watch?v=U-_BOFz5TXo
Transformative justice resource list from the South Asian Queer and Trans Collective: https://www.saqtc.org/transformative-justice

Oct 19, 202001:05:32

Existence as Resistance - A Conversation with Summeiya

This episode, we have a conversation with Summeiya about their experiences navigating the world as a gender-fluid lesbian based in Tkoronto/ Toronto. Nicole and Taylor debrief with Maha. You can follow Summeiya on Instagram @summeiyakhamissa

Content Note - this episode does feature mentions of threats of sexual violence and death.

Queer Muslim resources - a resource guide on Google Drive
Tareef: queer Muslim reading group from Hiba Ali
Share your queer health stories
The Sublime Quran translated by Laleh Bakhtiar http://www.sublimequran.org
Tonguebreaker - a poetry collection from Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
The Gay Muslim Podcast by Adam Divino https://anchor.fm/thegaymuslim/
Audre Lorde - Age, Race, Class and Sex: Women Redefining Difference https://www.colorado.edu/odece/sites/default/files/attached-files/rba09-sb4converted_8.pdf
Queer-Friendly Islamic Hermeneutics - Samar Habib (PDF in resource guide)
Some queer femme art for our listeners!! Summeiya has this beautiful image on her wall of two femmes in bed together smoking. Art by @sleepysoymilk on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/B-pAVFZHaHP/

Oct 12, 202001:01:50

Queer Indigenous Sovereignty - A Conversation with Kole

This episode, we talk about healing through rituals of beading, art and prayer, while complicating what it means to belong on stolen land.

You can follow Kole on Instagram @mildpeps / @rustlingpine and check out their website: rustlingpine.com

Kissing Brides artwork: @hiddenlionstudio
The Rani’s Affair artwork: @demen.art
Gayatri Gopinath - Impossible Desires: Queer Diasporas and South Asian Public Cultures
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak - Can the Subaltern Speak?
“What is Homonationalism?” - Novara Media https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l3shYm6Jao

Oct 05, 202001:04:30

Introduction!

Hello and welcome to the introductory episode of queer muslim resistance: a podcast from OPIRG Kingston! We talk about who we are what we're doing here.

Link to "The Whiteness of Coming Out" by Asiel Adan Sanchez: http://archermagazine.com.au/2017/07/culture-coming-out/

Sep 28, 202049:53