Queer and Muslim: A Critical Reading with amina wadud

We are very excited to announce that Prof. amina wadud will be coming to central London for  an intensive weekend reading course. This course is for people of colour only and we will prioritise Black Muslims and Black Queer Muslims. Please read all the information below and complete the application form if you would like to attend. Participants are required to attend the whole weekend. 

Date: Saturday 29th February and Sunday 1st March

Time: 9.30am – 6pm

Venue: Exact location to be announced – central London

This closed course, especially brought together by Inclusive Mosque Initiative in collaboration with Prof. amina wadud, will address critical reading of sacred Islamic texts. It will introduce the radical Tawhidic methodology* of the 21st century knowledge production of reformist Islamic movements, like Islamic feminism and the inclusive initiatives, to give a limited number of participants an opportunity to learn first-hand how to engage with canonical texts in Islam when they do not seem inclusive enough or sensitive to our current realities.

We are Queer, People of Colour, Muslims in Islamaphobic, racist, homophobic, transphobic and misogynist contexts. Furthermore we are marginalized within our faith community as being deviant, or outside the “fold of Islam”. How can sacred text assist us in living our lives at the radical edge of resistance and faith?

This course will introduce an Islamic methodology of reading for the context in which we are living as a priority over text. It will be done in comprehensive manner to maintain spiritual and ethical alignment with sacred principles as revealed in time by way of text. While this methodology can also be used with Hadith, Sunnah and Fiqh, our time here will only allow us to see its development by using the Qur’an. To assist us in this process, Prof. wadud will bring her nearly half century expertise and lived reality training with community and policy networking experiences to bear on the specifics of Qur’an starting from the first moment of its revelation to the present. It will align with major spiritual and ethical principles of the Qur’an by using gender and sexuality as rubrics of critical reading.

This is a unique opportunity. No other course can delve this deeply in so little time. Come prepared to listen, engage, question, challenge, be challenged, and then be transformed to attain agency in how texts are use and can be used in our lives as Muslims. You don’t want to miss this.

To apply, please complete this mandatory application form by 14th February.

Tickets will be £50 for the whole weekend and bursaries are available.

Those paying to attend will be sent a payment link on 18th February. Please be aware that we will prioritise people who do not usually have access to these spaces especially Black Muslims and Black Queer Muslims. 

Please be aware that this class assumes prior knowledge of Qur’an and knowledge production in Islamic contexts.

*If you are not familiar with the term Tawhidic methodology, don’t worry, we will explore its meaning during the course.

• Discussion
• Quran
• Raise Your Gaze