Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Women-focused LGBTQIA+ Muslim group launches
by Carrie Maxwell, Windy City Times
2017-03-08

This article shared 1048 times since Wed Mar 8, 2017
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


Founded in late 2016 by Mahdia Lynn, Masjid al-Rabia is a women-centered, LGBTQIA+ community group providing spiritual care for marginalized Muslims. Masjid al-Rabia has no imam or a centralized authority, and is completely community led.

Board members act as custodians of the space and include Lynn, Zaynab Shahar ( theologian, writer and co-founder of Third Coast Queer Muslims ) and three other individuals.

Lynn is a feminist organizer who has worked in trans advocacy for over a decade. She is also the coordinator of the Transgender Muslim Support Network, an annual LGBTQ Muslim Retreat planning committee member leading on trans inclusion ( the number of trans attendees increased threefold since she took on the role ), an addiction recovery support person, a public speaker and a writer.

"Islam saved my life and, so, I dedicate my life to Islam," said Lynn. "I believe in the truth of the Qur'an and so it's my duty to help live out that truth by being of service to others. And then I see people wielding my faith as a weapon to deny others access to a spiritual life because of who they are. I see the spiritual violence that those in power enact upon women, LGBTQIA+ people and other marginalized Muslims. I saw the ways we are denied access to a healthy, fulfilling spiritual life and so I felt: This is how I give back. My place in this world is to help foster community that is safe, accessible and affirming for all Muslims and that's what Masjid al-Rabia does for myself and others."

"I became involved as a board member because of the ways Masjid al-Rabia relates to my doctoral research," said Shahar. "My research not only looks at movements precipitated by women within orthodox Jewish and Muslim American communities to change women's exclusion from fuller participation in communal ritual, but also what that change would actually look like. I think Masjid al-Rabia points to a sort of futurity with respect to the relationship between ritual, leadership and public religious space, one that relies more on communal sourced leadership and knowledge as opposed to hierarchical religious leadership."

The idea for Masjid al-Rabia germinated over a year ago and included organizing and networking, culminating in their first public jummah prayer service on Dec. 2 of last year. They have held prayer services every Friday since then and held an open house on Jan. 20 where newcomers could discover what the group has to offer.

"Before that it was years of inclusive Muslim organizing here in Chicago that laid the groundwork for what would become Masjid al-Rabia," said Lynn. "In 2014, two Chicago-based organizations, Third Coast Queer Muslims and the Transgender Muslim Support Network, began and around that same time a gay Muslim started hosting dinner and communal prayers out of his home every other week and called it ISHA Friday.

"As our communities kept growing and overlapping—and increasingly coming across straight and cis people aching for similar community, we started to recognize need for a spiritual space that wasn't rooted in identity but was safe and affirming for all Muslims. We looked to spaces like the el-Tawhid Juma Circle in Toronto, the Women's Mosque of America in LA, the MECCA Institute in D.C. and Al Fatah Pesantren ( a transgender-centered madrassa ) in Yogyakarta for inspiration. But we also set out to create a community that was uniquely ours, uniquely Chicagoan. We ended up with Masjid al-Rabia."

In terms of the group's jummah services, every member has the opportunity to be a leader so, "Every week we start with the question—'who would like to lead prayer?' and every week it's a different cast of characters: one person gives the adhan [call to prayer], one gives a khutbah [sermon], another person leads salat [prayer]," said Lynn.

Masjid al-Rabia is mixed-gender and trans-affirming. Group members pray shoulder to shoulder, facing Mecca as equals.

Lynn explained that since women and trans people have been denied leadership roles in the past they make space for those individuals to take on this responsibility. She noted that she's the one who encourages new attendees to lead prayer or give the adhan.

As for the future of Masjid al-Rabia, Lynn explained that they are holding strategy sessions to determine new endeavors. They are also looking at avenues for financial backing so they can secure a permanent location.

"We're coordinating with local groups to support incarcerated LGBTQ Muslims," said Lynn. "We're expanding our education and advocacy work to help make mainstream Muslim spaces safer for LGBTQ people. The dream is to one day have an accessible community center where we can host all five daily prayers, hold classes and other events and really establish ourselves as part of the community. I dream of the future where I can dedicate my life to this work full-time, but that might be some time off. We have to dream big, but stay pragmatic and pay attention to the little things that get us there."

See www.facebook.com/masjidalrabia/, twitter.com/masjidalrabia and the soon to be launched masjidalrabia.org/ for more information. For more on Lynn, visit Thttps://www.facebook.com/mahdialynn.


This article shared 1048 times since Wed Mar 8, 2017
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Almost 8% of U.S. residents identify as LGBTQ+
2024-03-16
The proportion of U.S. adults identifying as LGBTQ+ continues to increase. LGBTQ+ identification in the U.S. continues to grow, with 7.6% of U.S. adults now identifying as LGBTQ+, according to the newest Gallup poll results that ...


Gay News

Women's History Month doesn't do enough to lift up Black lesbians
2024-03-12
Fifty years ago, in 1974, the Combahee River Collective (CRC) was founded in Boston by several lesbian and feminist women of African descent. As a sisterhood, they understood that their acts of protest were shouldered by ...


Gay News

No 'explanations' needed: Affinity remains a haven for Chicago's Black queer community
2024-03-12
Back in 2007, Anna DeShawn came out while she was studying for her undergraduate degree. At around the same time, she searched online for "Black lesbians in Chicago." Her search led her to Affinity Community Services, ...


Gay News

Affinity Community Services' Latonya Maley announces departure
2024-03-06
Latonya Maley, executive director of Affinity Community Services, announced March 6 that she would be stepping down from her post. The announcement came from a statement with Affinity board members. Maley said that, "It has been ...


Gay News

LPAC celebrates historic wins for LGBTQ+ candidates in Super Tuesday primaries
2024-03-06
From a press release: Washington, DC—Today, LPAC,the nation's leading organization dedicated to electing LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary candidates to public office, proudly announces the outstanding victories of 67% of endorsed candidates ...


Gay News

THEATER 'R & J' puts a female, queer spin on Shakespeare
2024-03-05
Romeo and Juliet is the theatrical gift that keeps on giving. It's been reworked for the masses numerous times, whether in direct adaptations or musicals such as West Side Story. Shakespeare's plotline points have even inspired ...


Gay News

Without compromise: Holly Baggett explores lives of iconoclasts Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap
2024-03-04
Jane Heap (1883-1964) and Margaret Anderson (1886-1973), each of them a native Midwesterner, woman of letters and iconoclast, had a profound influence on literary culture in both America and Europe in the early 20th Century. Heap ...


Gay News

There she goes again: Author Alison Cochrun discusses writing journey
2024-02-27
By Carrie Maxwell When Alison Cochrun began writing her first queer romance novel in 2019, she had no idea it would change the course of her entire life. Cochrun, who spent 11 years as a high ...


Gay News

Brittney Griner's jersey retired at Baylor University
2024-02-20
On Feb. 18, Baylor University retired Brittney Griner's #42 jersey. Griner—a two-time AP national player of the year, two-time Olympic gold medalist and the NCAA women's career blocks leader (with 748)—attended a Bears home game ...


Gay News

Bring Chicago Home Campaign releases open endorsement letter from 100+ faith leaders
2024-02-19
--From a press release - CHICAGO — With just over a month before the March 19th primary election, prominent Chicago faith leaders will today release a letter—signed by over 100 religious leaders—endorsing the Bring Chicago Home campaign to restructure the Real ...


Gay News

Second Glance Productions hosts LGBTQupid Soiree
2024-02-16
In celebration of Valentine's Day, Chicago based film and media production company Second Glance hosted The LBGTQupid Soiree. The event, which was focused on spinning attitudes on this particular day, was presented at The iO ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Elton John, Hannah Gadsby, video game, Jennifer Lopez, queer thriller
2024-02-16
Video below - Sir Elton John has sold his Atlanta home and is now auctioning off more than 900 of his personal items that were kept in the 13,500-square-foot condo, The Daily Mail noted. The massive collection includes rare ...


Gay News

WORLD South Africa murder, lesbian couple, Brianna Ghey, Eurovision
2024-02-16
In South Africa, LGBTQ+-rights groups condemned the brutal murder of Diego Jacobs, a queer man in Cape Town, The Washington Blade reported. Reports indicate Jacobs, 21, was brutally murdered (reportedly by a former neighbor) on Feb. ...


Gay News

Human Rights Campaign report releases new data on experiences of Black queer youth
2024-02-14
--From a press release - WASHINGTON — Today, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC), the educational arm of the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization, released a report in ...


Gay News

Asians and Friends Chicago to host LGBTQ Lunar New Year Dinner Feb. 24
2024-02-09
--From a press release - CHICAGO—Taking a cross-dressing twist for the Year of the Dragon, members of Asians and Friends Chicago (AFC) will host a dinner-and-drag musical revue, celebrating the Year of the "Drag-on" and bringing together members of the lesbian, ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.