Religions Influence

Religious gay Muslim marriages held in the UK and USA

Daayiee Abdullah

Gay couple Asra and Sarah decided to get married on the day of their first date. They wanted to have a nikah- an Islamic marriage contract. Although they did not have to have an official Imam or Islamic cleric, they needed the help of someone knowledgable of the Qur'an to hold a ceremony. Afraid that they would be prejudiced by an official Imam, they held the wedding with a friend who was knowledgable enough to hold a ceremony. Both Asra and Sarah's parents do not completely accept the marriage, as Asra's parents do not accept her homosexuality while Sarah's parents want her to quit being a Muslim. In the US, Daayiee Abdullah performs many nikah ceremonies. 
“Since Islamic legal precedence does not allow same sexes to wed, Muslim societies make it a legal impossibility within Islam [but] by not allowing same-sex couples to wed, there is a direct attack on the Koran’s message that each person has a mate who is their ‘comfort and their cloak’.” - Abdullah