A Muslim man, Jahed Choudhury, and his husband, Sean Rogan, were married last week in the West Midlands. The couple wore traditional Bangladeshi attire during their registry office ceremony. The family of Choudhury was not present for the ceremony because of their disapproval of gay marriage.
The online response from Muslims has been mostly negative. When Pink News, a gay news outlet, posted a story about the couple by BBC Midlands, non-attributed comments read, “Islam Forbids This…they can’t be Muslim If they are Gay” (sic) and “It’s like eating meat and calling myself a vegetarian.”
Other comments on the story expressed the irreconcilability of the two identities with the metaphor “oil and water doesn’t mixed” (sic) tweeted Muslim man, Rasheed Aashiq. Twitter user, Saeed Nagi Nagi, said the ceremony missed Muslim elements such as nikkah (an Islamic marriage contract), dua (a prayer), and an imam (religious leader). These elements may not have been available to the couple because of their genders.
Responding to The Independent’s story on Twitter one Muslim man, Mansoor Khan (@Mansoor_Javed), said, “just putting asian costumes doesn’t make it a Muslim marriage, there is no concept of gay marriage in Islam” (sic). Another twitter user, Haithem Khalil (@KhalilHaithem) said, “They are not Muslims, we don’t have gays and lesbians” (sic).
The couple was frustrated and upset by the online abuse but hope to show others that being Muslim and gay are not incompatible.
Sources
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/muslim-gay-wedding-couple-uk-first-online-abuse-jahed-choudhury-sean-rogan-walsall-west-midlands-a7836936.html
http://www.ibtimes.com/twitter-reacts-uks-first-muslim-gay-marriage-couple-receives-threats-social-media-2565145
