Only straight muslim men get the privilege of accusing marginalized muslims of practicing âliberalâ Islam because âtraditionalâ Islam benefits them only and they could care less about the rights of others. Itâs really easy to defend sexist, homophobic, ableist distortions of Islam when you benefit from those distortions.Â
Just because the Islam that women, LGBTQ muslims, disabled muslims, and muslims with mental health issues have embraced doesnât look like your âtraditionalâ Islam doesnât make it wrong. It means weâre trying to carve out a space for ourselves in a religion that was hijacked by patriarchy not long after the Prophet (saw) passed away.
And no, Islam was never meant to be this way. Islam is not patriarchal. The Prophet never advocated for people to be marginalized. But here we are now. So donât shame people looking for an Islam that allows them to be an active member. Look at yourselves and ask yourself why you felt the need to put Islam in a tiny, tiny box when it was meant to be for everyone. âTraditionalâ doesnât always equal right and âliberalâ doesnât always equal bidah. We are all just looking for Islam.
