The imam of a French-Algerian mosque residing in the city of Marseille in southern France has sparked great anger and controversy that has been going on for some time, due to his openness to his homosexuality and the fact that he is married to a man.
Imam Ludovic Muhammad Zahid was famous for inaugurating the first mosque in France. He also blessed the religious marriage of gay Muslims, then founded two gay and Muslim associations, and joined many LGBT support organizations around the world, according to Agency France-Presse.
“The situation requires a commitment to dismantle prejudices. We have a lot of work to do. We have to continue. I am accused of being gay and Muslim as I read sometimes. I was accused of distorting religion. It was something that distinguished me,” Zahid said in a press statement.
“The first time it scared me, there was my phone and my address on the Internet, but nothing happened at all,” Zahid added.
Zahid considered that he continued his work as a researcher by creating spaces for dialogue, such as the institute he teaches in Marseille, saying: “Ten years ago I shocked people a lot, and today things are going well.”
Ludovic Muhammad Zahid recently held a religious marriage ceremony for two Iranian lesbians in Stockholm, which prompted the Algerians to demand the withdrawal of his citizenship and his disavowal.
Zahid is considered the first gay imam in Europe, and one of the first gay Muslim clerics in the world, while many see being gay and Muslim as a contradiction.
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