Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed (; born 1977) is a French-Algerian

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

. An openly gay Muslim, Zahed is the founder of an Islamic prayer room in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, with the goal of accommodating the

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

and feminist Muslim communities. He also founded the LGBT Muslim association HM2F, and manages the Calem Institute in Marseille.

Biography

He was born Mohamed Zahed in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, in 1977. Growing up between Algeria and France, he reported having felt "part boy, part girl" as a child. As a teenager, he struggled recognizing his own homosexuality while briefly involving himself in the

Salafi movement The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a fundamentalist revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" is a self-designation, claiming a retu ...

; at the end of his teenage years, he rejected both Salafism and Islam and followed

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

instead. He acquired French citizenship at the age of 20, changing his first name to "Ludovic". At the age of 21, he decided to

come out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

to his family, getting mixed reactions. He later returned to Islam, and in 2010 founded the organization HM2F, ''Homosexuel(les) musulman(es) de France'' (Muslim Homosexuals of France). In November 2012, Zahed set up an "inclusive" Muslim prayer room in Paris, which has been described by the press as "Europe's first gay-friendly mosque". In 2019, he opened the Calem Institute in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, which includes a prayer room and aims to raise awareness of progressive values (such as

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...

and feminism) within the Muslim world.

Personal life

Zahed is

HIV-positive The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

, having contracted the illness as a teenager. In 2011, while same-sex marriage had yet to be legalized in France, he legally married a South African man in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. They later moved to France, and were united by another, religious marriage ceremony (having no legal value in France) performed by an imam in 2012. In June 2019, Zahed gave an interview to ''Agenda'', the

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

of the

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, regarding his experiences after his coming out as a homosexual man.

Political views

Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed has described himself as a " progressive Muslim" who argues that believers should "question institutional dogma" and insists that "neither

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...

respect Islamic ethics". Through his works, he has voiced his concerns for the Muslim community in France, and LGBT Muslims in particular, who according to him, are facing both threats of

homonationalism Homonationalism is the selective acceptance of LGBTQ+ people in order to promote a nationalist ideology. It describes a phenomenon in which some nations strategically show increased support for LGBTQ+ rights as a means of reinforcing racial, r ...

and religious fundamentalism. In France, he has openly stood in favor of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

Controversies

The opening of a Muslim prayer room by Zahed in Paris, which he described as more "inclusive" to LGBT believers, was met with mixed reaction from the rest of the Muslim community in France; a spokesman for the

Grand Mosque of Paris The Grand Mosque of Paris (, ; ), also known as the Great Mosque of Paris or simply the Paris Mosque, located in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, is one of the largest mosques in France. It comprises prayer rooms, an outdoor garden, a small lib ...

stated that the prayer room did not belong to the Islamic community. In 2014, two Muslim Iranian women were married by Zahed in a religious ceremony held in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, which prompted a group of Algerian Salafists to demand that Zahed be stripped of his Algerian citizenship.

Publications

* ''Homosexuality, Transidentity, and Islam: A Study of Scripture Confronting the Politics of Gender and Sexuality'' (2019), translated by Adi S. Bharat, Amsterdam University Press. * ''LGBT Musulman-es: du Placard aux Lumières, face aux obscurantismes et aux homo-nationalismes'' (2016), Des Ailes sur un Tracteur. * ''Queer Muslim Marriage: Struggle of a gay couple's true life story towards Inclusivity & Tawheed within Islam'' (2013), CALEM. * ''Le Coran et la chair'' (2012), Éditions Max Milo. * ''Révoltes extraordinaires: un enfant du sida autour du monde'' (2011), L'Harmattan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zahed, Ludovic-Mohamed 1977 births 20th-century French people 21st-century French people 20th-century French LGBTQ people 21st-century French LGBTQ people Algerian emigrants to France Algerian imams French imams 21st-century French clergy Gay Muslims LGBTQ imams 21st-century imams Algerian LGBTQ people French LGBTQ rights activists French people with disabilities Living people People from Algiers People with HIV/AIDS Algerian people with disabilities French activists with disabilities LGBTQ people with disabilities

External links

A series of lectures by Ludovic Mohamed Zahed, on is being LGBTQIA+ halal in Islam