Ludovic Mohammed Zahed is braced for controversy, maybe even worse. A gay Muslim and an expert on the Koran, Zahed plans to open Europe's first gay-friendly mosque in Paris at the end of this month. He calls it a place of shelter as well as a place of worship.


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"We need to have a safe space for people who do not feel comfortable and at ease in normal mosques," Zahed told ABC News. "There are transgender people who fear aggression, women who do not want to wear head scarf or sit in the back of the mosque. This project gives hope back to many believers in my community."

"Common prayer, practised in an egalitarian setting and without any form of gender-based discrimination, is one of the pillars supporting the proposed reforms of our progressive representation of Islam," he said.

"The Unity" mosque will initially operate in a Buddhist temple in a neighborhood in eastern Paris, and will emphasize "accepting everyone as equally God's creation....I hope straight men will pray together with gay men and women, everyone," said Zahed who declines to make public the address of the venue, due to security concerns.

edoyad: Lool . Nduchucks, at least you can now worship without fear

JomoGbomo2: Very thoughtful of this guy...he wants to open a gay-friendly mosque, in a budhist temple (lol).

The fact is that you can't be a Muslim and be gay, the moment you choose to be gay you have left the fold of Islam and vice versa...THey mutually exclusive no matter how hard you try.

And as for the knowledge of Quran part that Ludovic has, anybody can get that with just about #2k..I, myself have huge knowledge of it but I'm not practising.

Wish him goodluck on his gay-friendly center.

JomoGbomo2: Very thoughtful of this guy...he wants to open a gay-friendly mosque, in a budhist temple (lol).

The fact is that you can't be a Muslim and be gay, the moment you choose to be gay you have left the fold of Islam and vice versa...THey mutually exclusive no matter how hard you try.

And as for the knowledge of Quran part that Ludovic has, anybody can get that with just about #2k..I, myself have huge knowledge of it but I'm not practising.

Wish him goodluck on his gay-friendly center.

F00028: unless with ho.mose.xuality comes diminished mental capacity that gay place must have some other purpose 'cos it makes no senses to insist on worshipping a God that has already condemned you.