A Jihad for Love

Australasian Premiere

In a time when women’s rights are still a taboo in many Muslim cultures, one can only imagine how difficult it is to breach the subject of homosexuality. Homosexuality is forbidden by the Quran and condemned in Prophet Muhammed’s Hadith. As a result, Muslim homosexuals face persecution and often severe punishment under Sharia law. But most heartbreaking of all is the desperate confusion felt by those who do not wish to abandon their faith and the God they love, but cannot change who they are.

A Jihad for Love gives voice to those struggling — a direct translation of the word jihad — to reconcile their homosexuality with their faith. The film follows different Muslim men and women in different countries from France to South-Africa and from Egypt to India. The fact that these people agreed to be part of it is in itself a show of tremendous bravery, evident by the many friends and acquaintances that choose not to show their faces. This is A Jihad for Love’s greatest strength: it tells the personal stories of those who normally dare not speak, which makes their plight all the more powerful.