IMDb >
A Jihad for Love (2007)
Watch It
Buy it at Amazon
Rent it at Blockbuster.com
Discuss in Boards More at IMDb Pro Add to My Movies Update Data
BETA
Discuss in Boards More at IMDb Pro Add to My Movies Update Data
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotesOverview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditstv scheduleAwards & Reviews
user commentsexternal reviewsnewsgroup reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guiderecommendationsmessage boardPlot & Quotes
plot summarysynopsisplot keywordsAmazon.com summarymemorable quotesFun Stuff
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQOther Info
merchandising linksbox office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specslaserdisc detailsDVD detailsliterature listingsNewsDeskPromotional
taglines trailers and videos posters photo galleryExternal Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clipsA Jihad for Love (2007) More at IMDbPro »
| Videos (see all 6) |
Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer:
Parvez Sharma (writer)
Genre:
Plot:
A documentary on gay, lesbian, and transgender Muslims across the Muslim and Western worlds. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
3 wins
more
NewsDesk:
(5 articles)
Havana Marking, Afghan Star
(From Filmmaker Magazine_Director Interviews. 8 July 2009, 6:15 AM, PDT)
Pics from the 20th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York
(From AfterElton.com. 30 March 2009, 8:05 AM, PDT)
(From Filmmaker Magazine_Director Interviews. 8 July 2009, 6:15 AM, PDT)
Pics from the 20th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York
(From AfterElton.com. 30 March 2009, 8:05 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
A Jihad for Love - Parvez Sharma
more (5 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Muhsin Hendricks | ... | Himself | |
| A.K. Hoosen | ... | Himself (as Mufti A.K. Hoosen) | |
| Mazen | ... | Himself | |
| Abdellah Taia | ... | Himself | |
| Sana | ... | Herself | |
| Maryam | ... | Herself | |
| Maha | ... | Herself | |
| Amir | ... | Himself | |
| Arsham Parsi | ... | Himself | |
| Payam | ... | Himself | |
| Mojtaba | ... | Himself | |
| Ferda | ... | Herself | |
| Kiymet | ... | Herself | |
| Qasim | ... | Himself | |
| Syed Kalbe Jawad | ... | Himself |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
In the Name of Allah (USA) (working title)
more
more
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
81 min
Color:
Certification:
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The film used covered faces and silhouettes in order to protect the safety of sources whose lives would have been in danger had their identities been revealed.
more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (5 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for A Jihad for Love (2007)Recommendations
If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
Show more recommendations
|
|
|
|
|
| A Mighty Heart | Trembling Before G-d | Religulous | The Kite Runner | The Laramie Project |
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
Related Links
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Documentary section | IMDb USA section |
| Add this title to MyMovies |




I met Parvez Sharma and some members of his cast and crew in 2001 at a local low-key fund-raiser hosted by neighbours in the Shaw neighbourhood of Washington, DC. He was a very mild-mannered man with deep sensitivity and insight.
At that juncture, the documentary - although completed in the raw - was still caught-up in the lengthy process of editing with a dire need of funding to ready it for a forthcoming film festival. Needless to say - the completed work - albeit not ready was shown in sections. It was quite obvious that the projected finished result was indeed going to be a very moving and telling testament to the "gay" lifestyle - especially within the Islamic Communities ... worldwide.
As I had met some of the featured personalities - I felt a certain connection with the sensitive nature of my homosexual friends and co-workers. My profession as a "straight" hairdresser places me in direct contact with the creative and sensitive - often highly emotional people - many sorely affected by the stigma attached to them. For many - an almost certain death penalty awaits them upon return to their respective countries.
Over the past decade or so - where we have seen many outspoken men and women emerge from their secret lives within fanatical Islam - their heads bowed down in shame ... until ... courageous people such as Parvez Sharma decided to stand up and be counted - by disclosing their often unexplained lifestyles and their continued love and adherence to their religion.
As I stated, having been a hairdresser (socio-political/community activist) most of my life - along with long periods of detention within Moçambique and South Africa - I have often been on hand to witness the subcultures within unexplained internment - where helplessness, lack of courage, strength and self-esteem might well have pushed them into this often viewed "deviant" lifestyle - regardless of religious affiliation or depth of religious conviction.
Where there was a large number of Muslims - there too did homosexuality become commonplace - often with Muslim men connecting only with Muslim men. So, did we see many of these men cleave to their religion - often making salah or fasting during Ramadhan - steering clear of pork, drugs and alcohol.
One could not help but wonder - yet admire them for retaining a very intrinsic part of their culture - for often, in such ignominious surroundings do we see lesser beings succumb ... fall prey to more self-destructive practices ... even death.
It would indeed be interesting to uncover which is worse in the eyes of the fundamentalists within the Muslim world; the despised homosexual who may lead a somewhat deviant lifestyles - tolerated ... albeit frowned upon - for regardless of their sexual proclivity - yet do they love and adhere to most of the tenements of their faith or alternatively - those "free-thinkers" who make their own assessment of certain situations - contrary to the vapid condemnation of the Jamaat-ul-Ulima who's role it is to enforce draconian misogynist doctrines of Sharia Law - fatwa's included? Here we have feminists, communists, socialists ... people of conscience ... murtad one and all ...
That said; which is more perverse - to love another of one's own gender - or to kill innocent people with impunity - all in the name of furthering one's sectarian faith - whether it be Islam or Christianity or Judaism or upholding one's traditional culture - at all cost? For those Muslims who freely condemn - advocate the issuing of fatwa's upon those who drift away from the heralded "chosen" path - I say open your myopic eyes and educate yourself by attending a screening of this very poignant documentary. Then, and only then will you be qualified to opine, reject or condemn if you so choose - the evidence in this very touching documentary.
To Parvez, what can I say but Shukran/Motehshakeram ... Mubarrak ...