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A review by stevia333k
Secrets of Divine Love: A Spiritual Journey into the Heart of Islam by A. Helwa
Did not finish book. Stopped at 5%.
i first want to say that because i'm a queer muslim that came to islam via islamic feminism, quranism, and sufism like over 10 years ago. I still don't have much of an awareness of the sunni/shia binary, and I honestly don't care that much about it. I was gender ambidextrous as transfeminist kid, and I will do the same with my deen, la ilaha illalah, only god can judge me. but I still want to know where my fellow ummah members are coming from, and since my family isn't muslim it's not like I have much of an intuition for that to begin with.
I loved the introduction, but I stopped reading after I finished the introduction, because I think refusing to acknowledge the sunni/shia influences facilitates orientalism more than it facilitates unity. in other words, it decided to go with a praxis similar to "colorblindness"... it wants to talk about the heart but not the cardiovascular system. as a queer muslim, in a queer muslim community that is pluralist, the policy to not acknowledge what is sunni, shia, both, neither, came off as obstructing our ability to come together.
I loved the introduction, but I stopped reading after I finished the introduction, because I think refusing to acknowledge the sunni/shia influences facilitates orientalism more than it facilitates unity. in other words, it decided to go with a praxis similar to "colorblindness"... it wants to talk about the heart but not the cardiovascular system. as a queer muslim, in a queer muslim community that is pluralist, the policy to not acknowledge what is sunni, shia, both, neither, came off as obstructing our ability to come together.