• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Film/TV/Stream
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Tech/Science
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox

A Sinner in Mecca: This Gay Muslim Risked His Life to Reveal a Side of Islam Most Have Never Seen

Andy Towle September 20, 2017 Leave a Comment

Parvez Sharma

Our TowleREAD audio series is back this week with Parvez Sharma’s A Sinner in Mecca: A Gay Muslim’s Hajj of Defiance, a new book that chronicles Sharma’s pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, a trip that as a gay Muslim, Sharma risked his life to take.

video
Link
typorama 6 copy

meccaSharma’s subsequent book uses that trip not only to gain perspective on extremists and religion, but as a glass to view the world here in the United States, the challenges felt by the Muslim community, and the oppressive weight of the Trump administration.

This extract from his book talks about 2016’s Pulse nightclub massacre and the imminence of a hateful and disastrous presidency.

We asked Sharma to offer us an introduction of himself and the book excerpt, which you can listen to below.

Wrote Sharma:

I grew up in a small town in northern India just 20 minutes from the Islamic seminary that gave birth to the Taliban. Like many, my unlikely life story has brought me to places I never imagined I could be – rooms where people who looked and spoke like me would have never been allowed to enter. For the past decade I have made fearless multiple award-winning films about faith, identity, religious extremism, and social justice. Two of the best known are A Jihad for Love, which had 8 million viewers in 51 nations, and A Sinner in Mecca, which amongst a lot of other praise, was also a New York Times critics pick. In the latter, shot mostly with an iPhone guerilla-style, I traveled to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, where I would face certain beheading if found out, to reveal a side of Islam that has never been seen before.

“We emerged from the film more enlightened,” writes the NYT, naming it a “critics pick.” I have been variously hailed as a gifted filmmaker by the Wall Street Journal, “frankly brave” by NPR, “provocative” by the San Francisco Chronicle, and as carrying out an attack on Islam by Ayatollah Khomeini’s regime in Iran. From the UN to the Department of Homeland Security to Harvard to the European Union parliament to the Dar-ul-Uloom Sunni Muslim seminary in north India, I have spoken at more than 200 events worldwide about how to solve the “problem” with Islam.

A Jihad for Love, A Sinner in Mecca the film, and my first book, A Sinner in Mecca: A Gay Muslim’s Hajj of Defiance, complete what is known as The Islam Trilogy. I was named one of “50 Visionaries who are Changing Your World” in a list headed by the Dalai Lama. This just-released and already best-selling book has been universally acclaimed with a recent review in The Guardian saying “It is written by a man with a deep knowledge of Islamic history, with courage and fierce emotion.” Another reviewer in the foreword said “the book is careful and intimate and is shocking with its clarity and candor.”

As a gay Muslim I am proud and happy to offer this section of my book to your audience.

Listen to Sharma’s excerpt:

Visit the book’s website HERE.

You can pick up a copy of A Sinner in Mecca: A Gay Muslim’s Hajj of Defiance on Amazon.

Excerpt used with permission by BenBella Books. All rights reserved.

Topics: Religion More Posts About: Books, Islam, Parvez Sharma, TowleREAD

Related Posts
  • Mystery Solved? FBI Arrests Man Accused of Manuscript Stealing in Long-Running Crime Series Confounding Publishing Industry as to Motive
  • bell hooks Will Never Leave Us – ‘When I Need To Be Reminded Of How To Love And Fight, I Turn To Her Work’; Start With 3 Books
  • Wham Backup Singers, Pepsi and Shirlie Believe Late George Michael Supports Their Book; WATCH: ‘Wham’ and After Videos
  • Elliot Page: ‘Never thought I would love a passport photo’

    Elliot Page: ‘Never thought I would love a passport photo’

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Elliot Page has shared his new passport photograph. The ‘Umbrella Academy’ actor – who announced he was transgender in 2020 – took to Instagram to share his updated passport picture and …Read More »
  • Adele gifts VIP concert access to fan in exchange for Pride flag

    Adele gifts VIP concert access to fan in exchange for Pride flag

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Adele gave a fan VIP access to her concert, in exchange for borrowing their Pride flag. The 34-year-old star draped herself in a rainbow flag at her concert at British Summer …Read More »
  • Lourdes Leon Top Social Media Thirst Trap Moments: Photos

    Lourdes Leon Top Social Media Thirst Trap Moments: Photos

    Published by OK Magazine mega She got it from her mama! Lourdes Leon never fails to wow her followers with the sultriest of snaps on social media. The ultra famous daughter of Madonna knows how to …Read More »
  • Why Norway is making influencers warn when ‘beautifying’ their bodies

    Why Norway is making influencers warn when ‘beautifying’ their bodies

    Published by DPA Media experts have warned that unhealthy body images on social media can be particularly dangerous for younger users, who are discovering their own bodies and are often dissatisfied with their looks. Benjamin Nolte/dpa …Read More »
Previous Post: « France Picks AIDS Drama ‘120 Beats Per Minute’ for ‘Best Foreign-Language Film’ Oscar Bid
Next Post: Some Good News from Key West: Island House is ‘Safe and Sound’ »

Primary Sidebar

News

  • Margot Robbie & Ryan Gosling Skate Through A Day Of Filming ‘Barbie’ In Venice Beach: Photos

    Margot Robbie & Ryan Gosling Skate Through A Day Of Filming ‘Barbie’ In Venice Beach: Photos

  • Six killed in shooting during US July 4 parade

    Six killed in shooting during US July 4 parade

  • US drought exposes murky mob past of Las Vegas

    US drought exposes murky mob past of Las Vegas

RSS Partner Links

  • Today’s Morning Man: Patrick Wilson!
  • Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black take in some Wimbledon matches – from the Royal Box!
  • OMG, WATCH: Drake performs with The Backstreet Boys on stage in Toronto
  • OMG, WATCH: Kesha will encounter ghosts in upcoming Discovery+ series ‘Conjuring Kesha’
  • Happy ...
  • Happy Fourth of July!
  • Weekend Tennis Roundup

Most Recent

  • Ohio city Akron imposes curfew after protests over police killing of Black man

    Ohio city Akron imposes curfew after protests over police killing of Black man

  • Elliot Page: ‘Never thought I would love a passport photo’

    Elliot Page: ‘Never thought I would love a passport photo’

  • Adele gifts VIP concert access to fan in exchange for Pride flag

    Adele gifts VIP concert access to fan in exchange for Pride flag

  • Lourdes Leon Top Social Media Thirst Trap Moments: Photos

    Lourdes Leon Top Social Media Thirst Trap Moments: Photos

  • Why Norway is making influencers warn when ‘beautifying’ their bodies

    Why Norway is making influencers warn when ‘beautifying’ their bodies

  • Can I get monkeypox from a contaminated surface? Possibly, says study

    Can I get monkeypox from a contaminated surface? Possibly, says study

  • Pope defrocks retired German priest after drawn out proceedings

    Pope defrocks retired German priest after drawn out proceedings

  • Lebanese civil society groups condemn anti-LGBT crackdown

    Lebanese civil society groups condemn anti-LGBT crackdown

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy
[towleroadmr] [towleroadtn]

Footer

Copyright © 2022 · Log in