The Koran and the Flesh

The Pilgrimage of a Gay Imam

Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed

$36.99

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Forum
13 February 2025

Memoirs; Islam; Gay & Lesbian studies

'A moving, courageous voice ... Muslims and others alike need to listen to him' - Observer

Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed is an imam and Koranic scholar. He is also gay.

In this memoir, he explains the journey he has taken to be both the founder of a mosque in Paris and to be openly gay, after a troubled childhood in Algeria in poverty and living with an aggressive and often violent father. Having found it impossible in that society to be both religious and true to himself, and being abandoned by a fellow school pupil with whom he was in love, he lost his faith.

Trained as an imam, though, he became an accomplished Koranic scholar. He concluded that there was nothing in the Koran that condemned same-sex attraction or committed same-sex relationships. Finally, during a pilgrimage to Mecca, he understood that he could be fully himself and practise his religion with sincerity and commitment.

The Koran and the Flesh tackles these subjects with originality and is a book of real bravery, that shows how it is possible to reconcile homosexuality and religion.

By: Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed
Imprint: Forum
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 135mm,
ISBN: 9781800754904
ISBN 10: 1800754906
Pages: 160
Publication Date: 13 February 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed is a French-Algerian imam. He was born in Algiers in 1977, and as a teenager moved to France with his family. Aged 21, already HIV positive, he came out as gay to his family. In 2010 he founded the organisation Muslim Homosexuals in France, and in 2012 set up Europe’s first gay-friendly mosque in Paris. He now lives with his husband in Marseilles, where he founded Celem, an institute to raise awareness of progressive values within the Muslim world.

Reviews for The Koran and the Flesh: The Pilgrimage of a Gay Imam

'Zahed’s is a moving, courageous voice, but he also acknowledges the isolation of his position in an Islamic world where attitudes to sexuality have only hardened in recent years. But it is for this very reason that Muslims and others alike need to listen to him’ - The Observer