Openly Gay Imam Tells Maajid Nawaz: People Can Not Be Defined By Just Two Qualities

6 April 2019, 17:14 | Updated: 6 April 2019, 18:50

An openly gay Imam tells Maajid Nawaz that people can not be defined by just two qualities, after Brunei moved to allow the stoning to death of gay people.

An openly gay Imam said that people can not be defined on 'one or two qualities', and that he didn't expect coming out to be such a significant help to young people.

Speaking to Maajid Nawaz, Nur Warsame said that coming out "helped a lot of young people, it helped many families that have broken down and reconcile.

"It saved young peoples' lives which I did not think by me standing up and saying who I am, I did not foresee the impact it was going to have."

It comes just days after Brunei implemented sharia law, which means that anybody found guilty of gay sex could be stoned to death.

But Imam Nur, Australia's first openly gay Imam and hafiz, is pushing for the country's first LGBT-friendly mosque.

"One quality amongst many other qualities that makes Nur who he is, sexuality is one element, my spiritual part is another element," Warsame said.

"There are many parts and qualities that Nur who he is, but we can not define a person based on one or two qualities."

Maajid pointed out the significance of his interview, saying: "I suspect this is the first time on national radio and media in the UK that a gay Imam who has memorised the Quran by heart and has been leading a congregation since his college days has spoken out in this way.

"I want to applaud you, I want to thank you, and I want to tell you the sheer significance of what you have just done by intervening in this debate here in the uk as a gay Imam, and I hope we begin to see some of the fruits of this conversation in the years to come."

Watch his interview in full in the video above.