In Arabic, Akbar means “Greatest.” I am from Burundi , a country in central Africa , and also have Indian heritage: Three of my great-grand parents are from the Indian Community of East Africa known as the Shia Khoja Community, which migrated from india in the 18 century and my paternal grand mom was an African Burundian woman. I was named after “Akbar the great”, the Indian emperor and reformist who advocated for a reform of the Islamic faith.
Akbar the great could not write and his version of Islam, the “Islam Deen Elahi’, which was a mixture of islam and several hindu rituals. This disappeared with the course of time because of the non-documentations.
Litte did I know that this would be one of my life mission – To challenge the dogma and the patriarchal interpretation of the Islamic holy scripture and show that there is different way to believe, and that we are all at final one truth in different form. I practice Hindu rituals through my Indian heritage , and my motherland of Burundi is a roman catholic country. This gives me insights and perspectives for the different ways of believing, which goes back to the same sources .
This mission has been a life-long journey. After the Orlando attack, I took the reading of the Quran as an adult in order to understand what the text says about being gay and Muslim. The text argued that everything God made was excellent ( 25: 2 ). I then realized that the Qur’an must be interpreted through hermeunetics ( examination of what word means at the time it was written and reveal). I also realized that the raw materials existed there but needed people like me who dare to choose to come to the table with bold interpretation of sacred text and do not let people dicate what to do. I believe Islam is based on personal relation to God ( Tahwid ) and we do no need people to dictate us but we have to live that path, but mostly reconcile our orientation with our beliefs. We should also be our own authority and empower each other for truth.