Al-Fatiha upon your souls!

"Al-Fatiha upon your souls", is an Islamic expression usualy said in the situation of condolence, if you want to share the sorrow and with the relatives of the deceased person you have to say this phrase. "Al-Fatiha" is a seven verses Sura in the beginning of the Holy Quran! The literal meaning of Al-Fatiha means the fresh start or the opening stage! But the root of the word in Arabic is the adjective "open" or "not closed"!
The very new usage for this word now you will find it in this article.

Before three years I received a letter from a strange organization, its name Al-Fatiha. The letter was an invitation for me to attend a conference of gays and lesbians in the Islamic world, but the strangest thing was the title of the sender! He was not the representative of the organization, but a Mediator (as he said) and he can prepare all things; the ticket, the visa to New York and the allowance and it would be a generous one. In addition for all that, he or she or (he-she) asked me "if you want to keep your participation secretly you have the right to do so!
He/She said that he/she took my e-mail from a list of free African writers! I do not know anything about this list. I thought at that time it was just a joke of one of my friends!

In the said document:
(Al-Fatiha: Mission Statement:
The Al-Fatiha Foundation is an international organization dedicated to Muslims who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trasngendered, those questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity, and their friends. Al-Fatiha's goal is to provide a safe space and a forum for LGBTQ Muslims to address issues of common concern, share individual experiences, and institutional resources. The Al-Fatiha Foundation aims to support LGBTQ Muslims in reconciling their sexual orientation or gender identity with Islam. Al-Fatiha promotes the Islamic notions of social justice, peace, and tolerance through its work, to bring all closer to a world that is free from injustice, prejudice, and discrimination.
Goals and Objectives
Support Muslims who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and those who are questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Provide a supportive and understanding environment for LGBTQ Muslims who are trying to reconcile their sexuality or gender identity with Islam.
Empower LGBTQ Muslims by creating safe spaces to share individual experiences, advocating on their behalf in national and international forums, and providing information about institutional resources.
Foster spirituality among LGBTQ Muslims.
Encourage dialogue with the larger Muslim community around issues of sexuality and gender)

My comment:
After that I realized that it was not a joke. It is a real organization, with many hidden branches in a number of Muslim countries and Muslim communities in non-Muslim countries. It has its website and premises. I traced it in the internet and I found many news and articles supporting it. One of the press releases said: (Participants- in the second conferences- came from the UK, USA, Belgium, …….. (five countries), they represented more that a dozen nationalities and ethnic backgrounds, including: Arab, Pakistani, …….. and Sudanese)
(and Sudanese!) very strange!
Other article said that many of the membership are Imams and Preachers! It is not a matter to practice homosexuality but the matter is your stance in this issue!
I have nothing to say for them. What kind of relationship they want to establish between religion and immorality? Can preachers speak to people and preach them to practice homosexuality? I can just say, as in our traditions Al-Fatiha upon your souls!