A man who described himself as the world’s “first openly gay imam” has been shot dead near the southern city of Gqeberha, South Africa.
Muhsin Hendricks, 55, who ran “a mosque” intended as a safe haven for “gay and other marginalised Muslims,” was in a car with another person on Saturday when a vehicle stopped in front of them and blocked their exit, police said.
“Two unknown suspects with covered faces got out of the vehicle and started firing multiple shots at the vehicle,” the Eastern Cape force said in a statement.
“Thereafter they fled the scene, and the driver noticed that Hendricks, who was seated at the back of the vehicle was shot and killed.”
“The motive for the murder is unknown and forms part of the ongoing investigation,” police said, urging anybody with information to come forward.
Islam prohibits homosexual acts by unanimous consensus of mainstream scholars.
But despite this, Hendricks came out as gay in 1996 and two years later started hosting meetings in his home city for “LGBTQ+ Muslims,” who treated him like their community imam.
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He ran the “Al-Ghurbaah mosque” at Wynberg near his birthplace, Cape Town. The mosque provides “a safe space in which queer Muslims and marginalised women can practise Islam”, its website states.
In an interview about his beliefs posted on social media Hendricks said: “When I was looking at the way queer Muslims were negotiating this dilemma between Islam and their sexual orientation and gender identity, I felt compelled to do something about it. And I thought for me to help would probably be to be authentic with myself and come out.
“I think it’s possible to be queer and Muslim or queer and Christian. The representation of faith or religion that was passed out to us it’s one that doesn’t include us and if you really study the religion, and I’m specifically talking about Islam you will find that our patriarchy has actually influenced the interpretation of scripture.
“And so it is an important process for queer Muslims who want to remain faithful to their traditions to re-engage with those interpretations and to sort of ‘queering’ the interpretation. Nobody has a monopoly over faith, and so we can reclaim that faith.”
