The world’s first openly gay imam has been killed after he was shot in a drive-by shooting after allegedly officiating a Lesbian wedding.
Muhsin Hendricks, 57, was ambushed in his car on Saturday morning while he was travelling in the South African city of Gqeberha.
The Muslim cleric ran a mosque in Cape Town which was intended to be a safe haven for LGBTQ Muslims.
His Al-Ghurbaah Foundation, which runs the Masjidul Ghurbaah mosque in the Wynberg suburb of Cape Town, confirmed he had died in a targeted attack on Saturday morning, BBC News reported.
Shocking CCTV footage from the attack showed a car pulling up to block a vehicle in which Mr Hendricks was a passenger.
A person then leaves the car and shoots multiple times into the backseat.
Unconfirmed reports claim that Mr Hendricks was killed after he had officiated at a lesbian wedding.
In a statement local police said: ‘Two unknown suspects with covered faces got out of the vehicle and started firing multiple shots at the vehicle.’
His death has sent shockwaves through the LGBTQ community across the world.
Muhsin Hendricks, 57, was ambushed in his car on Saturday morning while he was travelling in the South African city of Gqeberha
Unconfirmed reports claim that Mr Hendricks was killed after he had reportedly officiated at a lesbian wedding in the city Gqeberha
Mr Hendrick came out as gay in 1996 in a move which shocked the Muslim community in South Africa and the wider world
Julia Ehrt, executive director at the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (Ilga), called on the authorities to thoroughly investigate ‘what we fear may be a hate crime’.
She also paid tribute to Mr Hendricks describing his life as being ‘a testament to the healing that solidarity across communities can bring in everyone’s lives’.
Mr Hendrick came out as gay in 1996 in a move which shocked the Muslim community in South Africa and the wider world.
That year he also founded the The Inner Circle, an organisation providing support and a safe space for queer Muslims seeking to reconcile their faith and sexuality.
He then went on to open the inclusive Masjidul Ghurbaah mosque in Cape Town – which is described as a ‘a safe space in which queer Muslims and marginalised women can practice Islam’.
Mr Hendricks was the subject of a documentary in 2022 called The Radical, in which he said about the threats he faced: ‘The need to be authentic was greater than the fear to die.’
Post-apartheid South Africa is a trailblazer in the field of LGBTQ rights after the country became the first in the world to to protect people from discrimination because of their sexual orientation.
In 2006 the country became the first and only African country to legalise same-sex marriage.
Opinion polling has consistently show strong support among South Africans for LGBTQ people.
Despite this, members of the community still face discriminations and the country also has one of the highest murder rates in the world.
Stigma against LGBTQ people have also remained high amongst South Africa’s 1.6million Muslims.
