South Africa: Shock after killing of openly gay Muslim imam

A man regarded as the first openly gay Muslim imam has been fatally shot while sitting in a car in South Africa in what many are calling an assassination because of his teachings.

Muhsin Hendricks was ambushed by two men in a pick-up truck while visiting the southern city of Gqeberha on Saturday.

Police said the men involved in the killing had their faces covered.

A security video of the shooting shows one of them jumping out of their vehicle, running up to the car Hendricks was in and firing a pistol multiple times through a side window.

Police said Hendricks was with a driver, who survived.

Police have not established a motive for the killing, but political parties and LGBTQ+ organisations say Hendricks was targeted because he started a mosque in Cape Town for gay Muslims and called for members of the LGBTQ+ community to be welcomed into Islam.

Homosexuality is forbidden in the Islamic religion.

"From my perspective, this is definitely a religious instigated hate crime. Because he preached and stood for an unpopular Islamic message, and he called for a new way of interpreting the Quran, that is inclusive and compassionate," said Reverend Ecclesia de Lange, director of Inclusive and Affirming Ministries (IAM), South Africa.

South Africa's Justice Ministry said it was investigating claims that Hendricks was the target of an assassination.

Hendricks was known internationally and spoke at the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association's (ILGA) conference in South Africa last year.

The ILGA said Hendricks had spoken of how some people were calling for the closing of his mosque and had branded it the “gay temple.”

The Democratic Alliance, South Africa's second biggest political party, said “the nature of the killing strongly suggests a professional hit.”

"This was a cold blooded murder, which needs to be condemned unequivocally, without putting any conditions to the condemnation," said Khaled Sayed, African National Congress member of the Western Cape Provincial Legislature.

Hendricks said in an interview with a South African newspaper in 2022 that he felt he was the target of a series of fatwas - rulings in Islamic law - issued by South Africa's Muslim Judicial Council that year.

They reminded the country's Muslims that same-sex relationships were prohibited, although the council said gay Muslims who abstain from “same-sex actions” should be welcomed at mosques.

Hendricks was the subject of a documentary film released the same year called “The Radical,” in which he said that there had been threats against him but “it just didn't bother me. The need to be authentic was greater than the fear to die.”

The film also focused on young gay Muslims who said Hendricks provided somewhere they could pray and practice Islam while still being themselves.

The Muslim Judicial Council of South Africa said in a statement on Sunday that while it had consistently stated that Hendricks’ position was incompatible with Islamic teachings, “we unequivocally condemn his murder and any acts of violence targeting members of the LGBTQ community or any other community.”