Imam Muhsin Hendricks, who fought for queer rights, assassinated

Imam Muhsin Hendricks ran the Inner Circle, an organisation focused on helping queer Muslims embrace their faith and sexuality. He also was the imam at the People’s Mosque in Wynberg. Archive photo: Naib Mian

How was Hendricks murdered?

Muhsin Hendricks, an imam who was outspoken in his support of queer people in the South Africa’s Muslim community, was murdered on Saturday in Gqeberha. It is reported that he was the world’s first openly gay imam.

According to a statement by police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse Van Rensburg, Hendricks was shot dead at Haley Place, Extension 24, Bethelsdorp.

A widely circulated video shows a gold-coloured Volkswagen T-Roc – in which Hendricks was a passenger in the backseat – attempting to pull away from a curb in a residential area. A silver-colored Hilux double cab blocks the exit. Two people get out. One of them runs up to the T-Roc and opens fire towards the back window. It is hard to make out the precise actions of the second person who is less visible in the video.

The driver in the T-Roc was left unscathed and nothing was stolen. This strongly suggests it was an assassination.

Captain van Rensburg said, “Two unknown suspects with covered faces got out of the vehicle and started firing multiple shots at the vehicle. Thereafter they fled the scene, and the driver noticed that Hendricks, who was seated at the back of the vehicle, was shot and killed.”

It has been reported that Hendricks was in Gqeberha to officiate a wedding between two women, but the facts about this remain unclear and we have not been able to contact the people who were getting married.

At this stage there are no further details.

While political assassinations over money and power are not uncommon in South Africa, murders for purely ideological reasons are extremely unusual. The most prominent one was the 1993 assassination of Chris Hani.

Who was Hendricks?

GroundUp interviewed Hendricks in 2016 (from which this section is adapted). He explained then that he grew up in an Orthodox Muslim community in Cape Town, but always knew he was different, being teased from when he was five years old for being feminine. As his sexuality developed, Hendricks said it was a lonely journey not being able to discuss it with anyone.

“There have been a lot of cases of violence in townships, but in the Muslim community we see more emotional abuse,” said Hendricks.

Hendricks married a woman who knew he was gay in an effort to appease his family and see if he could change. Six years later, he could no longer continue rejecting his identity, and he and his wife agreed to divorce.

He said the dissonance between knowing his authentic identity and the mainstream religious discourse sparked his own interest in studying Islam more deeply and creating spaces for queer Muslims.

“Religion can be very judgmental,” he told us. “I focus more on connecting to a single deity through embracing diversity, including sexual diversity.”

In 1998, Hendricks came out publicly and was fired from one of his teaching positions at a local mosque. He resigned from two others.

Hendricks ran the People’s Mosque in Wynberg and the Inner Circle, an organisation focused on helping queer Muslims embrace their faith and sexuality.

“Whether you’re gay, straight, a sex worker, anything, this place is open,” he said about the mosque.

Men and women pray together at the People’s Mosque, and women occasionally lead prayer and offer Friday sermons.

When it began, the mosque was almost exclusively visited by queer people but Hendricks said over time half the congregation was straight.

“The masses still have to shift, but we are seeing small changes,” he said. “A few years ago, you would hear clear talk that gay people should be killed for their sin, but now you see more of a ‘hate the sin, not the sinner’ kind of discussion.”

Hendricks’s cousin described on Facebook how Hendricks once told him that he fasted every Tuesday and Thursday for over a year for God to “cure” him. “He felt guilty and was hoping the Almighty would answer his prayers. He was also hoping that by getting married he would feel different.”

But then “Muhsin found peace when he made peace with himself.” This prompted him to start an organisation to support others. “He counselled many young people who were contemplating taking their own lives because they were excommunicated by their family, and felt shame and guilt. Muhsin gave them a home, love and hope.”

Reactions to his murder

A number of organisations and prominent people have issued statements unequivocally condemning the murder.

Political activist Zackie Achmat wrote: “Muhsin was killed because he was Muslim and gay. His cowardly assassins have not yet shown their faces. They are part of a cult of death and hate. In my view, they are a dangerous minority bent on the destruction of people and institutions they brand as anti-Islam.

“His executioners are not the majority of Muslims who care about every living being on earth including every human person.

“Muhsin cared for the community of believers because he loved humanity. He opened his heart, studied the Quran, Hadith and commentaries to become an Imam for everyone but particularly for the queer community, not only in our country but across the world. Muhsin fought for the rights of queer Muslims to a family life, marriage and to be full citizens in their communities based on the Islamic principles.”

Gqeberha-based LGBTQ activist, Mbulelo Xinana of Sicebise Social Inclusion, condemned the murder, saying “Muhsin dedicated his life to reconciling faith and identity, offering queer Muslims a space to be their full selves. His assassination is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by those who challenge oppressive interpretations of religion. Homophobia, when fueled by religious fundamentalism, leads to violence, exclusion, and dehumanization. But let’s be clear: this is not Islam itself, but a distortion of its teachings.”

A statement by nearly 200 Muslims (and counting) reads: “His theology was a liberation theology: God is a God of radical love and justice for all human beings. The safe space created by his work brought relief beyond the community of queer Muslims, extending to refugees, people who were homeless, those marginalised without community and belonging, for whom he provided a space of inclusion.

“Despite this, we are also reeling from the ways in which some Muslims are condoning his assassination on social media. The compounded horror of such violence and brutality has brought into sharp focus the intense homophobia permeating the Muslim community. This is a time for each of us as individuals, as well as in our collectives, whether in mosques, in community organisations, in our Palestinian solidarity formations, to deeply reflect on the ways in which our work for justice must be all-inclusive, and the right to dignity is unconditional.”

Rob Quintas, chairperson of the DA’s Cape Metro branch, stated: “Hendricks was the very first Imam internationally to come out as gay in 1996 and has worked extensively with queer Muslims through the Al-Ghurbaah Foundation operating from a mosque in Wynberg, Cape Town, and which supports queer moslems in reconciling their sexuality with their faith.

“He was a well-respected activist and religious cleric who was a stalwart in the LGBTQIA/+ community for over twenty years, touching lives with a message of love, acceptance and inclusion through his various organizations such as The Inner Circle, Al-Fitrah and more recently Al-Ghurbaah.

“The comments being seen on social media regarding the murder, and support for the so called ‘cleansing of corruption in the moslem community and faith’ are alarming and of grave concern.”

The ANC said: “Imam Hendricks dedicated his life to fostering inclusivity and challenging discrimination within religious and social spaces. As South Africa’s first openly gay Imam, he fearlessly championed the rights of the LGBTQ community, often in the face of hostility and threats. His murder is not only an attack on an individual but on the values of equality, dignity, and justice that are enshrined in the constitution of the country and ANC policy.”

The Queer Muslim Network stated that Hendricks inspired hundreds of thousands of people around the world. “He demonstrated core Islamic principles of integrity, patience, steadfastness, and charitability. His love for Islam and his community brought him to once say, ‘The need to be authentic was greater than the fear to die.’ May we all learn from his example.”

The Claremont Main Road Mosque stated: “No theological dispute, no matter how profound, and no jurisprudential difference, no matter how contested, can ever justify murder. Extrajudicial killings violate every ethical, moral, and spiritual principle we uphold.

“We call upon the South African Police Services (SAPS) to act swiftly in bringing the perpetrator/s to justice for this extrajudicial assassination and to establish the facts relating to the killing of a queer Muslim leader, human rights activist, and someone who upheld the dignity of all people.

“Acts of hate, wanton violence and criminality have no place in our communities and our faith tradition.”

The Muslim Judicial Council condemned Hendricks’s murder, emphasising the sanctity of human life. “It has been alleged that the killing may have been motivated by hatred towards Muhsin Hendricks due to his views on same-sex relationships. While the MJC has consistently maintained that Muhsin’s position is incompatible with Islamic teachings, we unequivocally condemn his murder and any acts of violence targeting members of the LGBTQ community or any other community.”

But not all the reactions were unequivocal. The United Ulama Council of South Africa urged the public and media to avoid any speculative statements about the motive of the murder. It then said: “Islamic teachings and traditions unequivocally prohibit same-sex relationships, an aspect the deceased is known to have been advocating.” Only then does the statement say: “However, UUCSA condemns all forms of extrajudicial killings, as they undermine the rule of law and contribute to societal instability.”

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