UCT's Centre for Contemporary Islam says it's reeling from the way some Muslims have condoned Muhsin Hendricks' murder. Known as a pioneer for gay Muslim rights, the imam provided a refuge for marginalised groups through his work, creating SA's first LGBTQ+ friendly mosque.

Calling out the hate, the centre said the compounded horror of such violence and brutality has brought into sharp focus the intense homophobia permeating the Muslim and other faith communities.

‘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.’ 

News24 reports that they hailed Hendricks as a pioneer in the rights of queer Muslims.

He was recognised as a global leader who created a space to reconcile Islam, faith and sexual diversity.

Meanwhile, Hendricks’ immediate family members and children have gone into hiding and are ‘keeping a low profile’ in accordance with the deceased’s wishes.

Hendricks, often described as the ‘world’s first openly gay imam’, was gunned down in an apparent hit in Gqeberha, on Saturday.

Hendricks was the founder of The Inner Circle and in 2011 established the LGBTQ+ inclusive Masjidul Ghurbaah mosque. 

His life was chronicled in the documentary, The Radical.

Speaking to the Daily Maverick, Moegsien Hendricks, the late imam’s cousin, said that Hendricks had long lived with regular death threats as well as vitriol directed at him on social media.

‘We were always concerned about that as a family, but his unwavering commitment to being in service of people, young Muslim men and women, queer Muslims who wanted to practice Islam in a normal way, who wanted to not feel the shame and the guilt – he was committed to that and he stood for that,’ he said.

Full News24 report

Full Daily Maverick report