Johannesburg, South Africa:
Muhsin Hendricks, considered the world's first openly gay -imam, was shot on Saturday near the southern city of Gqberha, said the South African police. The imam, who ran a mosque that was intended as a safe haven for gays and other marginalized Muslims, was in a car with another person when a vehicle stopped in front of them and blocked their exit, the police said.
“Two unknown suspects with covered faces came from the vehicle and started firing several shots on the vehicle,” said the Eastern Cape Force in a statement.
“Then they fled the stage and the driver noted that Hendricks, who was sitting at the back of the vehicle, was shot and killed.”
A police spokeswoman confirmed the AFP the authenticity of a video on social media that claimed to show a targeted murder in Bethelsdorp near Gqeberha, formerly known as Port Elizabeth.
“The motive for the murder is unknown and is part of the current investigation,” said the police, encouraging someone with information to come forward.
The international lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, trans- and intersex associations denounced the murder. “The Ilga World Family is deep shock about the news of the murder of Muhsin Hendricks and calls on authorities to investigate thoroughly where we are afraid of being a hate crime,” said performing director Julia EHRT in a statement.
Hendricks, involved in various LGBTQ interest groups, came as gay in 1996. He ran the al-Ghurbah-mosque in Wynberg at his birthplace Cape Town.
The mosque offers “a safe space in which queer Muslims and marginalized women can practice Islam,” says the website.
Hendricks, the subject of a documentary from 2022 called “The Radical”, had previously pointed to threats against him.
But he insisted that “the need to be authentic” “was greater than the fear of dying”.
South Africa has one of the world's highest murder figures, with around 28,000 murders in the year until February 2024, according to police data.
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by Our staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)
