Muhsin Hendricks, often known as the world’s first openly gay imam, was shot and killed in South Africa over the weekend, as authorities examine whether or not the homicide was a hate crime.
In a press release obtained by the BBC, police stated that Hendricks was killed Saturday morning whereas touring close to the city of Gqeberha in South Africa’s Japanese Cape Province. His automobile was reportedly ambushed.
“Two unknown suspects with lined faces bought out of the car and began firing a number of pictures on the car,” authorities stated.
Hendricks based the Internal Circle, a protected haven for homosexual Muslims, shortly after popping out as an overtly homosexual imam in 1996. He was beforehand married to a girl earlier than divorcing her the identical yr that he got here out.
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Imam Muhsin Hendricks will get prepared for the beginning of the Jumu’ah prayer on the Internal Circle Mosque, in Wynberg, in Cape City, South Africa, in 2016. (Rodger Bosch/AFP through Getty Photographs)
“The Internal Circle is the longest standing, largest and most influential human rights group on the earth that offers with Islam, gender and sexual range from an Islamic theological perspective,” the group’s web site reads. “The Internal Circle works internationally and helps worldwide affiliate organizations to do comparable work, inside an Islamic framework.”
In a press release, the Cape City Ulama Board – a corporation of Sunni leaders – condemned the homicide however stated its views do “not align with the views of the deceased.”
“We preserve that Islamic teachings firmly condemn violence, homicide or such actions that undermine the rule of regulation and destabilize society,” the assertion learn. “Thus, the Cape City Ulama Board urges our communities to permit the regulation to analyze the incident, and by following due course of, we hope to keep up peace and order.”
The Worldwide Lesbian, Homosexual, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Affiliation (ILGA) stated in a press release that they consider the killing “could also be a hate crime.”
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Imam Muhsin Hendricks leads the beginning of the Jumu’ah prayer on the Internal Circle Mosque, in Wynberg, in Cape City, South Africa, in 2016. (Rodger Bosch/AFP through Getty Photographs)
“He supported and mentored so many individuals in South Africa and around the globe of their journey to reconcile with their religion, and his life has been a testomony to the therapeutic that solidarity throughout communities can usher in everybody’s lives,” ILGA Govt Director Julia Ehrt stated. “Our condolences exit to all who’ve been touched by his presence in all these years.”
In 2022, Hendricks raised considerations a couple of fatwa condemning homosexuality issued by the Muslim Judicial Council. The ruling discovered that homosexuality is incompatible with Islam, and stated that homosexual Muslims “have taken themselves out of the fold of Islam.”
An aerial shot of Pollok Seashore in Port Elizabeth, a metropolis on Algoa Bay in South Africa’s Japanese Cape Province. (iStock)
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“Whereas it didn’t come as a whole shock, it has left me sore contemplating that it was launched once we simply had Satisfaction Month,” Hendricks stated on the time. “The phrase gay was solely coined within the 18th century and the Qu’ran has been round manner longer earlier than that, so how can there be scriptures condemning same-sex relationships?”
Authorities are actively investigating the incident. No further particulars are recognized presently.
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