Muhsin Hendricks, world’s ‘first openly gay imam’, shot dead in South Africa
Guardian6 days ago
World's First Openly Gay Imam Shot Dead in South Africa
Above: Muhsin Hendricks. Image copyright: Odger Bosch/Stringer/AFP via Getty Images
The Facts
Muhsin Hendricks — the world's first openly gay imam — was fatally shot on Saturday morning in Gqeberha, South Africa, when two masked assailants ambushed his vehicle and fired multiple shots through the passenger window.
Hendricks founded The Inner Circle in 1996 after coming out as gay, establishing it as a support organization for LGBTQ+ Muslims, and later opened the Masjidul Ghurbaah mosque in Cape Town for marginalized Muslims.
In 2022, Hendricks was featured in a documentary called "The Radical," where he addressed threats against his life, stating that "the need to be authentic was greater than the fear to die."
The Spin
Narrative A
Even though Muslims in other parts of the world face violence, and even the threat of death for speaking out against homophobia, it is at least reassuring that there are more accepting forms of the religion evolving in the US and UK. A study from the American Public Religion Research Center has found that over half of US-Muslims believe 'society should approve of homosexuality,' while Western academics and theologians have been reinterpreting Islamic teachings and questioning the broad-sweeping condemnation of LGBTQ+ communities as misinterpretation.
Narrative B
It's a fallacy to suggest that the existence of more accepting forms of Islam in the Western world is of any global consequence, especially when the US and UK have become so quick in recent years to appease Muslim homophobia. Major corporations like Disney, Warner Bros and Marvel have agreed to censorship of their productions, Fifa allowed the World Cup to go ahead in Qatar, the first US city with a Muslim-majority council (Hamtramck) banned LGBT flags, and schools in the UK have bowed to pressures from Muslim parents' to cease LGBT lessons. The West must support courageous individuals like Hendricks by taking on their own risks in upholding fundamental human rights.