The world’s first openly gay imam, Muhsin Hendricks was shot dead in Bethelsdorp, South Africa, on Saturday.
According to police, two masked gunmen ambushed his vehicle and fired multiple shots before fleeing. The motive remains unclear, but rights groups, including ILGA World, fear it may be a hate crime.
Hendricks, 58, was a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ Muslims, founding the Al-Ghurbaah Foundation to support queer individuals reconciling their faith and identity. Despite facing death threats, he continued his activism and was featured in the 2022 documentary The Radical.
South Africa’s Department of Justice vowed to monitor the investigation, while the Muslim Judicial Council condemned the killing despite opposing Hendricks’ views on same-sex relationships. The case highlights the country’s high murder rates and ongoing violence against marginalized communities.
Imam Muhsin Hendricks was killed in South Africa on February 15 by masked gunmen, widely known as world’s first openly gay imam, was born in Cape Town and raised in a Muslim household, married and started a family with a women before coming out as gay in 1996 but later married a Hindu man before his death.
