A man hailed as the world’s first imam to say he was gay was shot dead in South Africa on Saturday, local police said, in what rights groups fear could be a hate crime.
Eastern Cape provincial police said in a statement it was investigating the death of Muhsin Hendricks, 58, in Bethelsdorp stating that the motive behind the killing was unclear.
The statement said that at around 10 a.m. Saturday, “Hendricks and a driver was inside a gold-colored VW TRoc in Haley Place, Extension 24, Bethelsdorp when a silver-colored Hilux double cab stopped in front and blocked them from driving off.”
It added that: “Two unknown suspects with covered faces got out of the vehicle and started firing multiple shots at the vehicle. Thereafter they fled the scene, and the driver noticed that Hendricks who was seated at the back of the vehicle was shot and killed.”
Shootings are common in South Africa where murder rates – already among the highest in the world – are at a 20-year high.
Fears of hate crime
Hendricks was the “first imam in the world to come out as gay” in 1996, according to a statement from the advocacy group the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA World) on Saturday.
“The ILGA World family is in deep shock at the news of the murder of Muhsin Hendricks, and calls on authorities to thoroughly investigate what we fear may be a hate crime,” Julia Ehrt, executive director at ILGA World, said in the statement.
South Africa’s Department of Justice and Constitutional Development said it was “saddened” by Hendrick’s murder and pledged to “track and monitor that justice is dispensed” if his death is indeed confirmed as a hate crime.
Hendricks founded the Al-Ghurbaah Foundation in Cape Town, where he served as executive director. The human rights organization provides support to “Queer Muslims helping them to reconcile Islam with their Sexual orientation and Gender Identity,” according to the Al-Ghurbaah Foundation’s website.
The Muslim Judicial Council of South Africa (MJC) “unequivocally” condemned the “shocking killing” in a statement Sunday.
“It has been alleged that the killing may have been motivated by hatred towards Muhsin Hendricks due to his views on same-sex relationships. While the MJC has consistently maintained that Muhsin’s position is incompatible with Islamic teachings, we unequivocally condemn his murder and any acts of violence targeting members of the LGBTQ community or any other community,” the MJC said.
The imam was the subject of the 2022 documentary “The Radical” which followed Hendricks establishing a mosque for LGBTQ+ Muslims in Cape Town, South Africa, amid death threats. “The need to be authentic was greater than the fear to die,” Hendricks says in the film.