Even in his last seconds of life, the first gay imam pushed the boundaries

Performance killing Open Gay Imam, Muhsin Hendricks, in South Africa left people in the LGBTQ+ community in fear of their safety – but is also determined to progress with the campaign to end his marginalization in religious circles.

The Reverend Toni Kruger-Ayebazibwe, an open gay Christian priest, told the BBC that Hendricks “is a gentle spirit” that brought the light into any room he occupied.

“Gap Muhsin leaves are massive,” the BBC said, adding that she knew about the fact that there were “many Queer Muslims around the world who hit sadness.”

The 57-year-old was shot in what seemed to be in the small coastal city of Gqeberh on Saturday.

Initial reports that the Hendricks based in Cape Town was in Gqeberh to do the wedding ceremony of the gay pair rejected as the untrue to his Foundation of the Al-Gurbah.

“He visited Gqeberhu to serve the marriages of two interdependent heterosexual couples when he was tragically shot and killed,” the statement said.

It is unclear why couples asked Hendricks to monitor their ceremonies, but it suggests that he pushed the boundaries, even in the last seconds of their life.

The traditional imams in South Africa rarely, if ever, are marrying Muslims with non -Muslims – something that Hendricks obviously had a problem with.

According to the leader of the faith, according to which the BBC he spoke, he performed one such ceremony of marriage and was on his way to spend the next one when he shot in his vehicle.

Two leading bodies representing imams – the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) and the United Underma Council of South Africa (UUCSA) – condemned the killing of Hendrics.

“As members of the Democratic, pluralistic society, the MJC remains unwavering in committing peaceful coexistence and respect, even in the midst of different attitudes,” said MJC, while Uucsa said he convicted “all forms of out-of-the-art killings.”

However, Hendricks, who did Islamic studies in Pakistan – was a parry in their circles, because they consider Islam to ban same -sex relations.

They obviously called him “Mr. Hendricks”, not religious titles like Imam or Sheikh.

In contrast, Hendricks fans greeted him as the first open gay imam in the world to allow them to reconcile their sexuality with their Islamic faith.

The fact that the trace was not surprising was in 1996, adopted in 1996 after the end of the reign of the white minority, was the first in the world to protect people from discrimination because of their sexual orientation.

Then in 2006, South Africa became the first country in Africa to legalize a same -sex marriage.

Once in heterosexual marriage to children, Hendricks came out as gay in 1996 – and, according to conversation, later broke another taboo marrying a Hindu man.

He then led the formation of the inner circle as a “underground social and support of a group” for Queer Muslims.

It all started in his house in Cape Town, and “it turned out to be very successful in helping Muslims who are Queer to reconcile Islam with their sexuality,” The website of the inner circle says.

Despite the fact that South Africa had a successful LGBTQ+ scene, community members still face some stigmatization and violence.

Only some religious groups in the country adopted politics that are more favorable to the community, including the Netherlands Reformed Church and the Methodist Church of South Africa.

The Dutch Reformed Church in 2019 forced the courts In order to re -establish a policy that he introduced four years earlier but then abolished, allowing same -sex marriages for gay and lesbian shepherds to be in romantic relationships.

Next year, the Methodist Church said that although “she was not yet ready to apply for her ministers to serve in same -sex marriages,” no joint residence in the Member States admitted to acknowledged the civic Union “they have prevented from entering such a union that can be same -sex or opposite sex couples. “

Reverend Ecclesia de Lange, Director of Inclusive and Affirmation of Ministries (IAM), told the BBC that even in cases where loyal groups had adopted inclusive policies still “pockets of very strong conservatism”.

“The traditional interpretation of the holy texts still exclude LGBTQ+ people, so the struggle for accepting in the communities of faith remains ongoing,” she said.

A senior lecturer at Islamic Studies at the University of South African University of the Western Cape, Dr. Fatima Essop, reflected on the “disturbing” vitriolic content circulating on social media due to the murder of Hendricks.

“I just think it is completely shocking and so distant from our … Islamic tradition, as far as compassion and mercy and preserving human life is concerned,” she told the BBC.

Dr. Essop added that even though she understood some strong feelings against Hendrics work, “there was absolutely no justification, Islamic or otherwise, for this kind of violence.”

And while the motive is unclear, Hendrick’s murder – and the negative comments that followed – will probably make people scare themselves to “speak of their sexuality or sexual orientation,” said Dr. Essop.

Reverend Kruger-Ayebazibwe said that although the cracking of Hendricks would make LGBTQ+ leaders reconsider their safety, this would not distract them from the change campaign, “because the job is too important.”

Hendricks has already been buried in a private ceremony, although his Foundation of the Al-Gurbah has pledged to organize a memorial to “honor his huge contributions” in the near future.

For Teboho Klaas, a reciprocal of a religion program in the second foundation, which is the LGBTQ+ championship in South Africa, his killers may have interrupted his life, “but not heritage because he multiplied.”