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

The execution-style killing of an openly gay imam, Muhsin Hendricks, in South Africa has left people in the LGBTQ+ community fearful for their safety – but also determined to forge ahead with the campaign to end their marginalisation in religious circles.

Reverend Toni Kruger-Ayebazibwe, an openly gay Christian cleric, told the BBC that Hendricks was a “gentle spirit” who brought light into any room he occupied.

“The gap Muhsin leaves is massive,” she said, adding that she knew for a fact that there were “a large number of queer Muslims around the world who are grief stricken”.

The 57-year-old was shot dead in what appeared to be a hit on Saturday in the small coastal city of Gqeberha.

Initial reports that Cape Town-based Hendricks had been in Gqeberha to perform the wedding ceremony of a gay couple have been dismissed as untrue by his Al-Gurbaah Foundation.

“He was visiting Gqeberha to officiate the marriages of two interfaith heterosexual couples when he was tragically shot and killed,” it said in a statement.

It is unclear why the couples had asked Hendricks to oversee their ceremonies, but it suggests that he was pushing the boundaries, even in the last seconds of his life.

Traditional imams in South Africa rarely, if ever, perform the marriage of a Muslim to a non-Muslim – something that Hendricks clearly had no issue with.

He had, according to a faith leader that the BBC spoke to, conducted one such marriage ceremony and was on his way to conduct the next one when he was gunned down in his vehicle.