THIS is the horror moment the world’s first openly gay Imam was assassinated in a brutal ambush as he set off to marry a lesbian couple in South Africa.
Muhsin Hendricks, 58, was gunned down in a hail of bullets at point blank range as he sat in the rear of a car as his driver set off to take the wedding.
AFPMuhsin Hendricks was the world’s first openly gay Imam[/caption]
Jamie PyattThe 58-year-old was brutally killed in an ambush in South Africa[/caption]
The Imam’s car can be seen with broken windows after the brutal killingSouth African Police Service
AFPHe was on the way to marry a lesbian couple when he was assassinated[/caption]
He had flown to Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) to marry a lesbian interfaith couple after local Imams refused to officiate the ceremony.
Shocking video footage shows the killers using a Toyota Hilux to block his VW T-Roc before a masked gunman jumps out, runs to the rear window, and fires at least six shots into the cleric.
The gunman then sprints back to the getaway vehicle and speeds off, leaving Hendricks bleeding to death.
Hendricks, who founded a mosque in Cape Town as a sanctuary for LGBTQ Muslims, had received multiple death threats from those who believed Islam and homosexuality were incompatible.
Police suspect his death was a hate crime and have since launched a manhunt for the killers.
A South African Police spokesman said: “At approximately 10am on Saturday he got into the back of a VW T-Roc with his driver at the wheel.
“Their path was blocked by a Toyota Hilux and an unknown suspect with a covered face got out of the vehicle and fired multiple shots into his victim.
“Thereafter the gunman was driven off and they fled the scene and the driver of the VW saw Hendricks who was sat in the back had been shot dead.
“We are appealing for help from the community to trace the killers” he said.
Hendricks, one of just 12 known gay imams worldwide and the only one in Africa, publicly came out in 1996 at the age of 29 — despite already being married.
Though initially shunned by his family, they later reconciled and accepted him and his partner.
He was exiled from the faith by Cape Town’s Islamic leaders in 2007 for insisting that being both gay and Muslim was compatible.
He later founded The Inner Circle in 1996 to support LGBTQ Muslims struggling with their faith and identity and last year launched a similar foundation, Al-Ghurbaah.
He opened up a small un-signposted mosque in Cape Town for homosexual and straight Muslims and did TikTok videos to support gay Muslims.
Mr Hendricks was the subject of numerous death threats by Muslims who said homosexuality between men and woman was against the teachings of the Quran.
Facebook/ILGA WorldHendricks was one of just 12 known gay imams worldwide and the only one in Africa[/caption]
AFPHe publicly came out in 1996 at the age of 29, despite already being married[/caption]
But despite the frequent death threats, Hendricks refused to back down.
He previously said: “I just carried on as normal but was advised to hire bodyguards but I never feared attack. In mosques some Muslims would greet me.
“But in others they were indifferent towards me but that never ever bothered me”.
A highly respected Islamic scholar, Hendricks held a degree in Islamic Studies from a university in Pakistan and had worked as an Arabic teacher and even a fashion designer.
His murder has sparked outrage across South Africa, with the Democratic Alliance, which governs the Western Cape, condemning the assassination.
Roberto Quintas, chairman of the DA Cape Town Regional Committee, said Hendricks was a “well-respected activist and stalwart of the LGBTQ community.”
He said: “For this alleged hate crime to take place over the Valentine’s Day weekend, a time when love is celebrated across the world just adds to the horror.
“For it to happen before a wedding is an indictment of the hate and violence experienced by the LGBTQ communities in South Africa and elsewhere.
“Too many crimes against this community are committed whether it be the so-called “corrective rape” of lesbians in townships or the murder of transgender people.
“Now we have the murder of a high profile religious leader” he said.
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