Muhsin Hendricks

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Imam
Muhsin Hendricks
Born
Muhsin Hendricks

June 1967 (age 56–57)
Cape Town, South Africa
OccupationImam
Ecclesiastical career
ReligionIslam

Muhsin Hendricks (born June 1967)

come out in 1996.[2]

Early and personal life

Hendricks was brought up in a traditional Muslim home,[3] and his grandfather was an Islamic cleric.[1] He studied at the University of Islamic Studies in Pakistan.[4] He has stated that his "forefathers are a mixture of Indonesian and Indian background. They were brought to Cape Town as political prisoners and slaves by the Dutch colonialists".[5]

He married a woman in 1991, and had children with her before the two divorced in 1996.

came out later that year, at the age of 29.[2] At the time, he was serving as an imam, imparting teachings in mosques and at the nearby madrasa,[4] and he was fired because of his sexual orientation.[6]

Hendricks is in a relationship with a Hindu man. As of 2017[update], they had been together for 11 years.[1]

Activism

In 1996, Hendricks founded the Inner Circle, a support network aiding (but not exclusively for[7]) gay Muslims in coming to terms with their sexual orientation and how this may impact their religious faith.[4][8] They were founded in response to LGBT Muslims who felt excluded from mainstream mosques during Friday prayers.[9] Since 1998, Hendricks has provided prayers, counselling and Muslim same-sex marriage ceremonies.[2] Inner Circle was later known as Al-Fitrah Foundation.[10]

He states that, in his interpretation (and in opposition to mainstream Islam), there is nothing in the Quran that condemns homosexuality.[2][11] He interprets the story of Sodom and Gomorrah as condemning rape, rather than homosexuality.[6] This is in opposition to mainstream Muslim views, which use the story to condemn same-sex behaviour.[12] The Muslim Judicial Council condemned Hendricks in 2007, later issuing a fatwa against gay people.[2] This position, which is backed up by most of South Africa's mainstream Muslim organisations, has been criticised for not recognising gender and sexual diversity in pre-colonial Muslim societies. In addition to this, in the African context there has often been pushback to LGBT rights from conservative groups of all faiths, who view homosexuality as un-African.[13]

In 2011, he founded Masjidul Ghurbaah in South Africa, a mosque belonging to the Al-Ghurbaah Foundation.[2][14] Of this endeavour, Hendricks said: "There is this love-hate relationship from the Muslim community. Sometimes they feel that I should be thrown from the highest mountain, and sometimes they appreciate that there is one imam who is willing to work with people who they are unwilling to work with".[8][15] Al-Fitrah Foundation later founded the Masjid Ul-Umam.[10]

Hendricks appeared in the 2007 documentary film, A Jihad for Love.[6] In 2022, Hendricks was the subject of The Radical, a German documentary film.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Sengar, Shweta (29 May 2017). "A Gay Imam With Hindu Partner Runs An LGBT-Friendly Mosque In South Africa. This Is His Story". IndiaTimes. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Fullerton, Jamie (19 October 2022). "'I'm hoping there will be more queer imams'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  3. ^ Boh, Elvis (31 October 2016). "South Africa's openly gay Imam comfortable with role". Africanews. AFP. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Eveleigh, Robin (18 January 2023). "Meet the gay imam changing attitudes from within". Positive News. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Q&A: Imam Muhsin Hendricks". Islamia Queeristi (in Finnish). 21 August 2020. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Spence, Rebecca (11 September 2008). "Trembling Before Allah". The Forward. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  7. ^ Sanderson, Sertan (31 October 2016). "Gay imam starts quiet revolution in Islam". DW. AFP. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  8. ^ a b "A gay mosque in Cape Town sounds the call to prayer for everyone". Quartz. 2 November 2016. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  9. JSTOR 24461906
    .
  10. ^ a b Lazareva, Inna (5 February 2019). "'Space to coexist': Inside South Africa's LGBT-friendly mosque". Reuters. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  11. ^ Hendricks, Muhsin (2010). "Islamic texts: A source for acceptance of queer individuals into mainstream Muslim society" (PDF). The Equal Rights Review. 5 (1). Equal Rights Trust: 31–51.
  12. S2CID 26656828
    .
  13. ISSN 2077-1444
    .
  14. ^ Harrisberg, Kim (18 December 2020). "Keep on talking: gay imam engages Africans in pandemic". Openly News. Thomson Reuters Foundation. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Cape Town's gay mosque provides rare haven". News24. 31 October 2016. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  16. ^ "The Radical". Human Rights Film Festival Berlin. 2022. Archived from the original on 25 January 2024. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
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