It is difficult to convey our shock and horror at the murder of a comrade, friend, and spiritual mentor to many of our members. On the 15th of February 2025, Imam Muhsin Hendricks was assassinated. With a profound sense of loss, we extend our condolences to the Hendricks family, the Al-Ghurbaah Foundation, the queer Muslim community, and the broader LGBTQIA+ community.
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, in June 1967, Hendricks studied and trained as an Islamic scholar in Pakistan before returning to South Africa in 1994. In 1996, his public acknowledgment of his sexual orientation led to his dismissal. Nevertheless, he became globally recognized as the first openly gay Imam. To better support the LGBTQ+ community, he later earned a diploma in counseling and communications and founded The Inner Circle, later known as the Al-Ghurbaah Foundation, to help Muslims reconcile their faith with their sexual orientation and gender identity.
Hendricks was a proponent of an inclusive Islam, arguing that the Quran does not condemn homosexuality. In 2006, he was internationally recognized as a Global Fellow by Echoing Green for his work with The Inner Circle— a reflection of his unwavering commitment to the cause, his support for queer Muslims and their allies, and his tremendous contribution to their empowerment.
The Al-Ghurbaah Foundation, an inclusive mosque and human rights organization in Cape Town, was founded by Imam Muhsin Hendricks in 2018. It provided a safe space for marginalized Muslims to worship, despite ongoing threats to his own safety. In November 2024, South African Jews for a Free Palestine (SAJFP) had the honor of holding a Shabbat Against Genocide in the Masjid in recognition of the destructive effect of Israel’s colonial violence on queer Palestinian lives. Hendricks was a speaker at the event, a moment we deeply cherish.
Hendricks’ work was not limited to South Africa. He demonstrated an unwavering commitment to LGBTQIA+ Muslims globally, particularly in regions where their existence is criminalized. He was a friend to the oppressed everywhere— and was thus deeply committed to the Palestinian cause as well. Hendricks valued interfaith collaboration, striving to create inclusive, progressive, and intersectional safe spaces for the LGBTQIA+ community while also hosting solidarity spaces for Palestine.
SAJFP recognizes that all forms of oppression are interconnected. Our struggle for a free Palestine is inseparable from the struggle against racism, queerphobia, and capitalist exploitation. One cannot oppose one without being committed to the struggle against them all.
It is heartbreaking that someone so dedicated to tolerance and compassion was taken from us— seemingly by the very violent hatred he spent his life opposing. The magnitude of grief caused by this brutal act cannot be overstated. South African Jews for a Free Palestine joins the larger solidarity community in condemning this murder in the strongest possible terms.
Furthermore, we call on the South African Police Service (SAPS) to investigate this matter with speed and thoroughness and to bring the perpetrators to justice.
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