South African Queer Muslim Group Opens New Sanctuary Honoring Slain Imam Muhsin Hendricks

In the Cape Town suburb of Wynberg, South Africa, the queer Muslim advocacy organisation Al-Ghurbaah Foundation has opened a new permanent community space and held a memorial tribute to its founder. The event, titled “An Evening of Legacy & Renewal” and held on 19 September 2026, honoured the memory of the world’s first openly gay imam, Muhsin Hendricks, who was shot dead by unidentified assailants in February 2025.

According to South African LGBTQ publication MambaOnline , Al-Ghurbaah weathered a severe crisis following Hendricks’ assassination: within days of his death, the organisation lost its leased premises and spent over eighteen months without a dedicated home. The newly secured centre on Broad Road in Wynberg is designed as a workplace, refuge, and spiritual haven for Muslims seeking to reconcile their Islamic faith with their sexual orientation and gender identity.

Addressing attendees, Al-Ghurbaah Acting Director Ziyaad Follentine emphasised that the new sanctuary was made possible through collective community devotion, while reaffirming the group’s commitment to seeking justice: the murder investigation has yielded little progress, and the gunmen remain at large. Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle, Professor of Islamic Studies at Emory University in the United States, joined via Zoom and highlighted Hendricks’ theological contributions toward a compassionate interpretation of the Qur’an. Bridget Nkomana of Cape Town’s Langa Pride expressed solidarity, stressing that queer people should face no barriers to religious faith or Islamic practice.

Imam Muhsin Hendricks came out publicly in 1996, becoming the first known Islamic cleric in the world to acknowledge being gay. That same year, he launched the support network The Inner Circle (later the Al-Fitrah Foundation) before establishing Al-Ghurbaah and the inclusive Masjidul Ghurbaah mosque in Cape Town, which featured non-segregated prayers and interfaith ceremonies. His theological stance drew strong condemnation from conservative South African Muslim bodies, including the Muslim Judicial Council, which declared his teachings contrary to orthodox Islamic jurisprudence. In February 2025, the 57-year-old imam was killed in an ambush near Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) when two masked gunmen fired on his vehicle.

Earlier, Uránia reported on sociological research into the situation of LGBTQ people in South Africa and debates surrounding equality symbols in Cape Town .