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The police in South Africa are “hot” of the suspects behind the murder of Muhsin Hendricks, called the first openly gay magnet in the world, said Deputy Minister of Justice Andries Nel.
The 57 -year -old man was in a car when he was shot dead in the coastal city of Gqeberha on Saturday.
The incident CCTV images show a hooded figure that runs out of a truck that blocked the Hendricks vehicle and then fired shots through the window.
The magnet was known for his work in the creation of a safe shelter for homosexual Muslims and other marginalized Muslims and his murder surprised the LGBTQ+ community and beyond.
An investigation is underway, but Nel told Afrika Newzroom television channel that it was too early to say if it was a hate crime.
Without giving more details, Nel said that Police Vice President Polly Boshielo told her that the officers were tracking the alleged murderers.
Rintion of tribute to Hendricks, Nel said that “he was a South African of which we can all be proud, a South African that we can all aspire to be.”
Hendrick’s work challenged the traditional interpretations of Islam, which oppose the relationship between people of the same sex.
While it was clear that I did not agree with Hendricks, the Muslim Judicial Council of South Africa (MJC), one of the country’s main religious bodies, condemned the murder.
“As members of a democratic and pluralistic society, the MJC remains firm in advocating peaceful coexistence and mutual respect, even in the midst of divergent points of view,” he said.
Another leading Muslim organism, the United Ultrama Council of South Africa, “extrajudicial murders” and promoted people not to reach conclusions about the reason.
The Constitution of South Africa, adopted after the end of the ruler of white minority in 1994, was the first in the world to protect people from discrimination due to their sexual orientation and in 2006, it became the first country in Africa in Africa in legalizing same -sex marriage.
But despite a prosperous LGBTQ+community, homosexual people still face discrimination and violence. The country also has one of the highest murder rates in the world.
Hendricks came out as Gay in 1996, which surprised the broader Muslim community of his hometown in Cape Town and elsewhere.
That same year, he founded The Inner Circle, an organization that provides support and a safe space for queer Muslims who seek to reconcile their faith and sexuality before establishing the Masjidul Ghurbah inclusive mosque.
It was the subject of a documentary in 2022 called radical, in which he said about the threats he faced: “The need to be authentic was greater than the fear of dying.”
Hendricks often talked about the importance of interreligious dialogue and the need to address the mental health and trauma problems faced by LGBTQ+ people within religious communities.
He told the World Conference of the International Association of Lesbians, Gay, Bisexuals, Trans and Intersex in Cabo del Cabo last year: “It is important that we stop to consider religion as the enemy.”
Additional reports from all over Opeyemi.
