Statement on the Assassination of Imam Muhsin Hendricks

by Sa’diyya Shaikh and Fatima Seedat, Co-Directors, Centre for Contemporary Islam

“Indeed to Allah we belong, and indeed, to Allah we return.” (Quran 2:156)

Photo Credit: Tamara Wilson (Instagram @tams.wilson)

We are reeling from the targeted assassination of Imam Muhsin Hendricks, the first openly queer Imam in South Africa. Imam Muhsin was a pioneer in the rights of queer Muslims, having previously led The Inner Circle and more recently the Al-Ghurbaah Foundation. He was recognized as a global leader who created a space to reconcile Islam, faith and sexual diversity, and provided a refuge for young queer Muslims who had been rejected in their homes. Muhsin courageously tracked a path of religious inclusivity and a vision of Islam as a home for all.

Imam Muhsin’s theology was a liberation theology: God is a God of radical love and justice for all human beings. The safe space created by his work brought relief beyond the community of queer Muslims, extending to refugees, people who were homeless, those marginalized without community and belonging, for whom he provided a space of inclusion.

Despite this, we are also reeling from the ways in which some Muslims are condoning his assassination on social media. The compounded horror of such violence and brutality has brought into sharp focus the intense homophobia permeating the Muslim and other faith communities. This is a time for each of us as individuals, as well as in our collectives, whether in mosques, in community organizations, in our Palestinian solidarity formations, to deeply reflect on the ways in which our work for justice must be all-inclusive, and the right to dignity is unconditional.

In the last two years we have witnessed a genocide enabled by the language of dehumanization of Palestinian people. It is the same underlying logic of dehumanization that enables a targeted assassination of a queer human being who stood up for justice. We must recognize that when we are silent in the face of homophobia, patriarchy and Zionism, we enable not only violent systems, but systems that perpetuate violence and death. We are both ethically and spiritually accountable.

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was sent as the “Rahmatal Aalamin”, a mercy to all worlds, everywhere, in all times. Every human being deserves justice and dignity.

Photo Credit: Tamara Wilson (Instagram @tams.wilson)

Imam Muhsin has completed his work on this earth; it is for us to begin ours. Let us have the difficult conversations, let us grow seeds of love, justice and compassion. Let us truly engage what it might be to follow the sunnah of the Mercy to the worlds.

We salute your courage, Shaheed Imam Muhsin. May your soul be embraced in love and compassion by Allah. Dear contented soul, return to your Lord; may your Lord be pleased with you, may you be pleased with your Lord (Quran 87:28-29). May the work of justice, love and inclusivity that you worked so hard towards be realized. May we grow our communities in the work of justice, love and all-inclusive dignity.

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Sa’diyya Shaikh is Professor in the Study of Religions at the University of Cape Town. She specializes in the study of Islam, gender ethics, and feminist theory. She has published on Islamic feminism; gender-based violence; Sufism and Islamic Law; spirituality and ethics, and contemporary Muslim women’s embodied ethics. She is author of Sufi Narratives of Intimacy: Ibn ʿArabī, Gender, and Sexuality (2012) and co-author of The Women’s Khutbah Book: Contemporary Sermons on Spirituality and Justice from around the World (2022) She is involved in a number of socially engaged networks as a scholar-activist invested in ways to promote gender justice and social transformation.

Fatima Seedat (PhD Islamic Law, McGill) studies the intersections of gender, sexuality, law and religion. She is Associate Professor and the Head of Department of African Feminist Studies at the University of Cape Town. She has published on Islamic law, Islamic feminism, gendered legal subjectivity, decolonial pedagogy, militarised masculinity and intersectionality. Fatima is a scholar-activist committed to gender-based transformation in communal practices of Muslim family law and religious authority.

Centre for Contemporary Islam

Supported by the following Muslim Academics, Students and Professionals

1. Prof Shireen Abdool Aziz Hassim

2. Prof. Salim Badat

3. Prof Usuf Chikte

4. Dr Shuaib Manjra

5. Dr Cherry Muslim

6. Prof Abdulkader Tayob

7. Dr Kharnita Mohamed

8. Professor Yasmeen Adam

9. Dr Ala Alhourani

10. Dr Sanah Ahsan

11. Prof Ashraf Kagee

12. Zohra Sooliman

13. Sheikh M.Masud Allie al-Azhari

14. Dr Rushdah Lariza Khan

15. Prof Ciraj Rassool

16. Wisaal Abrahams

17. Dr Margherita Picchi

18. Dino Suhonic

19. Dr Salih Solomon

20. Dr Seham Areff

21. Dr Adnane Mokrani

22. Ashraf Mahomed

23. Prof Salim Vally

24. Dr Natasha Vally

25. Dr Lubna Nadvi

26. Naseema Hassan

27. Seemi Ghaziok

28. Rifqah van Schalkwyk

29. Shameme Manjoo

30. Prof Adam Haupt

31. Nabeelah Sujee

32. A/Prof Lee-Shae Salma

Scharnick-Udemans

33. Prof. Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle

34. Abdul Karriem Matthews

35. Faaria Theba

36. Amaarah Garda

37. Dr Samah El-Boraei

38. Prof Hassan Mahomed

39. Prof Noor Nieftagodien

40. Dr Ihsaan Bassier

41. Prof Anwar Mall

42. Prof Shanaaz Suffla

43. Ms Nasima Badsha

44. Osasrumwense Asemota

45. Ferial Marlie

46. Aqeelah Bray

47. Dr Suraya Scheba

48. Aneeqah Meyer

49. Prof Saleem Badat

50. Dr Farah Zeb

51. Dr Shaheed Tayob

52. Nadine Cloete

53. Dr Nadira Omarjee

54. Ayesha ul Haqu

55. Seeham Samaai

56. Mujahid Osman

57. Ammaarah Badsha

58. Shehnaz Munshi

59. Dr Feroza Amien

60. Dr. Rosanna Maryam Sirignano

61. Aadila Moolla

62. Dr Faheem Baba

63. Zahraa Mohamed

64. Maya Ghanem

65. Nuriyya Shaikh Kagee

66. Farzanah Samuels

67. Faeza Meyer

68. Ebrahiem Fourie

69. Shameela Seedat

70. Rumana Mahomed

71. Nidaa Husain

72. Shaheen Khan

73. Rizky Etika

74. Daanyaal Loofer

75. Hamza Dudgeon

76. Prof Ramon Grosfoguel

77. Aneesa Moosa

78. Aliya Chikte

79. Hakeemah Matinka

80. Sumayyah Khan

81. Shameelah Khan

82. Jaamia Galant

83. Emer. A/Prof Salma Ismail

84. Dr Asma Salloo

85. Khalid Shamis

86. Garrett Kiriakos-Fugate

87. Dr Amina Mahomed

88. Zuraida Dramat

89. Gulshan Khan

90. Parween Joommal

91. Shaeera Kalla

92. Fatima Khalique

93. Prof Waheeda Amien

94. Prof Shereen Motala

95. Prof Leila Kajee

96. Prof Enver Motala

97. Atiyyah Khan

98. Pervaiz Khan

99. Dr S Dada

100.Ismail Jazbhay

101. Rehad Desai

102. Nabeelah Khan

103. Zaynub Asmal

104. Raeesa Mahomed

105. Prof Ebrahim Moosa

106. Amrain Essop

107. Lamya Moosa, Esq.

108. Dr Mooniq Shaikjee

109. Thomas Mujaahid Mbewu

110. Leila Khan

111. Sieraaj Ahmed

112. Roshan Galvaan

113. May Muna Ahmed

114. Aziz Adams

115. Dr. Summer Pervez

116. Mahvish Ahmad

117. Sakina Godwin

118. Rumana Akoob

119. Waleed Khan

120. Dr Tareq Baconi

121. Dr. Layal Ftouni

122. Aisha Hamdulay

123. Tauriq Jenkins

124. Tariq Desai

125. Dr. Nabila Goga

126. Salma Mirza

127. Dr. Sarah Suhail

128. Dr. Kyla Pasha

129. Prof. Omid Safi

130. Bariza Umar

131. Jamiah Ali

132. Afiq Mohd Noor

133. Samia van Hattum, LCSW

134. Dr Nadeem Mahomed

135. Dr. Ghazala Anwar

136. Dr. Laila Raman-Abdulla

137. Khalid Dhansay

138. Dr Laila Suleman

139. Roshan Sonday

140. Mohamed Imran Mohamed Taib

141. Hameedah Parker

142. Rozana Isa

143. Kazim Ali

144. Zainah Anwar

145. Dr Zeenat Lenina Khan

146. Samah Hadid

147. Hajar Ahjum-Mathee

148. Laeeqa Pangarker

149. Joel Stevens

150. Prof Fatima Fiona Moolla

151. Anjumara Khan

152. Marina Mahathir

153. Carnita Ernest

154. Prof Shahana Rasool

155. Memoona Mahomed

156. Shehnaz Cassim Moosa

157. Dr. Maya Bhardwaj

158. Shafia Mahomed

159. Dr Zahraa McDonald

160. Thaafir Mustapha

161. Faeza Adams

162. Saaliegah Zardad

163. Nariman Laattoe

164. Shaheeda Sadeck

165. Junaid Moosa

166. El-Farouk Khaki

167. Rahma Leuner

168. Asmaa Mohamed

169. Fatima Essop

170. Enver Motala

171. Kareema Mitha

172. Faranaaz Veriava

173. Dr Na-iem Dollie

174. Saleh Bakri

175. Dr Farieda Nazier

176. Dr Greer Valley

177. Lorna Houston

178. Masjaliza Hamzah

179. Zayaan Khan

180. Muminah Salie

181. Dr Noorjehan Joosub

182. Nazeema Mohamed

183. Sikhander Coopoo

184. Shaazia Ebrahim

185. A/Prof Sadiyya Haffejee

186. Dr Leila Ebrahim

187. Yusuf Gamieldien

188. Yusrah Bardien

189. Dr Nasreen Peer

190. Kelly De Lucchi

191. Mitch Yusof

192. Roomaan Leech

193. Altay Yüce Turan

194. Dr Ahmed Veriava

195. Reza Saloojee

196. Dr Iqram Bux

197. Rabia Abba Omar

198. Dr Sofia Tsourlaki

199. Dr Saajidha Sader

200. Ineza Roussille

201. Shireen Brown

202. Kholofelo Molewa

203. Dr Leyya Hoosen

204. Rishqa Brown

205. Ayesha Khan

206. Dr Yaseen Bismilla

207. Dr Asad Zaidi

208. Shamim Meer

209. Dr. Lyana Khairuddin

210. Dr Yasmine Flodin-Ali

211. Dr. Natasha Issa Shivji

212. Tasneem Essop

213. AbdoolKarim Vakil

214. Emer. Prof Shabbir Wadee