A new mosque in South Africa allowing entry to homosexuals has attracted criticism and death threats against its founder, a Muslim academic.
The Open Mosque is set to open Friday in Wynberg in Cape Town despite strong disapproval from certain sections of the Muslim community.
Taj Hargey, the 60-year-old founder of the mosque and director of the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford, said that the time for "religious revolution" has come. The Open Mosque will be gender-equal, interracial and non-aligned, meaning that Sunni and Shiite Muslims will be able to attend the same services. He also added that women will be allowed to lead prayers, and gay people and non-Muslims will also be permitted in the mosque.
"You enter the mosque, do I ask you the question who did you sleep with last night? No. It's not my business who you slept with," said Hargey, professor at the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford in the United Kingdom, reports The Telegraph. He also said that the teachings in the mosque will counter Islamist extremism that is rapidly increasing in Africa.
The initiative taken by Hargey has not gone down well with Muslims in Cape Town, and some labeled him a "heretic" or "non-believer."
The Muslim Judicial Council will not have authority over the open mosque, and the MJC's deputy president Riad Fataar told the Voice of the Cape radio station the council is investigating the new mosque. Furthermore, it will also address the concerns raised by the community. However, he said that he would call it a place of worship but not a mosque. "Anything that goes against our deen (faith)... will be in total condemnation from the Muslim Judicial Council," Fataar told VOC.
Hargey responded to the attacks, saying, "I guess the Muslim clergy is not pleased with an independent new mosque that will challenge their authority. I preach an Islam that is enlightened, erudite and egalitarian," reports teleSUR.
He also said that he would take action against people who spread rumors about the mosque. The Cape Times reported that Hargey said the MJC does not want to be challenged on the theological monopoly it has.
Rashied Omar, the imam of the Claremont Main Road Mosque, told News24 that the community is confused about the upcoming mosque and does not have enough information about it currently.
