South African Mosque Open to Gays Is Shut Down by Government
A recently opened mosque in Cape Town, South Africa, that welcomed openly gay residents and allowed women to lead prayers, was criticized by the local Muslim community and subsequently shut down by the government, reportedly for violating city bylaws regarding parking spaces.
Taj Hargey, a Muslim academic and founder of The Open Mosque, lashed out against the city's order, however, saying it has more to do with controlling the freedom of religion.
"The city council is trying to close the mosque using ridiculous bylaws and I will not be threatened by them or anyone else," Hargey told BBC News.
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"We have freedom of religion and expression in this country. No one has the right to tell anyone what to believe in. This is a gender equal mosque, autonomous and independent and will remain so."
City councillor Ganief Hendricks denied the claim, and said that city rules mandate places of worship to have one parking bay per 10 worshippers.
"This is an emotive issue. Some councillors who are Muslim would want to defend the issue more vigorously than those that aren't, but the bottom line is we have to make sure that the rules are followed," Hendricks said.
"There are issues of health and safety to consider before [a mosque] is set up," he added.
In a previous interview with Voice of America, Hargey explained that his idea behind the mosque was to make a place of worship open to everyone, in an effort to combat growing intolerance and radicalism among some Muslims.
"We have a theological mafia that controls the Muslim community — bamboozles them, brainwashes them, indoctrinates them — and that they follow without question. And it's this type of unquestioning mind-set that leads to the growth of extremism, radicalism and fanaticism," said Hargey.
The academic clarified that the place of worship is "not a gay mosque" but will not turn anyone away based on race or sexual orientation. His efforts have generated criticism from the Muslim community, however, and he has received death threats and been called a "heretic."
"This mosque is based on the original mosque in Medina with one door where men and women come together to pray," he said.
"I want my mother, wife, daughter to pray alongside me. Not be second class citizens. They pray together at Haj, why can't they pray together in the mosques of the world?"
According to the CIA World Factbook, South Africa has a minority Muslim population, which makes up 1.5 percent of the largely Christian nation.
