Pria Afrika Selatan, Muhsin Hendricks (43) adalah seorang imam dan homoseksual. Yayasannya The Inner Circle membantu orang-orang muslim yang bergulat dengan seksualitas mereka. Pesannya: “Muslim dan homo boleh!” Tidak semua orang setuju dan oleh karena itu pula Hendrick resminya sudah bukan imam lagi.
Imam Muhsin Hendricks tampak kecapaian. Ia berada di Belanda atas undangan organisasi homoseksual Belanda COC di Amsterdam. Agendanya padat. Keingintahuan orang terhadap ‘imam merah muda’, demikian julukannya, sangatlah besar.
Keletihan hilang
Namun ketika ia bicara tentang iman serta orientasi seksualnya, maka tanda-tanda keletihan itu sudah tidak tampak sama sekali.
“Menjadi muslim dan menjadi homo, keduanya identitas yang kuat. Keduanya menjadi bagian dari siapa saya. Saya berhasil mendamaikan keduanya.”
Bagi Muhsin Hendricks, itu tidaklah mudah. Ia berasal dari keluarga muslim ortodoks di Afrika Selatan. Kakeknya adalah imam di mesjid agung di Capetown. Sejak kecil Muhsin menyadari dirinya berbeda. Pada usia muda, ia lebih suka bermain dengan boneka, bukan mobil. Ia juga dipandang sebagai keperempuan-perempuanan sehingga sering diolok-olok. Ia baru tahu kalau homoseksualitas itu ada jauh sesudah itu.
Hendricks mencari kedamaian pada imannya, yang menurut banyak orang muslim tidak memiliki ruang bagi perasaan homoseksual, mencintai orang sejenis, baik antara laki-laki atau perempuan, dilarang. Itu merupakan salah satu dosa paling besar, yang hukumannya di sejumlah negara islam adalah: kematian.
Seksualitas bukan pilihan
Muhsin Hendricks memutuskan untuk mencari tahu apa kata Al-Quran mengenai homoseksualitas. Ia mengambil studi islam di Pakistan.
“Saya tidak bisa mempercayai apabila Allah yang maha kasih dan penyanyang mengutuk saya untuk sesuatu yang saya sendiri tidak memilihnya.”
Muhsin Hendricks mengambil kesimpulan dari studinya. Tidak disebut di manapun dalam Al-Quran bahwa homoseksualitas itu dilarang. Tidak pula dalam cerita Sodom dan Gomora, kota-kota yang dihancurkan Allah karena laki-laki berhubungan seks dengan laki-laki. Menurut Hendricks, penduduk kota itu dihukum karena perkosaan, bukan karena hubungan seks.
Cerai
Ada ayat-ayat dalam Al-Quran di mana Allah mengakui keberadaan homoseksual, kata Hendricks. Seperti dalam surat Sura 24 ayat 31. “Disebutkan bahwa perempuan harus berpakaian ekstra ketika keluar rumah….. Tapi tidak di depan laki-laki yang tidak tertarik terhadap mereka. Mereka ini pasti homo,” kata Hendricks.
Mengakui bahwa ia menyukai sesama jenis dan terbuka mengenai hal itu, masih terlampau jauh bagi Hendricks. Oleh karena itulah ia sempat menikah dan memiliki tiga anak. Istrinya tahu bahwa suaminya homo, tapi memutuskan untuk tetap bertahan.
Imam Hendricks dihormati sebagai imam di mesjid-mesjid Capetown karena pengetahuannya. Namun perasaan menyukai sesama jenis tidak pernah luntur. Sesudah enam tahun menikah, akhirnya ia bercerai. Itu bisa dibilang saat Hendricks resmi ‘buka-bukaan’.
Pingsan
Ibunya pingsan ketika mendengar putranya Muhsin homo. Namun perlahan-lahan muncul pengertian. Sebagian dari keluarganya tidak mau lagi melihatnya.
Imam Hendricks, sementara ini telah menemukan pasangan hidupnya. Pasangannya itu beragama berbeda, Hindu, dan masih belum ‘buka-bukaan’.
Karirnya sebagai imam berakhir begitu saja. Pemahamannya mengenai homoseksualitas dan Islam tidak dianggap sesuai dengan doktrin resmi. Ia dicap sebagai penganut syaitan. Hendricks tidak pernah menerima ancaman fisik, tapi banyak kritik di sekelilingnya.
Bukan musuh
“Para imam melihat saya sebagai ancaman terhadap pandangan mereka mengenai Islam. Tapi saya bukanlah musuh. Saya mengundang mereka untuk terbuka terhadap pandangan yang berbeda. Penafsiran saya memberi orang muslim peluang untuk terus menjadi muslim dan sekaligus menerima diri sendiri.”
Muhsin Hendricks tetap menganggap dirinya sebagai imam. Dengan yayasannya The Inner Circle, ia berupaya membantu sesama muslim yang hendak coming out – membuka jati diri sebenarnya. Hendricks menyelenggarakan seminar pemberdayaan bagi anak-anak muda mengenai kesadaran diri. Ia juga akan mengadakan seminar seperti ini di Belanda. Sudah enam puluh orang yang mendaftar.
sumber : www.rnw.nl
South African Muhsin Hendricks is an Islamic cleric and a gay man.
He runs a foundation called The Inner Circle, which helps Muslims, who are struggling to accept their sexuality. He has come to the Netherlands to spread a simple message: “It’s okay to be Muslim and gay!”
It’s a message not everyone agrees with and the reason why Mr Hendricks is no longer officially a cleric.
Muhsin Hendricks looks a little tired. He is in the Netherlands at the invitation of the Amsterdam branch of gay rights organisation COC and he’s on a punishing schedule. There is enormous public interest in the “pink imam”, as he’s been dubbed.
Sin
But every trace of fatigue vanishes as Mushin Hendricks talks about his faith and his sexuality.
“Being Muslim and being gay are both strong identities. And I think that they are both innate identities for me. So somewhere along the line I had to reconcile the two.”
This was far from easy for Muhsin Hendricks. He was born into an orthodox Muslim family in South Africa. His grandfather was a cleric in one of Cape Town’s most prominent mosques. Mushin discovered at an early age that he was different. He played with dolls rather than cars. He was seen as being feminine and was teased as a result. All this was long before he even knew there was such a thing as homosexuality.
Mushin Hendricks took comfort in his faith, in spite of the fact that many Muslims believe it offers no place to homosexual feelings. Sexual love between two men or two women is prohibited. It is seen as one of the worst possible sins, punishable in some Islamic countries by death.
Sodom and Gomorrah
But Muhsin Hendricks decided to discover for himself what the Qur’an has to say about homosexuality. He pursued his Islamic studies in Pakistan. “It didn’t seem fair for a very merciful and compassionate God to condemn me for something that I didn’t choose.”
Muhsin Hendricks drew a striking conclusion from his studies: nowhere does the Qur’an state that homosexuality is forbidden. Not even in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Mushin refutes the interpretation that God destroyed the cities because men had sex with one another. He argues that the cities’ residents were punished for rape, not for consensual sex between men.
Divorce
The controversial cleric argues that there are even one or two Qur’an verses in which Allah acknowledges the existence of homosexuals. One example is in sura 24, verse 31. “It says that women have to put on extra clothing when they go out in public … But not in front of those men who have no attraction for women. They must be the gay people,” he laughs.
Despite these discoveries, Mushin still did not feel able to acknowledge and openly express his own homosexual feelings. He married, and he and his wife had three children. Mushin’s wife was aware of his homosexuality but still tried to make the relationship work.
Mushin Hendricks’ knowledge of Islam and Arabic earned him respect in the mosques of Cape Town. But his feelings did not go away. After six years, his marriage ended in divorce and that was the moment when he officially came out of the closet.
Satanist
His mother fainted when she heard the news that her son Mushin was gay. But little by little she is beginning to understand. Some members of the family want nothing more to do with him.
Now Mushin Hendricks has met the love of his life. His partner follows another faith – Hinduism – and has not yet come out of the closet.
Mushin’s work at the mosque came to an abrupt end. His take on the relationship between homosexuality and Islam does not rhyme with the official doctrine. He has been branded a Satanist. Although he has never been physically threatened, he has to endure much abuse and criticism.
Empowerment
“Imams see me as a threat to their worldview and the way they see Islam. I don’t feel they should be threatened. It’s just another view that I would invite them to look at. My view allows queer Muslims to continue being Muslim but also to accept themselves for who they are.”
Muhsin Hendricks still sees himself as an Islamic cleric. With his foundation The Inner Circle he tries to help Muslims with their coming out. He gives empowerment workshops to make young people more self-aware. He will also give one here in the Netherlands: over sixty people have already signed up for it.
source : www.rnw.nl
