CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- A gay-friendly Muslim mosque in Cape Town, South Africa, will open on schedule later this week despite death threats, its founder says.
Taj Hargey, 60, said the Open Mosque will also allow women to enter through the same door as men, and women will be involved in services. He argues that many aspects of what is considered Muslim law are actually civil customs, passed down through history.
He expects 300 people to attend opening services on Friday, although he said he has received numerous deaths threats. He has also received praise for the inclusive nature of his mosque in the Cape Town suburb of Wynberg.
"A 77-year-old grandmother just called me and said, 'All my life I've been waiting for this, for the first time I can go to a mosque and be warmly welcome,'" he said.
Hargey added, "You go to churches and often see the sign 'All welcome.' This is the single mosque in the whole country that sadly has the words 'All welcome' underneath it. I decided that being Cape Town-born, I had to do something. We had a political evolution in this country 20 years ago, and what we need now is a religious revolution, especially in the Muslim community."
The local Muslim Judicial Council, an advocacy group, stopped short of criticizing the new approach, but does not consider the Open Mosque a house of worship.
"We see in the newspaper clippings and the messages that this is a place of worship but we can't call it a mosque," said council member Reid Fattar, "but again we cannot make a complete statement until we have all the facts."
