Prayers, thankfulness and compassion

The sixth anniversary of the Christchurch shootings on 15 March 2019, was recently commemorated. The shootings created three categories of people:

• The martyrs (shuhada in Arabic), that is, those who were shot and died, mostly men, but also women and children.

• The survivors, that is, those who were present at the mosques, and perhaps were shot but did not die. They have been suffering the trauma of the memory of fellow Muslims alongside whom they attended prayers. Those who were shot have had continuing scars, injuries and health problems.

• The families and friends of those who were martyred. They have been suffering the same trauma. In addition, many of them lost the head of the household, the breadwinner, and have suffered financially.

Farid Ahmed is a survivor. He is a regular at the mosque and conducts religious classes. He is in a wheelchair, the result of being hit by a car driven by a drink-driver in 1998. His wife Husna, also an active member of the mosque, was shot. He wrote a book about this.

Rather than harbouring hatred for the person who took his wife, he has forgiven him, and always promoted the positive values of thanksgiving and compassion.

In an essay to a private list, he recalled the commemorative service that took place, describing it as particularly a day of prayer (dua), asking Allah for mercy “because He has all the power to protect us in this life and in the next life.”

Muslims believe that all that happens is Allah’s plan, even horrific shootings such as this. Farid reminds us that we should rather be “happy than sad because our shuhada are not lost but they are with Allah.”

A verse of Allah’s Quran contains a dua that Muslims recite at every funeral, or on hearing of a death: “But give good news to the steadfast, those who, when a calamity afflicts them, say, ‘To God we belong, and to Him we will return.’” (2:155-6). He also acknowledged the compassion shown by others, non-Muslims as well as Muslims. Messages were received from around the world, including from the Masjid ul-Haram in Makkah, and the Masjid An-Nabawi in Madina, the two holiest mosques in Islam, both in Saudi Arabia.

He and his daughter thanked their neighbours for their help and compassion since the tragedy. They distributed 120 cakes to the neighbours.

The other side of the story

That is the positive side of the story of the events. The negative side is that Islamophobia is still rife with some people in New Zealand. It also continues in Australia. And remember that the Christchurch shooter was an Australian.

The Australian National Imams Council (AMIC) issued a statement to coincide with the anniversary. Part of it is quoted here at length:

"As we commemorate the anniversary of this tragic event, we are reminded of the consequences of unchecked Islamophobia, racism, and intolerance. The Christchurch attack highlights the ongoing risks of far-right extremism and hate towards the Muslim communities in Australia, New Zealand, and worldwide. It reinforces the necessity for all levels of government, law enforcement and policy makers to actively challenge and prevent such ideologies of hate.

The Australian Muslim community is currently experiencing an unprecedented surge in Islamophobic and anti-Muslim hate incidents that not only threaten the safety of Australian Muslims but also undermine the principles of diversity, inclusion and social cohesion. Data collected from grassroots community reporting bodies, including AMIC’s Action Against Islamophobia, demonstrates a disturbing and unacceptable rise in online hate, threats of violence against Muslims, hate letters sent to mosques and Islamic centres, as well as verbal and physical abuse targeting visibly Muslim women."

In a similar vein, speaking at a Ramadan gathering, the mayor of Canterbury-Bankstown, Sydney, Bilal El-Hayek, called out the selective coverage of Australian media. He “condemned the recent disproportionate media scrutiny and attacks on the Muslim community, highlighting a 500 per cent increase in Islamophobic incidents.

“If you were following the news, you wouldn’t know that. There has been a clear imbalance in reporting racial abuse. If it didn’t happen in the Eastern Suburbs, then it didn’t happen at all.”

The Eastern Suburbs are the upmarket parts of Sydney surrounding the CBD. In contrast, the Western Suburbs are further inland, where the population is largely migrants. Many of the Western Suburbs, such as Camden, Canterbury-Bankstown, Lakemba, Old Guildford and South Granville, have large Muslim populations, the majority of the population in places.