“If we cannot end now our differences, at least we
can help make the world safe for diversity.”
John F. Kennedy
On Friday afternoon, March 15, 2019, as Muslims were gathered for prayer in the different mosques of Christchurch, New Zealand, a gunman opened fire on worshippers at the Al Noor Mosque on Deans Avenue, Riccarton, and continued at the Linwood Islamic Centre. The 28-year-old white nationalist extremist gunman posted a racist manifesto filled with anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim screeds, and live-streamed the first 17 minutes of the terror attack on Facebook Live, starting with his drive to the mosque. Just before the shooting, the gunman appeared to be greeted by one of the worshippers, Daoud Nabi, who said “Hello, brother.” He was among the first people to be killed. The hashtag #HelloBrother started by an Indonesian man is gaining traction on Twitter following the massacre. The video of the shooting shows the first victim, a pure soul filled with a peaceful faith, standing at the door of the mosque, greeting the gunman, only to be shot and killed.
Fifty people were gunned down in this terror attack with dozens more injured. According to The New York Times, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that many of the people who died in the attacks were the breadwinners in their families, and that the government would help those who had been left without income.
Later, a few days after the attack, people vowed to stand guard outside New Zealand mosques as Muslims took part in their prayers.
The victims of the Christchurch attack include parents, children, and refugees. According to BuzzFeed News, Daoud Nabi was humble and, according to a friend, “one of the kindest people you’ve ever met.” The 71-year-old often went to the airport to greet refugees, helping them start new lives in a country he, too, had made his home. He was an engineer, a father of five, and ran his community’s Afghan Association.
Nabi died on Friday afternoon trying to shield another worshiper as the gunman burst into the Al Noor mosque, his son, Omar Nabi, told local media.
Omar Nabi’s father was one of the 50 people killed during the rampage at two mosques in what New Zealand officials have called a right-wing, extremist terrorist attack and one of the deadliest mass shootings in the country’s history.
According to a Facebook post by Syrian Solidarity New Zealand, Khaled Mustafa, a Syrian refugee, moved to New Zealand with his wife and three children last year.
“They thought it was a safe haven,” the group said.
One of Mustafa’s two sons, who was injured in the attack, required a six-hour operation at a Christchurch hospital. The other was still missing at the time of writing.
Following the attack, people all over the world left flowers and handwritten messages outside their local mosques to pay tribute to the victims of the New Zealand terror attacks.
Social media was replete with pictures of flowers and heartwarming notes, all in solidarity with the Muslim community.
We are One
The New Zealand Prime Minister started her speech in Parliament on Tuesday, March 19, with a Muslim greeting, “As-Salaam Alaikum” (Peace be upon you).
The session started with a recitation of the Holy Quran to express solidarity with those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks in the Christchurch mosques. The translated recitation is as follows:
“O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is with the patient. And do not say about those who are killed in the way of Allah, “They are dead.” Rather, they are alive, but you perceive [it] not. And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient, Who, when disaster strikes them, say, “Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return.”
In her passionate speech, Jacinda Ardern said, “I implore you, speak the names of those who were lost rather than the name of the man who took them. He is a terrorist. He is a criminal. He is an extremist. But he will, when I speak, be nameless.”
When I do good, I feel good.
when I do bad, I feel bad.
That’s my religion.
Abraham Lincoln
According to different news sources, the Islamic call to prayer, the adhan, rang out across New Zealand on Friday afternoon, March 22, as thousands gathered to honor the 50 people gunned down at the two mosques in Christchurch the previous week.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern led an estimated 5,000 people at a massive prayer service at Hagley Park in front of the Al Noor mosque, where most of the victims died. New Zealanders across the small, broken-hearted nation paused when the adhan played, and observed two minutes of silence.
“New Zealand mourns with you. We are one,” Ardern said in a short speech.
Officers dotted around Christchurch wore green ribbons pinned to their chests as a sign of peace and solidarity.
Candlelight vigils continued until late Thursday, March 21, across the country, while volunteers prepared the bodies of the deceased for a mass burial that was expected after the prayers.
On March 22, Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world) was also lit up with an image of Jacinda Ardern as a tribute from the government and people of the UAE to New Zealand’s Prime Minister in the aftermath of the mass shooting. H. H. Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum praised Ms. Ardern for her support to the Muslim community.
“New Zealand today fell silent in honor of the mosque attacks’ martyr. Thank you PM @ jacindaardern and New Zealand for your sincere empathy and support that has won the respect of 1.5 billion Muslims after the terrorist attack that shook the Muslim community around the world,” he wrote on Twitter.
Meanwhile, landmark buildings like The United States’ Empire State Building, France’s Eiffel Tower, and Auckland’s Sky Tower went dark overnight in sympathy for the shooting victims.
Over the ditch, the Sydney Opera House illuminated a big and bright silver fern on its roof on March 16 as a symbol of support for Christchurch.
In contrast, President Trump, who was cited in the gunman’s manifesto as a source of inspiration, told reporters that he did not see white nationalism as a rising threat around the world and attributed such attacks to “a small group of people that have very, very serious problems.”
Additionally, after the Christchurch Mosque attack, different Islamic Organizations have suggested declaring March 15 as the International Day of Islamophobia.