Terror in Chch
A terrorist attack survivor has a heavy heart before the journey of a lifetime. David Williams reported
“This trip is not for me,” said Farid Ahmed, a survivor of the Christchurch terror attack, as tears flowed. “This invitation came to her.”
Ahmed became world famous for giving the Australian shooter who killed his wife, Husna, and 50 other peaceful, praying Muslims in the 2019 attack on two Christchurch mosques.
Ahmed (59), his 18-year-old daughter Shifa and Husna’s cousin, Farhana Akhter Reju, is this week part of a group of 60 terrorist attack survivors, victims and their families leaving for Mecca / Makkah. paid for by the Saudi government. (Ahmed’s travel support person is James Te Paa.)
They undertake the Islamic pilgrimage, Hajj – which every adult Muslim must make, if they are physically and financially capable of doing so, at least once in their lifetime.
Ahmed describes mixed feelings of his “weak” and “strong” sides, with the journey evoking memories he tried to set aside.
“My weak side feels like crying, because this journey is not for me. This invitation came for her.
“So I feel like I’m just carrying her. Every moment in this journey will remind me acutely of her. This is the sad part.
“This invitation did not come to Farid as Farid, but it came because Husna was gone. The trip is therefore actually a reminder of what happened. ”
Ahmed’s strong side is glad he can carry Husna’s memory with him on the Hajj.
“It’s a spiritual journey, and I can go there and I can thank God that He took her as a martyr,” he says.
“I can sincerely ask God to give her all the best things in the next life. And I can go there again and make my promise – that as long as I live, I will do my part to make the world safer, to promote love not hate, so that another person like Husna does not have to go that way. ”
On March 15, 2019, Ahmed and his wife were praying in different rooms at Masjid an-Nur when the gunfire started. Ahmed, who was using a wheelchair, was able to drive himself outside and hide behind his car, but Husna was shot in the back as he returned to the mosque to help him.
Fast forward to today, and part of Ahmed’s emotional response is that he thought he would never see Mecca. He has been using a wheelchair since he was hit by a drunk driver in Nelson in 1998. Since then, he has twice nominated people to be his proxy for Islam’s holiest city.
“I never thought I could take this risk of going through all the physical, mental and emotional efforts to do Hajj,” says Ahmed. “My wife wanted to go many times, it was her dream. But my disability was an obstruction. So I feel glad I’m going to try this time, and I can make her dream come true.
“I will represent her. I will represent everyone, not in terms of faith because we have different faiths, but in terms of peace and love.
“Because when I was a victim or a survivor to begin with, New Zealanders, they did not consider me a Muslim. And it’s great. They did not look at me since I was born in Bangladesh.
“They looked at me as a human being and unconditionally offered their love for me. And I will pray for them as I believe, I pray for them that they too may be loved. The Creator must love them, give them grace. ”
If Hajj is performed correctly, it is believed to wipe away the sins of the sincere believer. The little pilgrimage, which is undertaken when you enter Mecca, is called Umrah.
Pilgrims enter Mecca in a state of ritual purity, ihram, and wear ihram clothes – two white sheets for men, while women can wear sewn clothes.
Perhaps the most famous part of the ritual is to walk seven times around the sacred shrine, Kaaba, in the Great Mosque. (Ahmed will not join the crowd at ground level, he will rather be in the upper levels of the mosque.) Pilgrims also run seven times between Mount Ṣafā and Mount Marwah.
Animal sacrifices are brought, in commemoration of Abraham’s sacrifice, at holy places outside Mecca. In the rajm ritual, pilgrims throw seven stones at three walls, symbolizing the devil, on three consecutive days, before returning to Mecca for the farewell tawāf, or circumambation, of Kaaba.
This week’s trip for Ahmed, his family and others is a follow-up to an offer by Saudi Arabia’s king, Salman bin Abdulaziz, who ordered the country in 2019 to relieve the families of the victims and injured of the Christchurch terror attack to accommodate, to assist with their healing.
Two hundred people went that year.
“A number of the injured were unable to travel due to their injuries or for health and medical reasons,” Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to New Zealand, Abdulrahman Alsuhaibani, said in an email.
“The embassy could not help them carry out Hajj 2020 and 2021 due to the suspension of Hajj due to Covid 19 and the closure of the borders.
“This year, 60 people have been nominated to perform Hajj, and they will travel to Mecca and represent the last group of the King’s initiative to house New Zealand pilgrims within the same program, including Farid Ahmed and his daughter.”
Newsroom asked Ahmed how he feels about accepting a paid trip from a country that has been internationally criticized for its human rights record.
In his philosophical way, Ahmed says we live in a world where days are divided into darkness and light – “so good and bad”.
“What I do is I appreciate the good and I also work on it, as gently as possible, to discourage the bad and, and that’s how we should work.”
No one is 100 percent pure, he says, and just because there is an imperfection does not mean that everything else has to be thrown in the trash.
“Whatever opportunity I get, I start with appreciation for the good side, the good work that any government or any community or any country does. And then, whatever ability or ability I have, to give advice, to encourage, to improve the weaker areas. That’s what I do. “
During a July 2019 visit to the White House, Ahmed thanked the then President of the United States, Donald Trump, for his leadership and stand up for humanity. The remarks, it was said, were typical of his loving and generous disposition.
He also chose not to attend the terrorist’s sentencing hearing and said the gunman was a bigger victim than he – “At least I have peace in my heart. I have not. ”
Many people around the world know Ahmed, and his story was undoubtedly helped by his book Husna’s story. (In 2019, I accepted a peace award in Abu Dhabi.)
So how’s he doing? “I’m fine,” he says. “I am not depressed. I’m not negative. And I do more work than I did before March 15. “
He walks through his volunteer responsibilities: including holding classes at Masjid an-Nur, being a wedding planner, counseling within Christchurch’s Bangladeshi community, helping families with immigration issues, attending a once a week on a to appear online TV channel, Voice of Islam TV, and, of course, media interviews.
“On top of that, I am a homeopath – I have clients – and also a father. I have a daughter to look after. ”
He manages all those things, he says. “And it’s an indication that I’m doing well and this message to the people who love me, that your love is a blessing to me, and for that blessing I’m doing well.”
Ahmed leaves for Mecca on Wednesday.