? LET US ALL PRAY FOR THE VICTIMS & THE FAMILIES OF THE HORRIFIC MOSQUE KILLINGS DURING FRIDAY PRAYERS IN NEW ZEALAND ?
Please remember in your Friday prayers, public vigils and weekend religious services the tragic victims and their grieving families of the gruesome massacre of worshippers in two Mosques in New Zealand today.
May the deaths of these devoted beautiful worshippers, and all others who have been harmed or injured as a result of this senseless evil, abhorrent violence, not be in vain or meaninglessly sensationalised.
May their precious memories inspire to motivate us all to do more to stop the development of this type of twisted dark mindset and irrational hatred taking root in our midsts. In this darkest of times we stand together with all civilised and law abiding people in complete unity appalled and shocked as one community with one voice openly rejecting this racist supremacist right wing ideology of hatred. A tragic end to the lives of the innocent worshippers who are most valuable and truly matter to all of us today and will remain in our hearts and minds for a very long time.
It is our moral and legal duty to do whatever we can to proactively work to ensure that these type of inexcusable heinous crimes do not happen again. We all have to assess our own lives and see what we can do more and do better – to help improve cohesive social relations with our neighbours, communities, friends, family, and wider society at large.
We call upon all Mosque trustees, committees and Imams to be extra vigilant, have additional security personnel on site and securely lock doors to areas where possible – as well as reporting any suspicious behaviour to the Police immediately. We call upon our government, PM, elected officials and local Council to demand extra protection from law enforcement officers especially during mass public gatherings on Fridays, Eid and Funeral prayers when our places of worship are at our their most vulnerable.
From an Islamic faith point of view these hardships that occur are tests for us, and in the face of them, we must be virtuously patient realising that these are temporary by the sheer reality that the world itself is temporary.
In the Holy Quran, Allah tells us this world, albeit a tremendous blessing, is a place of many tests and trials.
“ * And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and 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 * *Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy. And it is those who are the [rightly] guided*” (Holy Qur’an 2:155-157).
Again our heartfelt prayers go out to the victims of the New Zealand Mosque Attacks. It’s deeply concerning to see that racist Islamophobic rhetoric emboldened these white rightwing terrorists to commit this callous heinous crime, a calculated cold blooded attack upon innocent worshippers in a sacred religious place that should have been a safe space for all.
May God protect our places of worship, safeguard our worshipers and shield our communities from such barbaric callous terrorist attacks.
“On behalf of all of the Faithful Friends, we send our heartfelt condolences to all those affected by the terror attack in Christchurch, New Zealand. Though we may be on the other side of the world, we stand together with our brothers and sisters, and stand united in our commitment to peace and friendship.”
IMAN (Inclusive Muslim Action Network)
Representative organisation of Mosques and Muslim organisations in Sandwell.
Chair Ragih Muflihi
Spokesperson Imam Ghulam Rasool
