New Zealanders, some wearing hijabs, marched through Christchurch in a show of solidarity with Muslim citizens as the mosques affected in last week’s attack reopened.
With armed guards on the premises, the two mosques subject to the massacres that left 50 dead resumed their religious services on Saturday. Worshipers who survived the massacre were among the first to return to the mosques they’ve called home.
As the Al Noor mosque reopened, leaders allowed worshipers to enter the mosque in small groups. Among the worshipers was Aden Diriye, one of the survivors from last week’s shooting. Diriye, who lost his 3-year-old son, Mucad Ibrahim, in the attack, came returned to his house of worship surrounded by friends and family.
“I am very happy,” he said after praying. “Allah is great to us. I was back as soon as we rebuilt, to pray.”
Another shooting survivor, Ashif Shaikh, who lost two of his housemates in last week’s massacre, also returned to the mosque on Saturday. He says that worshipers cannot allow these kinds of tragedies deter them from actively engaging in their faith.
“It is the place where we pray, where we meet, we’ll be back, yeah,” he said.
On Saturday, thousands of people organized outside the mosques and marched through the city in solidarity with the worshipers and the community at large. Many participants, at what was dubbed the “March for Love,” carried handmade posters and signs reading “He wanted to divide us, he only made us stronger,” and “Muslims welcome, racists not.” Some participants wore hijabs in solidarity with the Muslim community.
Others adopted a different cultural expression of solidarity, singing a peace song in Maori, the native aboriginal language in New Zealand, and holding signs reading “Kia Kaha,” meaning “stay strong.”
On Friday, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern observed the call to prayer near the Al Noor mosque, the mosque most affected by the massacre.
In a surprising gesture for the largely Christian nation, Ardern gave remarks to a crowd gathered outside the mosque, some of which were in Arabic, while wearing a black hijab.
“According to Muslim faith, the Prophet Mohammed … The believers in their mutual kindness, compassion and sympathy are just like one body. When any part of the body suffers, the whole body feels pain. New Zealand mourns with you, we are one,” she said.
Local officials say that the mosques around New Zealand will continue to be heavily guarded by law enforcement for the time being.
