by SARWAR ALAM
“I WAKE up on a Friday morning with a different mindset to any other day of the week. It’s a day of peace and reflection spent in the worship of God.
“The prophet Muhammad said, ‘the best day in the sight of God is Friday, the day of congregation’.
“Congregational prayers, called jummah in Arabic, is a time when Muslims come together to worship in their local mosques. It is by far the busiest prayer, with thousands
of worshippers filling mosques; some even pray on the streets, outside the mosque.
“Last Friday’s (15) attack on two Christchurch mosques that left 50 Muslims dead and at least 50 wounded, stunned everyone, not only because of the cruel manner in which innocent lives were taken, but also because it happened during jummah prayers.
“Reports said when the gunman entered one of the mosques armed with a semi-automatic gun, he was greeted by a worshipper who said, ‘hello brother’, before he was shot and killed.
“Those words, ‘hello brother’, sum up what jummah prayers mean to Muslims. It’s the one time of the week when Muslims gather like a family and worship together.
“Even before arriving for jummah prayers last Friday at the East London Mosque (ELM), I could sense the shock of my community. The usually boisterous area of Shadwell, in Tower Hamlets, a predominantly Bangladeshi-Muslim community, was quiet.
“It was quite surreal watching people doing their weekly shopping at the local market in almost complete silence. Breaking the sombre atmosphere were hushed conversations here and there about what happened in New Zealand earlier that morning.
“The scene inside the place of worship was not much different. Walking to the mosque for jummah is usually an enjoyable experience – a few hundred people going in the same direction at the same time, bumping into friends and families and catching-up.
“Last Friday, however, one could hear a pin drop. Everyone appeared to be deep in thought, oblivious to anyone around them. Most were thinking about the 50 men, women and children who made the same journey at the other end of the world a few hours earlier,
and who had lost their lives.
“Inside the mosque people talked quietly, about the Christchurch attacks. Most were trying to make sense of what had happened, others were left bewildered and in silence.
“I knew what the subject of the imam’s sermon would be, but waiting for him to begin speaking, I wondered how he would deliver his message. Tensions were high, the anger ran deep.
“Among the congregation were a lot of the younger generation – school and college students – not a usual occurrence on Fridays, unless it is school holidays. They had skipped school to be with their community at this difficult time. The teenagers hung on to every word the imam said. His message needed to be right.
“The ELM’s senior iman, Mohammed Mahmoud, was at north London’s Finsbury Park mosque in June 2017, when he shielded the attacker who drove a van into Muslims leaving the mosque after Ramadan prayers from the crowd.
“Last Friday, his message was one of peace – to pray for the Muslim lives lost and for their families. He asked those in attendance to accept that this was God’s decree and those people were now in a better place. Many in the congregation were in tears, finally letting
out the pain that they were holding on to.
“After the prayers ended, ELM hosted an event titled New Zealand attack – Solidarity meeting. Community leaders, London mayor Sadiq Khan, Tower Hamlets mayor John Biggs, Labour MP Rushanara Ali and the Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, came together at the mosque to present a message of unity.
“And like the man who welcomed the terrorist into the Al Noor Mosque with the words ‘hello
brother’, Mullally and Khan urged people to look at each other as brothers and sisters and to ‘embrace each other’s diversity and respect it’.
“Mullally said: ‘It is with some sadness that I stand in solidarity with you as we grieve our Muslim brothers and sisters who died in such awful circumstances in New Zealand. To be killed in prayer or on the way to worship is the epitome of evil. It is only right the people
of goodwill and faith speak out to condemn it. An attack on faith anywhere is an attack on faith everywhere. We will not tolerate religious hate. We stand for religious freedom. And I share my prayers with those who have suffered.’
“Khan added: ‘Brothers and sisters I greet you all with the greeting of peace, Assallamu Alaikum (peace be upon you). Christchurch is 11,000 miles away. We here feel the ripple of fear and sorrow that our brothers and sisters are experiencing in New Zealand.
‘Here in London we show the world that our diversity is our strength. The best act of solidarity of our brothers and sisters in New Zealand is to be proud of our diversity, embrace it and respect it.’”
