Vaughan Muslims show solidarity after New Zealand mosque shootings
'Unless the hatred in our hearts is eliminated, this would continue'
Yorkregion.com
March 18, 2019
Dina Al-Shibeeb
The imam leading Friday prayers at Baitul Islam Mosque in Vaughan has condemned the “utter cruelty” of the shootings of Muslim worshipers in New Zealand that left 49 dead and at least 40 others injured Friday.
Lal Khan Malik, national president of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at Canada, was leading the Friday prayers for throngs of worshipers filling the mosque. Soon after finishing the Friday prayers, the worshipers performed the janazah or funeral prayer for the victims.
Malik expressed his disbelief of how the gunman, 28-year-old Brenton Tarrant, who is now charged with killing 49 people, streamed footage live on social media before and during the massacre.
“[His] hatred was so deep, not only he was committing that crime, he wanted to share his pride with the whole world that what he was doing was right,” Malik said.
Tarrant, a personal trainer born in Australia, had has rifle covered in white-supremacist graffiti. New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described the “extremist, right-wing, violent terrorist” attack targeting two mosques in central Christchurch during Friday prayers as “an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence.”
“Such a heinous and utterly inhumane attack must be condemned with the strongest possible terms,” Malik said. “It’s a tragedy that Muslims have lost their lives while joining together in worship.”
When asked about any security measures the mosque should take, Malik said “we can only take this to such distance.”
“Unless the hatred in our hearts is eliminated, this would continue,” he said. “People would find ways to break security, find ways to commit their crime whatever precaution we take. The real solution lies in changing hatred with love.”
From his side, Safwan Choudhry, a spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at in Canada, said, “The Ahmadiyya community is deeply shocked and horrified. We condemn these attacks to the strongest possible terms.”
Choudhry said any hate group, be it white supremacists or not, their ideology is “simply to divide people,” warning that hate crimes are on the rise.
“We want to send a clear message to those people, if you look around at this mosque, today is Friday, the holiest of the week [for Muslims], but people are still coming in defiance. This mosque will be filled up full just like it is in any Friday,” he said.
According to Choudhry, the Ahmadiya Muslim community is one of “the largest in Canada with mosques in every major city, from Newfoundland to British Columbia.” The mosque, Baitul Islam, is also run by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ) in Canada.
Deb Schulte, an MP for King-Vaughan, was at the mosque to show her solidarity with the community.
When asked about challenges she could face as a politician representing a multicultural riding, she said it all boils down to learning what “motivates these people to be extremists and dwell in so much hate.”
“We can’t just keep pushing this under the rug. It is becoming a problem in Canada as well as other places in the world and we need to address it,” she said.
Schulte also said open dialogue and conversations between Canadians hailing from different backgrounds is important. She praised one initiative by the Ahamadiya community in Vaughan when they invited people for dinner.
“I had the pleasure of bringing a senior to one of their homes, she was an Italian, Roman Catholic senior. She was stunned with how much similarity there is between the religions,” she said. “She had all these images through media and what people say, which had no relation to the truth. So her world was opened up.”
The parliamentarian said that Canada needs to “keep opening up these conversations, so people can see that there is nothing to fear.”
For those who have questions and are curious, the mosque is open to the public, Choudhry said.
“We invite anyone and everyone to come and see what happens in a mosque. Come and talk to us.”
