Four women whose husbands were made martyrs (shuhada) - in the Christchurch mosque attacks of March 15, 2019, have allowed us into their lives as they come to terms with their new reality - as Widows of Shuhada
It's early September, 2019 as we meet Sanjida Jaman Neha, Mahuba Ali Jaman, Farah Talal and Hamimah Tuyan
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Photo: Photo / Janneth Gil
Flowers and fear surrounded Al-Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand after 51 people were killed here and at Linwood mosque on 15 March, 2019.
Photo: Photo / Janneth Gil
Dr Hamimah Tuyan lost her husband Zekeriya, the 51st victim to die from the attacks. She now lives in Singapore with her two young sons.
Photo: Photo / Janneth Gil
Atta Elayyan is survived by his two-year-old daughter, Aya, and wife Farah Talal, who says "I feel like I became homeless and he used to be my home."
Photo: Photo / Janneth Gil
The gunman struck during Friday prayers, the busiest time of the week for the mosque. Because they died while praying, the 51 dead are known as martrys, or shuhada, and are promised eternal life in heaven and to meet Allah.
Photo: Photo / Janneth Gil
Originally from Somalia, Muhubo Ali Jama lost her husband of 25 years, Sheikh Muse Nur Awale. Preferring for her face not to be photographed, Muhubo talks with her friend Siman Omar, the mother of Widows of Shuhada's presenter, Asha Abdi.
Photo: Photo / Janneth Gil
Once in New Zealand, Sanjida Jaman Neha had to sort through her husband Mohammad Omar Faruk's possessions. Here she discovered an exercise book where he wrote about his thoughts, his love for her and his dream to settle their family in New Zealand.
Photo: Photo / Janneth Gil
Neha was four months pregnant when Omar died. Their daughter Noor-e-Omar was born five months later, the only child born of a martryr since the attacks. Her name means "the light of Omar" and signifies the place where her father was killed, Al-Noor mosque.
Photo: Photo / Janneth Gil
In the months after the attacks, Neha couldnt accept the King of Saudi Arabias invitation to attend hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage, since she was close to giving birth. Some of the other 200 Muslims that did attend brought Neha holy water from the Well of Zamzam, believed to be miraculously created and a gift from God.
Telling her story is tough for Hamimah. "It's hard for me to say the word 'killed' but he was shot and killed and we hope that then gives him the title of the martyr, the shuhada." Photo: Photo / Janneth Gil
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Widows of Shuhada is Produced by Community Access Radio Plains FM for RNZ and follows four Muslim women widowed by the Christchurch mosque attacks who share their journeys through grief and take steps towards a different life.
| Twitter: @plainsfm |
Photo: RNZ/NZ On Air
