The leader of mosque responds to Auckland stabbing by a New Zealand man as the community pointed the incident to the Muslim community.
On Friday, at a supermarket in Auckland, New Zealand a man has been reported to stab some shoppers and was shot to death by the police.
This terror attack was reported to be done by an Islamic state-inspired extremist, and with the support of the Muslim community.
However, leaders of the Mosque targeted in Christchurch atrocity rallies says the terrorist attack is not from them. And they have no connection with such cruel incidents.
Prime minister Jacinda Ardern said “What happened today was despicable. It was hateful, it was wrong, it was carried out by an individual, not faith, not a culture, not an ethnicity, but an individual person who was gripped by an ideology that is not supported here by anyone or any community.”
Ardern added “We have it within our powers to ensure that the actions of an individual do not create a knock-on of hate, judgment and vitriol. I know, New Zealand you will be kind, Please wrap your arms around all of our victims – those of yesterday, and those of the past.”
In Response From The Muslim Community
The Muslim Association of Canterbury had raised more than $11,300 overnight after starting crowdfunding for victims of the attack on Friday afternoon.
“We are broken-hearted but we are not broken again,” said Imam Gamal Fouda, leader of Al Noor mosque, which was the site of the 15 March white supremacist attack that killed 51 worshippers.
“This terrorist is not from us and we are one against terror,” he said in a statement. “All terrorists are the same regardless of their ideology whether it is white nationalism or ISIS. They stand for hate and we all stand for peace and love.”
“The community is in shock,” said Sanjana Hattotuwa, a researcher studying links between violence, extremism and social media. “I don’t know how to put it to you. It’s appalling, it’s whatever mix of expletives that you want in whatever form you want, to express the kind of reaction that the community has around this kind of individual and this kind of action”
