Shooting in Christchurch: Father and son participate in the funeral of the first victims

A Syrian father and son were buried in New Zealand, the first funeral of the 50 victims of the shooting in the mosque last week.

Khaled Mustafa, 44, and Hamza, 16, came as refugees to New Zealand last year.

Six burials took place on Wednesday. Police hope to soon release the bodies of all those killed in the two mosques in Christchurch.

Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, was charged with white supremacist murder.

Islamic tradition requires that bodies be buried as soon as possible, but funerals have been delayed by the scale of the identification process.

Hundreds of mourners gathered Wednesday in a cemetery near the Linwood Islamic Center in Christchurch, one of two places of worship targeted during last Friday's attacks.

The two buried victims were killed at Al-Noor Mosque.

Khaled leaves behind a woman and a young teenage son injured during the attack. Zaid Mustafa attended the funeral in a wheelchair.

"I should not be standing in front of you, I should be lying next to you," Zaid Mustafa said, according to witnesses cited by AFP.

Victims of the shooting in Christchurch

Fifty people were killed in the shooting at two mosques in the city.

All bodies to release

Police on Wednesday named six of the victims of the shooting and said all post mortem examinations were over.

Yet some families have expressed frustration with the delayed identification process.

Police Commissioner Mike Bush said the authorities had to prove the cause of death so that the courts could consider it a murder.

"You can not condemn for murder without this cause of death," he said. "It is therefore a very comprehensive process that must be carried out to the highest standards."

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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that there would be two minutes of silence Friday, the day of Muslim prayer, which will mark a week after the shooting.

The call to Islamic prayer will also be broadcast on Friday on national television and radio.

Muslim funeral rites

The rites vary from one area to another, but one of the common traits is that the deceased should not be cremated – and should be buried as soon as possible after the death, usually in the 24 hours.

However, community leaders say that if a person has not died of natural causes, a delay is acceptable.

Among the other rites performed as soon as possible after death – often in a few hours – is to wash the body and wrap it in clothing. The bodies of men are washed by men and women by women.

"We treat the body as if it were still alive," said Rehanna Ali, of the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand, at a press conference. "We clean it as we did it before praying because we believe that the soul in this body is about to embark on a journey to God, and that is a form of prayer. ;worship."

The body is wrapped in a simple white cloth not sewn to symbolize the fact that the person leaves behind all his material possessions.

Muslim funerals do not usually involve service or eulogy. Before the burial, formal prayers are said for the forgiveness of the dead.

Coffins are not used and porters rarely wear. Once in the cemetery, the body is lodged by members of the Muslim community and deposited near the sepulcher. Family members will descend the deceased into the ground with their heads turned to Mecca.

On Wednesday, Ms. Ardern went to Cashmere High School, where students Sayyad Milne and Hamza Mustafa, as well as former student Tariq Omar, were victims of the attack.

She asked students to help rid New Zealand of racism and reiterated her call to "never mention the name of the author … never remember him for what" 39 he did ".

New Zealanders surrender their weapons

Following a call from Ms. Ardern, some New Zealanders began handing over weapons.

John Hart, a farmer from Masterton District on the North Island, wrote on Twitter that he had delivered his semi-automatic rifle to the police for destruction.

His post has attracted a lot of support, but also a wave of abusive messages sent to his Facebook page by many gun owners, especially in the United States, where the pro-gun lobby is particularly powerful.

The New Zealand police said it still collected information on the number of weapons handed over, reported Radio New Zealand.

Mrs. Ardern announced Monday that the country's gun laws would be reformed as a result of the attack. The details of the plans are expected in a few days.

The country's hunting lobby said it was supporting reforms, calling for the ban on military-style semi-automatic weapons and high capacity magazines.