Victims of an attack at the Christchurch Mosque are buried at a mass burial | New Zealand

Christchurch, New Zealand – In the beginning, victims of last week's Christchurch mosque attacks went to their tombs by graves.

Starting Wednesday, the coroners slowly released the bodies of their parents wishing to say goodbye to their loved ones.

But Friday, soon after Muslim call to prayer sounded across New Zealand, followed by a moment of silencethe victims were put to rest in a mbad burial.

"We have never had such an incident in the history of New Zealand," a speaker told about 5,000 people in mourning, the equivalent of one tenth of the country & # 39;s total Muslim population, gathered in the late afternoon sun in Christchurch& # 39;s New park cemetery.

"We did not expect it, but it is not we who decide, it is [God] … [and] behind every decision of [God]there is wisdom, "said the speaker.

At least 50 Muslim worshipers were killed on March 15, while The Al Noor and Linwood Mosques in Christchurch have been targeted by a suspected white supremacist in what Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has marked a "terrorist" attack.

A total of 41 victims were buried in the city this week, 26 of whom were put to rest Friday, nine of whom were repatriated or taken elsewhere to New Zealand.

Mourners line route to serious

Inside the new park cemetery, the procession of the dead was relentless.

Community leaders who supervised the procedure announced the names of the victims in batches, allowing family members to gather the bodies under a temporary tent and transport them to a sprawling burial ground on the other side. from the cemetery.

Grieving people who wanted to be respectful ended up on an improvised communication path along the family path. Some shouted "Allahu Akbar" or "God is the greatest" while walking; others were crying silently.

Among the names cited in the clutch was Mucaad Ibrahim, aged three, the youngest victim of the attack.

His uncle, Abdullah, said that the pain of putting his little nephew in the grave was unimaginable.

"It's very sad to say goodbye to the little boy and not to see him again," Abdullah told Al Jazeera. "He was new to this world."

Abdullah recalled how much Mucaad "loved" the Al Noor mosque, where he had been shot, and how he hoped his nephew would have grown up to become an imam.

"We are angry … but our boy today, God willing, is in heaven," said Abdullah, adding that he had been too frantic to help prepare Mucaad's body for # 39; burial.

Father and son buried

In the midst of the movement of bodies, crowds of dust were badped by those who filled the tombs with earth from nearby mounds, which themselves dominated the row of gaping holes in the earth.

Above them were still the loudspeakers set up across the burial place, which continued to resonate with the name after the death of the dead.

Father and son Naeem Rasheed, 51, and Talha Naeem, 21, were two of them.

Covered with a usual white shroud, born in Pakistan Talha was draped with Pakistani and New Zealand flags before the start. He was buried in the sand, like everyone else.

Others were transported to the grave with flowers or personal souvenirs.

"Forgiveness can bring hearts together"

Husna Ahmed, 45, was shot dead at Al Noor Mosque while trying to get other women out.

Her husband, Farid, told Al Jazeera that he He had "no hate" against the murderer of his wife, suspected of being Brenton Tarrant, of Australian descent, while Islam had taught him to be compbadionate.

In the minutes leading up to the mbadacre, Tarrant, 28, reportedly published a disjointed, racist, white supremacist online manifesto that called for "violence" against immigrants.

"He is my human brother and he has made a mistake and I pray that he will learn [from that]"Said Farid.

"Forgiveness can bring hearts together, not retribution."

"Islamophobia kills"

Earlier Friday, Imam Gamal Fouda, head of prayer at Al Noor Mosque and present during last week's attack, told people in mourning in Christchurch that he "saw hate and rage in the eyes of terrorist "who allegedly perpetrated the shooting in mbad.

In a speech to thousands of people gathered near the mosque for Friday prayers, Fouda warned: "Islamophobia kills ".

"We call on governments around the world, including New Zealand and neighboring countries, to put an end to hate speech and the politics of fear," said Fouda.

"The martyrdom of 50 people and the injury of 42 people did not come overnight, it is the result of the anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim rhetoric of some political leaders, news agencies and others", he added.

"Muslims have already felt the pain, killed Canadians and were used against us in Norway and against innocent people in the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries around the world."

Friday, the Muslim community of Christchurch felt this intense pain one more time.

Shortly after collecting the last bodies, around 6 pm, a small crowd of men gathered in a corner of the cemetery to pray while the sun was setting to the east.

One of them wore a New Zealand flag, draped over his shoulders and the top of his thobe.

Beside him, his companions of prayer knelt a few meters from a pile of empty and discarded coffins that, a few minutes before, were home to so many of their friends and relatives on their last trip to the grave. . Each unique and yet identical.