Fodia Tamur, JAKARTA
NEWZEALAND
How do we defend against the contagion of ethnic hatred that has resurfaced? No, not just defend against, but eradicate. How do we create a moral climate so inhospitable to this toxic organism that it gasps, starves, and retreats to its subterranean darkness?
We know the antidote. Aroha. Love. An outpouring of which has drenched the country in the days since the shooting, like the late-summer rain that falls as I write. “You are welcome here.” “You are us.”
Around the country, the mosques are reopening. Non-Muslims, many of them members of Christian congregations, are in attendance, laying flowers, joining in prayer, forming cordons and honor guards to symbolize their desire to protect their fellow worshipers from harm. This is what aroha in Aotearoa looks like today.
It is impossible not to feel hopeful. It is impossible not to feel proud of our headscarf-wearing prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, urging us to walk with our Muslim brothers and sisters through their grief. Summoning our better angels. Reminding us that there is no “other” here. They are us.
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TRUTH WILL ALWAYS BE TRUTH,
regardless of lack of understanding,
disbelief or ignorance.
Har Lehza Hai Moomin Ki Nayee Shaan Nayee Aaan;
Guftar Mein Kirdaar Mein Allah Ki Burhaan.
Qahhari-o-Ghaffari-o-Quddusi-o-Jabrood;
Yeh Chaar Anasir Ho Tho Banta Hai Musalmaan.