Widows of Shuhada

• Seeking Closure with Sentencing

  With the sentencing of the gunman is due to start in Christchurch, Widows of Shuhada's writer and producer, Lana Hart, catches up with some of the widows.We talk to some of the widows of the Christchurch mosque attacks of 2019. The sentencing of the gunman is due to start in Christchurch next week. Widows of Shuhada's writer and producer, Lana Hart, catches up with some of the widows as the sentencing date draws near.The gunman of the Christchurch mosque attacks will finally be held to account in his sentencing hearing beginning in Christchurch on 24 August -- nearly a year and a half after the massacre that killed 51 and injured dozens more.Dr Hamimah Tuyan is coming back to Christchurch from Singapore for the sentencing of the man who killed her husband, Zekeriya, while he and 50 other Muslims knelt in prayer on 15 March 2019.Tuyan will read out her victim impact statement, pleading with the judge that "he deserves to be there (in prison) for a long, long time till his last breath, because he doesn't deserve to be given a second chance to be part of the wider society who's been loving, who's been compassionate."The murderer will be in the courtroom too."Will I be angry at him?" asks Tuyan. "I don't think I will. Because I think I'm past that. I just keep thinking about how his mom would feel- I'm a mum too.I feel sorry, in a way, for him and people who support him. What is it that they have not had or found in them, that they have to resort to this sort of ideology or this sort of action or support this man? ... I pity him."Muhubo Ali Jama, who lost her husband Shiekh Musa in the attacks, says "He already did the damage he's done. And we can't do anything about it."Even now, Jama says that she can't watch the news when they mention the massacre. "Every time they talk about it in the news, I worry... it makes me anxious again."New Zealand's national futsal team's goalkeeper, Atta Ellayan, also died in the tragedy. His widow, Farah Talal, now lives in Jordan with her family and their young daughter, Aya. Talal and her family will be watching the sentencing via video link and her recorded victim impact statement will be played in the courtroom.While it was difficult to write and then record the statement, she says, she thinks it will be worth the effort. "We all I think need a closure from all of us - the New Zealanders too. Whether it was affected families or everyone because it affected us all in one way or another."Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

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  14:31
• The Closing Chapter

  A year has passed since the massacre. The widows reflect on the gunman, making this podcast series, and starting a new chapter of their vastly-different lives.March 16, 2020. A full year has passed since a gunman walked into two Christchurch mosques, killing 51 people.For the past several months four women who were left widowed by the attacks, have allowed us to walk alongside them as they grieve, welcome new life, and begin to build vastly different futures to the ones they had imagined.Three of the widows and their supporters gathered with the podcast team on March 16, 2020. The lunch was held to thank the women for allowing us into their lives for the Widows of Shuhada series. They had hoped to discuss the commemoration service, but that was cancelled due to coronavirus fears. Instead, the women spent March 15 in quiet reflection.Farah Talal, who is currently based in Jordan with her daughter Aya, has taken comfort from passages in the Quran which talk about 'The Book'."Ever since March, I've really understood what these verses meant and how our lives are actually a book and it's basically chapters and how one chapter's closed another is opened," she said."Some people leave and their part in this chapter ends and other people enter your life. And the way you live your life is the way you write it."Hamimah Tuyan was reluctant to take part in the Widows of Shuhada podcast series, but felt she needed to use the platform she was being offered to fight ignorance and fear."We should live stream how happy we are to these people ," said Hamimah, "If they're trying to put fear into our hearts they have just done the opposite. We're going to move on, but they're still stuck in their dark worlds."Hamimah said if people have questions about Islam they should talk to a real person, a Muslim, and educate themselves.Much has changed for Sanjida Neha Jaman since March 15, 2019. She became a widow and a mother. She now has her own house and her mother and brother have arrived from Bangladesh to support her. Neha recognises how good her life is, but she's sad because her husband is not here to share it." I want to go to trial, cause I want to see this man who killed my husband, who killed Noor's father, who killed Farouk's dream. But now... I'm thinking is that good for me or bad?," she said…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

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  43:11
• Time

  The widows consider whether time has shifted their feelings. Neha shares in English for the first time, Hamimah reflects on her relationship with God, and Muhubo visits Sheikh Muse's grave.It's February 2020. A month shy of the anniversary of the March 15, 2019, Christchurch mosque shootings.Four women whose husbands were made martyrs (shuhada) have traveled a long and difficult path since that terrible day.As New Zealand prepares to commemorate their husbands and the 47 other victims, the women reflect on the past year.Muhubo visits Sheikh Muse's grave in Memorial Park Cemetery, Christchurch, where 41 of the 51 martyrs of the March 15 attacks are buried. Some Muslims prefer not to have headstones to mark grave sites. Muhubo has asked for Sheikh Muse's headstone, which was laid by mistake, to be removed.Neha's mother and brother have arrived from Bangladesh, bringing close family members and more support to Neha and Noor, now 6 months old.Neha now has time to study English outside the home. She says she wants to get a job to give her baby "a good life and a good future."Al Noor Mosque after Ṣalāh al-Maghrib (sunset prayer), Christchurch, New Zealand.Since Zekeriya's death, Hamimah has stepped in to continue leading "righteous children with a strong moral compass, who would live up to the dreams that their father had for them."Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

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  38:33
• The Plan

  In Islam, Allah is the Great Planner. The widows submit to his plan, even though it can be painful and confusing. We deep dive into Muhubo's past. Neha's family arrives from Bangladesh.Allah is often called 'The Great Planner' and even terrible events like the Christchurch mosque attacks are considered to happen for a reason.In episode six, as we near the end of our journey with four of the widows of shuhada, the women reflect on how their beliefs have helped their healing journey.Some Muslim women like Muhubo prefer not to have their faces photographed. In a rare gesture, Muhubo has shared a wedding photo from the day she married Sheikh Muse in Christchurch in 2003.Muhubo's parents paid officials, militia, and others with the gold from their jewellery shop in Mogadishu, Somalia, buying their way to a safe exit from what was becoming in the late 1980s one of the most dangerous places in the world.Asha, Muhubo and her mother Amina in Muhubo's new Housing New Zealand home that is large enough for the six adults in her family. Since moving out of their overcrowded house, Muhubo is happier and her health is improving.Muhubo finally has her own room that is quiet and private. Since her husband died and she moved in with her family, all of her belongings have been in one bag.After months of being without family as a new mother and trying to realise her husband's dream of raising their daughter in New Zealand, Neha now has her closest family members with them. Neha's mother, Shafia Begum, and younger brother Faysal have arrived from Bangladesh.Farah sometimes misses Atta the most when she takes their daughter Aya to the playground where other families play together.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

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  41:08
• Khadija

  The women explore Islamic gender issues as they navigate their new lives without their husbands. Neha and baby Noor move to a place of their own, and Muhubo gets some important news.Apart from the grief and loss the Widows of Shuhada feel, they're also grappling with more practical challenges of life without their husbands.In this episode, the women discuss the gender roles within Islam and how that's impacting their healing journey.It has been two years since Neha and Omar Faruk were married in Bangladesh. For her it is almost unbearable to re-visit what looked like an incredible day.After receiving permanent residency for herself and baby Noor, Neha has moved to a place of their own.Atta, Farah, and Aya, just before Atta's death. Farah says "I think what made our relationship very special is that we were never competing against each other - we were trying to complete each other and if you achieve that, you will achieve a happy family." Zekeriya and Hamimah on their wedding day in 2008. Hamimah says, "We've lost our imam, our leader, our entertainer, our very very handyman, our favourite chef."Hamimah's two sons help out with the chores in their Singapore apartment. Hamimah laughs at herself that she still speaks about Zekeriya in the present tense, saying, "He cooks, I clean the dishes. If I cook, he automatically cleans the dishes. He puts the clothes in the laundry, I'll hang it up to dry. He takes it down, I'll fold it up. You know? So, we are a tag team."Asha, Interpreter Qaali Mohammed, and Muhubo. Some people think that wearing a hijab is a symbol of women's oppression, but Muslim women say they cover their head and neck out of respect for their Creator and themselves.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

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