Widows of Shuhada | Episode 1: Four Widows

Four women whose husbands were made martyrs (shuhada) in the Christchurch mosque attacks of 15 March 2019 have allowed us into their lives as they come to terms with their new reality as widows of shuhada.

It's early September, 2019, as we meet Sanjida Jaman Neha, Mahuba Ali Jaman, Farah Talal, and Hamimah Tuyan.

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Flowers and fear surrounded Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, after 51 people were killed here and at Linwood Mosque on 15 March 2019.

Dr. Hamimah Tuyan lost her husband, Zekeriya, the 51st victim to die from the attacks. She now lives in Singapore with her two young sons.

Atta Elayyan is survived by his two-year-old daughter, Aya, and wife Farah Talal, who says, "I feel like I became homeless, and he used to be my home."

The gunman struck during Friday prayers, the busiest time of the week for the mosque. Because they died while praying, the 51 dead are known as martyrs, or shuhada, and are promised eternal life in heaven and to meet Allah.

Originally from Somalia, Muhubo Ali Jama lost her husband of 25 years, Sheikh Muse Nur Awale. Preferring for her face not to be photographed, Muhubo talks with her friend Simon Omar, the mother of Widows of Shuhada's presenter, Asha Abdi.

Once in New Zealand, Sanjida Jaman Neha had to sort through her husband Mohammad Omar Faruk's possessions. Here, she discovered an exercise book in which he wrote about his thoughts, his love for her, and his dream to settle their family in New Zealand.

Neha was four-months pregnant when Omar died. Their daughter, Noor-e-Omar, was born five months later, the only child born of a martyr since the attacks. Her name means "the light of Omar" and signifies the place where her father was killed: Al Noor Mosque.

In the months after the attacks, Neha couldn't accept the King of Saudi Arabia's invitation to attend hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage, since she was close to giving birth. Some of the other 200 Muslims who did attend brought Neha holy water from the Well of Zamram, believed to be miraculously created and a gift from God.

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Widows of Shuhada was produced by community access radio Plains FM for RNZ. It follows four Muslim women widowed by the Christchurch mosque attacks who share their journeys through grief and take steps towards a different life.

| Twitter: @plainsfm |