“We stand together,” said Minister of Education and Integration Jan Tore Sanner (H) to Norwegian Muslims during the Friday prayer in Oslo’s largest mosque.
One week after the terrorist attack on New Zealand that took 50 lives, a memorial mark was held in Oslo’s largest mosque, Central Jamaat-e Ahl-e Sunnat in Greenland.
Among the attendees were right-wing politicians Jan Tore Sanner, Pia Farstad von Hall and Eirik Lae Solberg.
They showed sympathy to the victims, their relatives – and their fellow believers in Oslo.
“We see it so often after attacks like this. That believers and non-believers come together in peace. To show solidarity and fellowship with each other,” Sanner said in his speech to the congregation.
Together against hatred
The terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch in New Zealand occurred while children, women and men prayed a week ago.
Friday, March 22, the whole of New Zealand was gathered in the grief during Friday’s prayer. The nation stood still when two minutes of silence for the victims was broadcast.
During the Friday prayer in Oslo, the minister pointed out that solidarity and community should not need an order. And that he wished the mosque visit had taken place without the terrorist attack.
“The attack in Christchurch was an attack on a Friday prayer – like this one. I understand if anyone gets scared. But rather than fear, the attack must give us the strength to fight extremism in every form,” Sanner said.
Pia Farstad von Hall
As the practice suggests, in the Central Jamaat-e Ahl-e Sunnat the mosque has a separate prayer room for women. However, a member of the Right Women’s Forum, Pia Farstad von Hall, participated in the main room reserved for men.
With her hair covered, she held a speech where she spoke of one of the female victims: a 44-year-old Hosne Ahmed who died when she was looking for her husband in the Al Noor mosque.
“We all can understand our minds and thoughts when an innocent woman like Hosne Ahmed is brutally killed. Her story reminds us all to continue fighting terror. Hosne Ahmed left a 14-year-old daughter. Her husband survived. They must live with grief, despair and loss of their mother and spouse, whom we all feel strongly about.”
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
