LONDON: It was just after our final salam after the terawikh prayers at Malaysia Hall that a friend glanced at her mobile phone and saw the dreaded news.
At a time when most Muslims were performing their prayers, scoring extra points, so to speak in this blessed month of Ramadan, the three alleged attackers were doing it in the most un-Islamic way by killing seven people and injuring almost 50 when they rammed their white van into a group of pedestrians along London Bridge and later stabbing people in Borough Market, nearby.
It wouldn’t be wrong to even assume that these so-called Muslims, who were reported to have said “This is for Islam,” as they stabbed their victims, must have rushed through their iftar at 21.14pm London time or even had time to perform any prayers before embarking on their dastardly mission at 21.58pm to be exact.
All these while Manchester was still reeling from what is now categorised as a terrorist attack when a suicide bomber killed 22 people and injured scores others at a concert on May 22.
This is London’s second attack this year. It is too eerie to think that it was exactly two months ago that a man rammed into a crowd of pedestrians along Westminster Bridge and later ran towards the Palace of Westminster carrying a knife and stabbed to death a policeman on duty.
On the Westminster Bridge following the attack were scores of members of Muslim organisations, condemning the attack and telling the world that such cowardly acts were not done in the name of Islam.
I was pretty sure that I had seen Zishad Ahmad, a young Imam for the Ahmadiyah Muslim community in south west London at gatherings on the Westminster Bridge and during the vigil in Trafalgar Square last March.
I caught up with him again yesterday in Southwark where journalists had gathered and asked how effective has his motto of “Love for all and hatred for none” been in light of the recent attacks purportedly done by Muslims.
“I believe that we have been able to spread the true message of Islam which is love and peace,” said Ahmad confidently, adding that they will continue to spread the message of Islam by opening their mosques to non-Muslims.
“This way, they can see how we pray, what we do. We are a part of the society that we reside in. We are ready to sacrifice our wealth and time for this country,” he added.
Indeed, after this latest barbaric incident, they were reports of Muslim taxi drivers offering free rides after the attack and a Visit My Mosque Day to ‘demystify’ them. The Muslim community was quick to distance themselves from attacks made in the name of their religion.
For Hui Chii Fen, a Malaysian working as a consultant in London, the campaign to turn to love is her response to these acts of violence and terrorism. The posters that she and her fellow volunteers posted on lamp posts and walls also cried out “ISIS WILL LOSE”. The so-called Islamic State group has since claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Chii Fen became a volunteer after the Brussels attacks last year. A man, Mohamed El Bachir, grieving for his wife Loubna who was killed in the attack, had made an emotional appeal in a video clip calling for a Jihad for Love or JihadDAmour. This video had successfully garnered a lot of support for his cause and had been watched over 12 million times.
“The main message that we want to put across in these very sad times is that, our response to these attacks should be unity rather than hatred and aggravation,” she added.
Chii Fen was recently in Manchester following the Manchester attacks, with fellow volunteers and held a vigil in Trafalgar Square in memory of those killed there.
About the recent attacks in London, Chii Fen said, “When I heard, I was shocked and didn’t want to believe it was a terrorist attack but a car accident. Unfortunately, it was not. It was shocking, but then again, from there we want to respond with love and a positive message.
What inspired us to do this was, we were in touch with a lot of people who had survived terrorism attacks, lost people to terrorism and their message was one of love and ‘you will not have our hatred’.