The date 15 March 2019 feels as if it was yesterday. That day through someone’s cruelty, Allah accepted 51 martyrs from two mosques in Christchurch.
The holy mosques floors were coloured with pure and holy blood from peaceful Muslim worshippers. The entire world was shocked to see what hate could do.
On the other hand, the whole world witnessed how peaceful Muslims were. With terrible pain, victim families and other Muslims faced the violence with patience and in peace.
Most of our martyrs are buried in Christchurch Memorial Park Cemetery. It is a graveyard with exceptions. A graveyard in which a mass burial took place while the whole world watched.
A burial that brought out tears from people all around the globe. A burial that attracted prayers from Muslims all around the world.
It is a graveyard which will carry the story of massacre throughout the future until the doomsday. It is a graveyard with an extra-ordinary environment that chills the visitors when they notice lines of graves with names written on the headstones of the martyrs.
These are people, according to our faith, were most oppressed unfairly yet they achieved the highest status in the Paradise.
I love to visit this graveyard of martyrs where my beloved wife is one of them. Her grave as well as others pull me to go there, and to pray for all the souls from my heart and soul.
My visiting allows me to cry to the Merciful Allah for His Mercy. I find, it is not only me who loves to visit that graveyard, but so many others love to visit as well.
On Sunday 14 June, a group of Muslims decided to visit, to pay their respect, and to pray for the martyred and the rest of them buried in there. Fortunately, I was one of them.
Our visit also benefitted us because it reminded us about our own death. We were inspired by the teaching of Prophet Mohammad (s) to visit the grave for our benefit.
In a Hadith narrated by Abu Huraira (a), Prophet Mohammad (s) advised, “Visit the graves for it reminds about the death.” [Muslim]
That reminder helps me to focus on my mission in life, which is to work hard righteously in this world to enter paradise in the hereafter.
During our visit, we took the opportunity to greet the those in the graves with the Islamic greeting of peace, Salam as again, taught by Prohet Mohammad (s).
Buraida (r) narrated that Prophet Mohammad used to teach his companions during visit to the graveyard to say, “Peace (Salam) be upon you, O’ believers and Muslims! Insha Allah (Allah willing) surely, we are going to join you. We ask Allah to grant peace for us and for you.” [Muslim]
That word Salam is the message of Islam all the way through in this life and in next life. Even, in the paradise, the greeting will be Salam (peace).
Despite the shedding tears of love for those departed, we came back from the graveyard with peace in our hearts. It indeed was wonderful?
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