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The True Islam NZ Meet a Muslim campaign stopped in Timaru on Monday, from left, Harris Ahmed, Rafay Basharat and Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Imam Mustenser Qamar.
A woman who heard deadly gunshots during the Christchurch mosque terror attack wanted to meet Muslims when they visited Timaru exactly two years later. Fifty-one worshippers were killed on March 15, 2019, at the city s Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre, when a gunman opened fire. Timaru woman Annie Montgomerie had been in Linwood on the day of the attacks, buying golf clubs when she was told to go home by police.
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Rafay Basharat, Waheed Ahmad and Mirza Sarfaraz with Imam Sabah Al-Zafar who were in Cambridge to answer any questions about the Islam religion or Muslim life. “When we stand in these towns, we want to set an example, show compassion. I brief my team not to talk back like that,” Al-Zafar said. “Those people have got misunderstandings and if we fire back with words, it won’t get us anywhere.” Al-Zafar said he let the man in Raglan know that Muslims believed in equal rights, whatever people’s sexual orientation was. “I said to him, you can’t be homophobic and demeaning of the LGBT+ community, don’t do that.