Following the deadly terrorist attack on March 15 at two mosques in New Zealand that left 50 people dead and dozens injured, a Penticton resident is attempting to cross religious divides to bring people together.

Husain Sattar, a Grade 12 student at Princess Margaret Secondary School, is Muslim and said he first learned of the attack just after Friday prayers at the local Islamic centre, located at the back of Sunrise Pharmacy in Penticton at 749 Main St.

Sattar is a very active member in the community, volunteering with the YES Project to bring a youth centre in Penticton, as well as numerous other extracurricular activities. At this time last year, he was in the U.S. protesting for gun control, which made this recent attack all the more sad.

“The timing is crazy. Like this time last year, I was in Spokane marching for gun control and now here we are one year later. I’ve been so involved in the gun control and gun reform movement, I wasn’t fazed (about the news of the attack) at first. I didn’t know what to say. But at first all I could think was, ‘Another shooting, another day, another week, another month’,” said Sattar.

“And then when more news started coming out about it, it started to hit. I cried when I saw the Maori people do a haka in New Zealand. It got me.

READ ALSO: Kelowna Muslim students hold vigil to support New Zealand victims

“It hit me all at once like, wow this actually happened. It was targeted. It was a hate crime. A child died, an innocent person who has no idea. It’s way bigger than what I imagined.”

Sattar said Friday is the day of the week a Muslim congregation gathers for prayer. It was during this act of worship the victims in New Zealand were attacked by a gunman.

“In our religion, it’s stated by Allah that we must come together on Friday to do our congregational prayer. So the men, women and children, and we have someone called an Imam, similar to a priest, who will recite a passage or bring up a life lesson,” said Sattar. “Like during fasting, they talk about resilience and giving and hope, being kind. So there’s always a bit of a topic, depending what’s going on in the world.”

Sattar met with the Penticton Muslim congregation for the first time since the attack on March 22, and he said beforehand he anticipated it would be an emotional gathering.

“We didn’t really know about it until after our prayers. We weren’t even sure if it was real or not,” said Sattar, in recalling the feeling of finding out about the terrorist attack. “So for this Friday (March 22), I think there’s definitely going to be tears. It’s going to be more quiet than it (normally) is. This is a moment where people will just want to listen.”

Sattar said he takes small comfort in knowing the shooter’s plan to desecrate their worship essentially backfired because of the timing of the attack. He said part of their prayers involve a “stillness” when you connect in silence with Allah.

“What I’m hearing from people in the Muslim community is that it’s called Shahada and it means to die in the moment of God. So those people, in our religion, are automatically in heaven—their sins are cleansed—because they died in their devotion to God,” said Sattar. “So a lot of people think that, even though it is so terrible, they died in that moment. It’s better than them dying during a sinful act. They died in that moment of meditation, they were peaceful.

“So in that moment with how violent and disgusting his actions were, (the shooter) didn’t get the response he wanted. Because those people died in the moment that I guess every Muslim could really dream for, to be with God in that one moment.”

READ ALSO: Australian senator blames Muslims for mosque attack, faces censure

Even though the attack happened on another continent, Sattar said its effect is global and it’s the perfect opportunity to come together.

“It’s something that we, as a country, can take and learn from. From my standpoint, it gives me a chance to give back,” said Sattar. “Right after I had that emotional moment I thought, ‘What can I do? What can I take from this moment, as a privileged Canadian living in this country?’ Because it’s not that hard for me to go out of my way.”

Sattar is helping to organize an open house March 23 at the Kelowna Islamic Centre from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. He said the mosque will be open for anyone to learn about Islam and to come and go freely. There will be a special prayer session around noon and the event is open to everyone regardless of race, religion, gender and sexuality.

Sattar said during times of tragedy, he finds comfort in words of hope. He said he is especially partial to the phrase by Harriet Ann Jacobs which says “there are no bonds so strong as those which are formed by suffering together.”

He said there is also a passage in the Qur’an he finds applicable, about Allah coming to help those in their lowest moments.

The verse comes from Al-Baqarah 2:186 in the Qur’an and Sattar said although the English translation is slightly different, the message is the same.

“And when my servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me—indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they be [rightly] guided,” Sattar recited.

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.