Husna’s Story
Author: Farid Ahmed
Publisher: Allen & Unwin, 2020, 320 pages.
Reviewer: Garth Cant
The book contains talanoa, stories of journeys and arrivals, calm, measured accounts of life-destroying events, the story of a courtship and a marriage, and crisp, clear, theology. Most of all, it is Farid’s affirmation and a celebration of Husna’s life, and the lesson that she taught him. It is a lesson of deep personal importance for Farid and a lesson for all humanity.
Two events are linked: one on a Monday in 1998, and one on a Friday in 2019.
On a Monday in 1998, Farid, waiting on a pedestrian-safe place, was taken out by a drunken driver. There was emergency surgery in Nelson, air-evacuation to Christchurch, more surgeries, and months of wheelchair rehabilitation in Burwood Hospital. Husna was with him every day, praying for him and praying with him. She taught him a life-changing lesson, the lesson of forgiveness. The drunken driver was totally wrong but anger and non-forgiveness were counter-productive.
On Friday 15 March 2019 Farid and Husna were a little late for prayers in Al Noor Mosque. Farid went into the overflow room and Husna joined the women and children. When the gunman arrived and began shooting, Husna helped the women and children out the side door to safety. She went back to look for Farid among the killed and wounded. The gunman was still there and Husna was shot and killed.
Their teenage daughter, Shifa, and Farid, like so many members of the mosque community, were devastated by the shooting. But Husna’s lesson on forgiveness had taken root. There was national solidarity in the Hagley Park memorial event where Jacinda Ardern, Iman Gamal, Farid Ahmed and Leanne Dalziel stood together. The Christchurch message was shared with the world: “We are one.”
Different parts of the book will trigger very different emotions with readers. For those who want to know what happened within Al Noor Mosque on that Friday, Part III tells it in measured words. You can read them, or go directly to Part IV. Both are good choices.