Christchurch terror attack

Welcome, brother:

Al Noor, in Arabic, means ‘‘the light’’. Everything about the mosque in Christchurch’s Deans Ave was a monument to its name; the white walls, the immense golden dome and the green carpet, now stained red.

Until its door was darkened by a white supremacist intent on terror, the prominent mosque at 101 Deans Ave – which loomed above bungalows and modern townhouses on the edge of Hagley Park – regularly opened its doors to visitors, including schoolchildren, tertiary students, and the media.

Every year, the Masjid Al Noor (as the mosque is formally called) would host a free barbecue during Islam awareness week, for interested members of the wider community.

Leaders of the mosque welcomed questions and gave presentations to community groups to enhance the visibility of the small but dedicated Muslim community.

There was little proselytising; the mosque, as its name implied, was a light that drew those who found it.

The final words of Haji Daoud Nabi, a 71-year-old worshipping at Masjid Al Noor on Friday, were ‘‘Hello, brother. Welcome’’ – directed at the man alleged to have killed him.

‘‘They’ve always been apolitical,’’ said Abdullah Drury, a Muslim historian, about the Muslim community

‘‘It’s always been a low-key, quiet community.’’ Muslim historian Abdullah Drury

Haji Daoud Nabi: His final words welcomed the gunman to the mosque.

Zulfirman Syah, left, with his 2-year-old son, Averroes, and his wife, Alta Sacra. Syah shielded his son from the bullets in the Linwood mosque attack on Friday. He is in hospital with serious injuries.