Family friendly version of events

Imam Ahmed Ghoneim

It's the heart-warming story of an overly protective father shielding his young child from the horror that unfolded in Christchurch last week.

'What is happening?” asked the little girl. 'Why did you go to the Mosque and not come back?”

It is the usual weekend practice for Tauranga Imam Ahmed Ghoneim - to go to the Mosque and pray, then return home before going back to pray again.

But last weekend, events in Christchurch kept the Imam at the Mosque. 'The phone was going endlessly,” he says. 'It was very busy. There were lots of people for prayer and others coming to visit and pay respects.”

But the little girl insisted. Why did her father go the Mosque and not come home? She wanted to know.

The Imam struggles to tell the story to The Weekend Sun. He's fidgeting, and there's a long quiet. The tears well before he gathers himself.

'I explained it was because we caught a thief,” he says. 'She asked if it was bad thief, and I said ‘yes, a very bad thief'.

'Then she asked if the thief had stolen anything from the Mosque. I told her ‘yes, the thief managed to steal many things'.”

The little girl then told her father that she hoped the thief doesn't come back. 'And I said yes, I too hope the thief doesn't come back.”

A little girl was reassured.

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