RIYADH: “My father lived a full life. It was a good life,” Feras Al-Harbi told Arab News.
Saudi national Mohsin Al-Harbi lived in New Zealand for 25 years. He worked in water desalination.
He was a good man, a devout Muslim who was also a part-time imam at one of the mosques where the terrorist attack took place, said Feras.
He would sometimes give the Friday sermon, but not on the day of the horrific attacks that killed 49 people and injured dozens.
Feras said he had learned of his father’s injuries after the shooting. “Eight hours later he passed away. We accept his destiny and Allah’s will. I’m grateful and thankful to Allah in all situations and circumstances.”
A photo of Mohsin on a stretcher circulated on social media after the shooting. He was pictured lying down, with his finger pointing to the sky.
Jordan’s media reported his brother-in-law Bader Dukhan’s comments after the shooting.
“The Foreign Ministry called me and informed me that I must come to the hospital to identify my brother-in-law’s remains,” the media reported Dukhan as saying. “I found out then what happened with my sister (Mohsin’s wife). She’s in a critical condition at the moment after her heart attack.”
Amid the chaos, Mohsin’s wife Manal had searched for her husband in the mosque where earlier there had been hundreds of worshippers. The carpet was drenched in blood. There were bodies on the floor. It was too much and she collapsed.
Bader said that New Zealand authorities had contacted Jordan’s Foreign Ministry to help their mother and brother be by her side.
Many witnessed Mohsin’s kindness, including student Moshari Sa’ad. “Last January, I visited the mosque in southern New Zealand. It is considered one of the most important mosques there with the vast social activities it holds,” he wrote on social media.
“One day, at 10 a.m. in the middle of the week, I found Uncle Mohsin with his sleeves rolled up and in sweatpants sweeping the mosque himself. He smiled and welcomed me warmly.”
Feras expressed his gratitude to the Saudi leadership for embracing them at such a desperate time. “I want to thank King Salman for his support and Prince Faisal bin Salman, governor of Al-Madina, for his assistance and swiftness in helping us to return our father’s body and bury him in Al-Baqi (a cemetery in Madinah).”
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called the mosque shooting an unprecedented act of violence, a terrorist attack and “one of New Zealand’s darkest days.”
The brutal premeditated massacre claimed the lives of 49 Muslims including “Uncle Mohsin,” who devoted his life to his community, religion and family.
