Muslim Parents Mourn.

Bismi'llah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim...for the sake of Prophet Muhammad saws and Sheikh Nazim may Allah protect his secret.

Press Statement: From the family of Shahara Islam(Murder victim July '05)

Ladies and gentleman,"We are all from God and to Him we must all return." (Qur'an, 2:157)Today our dear daughter, cause of our joy and light of our eyes – ourShahara is returning to her Lord – an innocent and blood-stainedmartyr. She was an Eastender, a Londoner and British, but above all –a true Muslim and proud to be so.She was a simple girl, from a simple family who led a simple life.Unfortunately she was at the wrong place at the wrong time on thatunfortunate day.The flame of her life has been cruelly extinguished from thisbeautiful young woman in her prime, who had the whole world ahead ofher. We are not finding it easy to come to terms to our immeasurableloss, our sorrow, our grief. It has been a painful week, not only forus, but for all those fellow Londoners who, like us, suffered similarloss of their dear ones, today our thoughts is with them all.Yet, true to the teaching of Islam we face this calamity with dignityand patience, consoled by the Prophetic assurance that `Allahcompensates innocent victims with greater and nobler rewards'.We take this opportunity to declare in no uncertain terms that Islamstands for the triumph of the humanity, peace and goodwill and utterlyrejects mindless violence. If our supreme sacrifice results in unityand understanding in our society, it indeed will be a great reward.May we also express our thanks and gratitude to all those fellowcitizens, family and friends who have overwhelmed us with sincerecondolences – we are deeply touched and comforted by them at this mostdifficult time. We are grateful also to our community, the police andour Mosque here in East London for providing us with timely andvaluable support.Finally, we will request, very humbly, that our friends in the mediarespect Sahara's dignity as a Muslim women and refrain from endlessinquiry and analysis, some of which has already been found hopelesslyinaccurate.We would now wish to be allowed the space and the opportunity to mournour loss without any further intrusion into the family's privacy.According to Islamic tradition, Shahara Islam will be laid to restreciting the following Qur'anic prayer:"From the [earth] did We create you, and to it shall you be returned.And from it [earth] you will be raised once again." (Qur'an, 20:55)Thank you14:15 – 15 July, 2005http://www.islamicforumeurope.com/live/ife.php?doc=articleitem&itemId=252