RNZ: Widows of Shuhada

We talk to some of the widows of the Christchurch mosque attacks of 2019.The sentencing of the gunman is due to start in Christchurch next week. Widows of Shuhada’s writer and producer, Lana Hart, catches up with some of the widows as the sentencing date draws near.

As the first anniversary of their husbands’ deaths passes quietly, the widows share what they hope can be learned from the attacks. Hamimah challenges us to make a better world and we hear why the widows participated in the Widows of Shuhada project.

As the anniversary approaches, the widows consider whether time – or something else – has shifted their feelings. Neha shares in English for the first time, Hamimah reflects on her relationship with God, and Muhubo visits Sheikh Muse’s grave.

In Islam, Allah is the Great Planner. The widows in their own ways submit to his plan, even though it can be painful and confusing. We take a deep dive into Muhubo's past. Neha's family arrives from Bangladesh and suddenly, things change.

The women explore Islamic gender issues as they navigate their new lives without their husbands. Neha and baby Noor move to a place of their own, and Muhubo gets some important news.

United by their faith and loss, three of the four widows come together for the first time to share their grief, hopes and feedback on New Zealand's response to the tragedy. Muhubo breaks her silence and begins to talk about that day.

Hamimah gets upfront and personal as she shares the experience of the gruelling weeks after the attacks and before her husband dies - time for which she is grateful. Neha has some news that will shape the rest of her and Noor's lives.

The widows take us back to March 15th. Farah heads for the hospital, while Hamimah and Neha learn about the attacks from overseas. Muhubo hears the entire massacre from the women's area of Al-Noor.

We meet our four widows of shuhada - Farah, Neha, Muhubo and Hamimah - and learn about their marriages, their challenges, and how they are dealing with their grief six months after the attacks.

On March 15 2019, dozens of women hovered in the female section of Christchurch's Al-Noor Mosque, as their time of worship became a time of terror, shocking the nation to its core. Widows of Shuhada is an 8-part podcast documentary series featuring four of the women left widowed by the attacks.