Friday, 15 March 2019, was a quiet autumn day in Christchurch, like any other — until it wasn’t.
At around 1.40pm, a lone gunman, live streaming his actions on social media, carried out the worst terror attack in New Zealand’s history, killing 51 people.
At the time, Imam Gamal Fouda had been leading Friday prayers inside Al Noor Mosque in Riccarton, a residential suburb in the city’s west, when the gunman approached. He was greeted at the door by grandfather Haji Daoud Nabi, who welcomed him saying “Hello brother”.
The gunman shot Nabi on the doorstep before making his way inside.
Imam Gamal Fouda says terrorist attack has left a huge scar on the Christchurch community. Source: Supplied / Gamal Fouda
Forty-three other people were killed at Al Noor Mosque that day, followed by seven at the nearby Linwood Islamic Centre. Eighty-nine others were injured. The shooter’s youngest victim was just three years old.
The gunman was eventually intercepted and arrested en route to a third mosque and later sentenced to life in prison.
The massacre sent shockwaves through New Zealand and around the world.
But despite the gravity and scale of the attacks, the response from New Zealand’s political and community leaders offered something surprising. Among them was Gamal Fouda.
Speaking with SBS News on the sixth anniversary of the massacre, Fouda reflects: “In the face of such horror, our response was not hatred. It was love.”
Responding to a terror attack
For the first time in New Zealand’s history, the terrorism threat level was raised from low to high.
Then-prime minister Jacinda Ardern was praised for her response and leadership in the weeks and months following the massacre.
She called it “an act of extreme and unprecedented violence” and offered “the strongest possible condemnation” of the ideology of the person behind it.
“You may have chosen us – but we utterly reject and condemn you,” she said at the time.
Ardern refused to name the person who carried out the terror attacks and urged New Zealanders to speak the victims’ names instead.
Imam Gamal Fouda with then New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern during her visit to Christchurch in September 2020. Source: AFP
During this time, Fouda also gained international attention for his response.
A week after the attacks, he delivered a moving address before thousands of people who had gathered in Hagley Park, across the road from the mosque.
“This terrorist sought to tear our country apart with an evil ideology,” he told the crowd.
But instead, we have shown that New Zealand is unbreakable. Hate will be undone, and love will redeem us.
Looking back, Fouda says he not only chose to respond with a message of love and tolerance due to the teachings of Islam but because “hate is not going to solve our problems”.
He says it wasn’t helpful to make generalisations.
“I believe that this person who attacked our mosque is not representing the white race; he’s representing himself.”
Who is Gamal Fouda?
Fouda was born and raised in Egypt. He studied Islamic studies at Al-Azhar University, a renowned centre of Islamic learning in Cairo, graduating in 1998.
A few years later, in 2002, he was offered a job as an Imam in the United States.
However, due to the following the September 11 attacks, Egyptian officials decided it was unsafe for him to travel there.
Instead, Fouda was sent to “the bottom of the world”: New Zealand.
“This country [is] known for its peace, diversity and inclusivity,” he says.
Fouda settled in Palmerston North in 2003 and dedicated himself “to building bridges between the Muslim community and the wider community in New Zealand”.
In March 2016, he moved to Christchurch, where he still lives with his family today.
While the 2019 mosque attacks were certainly a dark time for Fouda, he says his mission remains unchanged.
“The pain of March 15 hasn’t faded, yet neither has the determination to build bridges and ensure such an attack never happens to anyone.”
Navigating ‘New Zealand’s darkest day’
Since the terror attack, Fouda says he’s worked tirelessly to foster dialogue in the community and has welcomed global leaders into his mosque, including former New Zealand prime ministers Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins, Prince William and United Nations secretary-general António Guterres.
He says the events of 2019 have left a huge scar on the community, which is still grappling with the trauma six years on.
“Many people now still need help with the trauma and [are] still recovering, including myself,” he says.
It will take years to actually heal from this.
That lingering trauma is now set against a backdrop of rising Islamophobia and antisemitic attacks globally,
showed that Islamophobic attacks have climbed to “unprecedented levels”. Between January 2023 and November 2024, the report found there had been a 250 per cent increase in reported online incidents and a 150 per cent increase in in-person incidents — an average of nearly one Islamophobic incident per day.
“We need to stand together,” Fouda says.
“Many are feeling a renewed sense of fear and uncertainty, and we need this to stop. This is not just a Muslim issue, it’s a human issue.”
Fouda says the only way to combat division is through celebrating diversity and encouraging dialogue.
“Calling for solidarity and dialogue, rather than division, is actually the best way to build the love I’m talking about and connect people together.”
‘More needs to be done’
Fouda says the 2019 massacre opened his eyes to “the need for harmony, the need for us to connect more to each other and celebrate our differences”.
He was part of a consultation group, which advised the government for four years after the attack — and, while he says many things have changed, there’s still more work to be done.
Fouda says diversity and social cohesion are key to combating ignorance, Islamophobia and hatred, and bringing communities closer together. Source: Twitter / KensingtonRoyal
“The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand introduced an Islamic curriculum for all mosques, and we also worked with our brothers and sisters in other faiths, including the Jewish and the Christian communities, so that we can all work on the same page.”
Fouda has also advocated for a new syllabus focusing on social cohesion to be introduced in schools, arguing that respect and tolerance should be taught in the classroom from a young age.
“We need to celebrate the differences … and we need to actually make this our culture in education.
“Religions are there to connect us, not to divide us.”
‘Excited to be an Aussie guy’
After almost 10 years, Fouda stepped down late last month as the Imam of Al Noor Mosque.
In his final sermon, he told worshippers that “Al Noor Mosque is no longer just a mosque. It has become a global symbol of peace, resilience and unity.”
Fouda has stepped down from his role at Al Noor Mosque. He’s set to move to Australia after accepting a new role. Source: Supplied / Gamal Fouda
He plans to move to Australia after Ramadan, where he’s accepted a new role.
“I’m eager to continue the same message in Australia,” he says, adding that he’s “excited to be an Aussie guy”.
“I look forward to engaging with new communities, contributing to education and leadership, and working towards a vision where faith and cultural identity thrive alongside shared values of respect and unity.”
He says serving as an Imam in Christchurch has been “one of the greatest honours” and that New Zealand will continue to hold a special place in his heart.
“We’ll continue the same message that was started in New Zealand so that we can strive together for these shared values of humanity.”
