"Hello brother" were the last words of a Muslim worshipper at the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, before he was shot dead by Brenton Tarrant on Friday.
The words were heard during the live stream when the shooter approached the entrance of the mosque and was greeted by the victim, who is yet to be identified. These words happened to be the victim's last words before he was shot in his face by the attacker.
The attack, which took the lives of 49 people, has shocked New Zealand to its very core. The gunman, a white supremacist, has been identified as a 28-year-old Australian. According to Fox News, Tarrant had written a 78-page manifesto in which he said that he was going to New Zealand just to train and carry out the attack.
One of the reasons this attack surprised New Zealanders, as well as the entire world, was the extent of violence in an otherwise what many perceive as a peaceful country.
The "Hello brother" comment had Twitter up in arms against Tarrant. One Twitter user wrote, "'Hello brother' a word came out of a pure soul filled with a peaceful faith. 'Hello brother' was said to a killer with a rifle pointed to this greeting. 'Hello brother' he said thinking that he is talking to a human with soul and feelings. 'Hello brother' was shot dead."
"There is a crucial detail I wish to bring to your attention. Please. Amongst the chaos of today, the evil we both heard and saw, there was one incident that stood out. The first Muslim man to die, his final words were ''hello brother''. These words were uttered by a man who symbolized Islam. He had a rifle pointed at him by a man with clear intentions to kill and how did he respond? With anger? With aggression? No, with the most gentle and sincere greeting of ''hello brother''.
Perhaps this hero was trying to diffuse the situation? [Allah] used this man to show the world the kindness that is Islam. I don't know but what I want, is to make certain, that is that this detail isn't lost amongst you," the Facebook user wrote, in part. "That this man's final act was an Islamic one, a sincere courageous and warm way to stop violence instead of fuelling it. May [Allah] grant this hero and the rest of the victims the highest level of paradise. Ameen.
Ps For the entire week I will be greeting every man and woman with "hello brother" regardless of race or religion. Please do the same," another Twitter user wrote.
Netizens praised the man for his peaceful act even at gunpoint. They shared messages of the incident and wrote the word "Ameen".
On Friday evening, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden called these attacks as acts of terror. She said that people have been taken into custody. She went on to say that New Zealand is a place with over 200 ethnicities and those with extremist views have no place in the country.
