Episode 8: The Closing Chapter - Widows of Shuhada

With the sentencing of the gunman is due to start in Christchurch, Widows of Shuhada’s writer and producer, Lana Hart, catches up with some of the widows.

A year has passed since the massacre. The widows reflect on the gunman, making this podcast series, and starting a new chapter of their vastly-different lives.

The widows consider whether time 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 submit to his plan, even though it can be painful and confusing. We deep dive into Muhubo’s past. Neha’s family arrives from Bangladesh.

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.

Hamimah gets upfront and personal as she remembers the gruelling weeks after the attacks and before her husband dies. Neha has some news that will shape the rest of her and Noor’s lives.

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

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.