Syed Islam of Tauranga: 'New Zealand is our home'

Thank you is the first thing Syed Islam wants to say.

The 52-year-old is sitting at his dining room table in Pyes Pā, Tauranga and hands me a note he has prepared in advance.

The opening line feels unbelievably altruistic. Selfless.

"Firstly I want to thank you all for taking your time to come here."

I'm embarrassed. He is thanking us? I basically invited myself and a photographer over to his house, and did so at a time when he and his family and their Muslim community have every right not to feel hospitable.

At a time when they have every right to feel vulnerable, angry and let down.

I suggest as much, and my generous host isn't having any of it.

"We have been here long enough and we are living in New Zealand and New Zealand is our home. We feel safe."

Syed is at pains to let me know that New Zealanders "are very good people" and that he has never felt unwelcome here.

In fact, he reiterates that more than once, when, really, I should be the one doing the comforting.

His generosity of spirit and humility are striking.

He has a great, genuine laugh and it's immediately clear that he uses it often, to break silences and make you feel welcome.

I haven't heard much laughter this week and it quickly warms the room.

Syed says anger and aggression are not solutions. They are temporary and make matters worse.

He is not angry at the man who allegedly committed last Friday's terror attacks in Christchurch, which killed 50 innocent people and injured many more.

Syed says such haters cannot scare Muslims, or stop them from practising peaceful activities in New Zealand and around the world.

The fact he isn't angry doesn't mean he isn't sad. Syed, his family and their community are hurt and horrified by the attacks.

Syed prayed at one of those mosques in Christchurch last year. He has friends in the Garden City who pray there regularly, one of whom was there the day before.

This was a direct assault on their religion and their way of life.

Yet Syed wants to talk of the good rather than the bad, of the lessons to be learned, and of the unity he has witnessed since.

Syed Islam, 52, has been in New Zealand for 23 years and has never seen support like this. Photo / George Novak

He shows me text messages and emails sent by friends and colleagues in the aftermath of the attacks.

"You are a good friend Syed, and we are all very shocked," says one.

"What a mindless day," writes another.

"Please let me know if there's anything we can do," says a third.

They all send their prayers, heartfelt thoughts, peace and love. And the messages keep coming.

An email from teachers at Tauranga Intermediate, where Syed's 13-year-old daughter is a student.

"Please let me know if you think there are ways that we could support her better in class or through the school."

There's also an email from a tutor at Greenpark School, where Syed's 8-year-old son is a student.

"I know this will be very unsettling for you as a family even in Tauranga, so I want you and your family to know of my support for you as a family as I have tutored two of your children – and had my life enriched in the process."

The words "my life enriched" are highlighted in red, and so is the word "us" a little further down.

"… as you and your family continue to add richness to our community as part of us."

These messages of support (and there are many more, I'm told) confirm one of Syed's strongest beliefs – that most people are good.

That is why he is showing them to me. He also tells me about the crowds arriving outside Tauranga Mosque this past week, carrying flowers and cards.

He says some of the people came inside the mosque to learn and listen about Islam.

"Lots of people come and cry – New Zealanders, they cannot stop their crying."

Syed says that makes him and his community cry too.

"Because we are human."

Unity is the message Syed wants to share most.

He has lived in New Zealand for 23 years, almost all of that time in Tauranga, and says he has never seen people support the Muslim community like this.

He and his wife Fatema Sharmin came here from Bangladesh, their three children were born here.

Syed has a university Honours and Masters in chemistry, his wife has a Masters in history.

They moved to New Zealand for a better life, away from high crime rates and a crowded population.

Syed has worked in the horticulture industry since arriving in the country and now also owns a dairy, which both bring him in close contact with all members of the Bay of Plenty community.

He admits there has been racism – "minor racism" – in this country.

Syed shouldn't have to play that word down, but he does.

He insists there has never been an incident that has made him feel unsafe in New Zealand. But he says it's the way people act differently around him, their body language.

He sometimes wears traditional clothes and there have been times, in the supermarket for example, where people have made comments as they pass by.

Fatema brings us coffee at one point, along with a plate of crackers, and later sits down to join in the conversation.

She too has stories of racism.

In 2004, she was picking up her eldest son (now 18 and studying engineering at the University of Auckland) from kindergarten in Gate Pā, and was crossing the road, when someone in a passing car shouted out "I will kill you".

Fatema says she didn't look and kept walking. "I was scared."

She still wears her hijab but says a friend stopped wearing hers after also experiencing an incident like that in Tauranga, where a man verbally harassed and followed her.

Both Fatema and Syed say things have improved and that they haven't seen or heard or experienced racism like that for a long time.

Fatema Sharmin and her husband Syed Islam at their home in Pyes Pā, Tauranga. Photo / George Novak

Syed says the local community knows him well now. When he first came here it was hard. There was a language barrier, and he was not used to the environment.

Now people say hello in the supermarket, or greet him by name.

Fatema says people also seem to have more knowledge and understanding of Muslims now.

She tells me another story, this one heart-warming.

Last Saturday, the day after the terrorist attacks, her family went to the mosque and then to the supermarket afterwards.

Fatema was upset and so stayed in the car. She was reciting some prayers.

Her window was down when another car pulled up beside her.

Fatema says she saw a woman get out and smile at her, and so went to smile back but stopped. She was confused and second-guessed herself. Did that stranger just smile at her?

"Then she came to my car, and she put down her head to my window and then she said 'sorry'."

The woman said to Fatema that this should not be happening in New Zealand, and Fatema said she agreed.

"That's why we are living here."

Syed goes to Tauranga Mosque every day, and more than once – often three or four times.

That is where he was last Friday when the shootings in Christchurch took place.

He is patient with me throughout the interview and slowly talks through the basic practices and protocols of his religion, without showing any sign of frustration at my ignorance.

Islam keeps him at peace, he says, and going to mosque, and praying five times a day, is a way of rectifying, improving and purifying himself and his life.

Syed says Muslims are peaceful people who want to look after their friends, neighbours and communities.

He says if the accused gunman in Christchurch understood Islam and Muslims properly, he would never have allegedly done this.

And that is why education is important.

Syed Islam. Photo / George Novak

Syed says people need to read and learn more about Islam and other religions and cultures and make up their own mind. Find out answers for themselves.

He says the more understanding there is, the better the local community and New Zealand as a whole will be.

He says people will then know "who is the true Muslim and who is not" and will not succumb to generalisations and misconceptions, or false claims made by radicals.

In the days after the Christchurch attacks, Syed noticed some double standards; two or three people were not calling the shootings by what they were – terrorist attacks.

This seemed unfair to him. If it was a Muslim shooter, he is sure there would have been no hesitancy in calling it terrorism.

However, he wants to emphasise that was only a few people among many kind well-wishers.

He believes these attacks have brought and are bringing different cultures and religions closer together than ever before, and that the country will be stronger for it.

Syed has seen the Muslim community grow in Tauranga and the Western Bay over the years.

He was president of the Tauranga Muslim Association for four terms and was at the helm when the first mosque was set up in the city.

Halal food is now also readily available in Tauranga and the wider region, and that is another proud achievement, he says.

Last week's attacks haven't dented Syed's love of New Zealand, or Tauranga.

It also hasn't shaken his faith.

"We used to go to mosque all the time, but now we are going more. We are spending more time in the mosque."

One of the reasons for that, he says, are the visitors and newcomers who have come to pay respect and show support this past week.

When I reread Syed's note, back at the newsroom, another line stands out.

Partly because one word is in bold – unity.

I have heard this line before, but never has it meant so much. My short time with Syed has made that clear to me.

"Unity is strength; division is weakness."