An Islamic leader has told how a non-Muslim man held him and cried as he expressed his sorrow over a devastating suspected arson attack, which all but destroyed his city's mosque.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Islamic Society of Toowoomba president Professor Shahjahan Khan said he was approached both before and after Friday prayers by two separate residents wanting to show their support after the fire, which all but destroyed the holy building.
"Before the prayer there was one person, who was part of a church, he came to express his sorry (sic) to me," Professor Khan said.
"He started crying and he sort of grabbed me.
"He said 'I'm so sorry. I'm terribly sorry'.
"After the prayer another man, not a Muslim… he just hold me to his chest and just said 'I'm sorry, I'm with you. Let me know what I can do for you'."
The city of Toowoomba has rallied around its Muslim community following the second suspected arson attack on its mosque this year.
On Friday, the leaders of the city's Anglican and Catholic churches both phoned Professor Khan to express their solidarity and Professor Khan said hundreds of similar emails and calls had flooded in over the weekend.
The Muslim leader said 3000 to 4000 people attended the Toowoomba International Food Festival on Sunday, which was to be held at the mosque but instead took place at the University of Southern Queensland.
He said there were so many more attendees than expected the festival ran out of food by the afternoon.
And The Toowoomba Chronicle reported a woman in a wheelchair has made a lone stand outside the holy place, holding some wood, nails and a hammer on the weekend.
"I thought of making a sign saying something like 'Mosques are churches too and they are important to people', but then I thought, they don't need words, they need building materials," she said.
"I just wanted to say 'here's some wood, rebuild'.
"After all, Jesus was a carpenter.
"Hopefully, other people will now help out too (with building materials)."
The Mosque's followers are still counting the cost of the fire, which destroyed "about 80 per cent" of the West Street building, according to Islamic Council of Queensland spokesman Ali Kadri.
Politicians lined up to condemn the suspected arson attack on Friday afternoon.
Professor Khan said it was heartening to see the whole community stand with the city's Islamic population.
"This news has gone all over the world and it has given a bad impression of the city that we live in and we're so proud of and I think our duty is to correct that," he said.
"The Toowoomba people are united and they're not supporting any activities of this sort of violent action."
Police are still investigating the Friday morning fire and whether it was linked to a suspected arson attack in January.
