Peace Week

“Love and kindness will overcome hate”

Peace Week was a new event created this year in collaboration with the Muslim Student Association as a means of honouring the victims of the Christchurch Mosque shootings. As marking anniversaries is not typically done in Islam, instead Peace Week focused on looking forward with acts of love, service, and charity – honouring the victims by doing good. It was also an opportunity to spread peace, and to learn and understand different cultures, ethnicities, and faiths by sharing conversations and good works.

Events were held throughout the week from 15-20 March, including volunteering, panel discussions, arts and crafts, and morning teas.

There are numerous sayings (hadith) of Prophet Mohammed regarding charity. In one such hadith, he said,

“A charity is due for every joint in each person on every day the sun comes up: to act justly between two people is a charity; to help a man with his mount, lifting him onto it or hoisting up his belongings onto it, is a charity; a good word is a charity; and removing a harmful thing from the road is a charity.”

This aligns with the Māori concept of Manaakitanga, which means to extend a nurturing hand to others. It is found in acts such as helping a loved one, sharing and showing kindness. Manaakitanga is one of the most important concepts to Māori people as it secures the strength of whānau and communities.