Funeral Prayer Held for Muslim Victim of Brussels Attack

Brussels, 23 Jumadil Akhir 1437/02 April 2016 (MINA) – Thousands of Muslims participated in a funeral prayer at the Islamic Cultural Centre after Friday prayers of a popular female teacher who was among those killed in the Brussels terror attack of March 22.

Loubna Lafquiri, a young mother of three of Moroccan origin, worked at an Islamic school in Brussels and was reportedly on the metro at Maalbeek station when the blast occurred, Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) quoted KUNA as reporting.

In his Friday sermon, the preacher Abdul-Hadi once again denounced all forms of terrorist attacks and stressed that terrorism has religion or faith. He expressed the unconditional solidarity and support of the Muslim community in Belgium which is passing through this terrible ordeal and called for unity and social harmony to face these acts of blind terror.

Coordinated attacks on the Brussels airport and Maelbeek metro station in the Belgian capital left 32 people dead and were claimed by the so-called Islamic State group.

Brussels is a quaint but bustling city, famed for its picture postcard squares, its chocolate and its beer. But it is rapidly becoming infamous, too, as a fertile recruiting ground for jihadi fighters.

Per capita, Belgium has the highest number of foreign fighters in Syria of any Western European nation. Experts say nearly 500 men and women have left Belgium for Syria and Iraq since 2012.

At the same time, they say more than 100 Belgians have returned home from ISIS territory — many facing immediate arrest. T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)