Queens imam and friend mourned by hundreds
A Queens imam and his friend were mourned Monday in a memorial service at the mosque where the pious men prayed minutes before being gunned down.
Prayer services at Al-Furqan Jame Mosque were underway for mosque leader Maulama Akonjee, 55, and Thara Uddin, 65.
The afternoon prayer echoed out from the mosque, amplified through the streets, as the body of the imam carried by about eight men in a plain wood casket covered by a green and golden shroud.
Uddin’s casket was also inside the mosque where he regularly worshiped.
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The crowd was so large that many Muslims prayed in the street in near-silence.
Mayor de Blasio, addressing hundreds of mourners near the mosque, vowed the killer would be brought to justice.
Maulama Akonjee will be buried in his native Bangladesh.
(Debbie Egan-Chin/New York Daily News)
“They were examples of goodness and righteousness. They were examples of peace and understanding,” he said of the victims, whose caskets sat nearby.
“New York City is a better place and a stronger place because of our Muslim communities…An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us and we stand shoulder to shoulder.”
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The crowd frequently chanted “we want justice” and erupted in applause when de Blasio pledged NYPD protection of mosques.
At Uddin’s home, his 25-year-old daughter fainted when she saw his body laid out prior to the funeral. His bullet wounds were still visible.
“It’s so sad. His daughter fainted. She couldn’t handle it. We were throwing water on her face. His wife is a mess,” said Shahnaj Uddin, 20, one of Uddin’s nieces.
Ozone Park Muslims have said they suspected the shootings were a hate crime.
(Debbie Egan-Chin/New York Daily News)
Emotions ran high. Following the memorial around 500 people marched to the scene of the shooting at Liberty Ave. and 79th St.
Several demonstrators fainted in the 90-degree heat. One man was overcome with tears and collapsed in grief.
During the private service for Uddin and Akoonjee, the imam’s casket was opened, according to the sister of a man inside who texted her.
“He said the imam had a broken nose and blood on his forehead,” the girl told the Daily News.
Only men, including NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce, were allowed inside for the service.
Imam Maulama Akonjee will be buried in his native Bangladesh following a memorial service.
(Shahin Chowdhury/AP)
Police were questioning a man suspected of shooting both men in the back of the head in broad daylight in Ozone Park Saturday afternoon.
The killings rocked New York’s Muslim community, sending shockwaves of fear among the faithful, who feared the attack was a hate crime.
Both Akonjee and Uddin were described as peaceful men.
Akonjee, a father of seven, preached peace and had moved to the U.S. only two years ago, mosque members said.
He had planned to travel to Bangladesh for a son’s wedding in 10 days.
Uddin came to U.S. give years ago. The father of five was remembered as a devout mosque member who had supported his large family in Bangladesh since he was 18 years old.
He enjoyed tending to a garden of cucumbers and tomatoes each morning.
Akonjee’s body will be flown back to Bangladesh for burial.
Uddin will be buried at Washington Memorial Cemetery in Mt. Sinai, L.I.
Even Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tweeted her condolences.
“The senseless murders of Imam Maulama Akonjee and Thara Uddin are heartbreaking. This kind of heinous act has no place in America,” she tweeted Sunday evening.
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Queens imam and friend mourned by hundreds
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