In the March 2019 Christchurch terrorist attack, Farid Ahmed’s wife, Husna, was killed. He and his daughter then spoke together about the path they should take. It would be one, not of anger and retribution, but of forgiveness. He said, “ I do not want to have a heart like a volcano.” That forgiveness at such a brutal, calculated act has prompted a range of responses: wide-spread respect felt globally but also, and, from others, a difficulty in understanding, and even a kind of discomfort.

In this conversation we talk about his upbringing in Sylhet, north-east Bangladesh; about hard work, the coming of the monsoon rains and the regeneration of the land; about his father’s prominent position in the community as a kind of magistrate and more; and how, from an early age, Farid would listen in and absorb the deliberations of elders.  

Our hope is to follow this story and take the conversation further.