charlotte graham-mclay I might just get everyone to start talking a little bit, I guess, you know, see how it sounds. Perhaps you could tell me, I guess, when you got into Christchurch.

charlotte graham-mclay

I met Abdallah and Haneen Alayan for the first time in Christchurch just over a week ago.

abdallah alayan Have you already talked about it? haneen alayan No. abdallah alayan I was going to say —

charlotte graham-mclay

They started telling me about what happened on the day of the terror attack in Christchurch at the mosque where their father and brother attended.

haneen alayan It was a blur. It was definitely a blur.

charlotte graham-mclay

They went straight to the hospital.

haneen alayan Did we go to look for Dad after that? abdallah alayan We did, yeah. So we did all the admin — haneen alayan We went on a hunt to try and find him.

charlotte graham-mclay

They knew that their dad had gone into surgery. So they knew that he had definitely been at the hospital at some point. But they hadn’t heard about their brother. So they get to the hospital. And their dad’s name isn’t anywhere, and their brother’s name isn’t anywhere. So they basically just start rushing from room to room on a hunt to try and find either of them.

haneen alayan Because we couldn’t — we’d been told by so many people that he’d been seen — abdallah alayan Yeah. haneen alayan — seen, came out of surgery, that he was O.K. We went to every ward. We couldn’t find him anywhere. And he wasn’t on the list either.

charlotte graham-mclay

There’s this list at the hospital. And there’s a number of anonymous patients on the list, people who have been in surgery, but they don’t have names for them.

abdallah alayan So kind of earlier in the night, we were thinking, O.K., well, if there’s still 17 unconfirmed people, then there’s hope that our brother is also here as one of those anonymous patients.

charlotte graham-mclay

Eventually, really late at night —

abdallah alayan After kind of just chaotic back and forth with the police and whoever’s handling it, they did end up finding out exactly who every single one of those anonymous patients were. haneen alayan And they read them out. abdallah alayan They — yeah.

charlotte graham-mclay

A doctor who’s part of the Muslim community in Christchurch comes into a waiting room. And he essentially stands up. And he starts reading the names. There’s one, two, three, four.

abdallah alayan And halfway down, our dad was read out.

charlotte graham-mclay

Their father’s name is called, and they feel this sense of relief. But as more and more names are being called and they don’t hear their brother’s, they just start to feel their chests clench up.

haneen alayan We kept hearing more and more names getting read out. And the more that got read out, the more I knew. Pretty much when the death toll climbed, I think it started at, like, nine when we first checked. abdallah alayan It went from six, to nine, to 30, to 45. haneen alayan To 49. abdallah alayan Yeah. haneen alayan The more it climbed, the more we realized, what are the chances that they both made it? abdallah alayan Yeah. And then we just — we got to the end. And our brother’s name hadn’t been read out.

[music]

michael barbaro

From The New York Times, I’m Michael Barbaro. Today, New Zealand is holding a national day of remembrance for the 50 people killed in the mosque shootings in Christchurch. The majority of the victims and their families were migrants or refugees from countries like Pakistan, India, Malaysia and Indonesia. My colleague Charlotte Graham-McLay spent several days with one of the families. It’s Friday, March 29.

charlotte graham-mclay

So the Alayan family, Mohammad is their father, Maysoon is their mom, and the three kids are Atta, Haneen and Abdallah. Atta was born in Kuwait City in 1985, which is where his parents were living at the time.

charlotte graham-mclay And what did they do? haneen alayan That’s a really good question. What don’t they do? abdallah alayan Have you got an hour? haneen alayan What don’t they do?

charlotte graham-mclay

They’re ethnically Palestinian and were both scientists.

abdallah alayan I’ve heard so many accounts of mom juggling raising her son and kind of lecturing and sorting out her Ph.D. and bringing him into really unsafe labs. So —

charlotte graham-mclay

And they only came to New Zealand when a university here wanted beef research. And that’s what their father did. So that’s when Christchurch became Atta’s home in 1995.

haneen alayan He used to sit on a Macintosh? abdallah alayan Yeah. haneen alayan Macintosh computer, those really old ones with the — what’s that duck-shooting game? abdallah alayan I’m not sure. haneen alayan These old, old Macs that looked like bricks, he used to go and sit there while she was doing her work and just play that game. abdallah alayan Yeah.

charlotte graham-mclay

He was an only child for 8 and a half years before his siblings came along. And it seems like he grew up as this sort of golden child. He was really good at sport.

haneen alayan He scored an own goal once. [LAUGHTER]

charlotte graham-mclay

And he was a goalkeeper.

haneen alayan However, he also scored a goal from a goalkeeping position. abdallah alayan Which is incredible, yeah.

charlotte graham-mclay

So when his parents first moved to Christchurch, his father was one of the leadership figures at the Al Noor Mosque.

abdallah alayan But the mosque was integral to kind of bringing — haneen alayan Yeah. We spent a lot of time. abdallah alayan In our life, it was beyond childhood. I was probably there more than most every week. You know? charlotte graham-mclay How did Atta wrestle with that in high school? Because high school’s a test for everyone. abdallah alayan It is. This is kind of that struggle with identity in kind of a Western context. He went to the same high school as I did. He was really, really effective at kind of, you know, blending in and being just like any other Kiwi, but also in saying that he’s — he was one to absolutely embrace his Muslim identity. And he kind of brought that around with him in a really effective way, in the way that it’s relatable. So I think, obviously, there’s a bit of a struggle to assimilation or the opposite. But I think, for me, I’m not the most sporty person out there. And it’s interesting because, I mean, everything I was interested in was — haneen alayan Not — abdallah alayan — not really what defined Christchurch Boys’ High. Like, I did drama and debating and all these kind of more cultural things that literally no one respected. So one thing he kind of advised me was that getting into sport really does unlock doors socially. And absolutely in hindsight, I can completely say that he wasn’t wrong. Being into his sports just made him more accessible to people that he otherwise wouldn’t be. And we often kind of discussed our high school experiences. And I’ve always lived through kind of his mistakes and his experiences. And he literally was like my second father. haneen alayan He’d gone through a lot of this stuff. And so, you know, he was always teaching us from his mistakes. charlotte graham-mclay It sounds like he — haneen alayan That’s going to be something we’re going to really miss. abdallah alayan Yeah. charlotte graham-mclay Yeah. haneen alayan I mean, I’m pretty stubborn in general. And I don’t really take advice from a lot of people. But any time I want some advice, I’d go to him for everything. And he’d always have the answer for it. And it would be the perfect answer every time. charlotte graham-mclay How do you begin to process something like this? I mean — haneen alayan Yeah, look, I’m going to be totally honest with you. I think processing it is going to take a very long time. abdallah alayan I don’t think we’ve started. haneen alayan Yeah, we haven’t, 100 percent haven’t started processing yet. I mean, the first day and the second day were pretty tough. But I think we’ve kind of pulled it together a little bit for the sake of Mum and Father. But it’s going to be a long, long road. And I think things are going to come up every now and again, where, I don’t know, for me, it’s going to be, oh, man, I want some advice, or I want to talk to Atta about this, so — he’s not here kind of thing. I’m sure that’s going to be years of pain for all of us. I don’t think there’s enough words to describe what it means for them and for us.

[music]

abdallah alayan The only reason that I’m doing architecture is because I saw one of his graphics projects pinned up on his wall. I mean, Atta actually kind of hated it. It was, like, this yellow, Simpsons-looking house. [LAUGHS] And it’s pinned up on his wall. And I just saw the floor plans and the sketches. And I was so inspired. And interestingly, it’s something he sacrificed to stay close to home. He didn’t want to go to Wellington to study architecture because he didn’t want to be far from home. haneen alayan He wanted two things. He wanted to be an architect or a dentist. And this one’s an architect, and I’m a dentist. abdallah alayan Yeah. haneen alayan And Atta put both of those dreams on hold because he didn’t want to split the family up.

charlotte graham-mclay

Atta stayed in Christchurch. He decided to study computer sciences. And after his degree, he developed a business in app design. It was during this time that he met Farah.

farah talal Atta was an angel. Honestly, not because he was my husband. He was too good to be true.

charlotte graham-mclay

She lived in Jordan at the time. And so they had this long-distance courtship for a while.

farah talal I felt that this was the man I want to marry. I was very sure that I wanted Atta to be the father of my children because he had every single thing that I wanted in a man. charlotte graham-mclay So where was the wedding? haneen alayan It was in Jordan. charlotte graham-mclay And tell me about it. What was it like? haneen alayan Aw, the best — best part for me was when Farah sang to him. We didn’t know she could sing. That’s something we didn’t know about her at the time. And no one expected it. She kept it as a surprise. And she walked in partway through. We heard some singing. We didn’t realize it was her. But she walked in, singing a beautiful song in Arabic and English. And she sang it to him. And he cried. And we all cried. And it was a beautiful moment.

charlotte graham-mclay

Then they had a little girl, a baby named Aya.

haneen alayan He never sang before that. He never sang before his daughter. I’d never heard him sing.

charlotte graham-mclay

She’s nearly two.

charlotte graham-mclay How do you explain to Aya — what have you told her? farah talal Um, so far, Aya has been busy with a lot of children around. Just maybe two days ago, she woke up in the middle of the night crying, and she was calling for her dad. And then I calmed her down. And she slept back. And then the other day, she heard the plane, and she’s like, Baba! I’m like, yeah. And she’s like, Auckland? Because just Monday, at night, he went to Auckland, to where Abdallah is, his brother. So I’m like, yeah, Mama, Baba, he — yeah, he’s gone, but not to Auckland this time. He went to jannah, which is heaven. So for now, this is what I’m going to tell her, that he traveled to this place, but we can’t call him, and he’s gone to this place where it’s heaven, not Auckland. [LAUGHS] haneen alayan So right now, we’re just waiting to get the call from the police to say you can come and see the body now. And after that, we can get started on the steps towards the burial. And after that, we’re just going to wait.

[music]

charlotte graham-mclay

So two days later, our photographer, Adam, was with the family when Abdallah got the call that it was time to go and receive Atta’s body. And Adam said their composure broke just for a moment. And they went to go and get Atta. And overnight, they washed him. Abdallah looked after that. And they shrouded him. And then they went to bury him in a mass funeral with 25 others. I was able to attend Atta’s funeral. I stood in the section with the women. There were 5,000 people there.

speaker (SINGING) [ARABIC] imam gamal fouda Last week’s event is proof and evidence to the entire world that terrorism has no color, has no race, and has no religion. To the people of New Zealand, thank you. Thank you for your tears. Thank you for your flowers. Thank you for your love and compassion, and to all the wonderful people who have shown us that we matter and are not forgotten, O Allah, protect New Zealand. O Allah, protect New Zealanders and the world. [ARABIC] speaker We don’t do this Janazah every day. We don’t bury 27 of our beloved ones every day.

charlotte graham-mclay

When the parties proceeded into the burial area, they were asked just to keep the party small for safety reasons. They didn’t want to mix up the plots.

speaker There are 37 open holes. We do not want anyone falling in those holes.

charlotte graham-mclay

They didn’t want anyone to accidentally slip and fall into a grave. And so people were asked to only bring forward the closest family to bury their loved one.

speaker The family of Naeem Rashid, please come to your loved one. Please, just six or eight people.

charlotte graham-mclay

They read out the lists of names in groups of five. You’re used to seeing at a funeral a cluster of family around a grave. But what was so striking here is that you saw five clusters of family around five graves. And then you had 10. And people were trying to have this kind of private farewell where they were all circled really closely together around each grave. But they were so close to the other families doing the same thing. And then they would encourage them to file out when they were finished, and they would read out the next five names.

speaker Then can we ask the family of our sister —

charlotte graham-mclay

And in the third group of five, the first name that was read out was Atta’s.

speaker Every five we’ll take at a time.

charlotte graham-mclay

Before Atta’s body was brought in, his father, who I recognized from pictures, was wheeled in his wheelchair. He’s been recovering from gunshot wounds in hospital. But obviously, he was able to come out for his son’s funeral. He was all in black. And he just waited by the grave. And then the women filed in a little way behind him, Farah and Maysoon, Atta’s mom, Haneen, his sister, and some other relatives. And they were all supporting each other and holding onto each other. And then Atta’s body was brought in. And I knew it was him because I could see Abdallah among those carrying the coffin. They had these open coffins with low sides, so you could see the shrouded body inside. And then Atta’s dad, Mohammad, supporting himself on a cane, got out of the wheelchair and stood by the grave as Atta’s body was lowered in. And everyone had their hands on him, it seemed like — everyone had a hand on his back. And they were all supporting each other. And they all just stood there for a long time, surrounded by all of these other families doing the same. And the sheikh sang “Allahu akbar,” God is great, before the bodies were lowered.

speaker (SINGING) Allahu akbar.

charlotte graham-mclay

They picked up these shovels, and they started to shovel earth into the grave.

[music]

And Abdallah, Atta’s brother, was going around and giving everyone hugs, but these really, completely stop-still hugs. He would hold each person. And they would just stand really still for a long time. Then a floral arrangement was placed on the grave. And the men filed out. They still had their hands on each other’s backs. The women came to the grave for a moment and stood there too. Outside the burial area were waiting Atta’s football teammates. They filed out. And then the next group of bodies was brought in. And that kept happening until the funeral was over.

speaker (SINGING) Allahu Akbar.

charlotte graham-mclay

Not long after I got home, I got a text from Abdallah. And he just wanted to make sure I had made it into the funeral O.K. I told him I had. And then I asked him how he was doing. And he replied, “All I can say is that I feel at peace.”

haneen alayan We haven’t lost everything. We still have each other. And we’re going to have to get through it together. There’s no other choice, you know? Life has to go on. You’ve got to keep moving. We do have faith, even if it’s maybe not quite as strong as my dad’s faith. We do have faith. We believe in the afterlife. We believe he’s in a better place. And we want to meet him there. farah talal So I just hope that, inshallah, one day, we’ll be again reunited in Jannah, in heaven. And this is what will give me the strength to, you know, to continue our dreams and goals that we could not achieve together and that we had already set. And I’m going to raise our daughter to know who her father was. We’re very proud of her father. And yeah, I love him. We’ll always do.

[music]

michael barbaro

Atta Elayyan was 33 years old. Officials in New Zealand now say that all 50 victims of the shooting have been identified and buried. We’ll be right back.

[music]

michael barbaro

Here’s what else you need to know today. On Thursday, The Times found that the report submitted by special counsel Robert Mueller was more than 300 pages long, suggesting that Mueller went well beyond the bare-bones summary required by law and offered a detailed explanation of his conclusions.

archived recording (nancy pelosi) No thank you, Mr. Attorney General. We do not need your interpretation. Show us the report, and we can draw our own conclusions.

michael barbaro

So far, those conclusions have been summarized in a four-page document by the attorney general, William Barr, fueling calls, especially from Democrats, for him to release the full report to both Congress and the public.

archived recording (nancy pelosi) We don’t need you interpreting for us. It was condescending. It was arrogant. And it wasn’t the right thing to do. So the sooner they can give us the information, the sooner we can all make a judgment about it.

michael barbaro

And the Supreme Court has ruled that a ban imposed by the Trump administration on bump stocks, a device that allows semiautomatic rifles to fire more like automatic rifles, can remain in place. Under the ban, which was put in place after a bump stock was used in a mass shooting in Las Vegas, it is illegal to sell or possess bump stocks. And those who currently own them have 90 days to either destroy them or turn them over to the government. [MUSIC]: “The Daily” is produced by Theo Balcomb, Lynsea Garrison, Rachel Quester, Annie Brown, Andy Mills, Clare Toeniskoetter, Michael Simon Johnson, Jessica Cheung, Alexandra Leigh Young and Jonathan Wolfe, and edited by Paige Cowett, Larissa Anderson and Wendy Dorr. Lisa Tobin is our executive producer. Samantha Henig is our editorial director. Our technical manager is Brad Fisher. Our engineer is Chris Wood. And our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Mikayla Bouchard, Stella Tan, and Damien Cave. That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Michael Barbaro. See you on Monday.

[music]