Hundreds Attend Asad Shah Funeral

3 April 2016, 08:12 | Updated: 3 April 2016, 08:23

Asad Shah

The funeral has taken place of a respected Glasgow shopkeeper who died after he was attacked outside his store.

Family and friends of Asad Shah gathered for prayers at the Bait-Ur-Rahman Mosque at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Centre in the west of the city.

The 40-year-old was found injured outside his convenience store in the Shawlands area of Glasgow on March 24, after an attack which police described as religiously prejudiced.

Tanveer Ahmed, 32, from Bradford in West Yorkshire, has since appeared in court charged with murder.

Mr Shah, a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, was born in Rabwah, Pakistan, and moved to Glasgow in 1998 to join his father in business.

Prayers were led at the hour-long service by Mansoor Shah, vice president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK.

Inside the hall at the mosque in the city's Yorkhill area reads the message: "Love For All Hatred For None''.

Abdul Abid, president of the Ahmadiyya community in Scotland, said after the service: "We are sad that a very popular man of our community is not with us any more.

"I don't know how we will survive without him. He was a polite, gentle person.

"Today's service is in his memory and we are proud to have had such a wonderful person amongst our community.''

Ahmadis are seen as marginalised in Pakistan, where they can be targeted for their beliefs.

Several hundred of Scotland's 77,000-strong Muslim population are believed to belong to the movement.

In a tribute to Mr Shah, his family said he treated everyone "with the utmost kindness and respect''.

They said: ''He was a brilliant man, recognising that the differences between people are vastly outweighed by our similarities.

"And he didn't just talk about this, he lived it each and every day, in his beloved community of Shawlands and his country of Scotland.''

Among the public figures who attended the funeral were Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin prior to the Scottish Parliament being dissolved ahead of May's election.

The shopkeeper's death shocked members of the Shawlands community, who came together in their hundreds for a silent vigil and to lay floral tributes in his memory.

An online fundraising campaign set up to support his family raised more than £100,000.

Mr Abid said: "More than 6,000 people contributed towards the fund - a clear sign that he was a very good person.''

Lawyer Aamer Anwar, who last week chaired an event at Glasgow Central Mosque calling for unity, said: ''The last week has been an extremely sad one for our community.

''If anything positive is to come of the sad death of Asad Shah it is that there must be a legacy of unity against sectarianism.

''The loss of one life is too many and I hope his family are comforted by the thousands across the city who have offered their deep condolences and expressed solidarity with the Ahmadi community.''