The funeral for Edmonton homicide victim Abdi Ali Mohaud at the Al-Rashid mosque in Edmonton , Alberta, June 7, 2011.
Edmonton
Thursday, June 09, 2011
Most of the men carrying his casket, draped in a green and gold embroidered prayer rug, didn’t know Mohamud personally. But Somali-Canadian Abukar Nur said that didn’t matter.
“It’s not necessary to know him. It’s a religious duty to come,” he said.
Mohamud, 43, was shot and killed near 86th Street and 106A Avenue on Friday. Police say he was walking with another man, 25, when they were approached by three people. A violent confrontation left Mohamud dead and the 25-year-old wounded.
A service for Mohamud was held at the mosque, where men and women could view the body before it was taken to be buried at a north Edmonton cemetery later in the afternoon.
Nur said Mohamud’s death is hard for their community to understand.
Mohamud’s family is “sharing the sorrow and agony, but as a community, internally … you cannot even say in words how much sorrow they are feeling.”
Mohamud is the third member of the Somali community to be killed in Edmonton this year, and the 13th in the past three years.
Hassan Ali of the Somali Canadian Cultural Society of Edmonton said he had known Mohamud since about 1992.
“As far as I know, he was a hardworking member of the community,” Ali said.
About six months ago, Ali said he was helping Mohamud with his immigration papers. He said Mohamud had been continually renewing his work permit so he could continue to work in the province until he could gain permanent residency.
Abdullah Mahamad was another Somali-Canadian who knew Mohamud, through community engagements.
Mahamad said he doesn’t think Mohamud was the intended target.
“He was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said.
He said there is a typical profile of young Somalis — that they are involved in drugs or illegal activity. But Mahamad said Mohamud was from an older generation and didn’t associate with criminal activity.
The details surrounding Mohamud’s death are unknown, and Mahamad said his community is looking for answers.
The community is “really at a loss … how can you feel when someone dies and you don’t know why?” Mahamad said.