A KIRK minister has forgiven the suicide bombers who killed his mother and seven family members in an attack on a packed church in Pakistan which left 122 people dead and almost 200 injured.
Reverend Aftab Gohar of Abbotsgrange Church in Grangemouth, near Falkirk, spoke out after returning from Peshawar following last month's bloodbath which sent shockwaves round the world.
"It is wrong what these people did but I forgive them. We pray that they may one day develop the wisdom to understand that it is not right to kill children and other innocent people," he said.
"There were 125 children in Sunday school that day. My sister was teaching there. Forgiving is what we learn from the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why I forgive."
Mr Gohar's mother Iqbal, 79, was killed along with a nephew, aged 11, and a nine-year-old niece. Two uncles, three cousins, as well as other relatives and friends were among those who died in the bombing at All Saint's Church on September 22.
The 45-year-old and his wife Samina flew out to Pakistan to support survivors and attend funerals. He will resume full duties at his church next Sunday.
Mr Gohar said that most Muslims have been respectful and kindly in the 130 years of the Christian church's existence in Pakistan and displayed those qualities after the tragedy.
He said: "The majority of Muslims helped, taking victims to hospital or helping to prepare graves or prepare food for the injured as well as for the friends and relatives caring for them."
He added he fears for friends and relatives in the area and said there is an urgent need for medical help.
Another of his nieces, Farah Javed, 23, is paralysed from the waist down and he hopes to bring her to Scotland for treatment.
The Very Reverend Dr Andrew McLellan, convener of the Church of Scotland World Mission Council, said: "It is very moving to hear the words of Rev Aftab Gohar. These heartless killings happened in Pakistan, but forgiveness makes the whole world better."
Mr Gohar was born in Peshawar and baptised at All Saint's Church. He and his family moved to Scotland in 2008 and he was inducted as Abbotsgrange's minister in February 2010.
Two Islamist militant groups with Taliban links said they ordered the attack to hit back at US drone strikes.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article