Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s flawless leadership and the collective response of just about every New Zealander in the aftermath of the Christchurch mosque massacres have left the Muslim Ummah and the world in absolute awe.   

    Her immediate demonstration of sincerity and compassion and solidarity with the Muslim community in her “They are us” speech will forever be remembered as the turning point in the history of humanity, on the path towards peace.  

    This was quickly followed by her determination to take immediate measures to prevent this atrocity from ever happening again. 

    Within a week she has banned semiautomatic rifles and established a buyback program across the nation.  She sent a clear message of not giving the “terrorist” the notoriety he craves by never mentioning his name.  This is the kind of leadership all nations should aspire to have. 

    Prime minister Ardern had the noble Quran read in parliament, the Islamic call to prayer broadcast nationally during Friday congregation in respect for the deceased and embraced sincerely the families of the victims. 

    Meanwhile in other parts of the world newspapers were embarrassingly humanising the terrorist referring to him as “Angelic boy” and “blonde little boy”.

    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is truly a reflection of her people as acts of kindness and solidarity alongside Muslims were made by New Zealanders everywhere.  

    In a gesture of respect solidarity born out of empathy, the women of New Zealand declared March 22nd a national hijab day with women across New Zealand wearing hijab, marking a week since the Friday Christchurch massacre.  

    The people of New Zealand should be incredibly proud of their leader who’s set a new benchmark for world leaders on how to deal with violent extremism, how to hold their nation together and instil a sense of belonging and community in the face of adversity, and more importantly for highlighting the necessity of having greater gender balance in leadership roles across the globe.