Three Sydney mosques to hold vigils for slain Hezbollah leader

Crowds of people were spilling onto the street at a mosque in south west Sydney for a memorial service, remembering slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Crowds of people were spilling onto the street at a mosque in south west Sydney for a memorial service, remembering slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The service at Kingsgrove’s Al Rahman Mosque began about 7pm, with a crowd of worshipers spilling out into the street.

Members of the community double parked their cars on surrounding footpaths as roughly a thousand people were trying to gain access to the mosque.

Attendees left outside had to watch the service through their phones, with the mosque looking at full capacity.

Earlier dozens of mourners had started to flock for the service.

Mourners gather at Al Rahman mosque in Kingsgrove after the death of Hezbollah leader. Photo Jeremy Piper

There wasn’t enough room in the mosque for all mourners. Photo Jeremy Piper

Hundreds of people were seen walking to the Al Rahman Mosque in Kingsgrove early on Monday evening, where the place of worship was holding the first of a three night vigil for the former Hezbollah leader.

The majority of attendees approached the Mosque wearing dark clothing, as a consistent line of worshipers made their way through the street over an hour before the event started.

Three Sydney mosques will host vigils for slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah going over three days.

On Sunday the Facebook page of the Al Rahman Mosque in Kingsgrove advertised it would be holding a service over three evenings “for the souls of the righteous martyrs, the master of resistance, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah”.

A second Sydney mosque has also commenced three day vigils. The Sayeda Zainab Centre in Banksia posted on Facebook it would be holding mourning councils from Sunday to Tuesday for Nasrallah.

The same mosque has previously posted support for Hezbollah with recent posts from its Facebook page showing footage of the funerals of Hezbollah fighters.

Mourners gather at Al Rahman mosque in Kingsgrove after the death of Hezbollah leader. Photo Jeremy Piper

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli air strike. Picture: Al-Manar / AFP

A third mosque has also held vigils for the Hezbollah leader, with Al Zahra Mosque in Arncliffe holding events over three days.

“Three days of mourning will be held... for the soul of the leader of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, the souls of the righteous martyrs who departed with him and all those who have been innocently slain as a result of the zionist aggression in Lebanon and Palestine,” a Facebook post on the mosque’s page said.

All three Mosques are of Shia denomination, which is the dominant Muslim belief of Hezbollah.

Jewish groups expressed concern over the vigils, with Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin calling the gatherings “deeply disturbing”.

“Hezbollah is an organisation that conducts terror operations using cells throughout the world to hit non-military targets including community centres, planes and embassies,” he said.

“It is deeply disturbing to have pro-Hezbollah gatherings in our city.

This goes to the heart of public safety and national security and it requires a strong police response.”

Originally published as Three Sydney mosques to hold vigils for slain Hezbollah leader