La ilaha illAllah — there is no god but Allah.
More than 5,000 people gathered to honor the three young victims — Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, who were shot and killed at Finley Forest Condominiums on Tuesday.
The Islamic Association of Raleigh organized the funeral and prayer service on a field on the west edge of N.C. State University’s campus.
Barakat was a second-year student in the UNC School of Dentistry. Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, Barakat’s wife, graduated from N.C. State in December and planned to attend the UNC School of Dentistry in the fall. Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha’s sister, was a sophomore at N.C. State.
Chapel Hill police arrested and charged Craig Stephen Hicks with three counts of first-degree murder for the shooting this week. On Thursday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced it would look into the case to see whether any federal laws had been violated.
After the funeral service on N.C. State’s campus, hundreds drove about 25 miles to a Muslim cemetery in Wendell where the three victims were buried.
Kawther Asad, who attended the funeral, said she knew the victims and attended a summer camp where Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha was a leader.
“Everyone looked up to them and you can tell everyone loved them and they were loved and so kind and generous,” Asad said. “Everything about them was amazing.”
