Live: Heartache and hope: Funerals held for Christchurch shooting victims as Auckland pays tribute at vigil following Christchurch shootings

KEY POINTS:
• The nation fell silent at 1:32pm today to honour the 50 killed in Christchurch's shootings
• 'We are broken-hearted but we are not broken' - Imam tells hundreds who came to pray at Christchurch's Hagley Park
• Youngest victim of terror attack among those buried today
• Thousands attended vigil in Auckland Domain tonight
• 27 people injured in the shootings are still in Christchurch Hospital and two in Auckland hospitals
• Four Auckland mosques opened their doors to all Kiwis - in Ponsonby, Ranui, North Shore and Pakuranga

It was a day of heartache and hope.

Thousands of Kiwis across the country attended vigils and Friday prayers in honour of the 50 people who died in the two Christchurch mosque attacks last Friday.

And a mass funeral took place this afternoon for 26 of the victims at the city's Memorial Park, including the youngest, 3-year-old Mucaad Ibrahim.

Twenty-seven people who were injured in the shootings are still in Christchurch Hospital, with five remaining in critical condition in intensive care.

A 4-year-old girl is still in a critical condition in Starship Hospital in Auckland and her father is in a stable condition in the nearby Auckland City Hospital.

About 4000 people are thought to have attended tonight's vigil at the Auckland Domain.

As dusk began to fall, many in the crowd lit candles.

The silent, sombre crowd were told New Zealand must find a way to tackle white supremacism.

The article continues below the live blog.

Sharon Hawke of Ngāti Whātua Orakei said: "We have gathered to acknowledge 50 people died at the hands of an ignorant person who shall remain nameless."

She said Māori had suffered white supremacy, naming Parihaka and Okahu Bay.

"Yes racism exists in this country. White hatred is its foundation. We will stand firm with our Muslim brothers and sisters."

A Peace Foundation representative said the Islamic religion she grew up in did not make her less of a human being.

Rafiqah Solomon, from Migrants Against Racism and Xenophobia said this country had an underbelly of racism from colonial times.

She told of waiting for a bus when a man threatened to behead her. The experience several years ago shook her.

White people and non-Muslims have dismissed concerns about racism, she said.

Azad Khan, of Tāmaki Anti-Fascist Action and South Auckland Muslim Association said love and forgiveness from the community will help people pull through after the massacre.

"When a white supremacist kills we don't blame all Pakeha," he said.

"So why when a Muslim commits an atrocity why are all Muslims blamed? For too long white supremacists have been able to be nameless.

"Muslims have been mocked for dress code, accents and other characteristics. We want Government to enact measures so Muslims are not treated as a marginalised group."

Mahmoud Shady from Auckland Grammar School said we were all humans despite skin colour and other differences.

"The aim of incidents such as that in Christchurch were designed to silence people. But we refuse to be silent."

New Zealand is a place of diversity and the safest country in the world Shady said.

Farida Sultana, of Shakti NZ, a migrant women's support group said: "Many of us believe we will be safe because of police. And the system works. Will there be enough to keep us safe even after the gun law changes?"

Israa Falah of the Auckland Muslim community said the massacre was the result of the normalisation of xenophobia.

"Muslims are vilified and told they don't belong in New Zealand," she said.

"People should call out racism when they see it."

People discussing at family dinners the "dangers of immigration" must be called out too.

She was proud to be Kiwi with all the support extended to Muslims.

Kiwis has all shared the weight Muslims carried.

An 18-year-old student said he was attending to make a show of solidarity against racism.

"Racism is a thing that people thought wasn't real. Until something big had to happen. Everyone in New Zealand has come together [in events such as the vigil]. It's something I had to be part of. All of New Zealand has come together in destroying this thing that tries to separate us as a society."

Mass funeral

His tiny body, fragile as a bird, barely filled half an open coffin.

Mucaad Ibrahim, 3, was carried aloft in a shroud, almost weightless, by 10 of his Somali family wearing long, dark robes. Some of them reached in for a last embrace.

The youngest victim of the Christchurch terrorist attacks, he was buried after a mass funeral at the city's Memorial Park this afternoon.

Ibrahim, a brown-eyed boy described by family as constantly smiling, was born to a Somali family who had fled fighting in their home country 20 years ago. He was killed after becoming separated from his father in Al Noor Mosque, the first mosque to be hit by the gunman.

"Verily we belong to God and to Him we shall return," his brother Abdi said after his short life was ended last Friday.

In all, 26 victims of the Christchurch terrorist attack were buried over two hours. A 27th, Mohamed Elmi, who died in a car crash after grieving with victims, was buried with them.

It was mourning on a scale rarely seen before in this country. A line of hearses 100 metres long were parked opposite the cemetery.

Five thousand mourners filled the grounds - the equivalent of a tenth of New Zealand's Muslim population.

"We don't do this every day," an announcer said over the loudspeakers.

"We don't bury 27 of our loved ones in a day, so please understand we are going to do things differently."

The shrouded bodies were buried five at a time, with only six or eight family members allowed at the grave side because of space.

After a short prayer, they were held above heads to their graves and had dirt thrown over them by male relatives and friends. There was little time for ceremony, and another five bodies soon followed.

Indian Arifbhai Vora, 58, was buried alongside his son Ramiz Vora. Ramiz's wife had given birth to a girl less than a fortnight before his death. They were killed in the tiny mosque in Linwood, where the second shooting occurred.

Ghulam Hussain and Karam Bibi, and their son Zeshan Raza, from Pakistan, were buried centimetres apart. They had been visiting their son in Christchurch for the first time when they were gunned down in the Al Noor Mosque.

Naeem Rashid became one the heroes of the terrorist attack after footage emerged of him trying to wrest the assault rifle from the gunman. He was buried today alongside his son Talha, 21.

There was also Husna Ahmed, who was shot when she returned to the Al Noor Mosque to rescue her disabled husband.

As the late sun cast long shadows across the cemetery, the procession of bodies continued.

The victims came from Palestine, Egypt and India. From Somalia and Pakistan. From one suburb over. And their days ended in a quiet corner of Christchurch's eastern suburbs, under a line of gum trees.

Imam speaks of love and compassion following Christchurch shootings

"New Zealand is unbreakable. We are broken-hearted but we are not broken."

Seven days ago, Al Noor Mosque Imam Gamal Fouda looked into the eyes of a killer.

Today, all he saw was love and compassion, as thousands gathered in Hagley Park - and millions stopped around New Zealand and the world - to honour the 50 killed at the two Christchurch mosques.

"To the people of New Zealand, thank you. Thank you for your tears. Thank you for your haka. Thank you for your flowers," Fouda told the gathered crowd, including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and All Black Sonny Bill Williams.

Al Noor Mosque Imam Gamal Fouda pictured outside the mosque in Christchurch. Photo / Alan Gibson

"Thank you for your love and compassion. To our Prime Minister, thank you. Thank you for your leadership - it has been a lesson for the world's leaders.

"Thank you to all the wonderful people who have shown us that we matter and are not forgotten.

"Thank you to our police force and frontline services. You put our lives before your own everyday.

"Thank you to the neighbours who opened their doors to save us from the killer."

The Muslim call to prayer was spoken at 1.30pm followed by two minutes' silence to honour the victims of the shootings at the Deans Ave and Linwood Ave mosques.

As New Zealand bowed its head and all reflected on the grief of the past week, Fouda's words filled hearts as he spoke of the love that had come from such a tragic event.

A worshipper at Hagley Park today. Photo / Alan Gibson

"Last Friday I stood in this mosque and saw hatred and rage is the eyes of the terrorist who killed and martyred 50 innocent people, wounded 42 and broke the hearts of millions around the world.

"Today, from the same place, I look out and I see the love and compassion in the eyes of thousands of fellow New Zealanders and human beings from across the globe, that fills the hearts of millions more who are not with us physically but in spirit.

"This terrorist sought to tear our nation apart with an evil ideology that has torn the world apart but instead we have shown that New Zealand is unbreakable," he said.

Fouda said that the world should take an example of love and unity from New Zealand.

"We are broken-hearted but we are not broken. We are alive, we are together, we are determined to not let anyone divide us," he said, followed by a loud applause.

"We are determined to love one another and to support each other. This evil ideology of white supremacy did not strike us first, yet it has struck us the hardest.

"The number of people killed is not ordinary but the solidarity in New Zealand is extraordinary, " he said.

Thousands gathered at Christchurchs' Hagley Park for two minutes' silence to honour the victims of the shootings. Photo / Elizabeth Binning

Fouda addressed the victims and their families.

"Your loved ones did not die in vain," he said.

"Their blood has watered the seeds of hope. Through them the world will see the beauty of Islam and the beauty of our unity."

Fouda said the victims were "the best of us, taken from us on the best of days, in the best of places, and performing the best of actions".

"They are not just martyrs of Islam, but martyrs of this nation New Zealand," he said.

"Our loss of you is a gain to New Zealand's unity and strength. Your departure is an awaking not just for our nation but for all humanity.

"You martyrdom is a new life for New Zealand and a chance of prosperity for many. Our assembly here with all the shades of our diversity is a testament of our joint humanity.

"We are here in our hundreds and thousands for one purpose, that hate will be undone and love will redeem us."

Jacinda Ardern attends the prayer service in Hagley Park. Photo / Alan Gibson

Fouda thanked New Zealand for "teaching the world what it means to love and care".

"To my brothers and sisters, those that are here today to perform the weekly Friday prayer. Thank you for coming together once again. It is easy to feel lost after the trauma you and I experienced, but the promise that Allah made us is true.

"Thank you for your strength and your forgiveness. Thank you for your anger that is restrained and for your mercy that is overflowing. Thank you for your steadfastness and for standing tall when many others would fall."

Fouda then went on to speak about Islamophobia.

"Islamophobia kills," he said.

"Muslim's have felt it's pain for many years. It has killed before in Canada and it's brutality was used against teens in Norway, and against innocent Muslims in the UK, US and other countries around the world.

"Islamophobia is real. It is a targetted campaign to influence people, to dehumanise and irrationally fear Muslims. To fear what we were. To fear the choice of food we eat. To fear the way we pray and to fear the way we practice our faith.

"We call upon Governments around the world, including New Zealand and neighbouring countries, to bring an end to hate speech and the politics of fear."

Fouda said the Christchurch attack did not come overnight, but was a result of anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim rhetoric by some political leaders and media agencies.

"Last week's event is proof and evidence to the entire world that terrorism has no colour, has no race, and has no religion," he said.

"The rise of white supremacy and white wing extremism is a great global threat to mankind and this must end now."