Man who lost wife in Christchurch attacks writes book in her honour

One of the enduring memories from the 2019 Christchurch mosque shooting is Farid Ahmed's forgiveness of the gunman, which came just a day after his wife Husna was killed.

Ahmed’s message of "love over hate" has been heard around the world, including by US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Ahmed still prays for his wife every day, almost a year on from the attack and he continues to keep his words full of love in the same way that stole the nation's heart. 

"Kiwis did not buy the hate they took the path of love and peace and their immediate reaction was a model of peace and lesson for the rest of the world," he said. 

It is a lesson Farid has delivered to world leaders and audiences everywhere: he is proud of the way his country responded when faced with terror.

"We have seen one hate but that one hate was replaced by millions of love."

But even this gentleman concedes there have been dark times.

He describes it as a river current going up and down but thankfully always forward. He forgave his wife's killer, but still can't understand him.

"Why, what was Husna's crime? She never hated anyone, I never hated anyone."

Now Ahmed is honouring his wife with a new book that was released last week.

He calls it his biggest achievements of the past year and he's donating all of the proceeds to St Johns Ambulance.

"It was hard but an incredible journey I learnt a lot about my inner feelings and also about how dear she was to me, it taught me a lot."