A strange message scrawled on the wall of the San Fernando Jama Masjid, where Daniel Bostic was gunned down, left mourners troubled yesterday.
The message which read "Ownership Change" was written while Bostic's funeral was taking place inside.
No one knew exactly what the message meant but Imam Maulana Mushtaq Sulaimani said there was no reason to be afraid. He said the masjid was a peaceful place where members prayed, ate and lived happily together.
“We are not afraid because Allah is our protector,” he said. However, he said, many people were outside the masjid when Bostic was shot, indicating that his killer came specifically for him. He said if everyone focused on the principles of Allah as they did, there would be no more crime in T&T.
Even though Muslim leaders called on the family and other Muslims not to retaliate for the bloodshed at the mosque, several mourners said they were angered and saddened at Bostic’s murder, especially as it happened during the holy month of Ramadan.
Masjid president Bro Waheed Majid pleaded with those whom Bostic might have offended during his lifetime to forgive him, telling them that this was important in his spiritual passage.
Several popular faces were present at the funeral, including former Police Service Commission chairman and House Speaker Nizam Mohammed, former chairman of the San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation Nafeesa Mohammed, former minister of community development, culture and gender affairs Joan Yuille-Williams and San Fernando mayor Kazim Hosein.
Bostic, 35, of Drayton Street, San Fernando, was the son of former PNM Women’s League vice-chairman Marva Bostic.
A report stated that Bostic had just broken fast and was preparing for prayer on Wednesday night when a gunman, his head covered with a hood, walked into the masjid and shot Bostic in the back. When he fell to the ground, the gunman stood over him and fired four more shots, hitting him in the chest and head.