Hundreds of people paid their respects to a Scottish Muslim shopkeeper in a vigil Friday evening after he was brutally murdered Thursday night in an attack outside of his shop that police stated occurred after the shop owner posted a message on Facebook professing love for Christians and for Jesus and wishing them a happy Easter.
Asad Shah, 40, died in the hospital in Glasgow, Scotland, after sustaining serious injuries in the Thursday attack that British media described as especially brutal.
Shah, who was known as a devout, Pakistani-born Muslim, earlier Thursday posted a message on Facebook account widely reported in the British media to belong to him: "Good Friday and a very Happy Easter, especially to my beloved Christian nation. Let's follow the real footstep of beloved holy Jesus Christ ... and get the real success in both worlds."
A 32-year-old Muslim man was arrested Friday in connection to what police have called a "religiously prejudiced" attack, reports The Blaze.
One eyewitness told a British news outlet that the victim's head was stomped on during the attack while the Daily Mail reported that he was stabbed in the head with a kitchen knife.
"There was a pool of blood on the ground. It was horrific," the witness told the Daily Record.
"A full investigation is under way to establish the full circumstances surrounding the death which is being treated as religiously prejudiced," said a police spokeswoman quoted by the Telegraph.
Shah's Facebook page reveals numerous messages of hope and coexistence between the faiths. On Christmas Day, he posted this message to Christians, "MERRY CHRISTMAS WITH LOVE TO ALL BELOVED MY BELOVED CHRISTIAN NATION AND TO ALL BELOVED MANKIND WITH ALL THE BEST WISHES ."
Resident Isabella Graham told the BBC that Shah had once employed her daughter at his convenience shop and newsstand when she was younger.
"He was an amazing, wonderful man, he couldn't do enough for you," she said. "He wouldn't hurt anybody. Nobody in Shawlands would have a bad word to say about him. I can't believe he's gone."
A GoFundMe fundraiser was started by Shah's customers to contribute to the slain man's family.
