British backpacker's funeral to include reading from Holy Quran

Victim’s mother says Holy Quran will be recited to counter the 'misrepresentation' of her killing as act of...

A passage from the Holy Quran will be read at the funeral of a British backpacker murdered in Australia last week.

The victim’s mother said the reading of the Holy Quran at the funeral will be held to counter the 'misrepresentation' of her killing as an act of terrorism.

Mia Ayliffe-Chung, 21, was stabbed to death at a hostel in Queensland last Tuesday. Thomas Jackson, 30, died in hospital overnight on Monday from injuries he sustained trying to save Chung.



Frenchman Smail Ayad, 29, has been charged with the pair’s murder. Detectives have negated terrorism as a motive for the killing, despite reports that the attacker shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the stabbing, and suggested that “mental health or drug misuse issues” may have played a part.

Protesting the “misrepresentation” of her daughter’s death “as an act of terrorism”, Rosie Ayliffe said Mia’s funeral would be a multi-faith ceremony, with a reading from the Holy Quran, along with a Jewish text or song, a Sikh reading and Buddhist performance.

Writing in her Independent column Ayliffe said: “After talking about the misrepresentation of Mia’s death in the media as an act of terrorism on the part of an Islamic fundamentalist, the minister delivering the service suggested we include a Quranic reading, and he will find something suitable with a friend who is an Islamic scholar.”



Citing that her daughter was “essentially Buddhist in outlook” and believed in reincarnation and other tenets of the faith, Ayliffe added, “We have therefore decided on a prolonged, reverberating note from a Buddhist singing bowl to signify the beginning and end of a meditation on life and death.”

Earlier, Ayliffe said her daughter’s ashes would be scattered around the world so she could continue her travels.

This article originally appeared on The Guardian.