TRIBUTES HAVE BEEN paid to a British Muslim shopkeeper killed in what police described as a “religiously prejudiced” attack, as a Muslim suspect remained in custody.

Asad Shah, 40, died after being found with serious injuries outside his shop in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Thursday evening.

Neighbours and regular customers who set up a fundraising page for his family had raised just over €60,000 by this evening.

A message on the page said Shah was “a popular, well respected and much loved member” of his community.

He was a warm and friendly man and he always went out of his way to make time to talk to you – he was more than just our local shopkeeper. He was a friend to many.

Shah was believed to be a member of the minority Ahmadi Muslim community, and media reports said he was originally from Pakistan.

Vigil

Police arrested a 32-year-old Muslim man on Friday, and a spokeswoman said: “A full investigation is underway to establish the full circumstances surrounding the death which is being treated as religiously prejudiced.”

In a statement yesterday, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK condemned the “completely brutal, horrific and unjustified attack”.

The day before his death, Shah had apparently posted a message on Facebook reading: “Good Friday and very happy Easter, especially to my beloved Christian nation x!”

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon joined a vigil for Shah outside his shop on Friday night, while locals gathered again yesterday to pay tribute to a man they said was a pillar of the community.

About 30,000 of Britain’s roughly three million Muslims are Ahmadi, a sect with a strong missionary drive that is denounced as heretical by hardline Islamic scholars.

© AFP 2016 - with reporting by Catherine Healy

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