This past Tuesday, three men died in Birmingham. It was the fifth day of rios in England after the Maghrib prayer and these men were outside protecting their town. A car made its way around the block again and again and then it jumped the curb and ran down these three men, killing them all.
I try to think of how I would feel if one of those men had been Feraz or my brother. And I have to stop because the thought is too married to a grief that I can't stand to imagine. I know there would be pain, a well of emptiness inside me. I know there would be anger, at a God who must be unjust.
Would I remember the sentence we utter when we hear of death? Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un - To Allah we belong and to Him is our return. I have seen people lose children and lose their will to live. I have seen others who have an unbreakable faith. Who meet even this greatest tragedy with grace and faith.
I try to think of how I would feel if one of those men had been Feraz or my brother. And I have to stop because the thought is too married to a grief that I can't stand to imagine. I know there would be pain, a well of emptiness inside me. I know there would be anger, at a God who must be unjust.
Would I remember the sentence we utter when we hear of death? Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un - To Allah we belong and to Him is our return. I have seen people lose children and lose their will to live. I have seen others who have an unbreakable faith. Who meet even this greatest tragedy with grace and faith.
The father of one of the men murdered on Tuesday said this about his son's passing: ‘I’m a Muslim. I believe in divine fate and destiny, and it was his destiny and his fate, and now he’s gone. And may Allah forgive him and bless him.’
May Allah give us such strength and dignity when we lose a loved one and may He ease the pain of all those who already have. Ameen.
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