Muslim Diaries: Mohammed In Rafah
Thursday, August 20, 2009 Read more → charity, community, Middle-East, muslim diaries, palestine, trips and vacations In the name of God, entirely Compassionate, especially Merciful | Peace be with you
In the name of God, compassionate & merciful بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ | Peace be with you السلام عليكم
Muslim Diaries: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5
The 24th of June 2009 through to the 28th were 5 days in which I felt almost every emotion a person could feel, everything from hope and spiritual strength to anger and immense sorrow. These 5 days I saw what it was like to live in a war torn country with only Allah by my side and I must admit, they were the best days of my entire life.
There were 3 of us taking part in this journey - me (Mohammed), Ahmed (the paramedic) and Isma-eel (the police officer). We began the main part of our journey from Mount Sinai Airport in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. Our aim was to enter Rafah, through Rafah Border Control and deliver a large supply of medical equipment and food supplies to the 70,000 Palestinian refugees there. However, we began encountering problems very soon after setting off. Ahmed had contracted mild food poisoning and was not recovering at all. On top of that, we had no time to rest as the border would be shut off within the next 12 hours.
Ahmed however carried on regardless, spurred on by his motto,
In the refugee camp, I was mostly helping the children learn to read and write English, teaching them Tajweed and how to recite the Qur'an al Kareem and helping the Huffaz with memorisation. The children there, in return, taught me some beautiful nasheeds (Islamic hymns) they had created whilst they lived there. Ahmed was busy helping the doctors treat the elderly and the ill and Isma-eel was helping with looking after the injured and transporting paralysed and disabled people.
We returned home soon after, back to our ordinary lives as British citizens and as Muslims, but nothing could change the way we felt about this world. This test was from Allah, now that we had seen what true Muslims were like.
May Allah give the entire Muslim Ummah the tawfeeq and the ability to fulfil their duty as muslims and may Allah ease the suffering of the Palestinian Muslims. Ameen.
السلام عليكم
Brother Mohammed.
The 24th of June 2009 through to the 28th were 5 days in which I felt almost every emotion a person could feel, everything from hope and spiritual strength to anger and immense sorrow. These 5 days I saw what it was like to live in a war torn country with only Allah by my side and I must admit, they were the best days of my entire life.
There were 3 of us taking part in this journey - me (Mohammed), Ahmed (the paramedic) and Isma-eel (the police officer). We began the main part of our journey from Mount Sinai Airport in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. Our aim was to enter Rafah, through Rafah Border Control and deliver a large supply of medical equipment and food supplies to the 70,000 Palestinian refugees there. However, we began encountering problems very soon after setting off. Ahmed had contracted mild food poisoning and was not recovering at all. On top of that, we had no time to rest as the border would be shut off within the next 12 hours.
Ahmed however carried on regardless, spurred on by his motto,
“If you got it bad, think of the Palestinians”.Alhamdulillah soon we reached Rafah Border Control, only to find that our permit had been changed and we were now only allowed to take in medical supplies. All food and other valuables were seized by the border control officers. We still managed to get into Rafah and within half an hour of entering Rafah we reached the refugee camp where we would be spending our time. Ahmed’s condition improved masha'Allah once we reached Rafah.
In the refugee camp, I was mostly helping the children learn to read and write English, teaching them Tajweed and how to recite the Qur'an al Kareem and helping the Huffaz with memorisation. The children there, in return, taught me some beautiful nasheeds (Islamic hymns) they had created whilst they lived there. Ahmed was busy helping the doctors treat the elderly and the ill and Isma-eel was helping with looking after the injured and transporting paralysed and disabled people.
We spent 2 days in Rafah doing what we went to do, but truly, it felt like we had spent years there, these people were not merely refugees and people we had come to help, these people were family, people we would be willing to die for.On our departure the children sang their beautiful nasheeds and the elders gave their du’aas and salaams but one thing that struck me deep inside my heart was that, they were all smiling masha'Allah. These brothers and these sisters had been through what we can only imagine, yet they were so strong in imaan, so hopeful for the Ummah, so proud to be Muslim that at that moment, with tears falling from my eyes I knew, that Allah subhanahu wa ta`la would help these people and that these were the people who had made Islam so beautiful when it was being portrayed in the worst of lights.
We returned home soon after, back to our ordinary lives as British citizens and as Muslims, but nothing could change the way we felt about this world. This test was from Allah, now that we had seen what true Muslims were like.
May Allah give the entire Muslim Ummah the tawfeeq and the ability to fulfil their duty as muslims and may Allah ease the suffering of the Palestinian Muslims. Ameen.
السلام عليكم
Brother Mohammed.
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