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The Catastrophe of Ghouta

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

skynews-syria-war-children_4252345

Heart breaking! Allah help the people of Ghouta and all around the world who are being oppressed make dua for them and give to trusted reliable charity

?please be aware the following text is very upsetting – an account from a Doctor in Ghouta, Syria – Allah have mercy on them and all the oppressed and may He grant them ease soon and may He protect us all?

Please, please take a few minutes to read what Doctor Housam Adnan wrote from #EasternGhouta yesterday:

From the womb of the dead
For more than twenty years, the scalpel was my companion
Dancing between my fingers, while I do my work very quietly
At the end of each day I whisper to it:
You did very well, and we saved many together
But everything changed now
The scalpel wasn’t what it used to be, lately
My fingers can’t handle it anymore
As if a part of my soul was taken into its teeth, and it can’t bear the wounds it witnesses anymore
Children without parts
Without eyes
Without faces
Women and families covered by sheets full of soil from the home land, with more of her children’s blood
The smell of gunpowder and its abhorred black color hangs over those hungry, withered faces
The screams of children, the wailing of women, the oppression of men, the impotence of doctors, reached my dead scalpel, creating a spirit of the misery inside it, that it stopped working after what it witnessed, but those cries did not reach the hearts of the world to awake it

Today, all those who came to us are slim skinny bodies that haven’t tasted food for days. Buried with their children under the rubble of those barrels that do not distinguish between stones and human.
Today from under the rubble of our homeland they brought to me a mother in her seventh month of pregnancy, with two of her children.
If I told you that the misery of the world came together in the eyes of those children, I wouldn’t be describing enough,
The first child without a right leg and has a broken arm. The other has lost his eye and shrapnel entered his chest, and the mother is struggling to survive. The shrapnel has broken all of her slim body sending to our hands to witness her last breath.
I see her struggling for survival, her eyes are fixed on her little ones being in that situation
The father left them, dead, a few months ago
They brought them to me in one cover, because we lost our Patient stretchers, we used them as beds, because beds are full
I beg you to imagine with me, just for a moment that scene and that torn, torn blanket that carried the four lives: the mother, her fetus and her two children.

A colleague whispered in my ear
Maybe we can save her baby
For the first time, I sat down thinking with my head down
“do we save him, or leave him happy with his mother without seeing the ugliness of this world,
Do I let him go with her
No.. no
My mission is to save him
I looked around
Her torn children
Her soul that’s leaving her body
The noise of planes and exploding barrels
Children’s crying that burns the heart
And my colleague whispering:
What are you waiting for
Come on

There’s a life we should get out
I looked at my scalpel and friend

To what life will you get him out?
The world of barrels, fire and disappointment?
The world of orphanhood, oppression and hunger?
Who will breastfeed him?
Who will change his pampers?
Who will rock him?
Who will hear his weeping?

Yes, he has a god that won’t give up on him, but I became unable, along with my scalpel, to even think
My colleague’s voice awoke me from my fantasies
“her heart stopped”
I’ll take him out now, with her dead
And for the first time in my life, I couldn’t do it, my scalpel stopped me. I put it on the table, and left in silence.
My colleague continued his work, his eyes full of tears, while looking at me in surprise
All that incident took only a few minutes, but it marked a years-long wound, a wound made of defeat and impotence. I didn’t imagine I’d read in the stories of Tatars’ massacres, inquisition stories, or even the pharaoh’s tales.

World, leaders and kings of the world:
Your silence over these massacres affecting hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, who did nothing except being on a land called “Al Ghouta of Damascus” is a shame
I’m not going to ask you to save #Ghouta, but to save your humanity
Save your people
Your children
And be sure, this baby coming out of his martyr mother is your responsibility
Feed him
Keep him warm
Give him his right in living a decent life
Stop these sky monsters with the barrels of death
Come and join the children of Ghouta
Touch their faces, listen to their hungry stomach’s noises
Aren’t they humans?
Announce that you care about all humans, not only your blood like, this would save what’s left of god’s spirit in you

#SaveGhouta
#Save Syria

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Current Affairs articles

Keeping Warm in Winter

Sulaym ibn Aamir RH narrates that when winter would come, Sayyiduna Umar ibn al-Khattab (Radhiallahu Anhu) would be extra mindful of them and write to them, advising: “Winter, which is an enemy, has come, so prepare for it with wool, leathers socks, and socks. Use wool as your under-clothing and outer-clothing, because the cold is an enemy that enters quickly but leaves slowly.”
winter
Ibn al-Rajab al-Hanbal (Rahimahullah) comments that Sayyiduna Umar (Radhiallahu Anhu) would write this advice to the people of Shaam when it was conquered in his era, as he was worried that the Companions RA and others who had not previously experienced such cold would be harmed by the cold of Shaam. This was out of his complete well-wishing, graceful vigilance, compassion and safeguarding of his subjects. May Allah be pleased with him. (Lataa’if al-Ma’aarif).
Following in the footsteps of Sayyiduna Umar (Radhiallahu Rnhu), the following is some important advice on what we can do to protect ourselves against the cold and stay warm this winter:
Wear warm clothes
The best way to protect against cold and stay warm is to wear warm clothes, especially when going outdoors into the cold.
Allah mentions warm clothing amongst His many favours: “And the grazing livestock He has created for you; in them is warmth [i.e., warm clothes] and [numerous] benefits” (Qur’an, 16:5). He also said, “And from their wool, fur and hair is furnishing and enjoyment for a time” (Qur’an, 16:80).
Wearing a number of thin layers, especially clothes made of cotton, wool and fleecy fibre, helps to keep the body warm. Keeping the feet warm and dry is particularly important, not forgetting footwear with good grips during icy/snowy periods.
Even if you are going out into the cold for a few minutes, to put the bins out perhaps or to get something out of the car, wrap up warm; a few moments of being exposed to the cold is enough to make a person ill.
Keeping your head warm with a scarf or hat is important, as a lot of body heat is lost through the head.
Eating Properly
Good nutrition is vital to keep the body warm. Hot meals (soups in particular) and hot drinks will help you stay warm throughout the day. Wholegrain, legumes (lentils, peas, chickpeas, beans) root vegetables (potatoes, carrots, turnips etc.), vegetables in general, citrus fruits, spices (in moderation!) and herbs (especially ginger), almonds, walnuts, pistachio and other nuts, dried fruits (especially dates and figs) are excellent choices to boost our health during winter.
Keep the House Warm
Cold and damp houses negatively affect our health, so keeping the house warm is a must for staying healthy during winter. We sometimes overlook the most obvious things which make our houses cold, such as unnecessarily opening windows and not attending to draughts under doors, so think about ways to minimise heat escaping from the house; this will also help to reduce heating costs.
Taking Care of Others
As Muslims, it is our duty to be concerned about the welfare of others and not just be concerned about ourselves. Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said, “None of you truly believes until he loves for others what he loves for himself.” (Bukhari, Muslim).
We should be checking on relatives, elderly neighbours or anyone who is more vulnerable during the cold, ensuring they have what they need to stay warm and safe, especially during the night. If we can save an elderly person the trouble of going out in the cold and do their shopping for them, or run other errands for them, we should do so and earn immense reward from Allah.
And let us not forgot the spirit of Sayyiduna Umar ibn al-Khattab (Radhiallahu Anhu) towards the people of Shaam, who are currently enduring extreme hardship and struggle, with many of them battling against the bitterness of winter without ample clothing, food and shelter.
There are a number of reliable charities that are providing much-needed provisions to our brothers and sisters in Shaam, and other parts of the world. Each Muslim home should aim to provide for at least one family this winter and help alleviate the suffering Allah, out of His Mercy, has saved us from.
May Allah keep us all in His protection, and make us all a means of blessings, comfort, guidance and happiness for others.
Ameen Ya Rabb!
29 Safar 1439