Wish I Can Help

Though this page is originally all about my study and teaching of the Quraan, and thats what it was started for and is still about. But for the time being, as you have noticed, I have been writing more about earthquake aftermath. This is because this disaster has had a deep impact on myself spiritually, and the damage it has done to the people is colossal. Now i wish i can use this page for anything it can do to make a contribution towards helping it.

It is exactly a month now. The world probably doesnt feel the magnitude of damage, which has been greater than the Tsunami.

Thanks to Allah billion trillion times me, my family, friends, and relatives all have been safe Alhamdulilah. It is the horrible state and suffering of the people coming from the destroyed cities and towns, which is so painful it has broken my heart. Most people, especially kids, are in a state of shock and trauma after seeing their loved ones and everything get crushed in front of their eyes in seconds. Their minds and eyes just cant let go of those scenes.

All it took was a few seconds of time, and all the buildings came down as a pile of rubble, most of them, even the multistorey building, swallowed by the earth with their roofs almost on the ground level. And it was all so quick it didnt give anyone time to rush out, and the building turned into graves. All 8000 or so schools were destroyed and the kids crushed under their very roofs while they had just started their lessons in the morning. Hospitals, libraries, police stations, govt. offices, everything is gone.

i would like to share what some eyewitnesses had to tell about the disaster, when on Saturday I went to join some volunteers.

An amazing account was by a lady who told how theirs was the only house standing in that area (officers colony, Muzzafarabad) after the quake, and that she says is because they were studying the Quraan there, and the place where Quraan is being read is encircled by the angles of mercy (according to a hadith). And thats absolutely true. They had daily Quraan classes in that house, and this lady used to teach kids.

When the jolts started, she said they were very violent, but no one rushed out. She said they felt a strange calm and the kids stayed at their place, and recited prayers. Then they saw the roof getting separated from the walls on one side of the room, as if just about to come down. The jolts were getting more severe and it was taking it too long to stop. Ofcourse it wasnt like any other earthquake. But when finally it settled, she went to look for the kids in the other room, seeing they were all fine she returned to her class and was proud to find out the kids were in prostration, praying nafl to thank Allah, and she joined them too. She said she felt so great seeing them praying so peacefuly in that frightening situation.

But the real surprise came when they went outside to see each and every building around crashed down and dust clouds all around. The next house was all rubble and down in their lawn. This was ofcourse astonishing as their house was no different than the others that fell down in seconds, in construction and stuff. That was the only building, she said, that stood safe in that area, except a few cracks in two of the rooms. And it's a sign indeed, as the angles circle the place where Quraan is being read and peace descends there. Its Allah who protected them, ofcourse.

For others it was horrifying, most people said it started with a very sudden wind storm, then there was a black smoke or dust, and then the earhquake with a booming noise. For some the earth cracked and they fell into it. Others got stuck alive in the rubble of their houses for days. Amazing they took one young man out after 21 days, imagine! He was apparently ok, with a few injuries, but he was in shock, wasnt responding and he wasnt able to listen now.

A school teacher had decided to have her maths class out in the open just minutes before the catastrophe. She also described the same things happening before the quake, saying the weather was just calm, but there was a sudden violent wind and black smoke following it. Then it took only moments for the school building to collapse in front of them.

Another lady just came out of her kitchen when suddenly the wind blew and jolts started and her kitchen broke apart and collapsed behind her. She rushed to pick up her baby, falling three times on her way. And when she finally was holding her baby her two storey house starting falling down and with it she and her son also. Both were able to come out of rubble later unscratched Alhamdulilah.

But a majority people got buried alive, and their cries for help subdued by time. And their disoriented family member still roaming around helplessly because there is no way they can more the heavy boulders without the machines.

The people who are surviving are so lost, and seeing so many hardships ahead didnt even have time to grieve. Digging graves with their hands and burrying the ppl the loved, they have nothing to lose. Now they have nothing to eat, for most there is no shelter in these freezing temperatures.

A huge number of people have lost their limbs, again most of them are kids. It may take them forever to get over this, and to get back to normal life.

The trauma is immense, i can go on and on about it. I would say, everyone around the world, esp. the Muslims, do all the help you can. Everyone can help in someway or the other in their capacity. There are a million way in which we can help, as their needs are as many and more.

Allah please help them, and help us do our best for them and manage, so that not a single one of them is left without proper care. Allah please forgive us, make us better human beings and better Muslims, and give us the best lives here and in the Hereafter. O Allah have Mercy.

Aameen!