A prayer for the millions! (TSUNAMI DISASTER)

Dear all,

I had heard about the tidal wave first through casual talk with friends. I guess I was (and most of us are) consumed by everyday life, it didn’t really matter what was happening “out there” in the world. Just a tidal wave, just a few hundred dead. It took about three days for the news to really kick in. As the death toll grew higher by the minute, it just shocked me how many people died just like that in a matter of minutes, hours and days. This morning the death toll was 67,000 and by midnight it was 100,000. And I never even felt it! And when I talked about it, I never felt any kind of emotion what so ever. It was all just “world news” that had nothing to do with me.

But now I can’t believe how all of us will just take the news of the 100,000 people who had died in a matter of three days and simply go on with our lives, unaffected. How can I get up every morning, go to work, study for exams, go out with friends while all this is happening in the world??? I cannot stop thinking of the so many people who were probably near the shore line living their daily lives just got washed away. Just like that! It made me realise how precious and how fragile life really is. I pictured it over and over again in my head, “what if that had been me?”

And now I can’t stop thinking. There’s a feeling inside of me that’s telling me, your time is VERY limited, and soon it will be up! Whether through an international crisis like this one, or whether I grow old to be a hundred, time is LIMITED. I can’t help but feel helpless. I can ofcourse save myself (pray more, make more good deeds and all that) but what about the world??? What have I given to the world, to the strangers thousands of kilometers away who lost half their families? Aren’t they my “brothers and sisters”? What have I given them? Some of them were muslims. And some weren’t, but some were. What did I do to help them get through this tough time?

And then these things start to happen which you have no control over to people who are close to you, or people you know. Disasters in their own little way. On a much smaller scale than the “world news”, but things you never thought would happen to people you love and care for. Yesterday I visited a little boy in the hospital (year and a half, a friend’s son) with first & second degree burns in over 50% of his tiny little body because of an accident that could happen to anyone. The poor kid, I really hope he pulls through. God I really hope he pulls through. I couldn’t help but cry a good deal after I saw him. I can’t even imagine what his parents are going through.

The day will come when we will all be asked about all those people, whether close or not and what we had to offer them. We need to start giving fast! Even a small duaa in our daily prayers. We need to stengthen our Eman for the sake of the whole world. And if nothing else, that is what we all need to offer.

So, my message to you all today is ~ think about the world. Spare a minute of your time and pray. Pray for health and prosperity to the Muslim Ummah. Pray for little Omar in the hospital. Pray for the thousands of children who have been orphaned, the thousands of widowers who have lost loved ones, and the thousands who have lost thier lives in a moment’s glance. They all need your prayers.

The Prophet Mohamed (Peace be Upon Him) once said “give health to your sick with Saddaqa”. I think saddaqas are most needed now for the millions out there.

Please pray.

~Peace out~

Sara M.,

Egypt.