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Thursday, May 08, 2003Dr.Jemilah's Open Letter to All Muslim Brothers and SistersDear brothers and sisters This is long overdue but I am slowly getting more comfortable and have devised a way to work on my laptop while lying down without getting a headache. First and foremost on behalf of our team to Iraq i wish to thank all of you who made doa for our safe return. Baba and I are getting stronger day by day. I am up on my feet but unfortunately baba has a sacral plexus injury and a right foot drop. He is at APSH now and underwent some tests. Dato Dr Rani says it may be neuropraxia and we are praying that it is. In the meantime we are praying for him to recover fully and be able to walk again and work. We never intended to get shot. You may laugh at my statement but even the most calm among us with great iman seem to have made statements implying that the event could be avoided and worse still I have even received messages telling me directly that all I wanted was publicity. Na'uuzubillah. Don't worry I am not badly affected by all this, which to be honest are minority responses. But I am surprised that many who I regard to have great levels of iman cannot bring themselves to accept that this has been fated upon us. I am fairly confident that the outcome of the incident was lessened because of the benefit of doa from our fellow Muslims. Our team had planned our trip well. We were even given the go ahead by US Central command in Doha and our route charted. And to be fair, the Coalition forces we met were very helpful and cooperative. What went wrong? It was a matter of being at the wrong place at wrong time. We were on our way out of a hospital to head to a children's hospital on a route where we had passed before while waving at the bystanders. What happened that fateful afternoon was that minutes before we passed the streets again, two rockets were fired into the houses killing two families. There was panic and chaos. An alleged Syrian Fedayyeen (hired by Saddam's regime it seems) was caught..guns were firing everywhere..we arrived on the scene..the locals (who happened to be Shias) forgot about our red crescent emblazzoned on the front and our waving stint earlier on fired hundreds of bullets upon our vehicles which had Syrian number plates and were thought to be back up. It was only Allah's swt protection that we remain alive. A bullet whizzed past the vertex of my head, hitting my tudung pin and breaking it into two before ricocheting forward to hit the windscreen.(Alhamdulillah I have worn hijab). More bullets whizzed past my head and one went through the seat killing the Iraq pharmacist in front of me. Unfortunately, one AK47 at high velocity pierced the left side of our van, through Baba's left hip and out through his right, through his thick address book and into my left hip and embedded into my left biceps femoris. Baba and I had many premonitions but both of us knew and felt we could not stop what was ordained upon us. All we did before and during the ordeal was doa, from the hotel to the car, in the car etc.. And when it was raining bullets all I could recite was the doa of Nabi Ibrahim a.s. as he was thrown into the fire. And when the bullets hit both of us, we compared notes later and realised that we both felt a small "jentikkan". Allahu Akbar! It was after I had settled Baba and got him onto a stretcher onto an ambulance which again Allah swt sent to us from nowhere that I suddenly could not move my left leg and realised there was blood spurting from my left hip. The whole story is too long to tell here but inshallah I will complete my book someday. Where is the hikmah? We were transported to a hospital deep in the Shia area which was in the most dangerous area of Baghdad. The people had been suppressed by the previous regime. They were very poor and desperate. Some Iraqis even referred to them as savages. I saw them differently. They cried in apology and were very kind to us after the incident. I learnt three new Iraqi words "Lesh reme to nee?" which meant "Why did you shoot me?" I asked every Iraqi I met the same question. I confronted at least half a dozen Shia leaders and clerics with the same question. I told them I was there because I loved Allah and the ummah and I wanted to help. I came because we had the same shahadah and that was enough for me. I don't judges people by their religion, their sects or their practices..that is Allah's job. So why can't they love me the same? Simple minded me. But alhamdulillah, many fierce looking men cried as I repeated this over and over again. People came in groups and I said the same thing. They bowed their heads and cried. And I said, UNITE..SUNNI AND SHIAH..AS LONG AS YOU ARE MUSLIMS..PLEASE UNITE! I begged them over and over again. The last night before I left was the eve of Hussain's death (big event there) and there was a speech on the loudspeakers given by the Imam. He mentioned "tabib Malasie". I was curious and asked my "family" there what it was all about. Umm Mustafa with tears in her eyes (she is Sunni and her husband Shia) said "They are repeating what you said to them. They said if the Malaysians can love us, then we should love each other. Let us forget about Shia and Sunni. Let us talk of Islam". I did sujud shukur and prayed that night to erase my sins with that bullet lodged in me. Let my scars bear testimony of my taubat and insaf. Allah delivered us safely home on Thursday. The next day, I was told, for the first time in many many years, the Sunni and Shia prayed Solat Jumaat together. Allahu Akbar! May Allah swt accept the deeds of all the MERCY members in Iraq, at home and all her supporters. May He continue to guide us and strengthen us. And may He forgive all our sins and put love, tolerance and forebearance into our hearts. Ameen Yaa Rabbil Aalamiin. Sincerely Wassalam Jemilah Mahmood posted by CoolSoulSmith a.k.a Rinci|ak ---------------------------
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