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| Salah Farah |
As has been echoed by Muslims through the
ages, Islam means life for all with the exception of those who rebel against
ALLAH. ALLAH (SWT) talked about the sanctity of
human life in the Glorious Qur’an: “Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land - it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one - it is as if he had saved mankind entirely. And our messengers had certainly come to them with clear proofs. Then indeed many of them, [even] after that, throughout the land, were transgressors” Suratul Ma’idah (5:32).
Contemporary Muslims have also warned that the heinous acts of minority groups among the Muslims should not be taken as the basis to judge Muslims or Islam for that matter.
This stand of Muslims was beautifully and heroically exemplified by Salah Farah and his Muslim brothers and sisters on the 20th of December 2016 in Kenya when the Al shabab militant group ordered their bus to stop.
The moment the Muslims in the bus which was carrying between 60 and 100 passengers saw the armed men, they knew they were there for the Christians. I-witnesses said the Muslim women began to hand over their hijabs to the Christian women to conceal their identities.
The militants ordered everyone off the bus and attempted to sort out the Muslims from the Christians so that they would execute the Christians but the Muslims refused to be separated from the Christians.
Salah, a father of 4 (aged between 2 and 10) at the time, told Daily Nation (a Kenyan daily), “We asked them to kill all of us or leave us alone”.
Another passenger who was identified as Abdiqafar Teno told CNN, "They told them, 'If you want to kill us, then kill us. There are no Christians here".
The gunmen ran out of patience and resolved to opened fire on the Christians but Salah and his Muslim brothers dived in the way of the bullets to shield the Christians.
The other Muslim heroes died instantly but the primary school deputy headmaster, Salah, was taken to the hospital where he was stabilized and was able to speak in interviews.
In an interview with VOA, Salah said, "We are brothers. It's only the religion that is the difference, so I ask my brother Muslims to take care of the Christians, so that the Christians also take care of us... And let us help one another and let us live together peacefully".
Salah who had a heavily pregnant wife at the time, passed away on Sunday 17 January 2016 in a Nairobi hospital after an unsuccessful surgery to extract the bullets from his body.
Muslims in Kenya criticized the international media for giving the incident very little airtime unlike what it would have been if it was the other way round.
After the passing of Salah Farah, Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyata, awarded the martyr the 'Order Of The Grand Warrior'; which is one of the top honour’s confered on individuals for outstanding service to the nation.
A then 26 year old activist Abdullah Derow started a fund raising campaign on social media #HeroSalah Twitter Campaign to assist the widow and four children that survived Salah Farah and it was somewhat successful. As at the end of January 2016, about $1,500 had been raised.
The interior cabinet secretary of Kenya at that time, Nkaissery said in a speech following the incident, "We are one people as a nation. And this is a very good message from my brothers and sisters from the Muslim community."
May the brave soul of Salah Farah be granted Jannatul Firdaus by ALLAH (SWT), Ameen.
human life in the Glorious Qur’an: “Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land - it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one - it is as if he had saved mankind entirely. And our messengers had certainly come to them with clear proofs. Then indeed many of them, [even] after that, throughout the land, were transgressors” Suratul Ma’idah (5:32).
Contemporary Muslims have also warned that the heinous acts of minority groups among the Muslims should not be taken as the basis to judge Muslims or Islam for that matter.
This stand of Muslims was beautifully and heroically exemplified by Salah Farah and his Muslim brothers and sisters on the 20th of December 2016 in Kenya when the Al shabab militant group ordered their bus to stop.
The moment the Muslims in the bus which was carrying between 60 and 100 passengers saw the armed men, they knew they were there for the Christians. I-witnesses said the Muslim women began to hand over their hijabs to the Christian women to conceal their identities.
The militants ordered everyone off the bus and attempted to sort out the Muslims from the Christians so that they would execute the Christians but the Muslims refused to be separated from the Christians.
Salah, a father of 4 (aged between 2 and 10) at the time, told Daily Nation (a Kenyan daily), “We asked them to kill all of us or leave us alone”.
Another passenger who was identified as Abdiqafar Teno told CNN, "They told them, 'If you want to kill us, then kill us. There are no Christians here".
The gunmen ran out of patience and resolved to opened fire on the Christians but Salah and his Muslim brothers dived in the way of the bullets to shield the Christians.
The other Muslim heroes died instantly but the primary school deputy headmaster, Salah, was taken to the hospital where he was stabilized and was able to speak in interviews.
In an interview with VOA, Salah said, "We are brothers. It's only the religion that is the difference, so I ask my brother Muslims to take care of the Christians, so that the Christians also take care of us... And let us help one another and let us live together peacefully".
Salah who had a heavily pregnant wife at the time, passed away on Sunday 17 January 2016 in a Nairobi hospital after an unsuccessful surgery to extract the bullets from his body.
Muslims in Kenya criticized the international media for giving the incident very little airtime unlike what it would have been if it was the other way round.
After the passing of Salah Farah, Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyata, awarded the martyr the 'Order Of The Grand Warrior'; which is one of the top honour’s confered on individuals for outstanding service to the nation.
A then 26 year old activist Abdullah Derow started a fund raising campaign on social media #HeroSalah Twitter Campaign to assist the widow and four children that survived Salah Farah and it was somewhat successful. As at the end of January 2016, about $1,500 had been raised.
The interior cabinet secretary of Kenya at that time, Nkaissery said in a speech following the incident, "We are one people as a nation. And this is a very good message from my brothers and sisters from the Muslim community."
May the brave soul of Salah Farah be granted Jannatul Firdaus by ALLAH (SWT), Ameen.
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