I live thousands of miles away from you, I live in an entirely different continent but seeing you bleed hurts just as much as it does when I bleed.
Source/Credit: Author
By Saniya Ahmad | November 16, 2015
Dear France,
It has been 3 days since you bled, and in those 3 days, I have been trying to write this letter to you, to offer you my condolences. I kept writing and re-writing but I don’t think any words can ever be enough for the tragedy that has struck you. But I must say – I am sorry for your loss. I am sorry that you had to bleed. I am sorry that such a tragedy had to befall you. May God be with you, and may He give you strength and grace to bear through the loss.
I live thousands of miles away from you, I live in an entirely different continent but seeing you bleed hurts just as much as it does when I bleed. It hurts just as much when I see my Muslim brothers i.e. Yemen, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Burma and others like them, bleed. To me, it doesn’t matter that you have different values than me, it does not matter to me that you have different morals and ethics. What matters to me is that lives were lost. And lives being lost is the worst possible kind of tragedy to ever exist in this world. And for that, I must tell you that it hurts me as much as it hurts you. Because I’ve been there. I’ve seen my country bleed. I’ve seen my people dying, I’ve seen blood spattered everywhere, I have seen families losing their loved ones just because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. I know how it feels. To bleed. I know it all too well.
But on the other hand, I must apologize profusely for the people who tell you that this attack was “well-deserved” and that “you had it coming”. I must apologize because no matter what, no one should ever be allowed to take a life of an innocent person, let alone 160 people in just one single act of terrorism. I must apologize for the barbaric thoughts that these educated masses have towards the West because it makes them just as terrible as the people actually committing the heinous crime. I must apologize because these extremists don’t know the true meaning of Islam, they don’t know how our religions teaches us to love all and hate none. They don’t know that Islam does not teach us to have malice, contempt and hostility. They do not know that they are not Islam; they are actually something that is completely opposite to it.
I might not agree on your anti-Muslim stance. I might not agree on the way you have ostracized Muslims, and generalized them based on the actions of a few black sheep, because bad people exist in every religion, every race, every creed and every community. I might not agree on the bombings that you are carrying out in Syria; actually I’d say I am completely against it because in your “attempt” to wipe off ISIS, you are also wiping out hundreds, nay thousands, of innocent lives. However, I do believe that human blood must never be shed, human lives must not be treated like trash, no matter whichever part of the world they belong to. I believe that you should be sympathized with, along with all the other countries I mentioned above. We all belong to the same world, we must fight this together. And by fight it, I mean fight the enemy, not just kill innocent lives and move on, pretending that the collateral damage had to be carried out to eradicate the enemy.And in that war against the real enemy, I am with you.
I must conclude this letter here by telling you that you should know that I, along with millions of others, am with you. All of us support you not only through Facebook statuses and profile pictures, not through vigils, but through our prayers as well. May you find the strength to bear this loss. And may God be with you.
Yours sincerely,
A Pakistani.
-- Saniya Ahmad tweets at @BubTheMinion
-- A letter to France | Saniya Ahmad
This content-post is archived for backup and to keep archived records of any news Islam Ahmadiyya. The views expressed by the author and source of this news archive do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of Ahmadiyya Times. Ahmadiyya Times is not an organ of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, nor in any way associated with any of the community's official websites.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments. Any comments irrelevant to the post's subject matter, containing abuses, and/or vulgar language will not be approved.