Hana's Heart

     Today, one of our COVID-19 fatalities involved a one - year - old baby girl. She was the youngest in the country to have passed away because of the pandemic. I understand that she was not the first infant ever, but regardless, I felt a pang of shock and sadness that I can't explain. The minute I had alone time today after hearing the news, I broke down in tears and felt extremely terrible. My mind drifted from thought to thought to thought, and as a result, it just made everything much worse for me.      When it comes to babies and children affected by any calamity in this world, be it war, famine, poverty or disease, the kind of sadness and helplessness that takes over me is of a very different kind. We're talking children and babies here ;; extremely young , special and precious individuals who had no knowledge about the world that they've been brought into. No knowledge about exactly who the unjust people are who have placed them , their families an...

      Yesterday, October 1st, 2020, my grandmother had passed away. I wasn't able to attend her funeral, so it was just my father and brother who were able to go. They performed the funeral prayer, buried her and later came home at around night time. While they were away and I had some quiet time to mourn and pray for her, I also had time to reflect and process everything that was happening that same day.      In Islam, we believe that death is completely not the end; it is merely the end of our stay in this dunya (world), and every time someone passes away, they have reached their turn to go back to Him. Hence, every time someone passes away, we would say, in Arabic, "To Him we belong, and to Him we will return." It serves as a reminder that we will all pass away and go back to our Creator, and that the deceased has completed his/her test in this dunya and has left this world that is full of grief, disease, bloodshed and hardship. So, as for my grandmother...