Ihsaan Hendricks – 2017-07-11 – Somalia Crisis, MJC President speaks of his experiences
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Sheikh,
we've we've heard that these accounts,
you know, of people experiencing firsthand, for instance,
in the refugee camps, what the situation is
like to land.
We've spoken about the interest in his involvement,
briefly,
in terms of, you know,
why it is important for us to support
this initiative. But if we look at, you
know, from the cable listening perspective, and we
understand,
how important the work is now.
We appreciate a little bit more now than
we've ever done before. With the water restrictions,
South Africa is is facing Cape Town is
facing down in the Western Cape with the
fact that, water is now higher in the
gym, miss. But,
if we look at,
the situation in East Africa, we the famine
is as a result of of of of
of lack of rains and end up having
rain for many for many years perhaps, we're
not getting sufficient rains. The
situation is intensified.
How do we as Muslims
look at the situation? Firstly,
from from a personal perspective in in in
our own environment, and also how should we
look at it, as far as Muslims and
non Muslims like,
how they are experiencing it in that in
that part of the world?
World.
I'm very grateful. I'm sorry. All the to
all the listeners, which is okay.
I greet you and bring you the warmest
greeting from all the members of the MGC.
Sir.
If a person has lived in a land
where there is no water, you know what
it is.
I always tell people with the comparison
with our political settlements of Africa.
A person who understand
what discrimination
is.
A person that knows what it is to
live
in the country
in which
we live under apartheid rules and laws
will understand exactly what's happening in Palestine
or know exactly what's happening in Israel
because they live the apartheid
law laws.
They live in the African Valley.
So we first had information because we've lived
in those countries.
We've lived in South Africa. We know what
it is. So we know what what the
people of
Palestine people study and,
of Palestine going through.
We then know
have gone through difficult water
and water restrictions.
We will know when there's a plight, cold
people are dying
because they know it was a famine.
I have been in Somalia in 2011,
and at that time, there was all there
were also famine.
It was bad. Situation was bad. There was
no rain or very little rain.
Yeah. We don't say there is no rain.
It's litter rain.
In Somal,
I made sure
that wherever we knew and understood
we're not going for sightseeing.
We're going to work.
We're going to give a service to the
people of Somalia, and we did so, and
I made sure we did so. Even if
it if it was,
we need to help and assist cooking
and making space of food and porridges for
the small babies
who are dying.
Poor poor health conditions,
but you were there to help. And the
story you're talking is nothing new to me,
and it's not exaggeration.
People might be people haven't been there.
We'll listen to them and say, we are
exaggerating.
I saw it in my own eyes.
I saw it in my own eyes. I
can tell much more of that,
which see which I have seen while I
was there.
We spend time there
working,
feeding,
assisting
those who needed our help.
Once again,
we don't have rain. We have little rain.
There is no rain.
There is no rain.
Today, I will go with a greater passion
We understand what life is. There's no it's
not water. I will go with a greater
the greater passion. Why?
When when I went in 2011, we started
water, enough. Right? Everything sufficient.
We thank Allah for that.
Now we see there is no water.
We see the scarcity of little water.
So I would say
I will go out now and say to
people,
people
the people in Somalia and around surrounding
countries, people are dying.
They are dying because there is no water.
If there's no water, nothing grows.
If there's no water, you can't survive. There's
no survival.
Animals die.
Plantations die. Everything die.
That's what I want to say to the
I have a very special
love for the people of Somalia. Very and
I have a very special relationship with him.
All the people of Somalia know wherever I
go, they know I I I have a
very good relationship with him, very good relationship.
Because he saw me going and working into
the camps, working in the camp, working with
their people, feeding, cooking, making, and helping, assisting.
So
I went with,
at that time, I went to all the
businesses.
I stood on this
on this
shop on the stoops of this of the
of the shopping centers, like Elite Supermarket,
who always told me, Sheikh, you are free
to come and send me anytime you want
to for the purpose and the cause he
does stand for, we will support you. I
would call other people to help the people
of Somalia,
people will support
excellently Allahu Akbar.
Every weekend, he would say, myself and women
and children would stay with me
at at elite,
and believe in me, we we make thousands
of raids. Thousand of people are are giving
with the good of Allahu Ta'ala. Went from
one area to another, from one province to
another, from one Masih to another. We covered
all the Masih in the Western Cape.
We first visited them and asked for special
collection.
Jumal collection, we asked them for special collection.
Alhamdulillah, I won't mind you doing to do
it again. Although my * doesn't
allow me, and I feel sad about it,
but I will still go go the extra
go the extra way. I remember that a
month before Ramadan,
the
Somalia Somalia in
Somalia
ambassador
visited the embassy's office.
He did I did never met him, but
he knew of my activities and my assistance
and do you relieve work in Somalia?
He asked me, Sheikh, would you again assist?
We are in the the situation now at
the moment, it wasn't what it was.
The situation
is worse than what it was. So I
thought, no, if things are worse than what
it was, then it might be very, very,
very bad.
I said to him, I'm prepared to do
that for the sake of Allah for the
people of Somalia.
Even if it means
that we need to get all our other
lead organization,
get them together, and put our shoulders together,
and put our minds together
to see to what extent we are able
to help the people of Somalia, they will
do that. He said to me, Sheikh, I
am prepared as his
as ambassador
to come to work out to go with
you. If you go from mosque to mosque,
from area to area, from province to province,
I'm prepared to travel with you for the
sake of the people of Somalia and for
the condition people are living
in. So it's a change in which you
have mentioned, and that's strange to me. Let
me give you a few example when I
was there. The story doesn't differ a lot
because the situation hasn't changed.
I remember one day,
I suppose I visit 1 one camp. You
know, I I visit all different camps,
and then I went from one tent to
another. We able to be living. I went
from
11
110 to another.
As the people, how they are, how they
came here, and some would do the translation.
One mom says to me,
I have 5 or 7 children. She said,
we walk a few 100 kilometers,
making our way to Mogadishu
with the hope
that in Mogadishu, there will be help because
they know there is help coming into Mogadishu.
So they earmarked that there is and will
be help in Mogadishu.
But she had 7 children when she left,
and when she arrived, eventually, she only had
2 children.
And as she walked, children died on the
way. And she buried them in the road,
on the road, next to the on the
sides on the side of the street. She
buried them.
1 or 2 children left.
That is a reality. Isn't that is an
exaggeration.
I remember
staying in front of the hospital,
buying medicine for them.
But you see many people we've been needing.
We're both from the chemist, and we supply
different can with with with different medication.
I remember sending I remember that mother standing
with a child in her arm. The child
is dying.
The baby is dying. Could be not even
a year old.
Baby is dying.
You see them children die in the arms
of their mother.
I remember visiting 1 small 1 tent.
You know what I saw in front of
in front of the tent?
2 small graves.
I'm surprised. 2 graves right here.
As and later,
what what is this?
She know they came here. You say you
refused, child died, and she make it gray.
She made the whole right in front of
her on the opening by the opening by
the gray. She made a a hole there,
and she buried the child out in there.
Nobody just says nothing.
Make a hole, put the baby in there,
and close her and and and and close
her. 2 children died.
This is the reality.
This is serious,
and I think
I plead my support. It has been my
condition.
I plead my support to help
whichever, whoever is going to
make an effort to support the people of
of Somalia.
And Insha'Allah,
the intention is to work with,
Islamic Relief, Insha'Allah,
were together with the MGC, and I'll I'll
take them from Masjid to Masjid.
People, if you want to do something, we
have to sacrifice. We have to work, and
we'll work together. You do what work will
go out. We'll go to the business people,
and we'll go to everything. And I will
call on them. The mother I will call
the ambassador as well. The they best to
come with and go with us to all
different areas, different business people, same way on
the road, collect for the people of Somalia,
and inshallah, with the hope that we can
bring some relief. And inshallah.
And the person of all the for the
Ummah to listen.
For the ummah to listen.
He said, what we do to others,
Allah will give us much more in return.
So any permanent negative results are there, you
know,
I
warn you, don't ever utter these words. It
will be a bad dua against you, my
brother and sister. Whoever speak like that, it's
a bad dua against you. What we do
to others, Allah will take away.
Allah will take with difficulty from us. So,
inshallah,
I would
Ummah, for the fight to help the people
of
of Somalia inshallah, in the plight for water,
in the plight for rain inshallah. Easy.
May Allah make make make these tasks easy
inshallah, and may Allah
help us
to
remove difficulties from the world, from the
from what the people of Somalia are faced
with.