Omar Suleiman – May Allah have mercy on Nicolas Elizalde
AI: Summary ©
The news host discusses the tragic loss of a young black man in the US, who was a woman and had a passion for religion. The host encourages viewers to pray for her and her brother, as well as to know that his mother wants them to be a shhole. The host also talks about the shooting of Nicholas Evaldi in a classroom and describes his actions as "fitless, feeble, and disrespectful".
AI: Summary ©
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh, dear
brothers and sisters, subhanAllah, rarely do you find
people that can manifest some of the most
tragic moments of life of the Prophet ﷺ
in our day and age and can relate
to some of those moments.
Some of you may have followed the news
about the shooting in Philadelphia.
Five kids shot after a football game, one
of them passing away.
The young man that passed away is actually
a young brother by the name of Nick.
His mother, Meredith, is a wonderful sister, mashaAllah.
They're actually both converts, Nick as well as
Meredith.
Nick was Meredith's only child and as you'll
see in the news clip, she actually ran
to the site when she heard the bullets
and held her son repeating the shahada and
her tears falling on his body as he
passed away.
Similar to what we read about the Prophet
ﷺ when Ibrahim, when his son Ibrahim passed
away as Anas ibn Malik r.a and
suddenly he held Ibrahim and the tears fell
on Ibrahim and the Prophet ﷺ gave us
the famous statement that the heart feels grief,
the eyes shed tears and we are sad
over your loss but we only say that
which is pleasing to Allah subhana wa ta
'ala.
The sister of Meredith exemplifies that yaqeen, that
certainty and that conviction with her only child
in a tragic moment running to him to
be with him.
She's a wonderful sister, tabaqa Allah, a wonderful
sister and Nick was a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful
kid.
Nick was a kid who was actually very
active, who used to watch a lot of
Islamic lectures and used to involve himself in
a lot of activities, was very passionate about
the world and subhanAllah ironically as sister Meredith
will mention, very moved by the tragedy in
Yuvaldi, the mass shooting in Yuvaldi.
I want you to know that this was
a special kid and that Meredith is a
special woman and I want you to make
dua for them and I want you to
watch this news clip and I want you
to see what yaqeen looks like, what certainty
looks like in the 21st century and the
power of faith and just as it propelled
Nick towards action, inshaAllah ta'ala, I know
his mother Meredith wants to do much in
his memory.
He still has not been buried, obviously the
circumstances are difficult and devastating but please pray
for sister Meredith and please pray for Nick
to be a shaheed, to be accepted as
a martyr.
May Allah grant them Jannah.
Jazakumullahu khairan.
Please watch the news clip.
Pray for our sister, pray for our brother.
Salam alaykum wa rahmatullah.
Meredith, talk to me about when you saw
the surveillance video.
I was there.
I don't need to see the surveillance video
though I saw it, I saw it, but
I, I was there and I ran to
him.
I ran, was waiting at the car where
he knows that's where I am after the
game and I heard the shooting start and
I didn't know where he was but inside,
inside as a mother I knew, I knew
it and I ran to the shots, I
ran to the shots and I, I couldn't
get him but I, I held him and
I felt him leave but I was holding
him.
He wasn't alone but the surveillance video is
very hard to watch.
It's kids shooting other kids and nothing's gonna
change.
He said I love you and I'm here.
I called 9-1-1 and I touched
his face and I held him.
He said something that we say as Muslims
because he couldn't say it for himself.
What is that?
What are you saying?
La ilaha illallah Muhammad Rasulallah.
It means I believe in Allah and that
my prophet Muhammad is his messenger so that
he can go out as a martyr because
he is, he is a martyr.
God chose him.
I always knew that his life would mean
something but I didn't know it would be
this but if this is what God chose
for us then I'm gonna honor him in
this way.
He's not a number.
He's not number 23 of dead juveniles in
this city.
He's not number 23.
He's Nick, my son.
So this is what his mother wants you
to know about him.
He loved being Mexican-American, Chicano.
He loved identifying with his Muslim religion.
He absolutely loved animals and agriculture which is
why he wanted to go to Saul High
School but mostly she wants you to know
that when the Evaldi students were shot in
their classroom, he sat in his living room
and cried for them.
There will be a vigil for Nicholas Evaldi
tonight.