What About The Innocent Children? | The Other Side: Barzakh and Beyond Ep. 10
What happens to the children whose lives were stolen before they’ve even begun?
We’ve wept over Reem and Wadea, and were haunted by Hind’s final cries, and to the countless children who were lost among thousands of names of those martyred, we wonder how this injustice could continue. While we grapple with their losses, and pray for their parents, Allah comforts us with the knowledge that they are nurtured, embraced, and waiting in a realm where injustice cannot reach them. Their names may fade from the headlines, but they will never fade from the mercy of the Most Merciful.
NOTE: All depictions of Barzakh are purely conceptual and only vocals were used in the making of the soundtrack.
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References
- In fact it was so intact that the wound on his chest from the arrow was so fresh to the extent that when they moved his hand from it the blood still flowed. [Jami’ at-Tirmidhi #3340]
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.What about all those innocent children? They say the smallest coffins are the heaviest, and there's no weight like that of a child's loss. It pulls on the soul in ways no words can ever capture. For their loved ones, especially a parent, it's unimaginable grief. How do you bury your whole world? But even when you're told that their souls are in a better place, does that really take away the pain? Where are they now? What happens when children by the thousands are being murdered and sent to the barzakh? And how can we reconcile their restful fate with the sheer injustice of what brought them there in the first place? Before the people of Gaza endured this episode of the genocide, it was the image of Muhammad al-Durra over 20 years ago being murdered in the lap of his father that became a symbol of the Palestinian uprising. Before the people of the ditch were thrown into their fire, it was the preaching of a young boy that set that tyrant off. Eventually, that same young boy was tied to a tree and had an arrow put right through him killing him in front of his people. This preceded the genocide of his time, but he's still alive through the Qur'an that has immortalized his story until this day. His soul is with Allah forever, and his story remains with us. But something else happens in the time of the Sahabah that's extremely interesting. It's narrated that during the time of Umar bin Khattab (رضي الله عنه), as Islam spread throughout the
world, they actually found the grave of this boy that they would read about centuries later. And guess what? His body was intact. In fact, it was so intact that the wound from the arrow was so fresh to the extent that when they moved his hand from it, the blood still flowed. How many times have you heard stories of the bodies of shuhada recovered throughout the world and in different generations, untouched by time, no sign of decay, just preserved, looking just like they did the day they were killed. Starting from the multiple times that the bodies of the shuhada of Uhud have been exposed during floods of Medina, with the bodies of the likes of Hamza and Musab, may Allah be pleased with them, still easily identifiable to the incredible stories of shuhada around the world today, whose bodies don't decay after years and years. But in this particular time we live in, we're seeing bodies torn to pieces by the most sophisticated of weapons. And that disturbs the conscience in a unique way, because they're not being used against war combatants, but against children, little precious babies that actually make up the majority of the casualties. There's a saying from Nelson Mandela that there can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children. What does that say about the state of the soul of our world that permits children to be blown to bits and starve to death as a matter of global policy? And that causes deep philosophical and theological issues for some. How do you come to terms with a soul that comes into this world and leaves it so quickly in such brutal fashion? Remember Muhammad Abu al-Qumsan, who had just picked up the birth certificates for his newborn twins when he found out that they were already killed? Think about the light of the soul coming from the realm of pre-existence, to become a self in this world, only for a few moments before it departs into eternal light. Can we see that light therein
through the darkness of their murder? The Prophet (ﷺ) said, كل مولود يولد على الفطرة Every newborn is born upon the fitrah, which is their pure nature, meaning babies, infants, and children are innocent and pure in every sense of the word. That's why it's especially painful to see children become the targets of genocide. The innocence and purity violated, and all of the hopes, aspirations, and dreams of the child and their parents shattered. But Allah in His mercy refuses for that event to be the end of their story. We learn from our tradition that there's a very special experience awaiting the children in the barzakh. And no one is more comforted than a parent because no one feels the pain of the death of a child from this world, especially through murderous means, like the wound that brought them into this world in the first place. So when you see that child being killed, know that no one loves that child more than their parents. And if it hurts us to see the image of Muhammad al-Durra on our screens, think of his dad who had him martyred in his lap. As painful as the scenes of Hind Rajab shot over 300 times in her car with her ambulance call pleading for help recorded for the whole world to hear, think about how much harder it is for her mom to hear that call over and over again. Imagine if these people didn't have Jannah, but they do. And that's the hope the Prophet (ﷺ) would comfort a grieving mother with. In one incident, a young teenager named Haritha (رضي الله عنه) was killed in the Battle of Badr. And his mother came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, Ya Rasulullah, you know how much Haritha meant to me. If he's in paradise, then I'll be patient and I'll seek the reward from Allah. But if he's somewhere else, then you'll see what I'm going to do, meaning I'm going to lose my mind. And the Prophet (ﷺ) said, woe to you, oh Haritha, is it only one Jannah? There are multiple levels of Jannah and he's in the highest level of Jannah
al-Firdous. She was then comforted knowing that Allah gave her child more than she could have given him as a mother. In the case of children, just as their murderer seemingly took away their future, the child will be in endless gardens. And just like the martyr, the child will be in birds flying around paradise, but not in the same bodies. SubhanAllah, even the birds they are in uniquely reflects their childhood innocence. Ibn Mas'ud (رضي الله عنه) said that just like the shuhada have the bodies of at-tayr, green birds flying through Jannah as they wish only to return to their chandeliers nestled under the throne of Allah. He said the bodies of the children of the believers are in the bodies of asafir, small beautiful birds. Also going around Jannah as they wish and returning to the throne of Allah. So their innocence and childhood is still preserved in the barzakh as their souls are even now in the bodies of smaller sweet birds to represent their childhood. Not only that, can you imagine those babies that are still fed by their mothers being nourished by a special tree? Khalid ibn Ma'dan (رضي الله عنه) said indeed in Jannah there is a tree called tuba whose branches are like udders nourishing the children of the people of paradise. And this concept is corroborated by the Prophet (ﷺ) who lost his own son and said my son Ibrahim died while he was still nursing and he has two wet nurses who will complete his term for him in Jannah. So they're not only in the bodies of these little birds at all times, but they have wings and their childhood is being carefully preserved in heavenly fashion. Prophet (ﷺ) said last night two people came to me and they made me get up and they said to me let's go. So I set off with them and he mentioned things that he had seen and amongst those things he says we set off and we came to a luscious garden in which all the colors of spring
were present. And then there was this man who was so tall that I could hardly see his head in the sky. Around that man was the largest number of children I had ever seen. Then among the things that the two angels explained to me was that as for the tall man who was in that garden that was Ibrahim (عليه السلام). And as for the children who are around him those are all of the children who died in a state of fitrah. So one of the companions said Ya Rasulullah what about the children of the disbelievers? He said and even the children of the disbelievers. So the infant and the child will be taken care of. What about their grieving parents they left behind in this world? Allah replaces them with even better parents. Prophet Ibrahim (عليه السلام) and Sarah. And think how significant that is. Remember when Ibrahim and Sarah couldn't have kids for decades but they were patient with the decree of Allah? And then they were gifted with Ishaq in this world and through Ishaq a nation full of prophets and messengers. And now in the next life they're given even more than that which is all of the children who have passed away until the day of judgment. Think of the pain of the parents around the world who have lost their children. Or maybe you yourself know of that pain because you've lived the harrowing experience of losing your own. And then think of how your child is being nurtured by the best of parents who themselves knew the pain of not having children for a very long time. Remember also that Ibrahim's name is a Syriac word that is ab-rahim meaning merciful or compassionate father. That now has another connotation. And now just as he was the father of only the faithful in this dunya, he's now the father of all the children in the barzakh. And yes they are still children in the barzakh at the age that they died. We will see them again as such until they enter paradise with their parents insha'Allah
and then everyone becomes the same age. The Prophet (ﷺ) called them da'misul jannah, the little ones of paradise. Ibn Athir (رحمه الله) commented on this and he said this is the plural of the word da'mus which refers to a small creature that lives in ponds. It also refers to one who wanders about meaning they go everywhere in Jannah entering all places and they will not be barred from any place just as children in this world are not barred from entering upon anyone because of their age and innocence. And as you stare at the empty rooms they leave behind and there is little more painful than a parent staring at the empty room of a child. Guess what their room looks like now? There's a famous narration of Malik ibn Dinar (رحمه الله) who was a drunkard and distant from Allah until he repented after seeing a dream of his deceased daughter telling him to fear Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And in that narration he describes where he saw the children of Jannah. He says, I looked to this mountain and it was covered in silver within which were open niches curtains hanging upon every alley and skylights fitted with red gold separated only by rubies. He said the constellation of each skylight was draped with pure silk. When I looked upon the mountain children emerged with faces like the full moon and then my daughter darted to me upon a cradle of light until she appeared right before me. She reached with her left hand towards my right hand and held on to it and then she stretched forth her right hand towards the beast that was chasing me and he turned back. Then she gave me a seat and she sat upon my lap and she struck my beard with her right hand and she said,
Oh my father isn't it time for those with faith that their hearts be humbled by the remembrance of Allah? So Malik said, I wept and I said, oh my daughter you all know the Quran too? And she said, oh father we know it even better than you. Now the story of repentance may be unique to Malik but the place of his daughter is not for how many more of us have children in that mountain and the reunion is just as real for anyone else and when we take comfort collectively as an ummah in knowing that our children have not been slain in vain we speak directly as an ummah to the parents amongst us that have experienced that pain. Your child too is waiting for you and while you could not fully welcome or raise your children in this life Allah made it so that your children could welcome you in the next phase of your life. I said to Abu Huraira, I lost two of my children. Can you narrate to me any hadith from the messenger of Allah which can console me and my wife for our loss? He said, yes. Prophet (ﷺ) said their little ones are the little ones of paradise and when one of them meets their parents he takes hold of his garment or his hand as I am taking hold of the hem of your garment and he does not let go until Allah admits him and his parents into paradise. So, subhanAllah, kids wait to grab their parents by the hands to enter them into Jannah and if a miscarried fetus then the Prophet (ﷺ) said then even by the umbilical cord and even
if that cord was severed in dunya by the monsters of genocide. Dr. Farhan Abdul Aziz who's a dear friend of mine and a doctor who served in Gaza had shared with us the story of an eight-year-old boy named Zakaria who told his father at the beginning of the genocide that he had a dream that the war was going to end on day 74. And so on day 73 he asks his father, he says, Baba if I die will I meet the Prophet (ﷺ)? And his dad said, of course, but the war is going to end, right? But it ended only for him because he was killed on day 74. Can you imagine what it was like for baby Zakaria to go from the warmth of his parents embrace to insha'Allah the warmth of the embrace of the Prophet (ﷺ)? And what an embrace after a cruel exit. Imagine Wadi al-Fayyumi, the murdered six-year-old who ran up to his landlord thinking he would give him a hug now running up to Ibrahim (عليه السلام) instead. And then imagine the miscarried children and Zakaria and Wadi and all those kids who entered that realm first now playing together in gardens. Hind with Reem, the soul of our soul, now with all the other pure souls basking in a beautiful childhood in the Barzakh after their childhood was stolen from them here. See there are no orphans in the Barzakh. They're under the care of our father Ibrahim. But I want to remind you and I that there are plenty of orphans on this side from all over. And think of the emphasis in our deen on caring for them. The shattered bodies of children bother you as they should know that Allah is taking care of them. But it's the shattered souls of children still alive in their bodies here that we must also direct our attention to. And perhaps the parents of those children who have been killed or who are dead are looking back at this world and wondering what we're doing for them.
Do good in what you have left. No, it is but a word. He is the one who says it. And from behind them is a barzakh until the day they are resurrected.
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