Interview with Dr. Alaa Al-Najjar

Interview with Dr. Alaa Al-Najjar

Peace be upon you. I was interested to hear from Dr. Alaa Al-Najjar what helped her endure the tragedy she faced: the painful loss of nine of her children and then her husband. May Allah have mercy on them all and accept them as martyrs, and may He avenge their killer. For Dr. Alaa's endurance is one of the manifestations of Allah's mercy that I strive to contemplate. However, it was clear that Dr. Alaa did not like to appear in the media or make statements in front of the cameras.

Until a message came to me from a friend of mine, a doctor in Palestine, whom Allah willed to be among those who accompanied Dr. Alaa during her transfer for travel outside of Palestine, and he asked me not to reveal his name. He said to me: We asked Dr. Alaa hesitantly, because we did not want to stir up her wounds, "How did you endure, Dr. Alaa?" She replied, known for her dignity and adherence to her veil, with an answer full of lessons and morals, which we summarize as follows:

Reasons for Patience in Dr. Alaa

She said: "We are humans after all, we feel pain and sorrow, but we endure." And among what helped her endure were:

1. Knowing Allah in Prosperity: "Know Allah in prosperity, and He will know you in adversity," as our Prophet peace be upon him said.

2. Remembering the Hadith of 'The House of Praise': She remembered the saying of the Prophet peace be upon him: "When the child of a servant dies, Allah the Almighty says to His angels: 'You have taken the child of My servant?' They say: 'Yes.' He says: 'You have taken the fruit of his heart?' They say: 'Yes.' He says: 'What did My servant say?' -and He is the All-Knowing- They say: 'He praised You and accepted.' -meaning he said: 'To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return'- He says: 'Build for My servant a house in Paradise and name it the House of Praise.'"

3. The Death of Righteous Children and Their Memorization of the Quran: Dr. Alaa said: "My children died righteous, praise be to Allah, and the older ones used to memorize the Quran, except for Adam who was a memorizer but had not recited it all in one day yet." The doctor friend said: "I was affected when I heard this word, as if there was a deficiency that Adam, who was only 11 or 12 years old, even if he was a memorizer, had not recited the Quran in one day yet."

4. Seeking Help in Patience and Prayer: Dr. Alaa mentioned Allah's saying: {And seek help in patience and prayer}. She said: "I had two constants, the morning period in the field clinic and the evening period in the emergency room. I had my Quran with me and it was my intention to read Surah Al-Kahf and I started with the remembrances, when the news of my children came to me."

The Story of Adam's Memorization of the Quran

The doctor friend also asked Dr. Alaa: "How old was Adam when he completed the memorization of the Quran?" She said: "Seven years old." He said to her: "Seven years old! So how old was he when he started memorizing the Quran?" She said: "Five years old." "Five years old, Dr. Alaa?" She said: "Yes. It was not something easy, and his father, may Allah have mercy on him, used to encourage and follow up with him, and it required a lot of struggle from us." She remembered that she was a doctor with the busyness of the medical profession, and yet she dedicated her time to memorize the Quran for her son from the age of five. Then she said: "When his older brother -the older brother of Adam, I think he is Yahya- when his older brother memorized the Book of Allah, this encouraged Adam and the brothers encouraged each other."

"Okay, but how, Dr. Alaa, did a small child memorize in just two years, even with follow-up and encouragement? Just two years?" She said: "The Quran is almost 600 pages, so if he memorizes one page each day -of course with continuous review of what came before- it is completed in two years." The doctor friend said: "The way Dr. Alaa answered this question shocked me, I mean with such ease! Just one page a day?"

Reflections of the Doctor

After mentioning all this, our friend said: "Allah is our helper, our children spend their time in play and leisure, and in the margins of time they may memorize something from the Quran, while these are the complete opposite." And he concluded his voice message with a painful tone as if he was about to burst into tears, saying: "May Allah ease their grief. Allah is sufficient for me and the best disposer of affairs for those who have let them down, Allah is sufficient for me and the best disposer of affairs for those who have been short with them, and Allah is sufficient for me and the best disposer of affairs for those who have besieged them. By Allah, Allah is sufficient for me and the best disposer of affairs. Alaa Al-Najjar did not lose her husband and children, Alaa did not lose her husband and children, and we ask Allah that they have preceded her to Paradise, we ask Allah for that. But it is the nation that loses these models whose likes are honored in the world. O Lord, help us to support them, a support that lifts from us the sin of abandonment, and have mercy on the children and husband of Dr. Alaa, and gather her with them in the highest Paradise, and provide for this nation from its affairs guidance. And peace be upon you and mercy."