Yaa Amman...

My heart is full for my beloved home of only 9 short months: Amman, Jordan.

The blasts that ripped through several hotels yesterday have killed at least 56 and wounded about a hundred more.

On a night in which a young couple were celebrating their wedding, the deadliest of the bombs went off, sparing the bride and groom yet killing the bride's father and groom's father and nine of his relatives.

Today at 1 pm Amman time, demonstrators will walk through Amman's streets to show their horror, disgust, and disapproval of this horrific crime. Siraj and I deeply wish we were there to show our solidarity with the Jordanian people. It is especially important for those who "fit the profile" i.e. young, religious, bearded men, to stand up and speak out against these crimes.

The Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam said:

Be you, O slaves of Allah, as brothers. A Muslim is a brother of another Muslim; he neither oppresses him, nor does he lie to him, nor does he look down upon or humiliate him. Piety is here (and he pointed to his chest three times). It is evil enough for a Muslim to humiliate his brother. All things of a Muslim are sacred for his brother: his blood, his property, and his honor.
(Related by Imam Muslim.)

How much more heinous could this transgression be when we see that it is done by brother against brother? Go look at the news and soak in the images... elderly women in hijaab injured, crying for help. Young men: brothers, fathers, sons, lay bleeding amongst their brethren. The Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam informed us that a drop of a Muslim's blood is more noble in Allah's eyes then even the Ka'bah itself. Then why, then, has our blood become so cheap?

Yesterday and today have led us to reflect on our short, idyllic time in Amman. Siraj used to pass the Radisson daily on his way to work. On our jaunts to Mecca Mall we would pass the Days Inn. And we'd joke that if we had the money, we'd spend a night in the Grand Hyatt for the heck of it. When we were expecting family friends on a visit, we passed on the numbers of these hotels for them to come visit on their way back from Umrah. A hundred opportunities existed for us and people we knew to be caught in this attack. It's baffling, confusing, and painful.

It's ironic how we used to brag to people that although we live bordering Iraq, Palestine, and "Israel", we were in one of the safest Arab countries in the Middle East. Jordan was like and unlike all we expected of it, and till today we looked forward to going back to see it and perhaps live there. Now? Although I still long to return, I fear that this event will set into motion trends that will make it difficult for Islamic workers in Jordan, and difficult for foreigners to come overseas and study. I don't doubt that already, our former Arabic school in Amman, the Qasid Institute, is feeling the pressure. May Allah make it easy for the Muslims of Jordan and may Allah prevent this event from causing witch hunts of the mukhabaraat (secret police) through the young religious men of the country. I pray that the perpetrators may be brought to justice without innocent men being targeted whose only crime is to have a beard and be involved in Islamic work in these tumultuous times.