How my faith helped me after the loss of loved ones in the earthquake

The author of this moving reflection, Associate Professor Salih Yucel, based in Melbourne, lost six of his close relatives, including his sister Remziye Yucel and 19 distant kin, due to the catastrophic earthquake in Turkiye.

Dr Salih Yucel

I remember where I was when I got news of the earthquake. I was about to finish teaching the first day of an intensive week of the Islamic chaplaincy course at ISRA in Melbourne.

I grew up in Adiyaman, one of the hardest hit areas by the recent earthquake. I quickly sent Whatsapp messages to my family members in Adiyaman. Slowly, responses started to trickle in.

I sent a text message to my beloved sister Remziye, but there was no response. I called her, but no one answered. Hoping my other family members had more information, I called my other sister in Istanbul.

What she said made me freeze in terror:

Remziye was struck underneath the rubble. I could not stop my tears while driving home. I turned to the news about the earth- quake in Turkiye and Syria. After I while, I couldn’t even see the images through my tears. I could not continue to watch. My eyes, heart and soul were crying together.

I was told that my sister had her sahoor (breakfast) to prepare for her day of fasting, and then started performing her tahajjud (night prayers).

When she was about to finish her prayer, the deadliest earthquake hit. She was living on the second floor of a three-story building. The first two floors of the building were buried in the earth, and only the third floor was left barely standing.

I held onto every bit of hope and optimism for three days because I was informed that she made a noise underneath the rubble, a few hours after the first earthquake. As the hours passed, I received heartbreaking news of even more close relatives and distant kin underneath the rubble.

Last week, I experienced the saddest time in my life. I shed tears, particularly when I was alone. I thought about what Prophet Muhammed (s) did after the burial of his belloved wife Khadija, un- aimamed.com.au admin@aimamed.com.au