Local Editor, 25-1-2010


Mustafa: "I thank God for my survival, ask him to rest the victims in peace".



She bid him farewell and raised her hands towards the sky, asking God the Almighty to give him a safe ride, then she slept.

When the Mu'athen (crier) called for the dawn prayer, she prepared her praying rug, held the Holy Quran and began to recite Qur'anic verses. Then she turned on the television; she was shocked by the breaking news which read "Ethiopian plane crashes over the sea".

She froze for a moment and launched a cry of a bereaved mother, "Mustafa is dead in the Sea," and then she fell on the couch.

She is Haji Zahraa Jaber "Um Mahmoud" from Nabatieh.




Haj Abu Mahmoud woke up on her screams, he found her mourning. He asked her what happened; she replied weeping that the plane which Mustafa has travelled on has crashed. Haj Mahmoud couldn't hold himself; tears ran down his cheeks.

The agony and sadness of the world filled the mother's heart; she reluctantly stretched her shivering hands to grab the phone. Though she didn't want to hear the devastating news, she had no choice. She called her son, Mustafa, who was supposed to be travelling on the plane to Gabon.




However, the astonishment was great when Mustafa himself answered the phone call, she screamed and the phone fell from her hand as she cried ... It turns out that Mustafa had cancelled the booking even though he had packed his luggage and travel accessories after he did "Istikhara" which is to seek goodness from Allah -the Exalted - (an Istikhara means when one intends to do an important task he seeks Allah for for guidance.)