Muslim hero
As Islamic terrorists were searching for non Muslims to kill for their cause, one Muslim stayed true to his religion of peace and saved a family from death at the hands of these animals.
Even in depth of humans inhumanity to his fellow men, women and children a hero makes a stand.
Here's hoping there are more like him in the world
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Revealed: American family rescued by Muslim hero of attack on Nairobi's Westgate mall
by Aislinn Laing, telegraph.co.ukSeptember 26th 2013
Exclusive: American family the Waltons have told how they were rescued from the siege at Nairobi's Westgate mall by a man who has been hailed a hero. Aislinn Laing reports on the terrifying drama and the iconic picture which bears witness to it.
Faced with a long afternoon trapped in the house with her five children last Saturday, Katherine Walton decided on a quick excursion – a trip to Nairobi's popular Westgate Mall.
On arriving together, her two teenage boys briefly went ahead with Mrs Walton following with her three daughters including four-year-old Portia.
Four hours later, the family lay pinned to the ground opposite the supermarket where they did their weekly shop as gunmen hurled grenades and sprayed bullets just yards from them.
"We were just going to meet my two older boys in the supermarket when we heard an explosion," said Mrs Walton, a 38-year-old IT worker from North Carolina who moved to Kenya with her husband Philip and their children two years ago.
"I grabbed the girls and started running. A woman pulled us behind a promotional table opposite. I could see the bullets hitting above the shops and hear the screaming all around us."
She remembers only fragments of the hours that followed which she spent huddled under the table, but, according to Mr Walton, 39, she saw enough of the attackers to be able to describe several of them in detail afterwards.
"She heard them talking to people, telling them to stand up followed by gunshots," he recalled. "The thing that's troubling her now is she can't forget the smell of the gunpowder."
During their ordeal, the couple's three daughters, aged four, two and 13 months, were shielded and calmed by an injured Kenyan woman and two Indian women who hid with them.
"They were so still and quiet," Mrs Walton said. "My baby was screaming when there was shooting but between that, she just slept. In one lull in the fighting, my two-year-old and the baby were playing together with my phone. I couldn't understand how they could be acting like everything was fine."
Yards away a man with a pistol who was shooting at a heavily armed young jihadi in a bandanna who was taunting him to come closer.
That man was Abdul Haji, the son of a former security minister in the Kenyan government, who had rushed to the mall after getting a text message from his brother who was trapped inside.
"We saw a lot of dead people. Very young people, children, old ladies, you cannot imagine," Mr Haji told the Kenyan television station NTV.
"From what they were doing, you could tell that these were not normal people. The fact that he was making a joke out of this whole thing made me much more angry and determined to engage them, and to shame them."
Mr Haji said his father taught him to use a gun to protect their cattle from bandits when he was growing up.
Last Saturday, he used his skills to provide fire cover for the Kenyan Red Cross workers and, over a period of three hours, help to evacuate some of the 1,000 people who escaped the mall in the initial stages of a siege that would last three days and leave at least 72 people dead. As he stood with a fellow rescuer crouched outside the Nakumatt supermarket, Mr Haji said he noticed the women hiding under the table.
"Just a few minutes ago we were exchanging fire with the terrorists and these people were right in the middle of it, in the crossfire. We regrouped and we started to strategise on how to get them out of there," he said.
He asked the women to move towards them but they indicated they had children with them and could not all run together.
Mr Haji said he asked Mrs Walton if one of the older children could be encouraged to run towards him.
Mrs Walton's oldest daughter Portia emerged and ran across the deserted corridor.
The moment was captured by a Reuters photographer, Goran Tomasevic, in a dramatic image that was beamed around the world.
Mr Walton, who during the siege was 9,000 miles away on a business trip to the United States, said he reacted in disbelief when he first saw the photograph of his daughter striking out alone across the mall. "She's not normally the kind of girl that would run to a stranger, particularly one with a gun," he said.
His wife added: "I don't know how she knew to do it but she did. She did what she was told and she went."
Seeing the little girl running towards him gave Mr Haji fresh impetus to continue helping people out.
"This little girl is a very brave girl," he said. "Amid all this chaos around her, she remained calm, she wasn't crying and she actually managed to run towards men who were holding guns. I was really touched by this and I thought if such a girl can be so brave ... it gave us all courage."
One by one, the Walton family emerged and ran with Mr Haji and other rescuers until they reached the police lines outside the mall.
There, Mrs Walton was reunited with her teenage boys who had been trapped with another family in the basement of the mall but also had escaped.
"As we went out, it was so quiet and we started to get upset because we realised we were almost there," Mrs Walton said.
"They soothed us, told us we were OK, we were safe and to stay calm. They did a wonderful job."
Looking at the photograph now, Mrs Walton says she can see the fear etched on her daughter's face. "I was worried about family in America seeing it because we haven't really shared the whole story with them yet," she said. "For me, I know the story behind it and that it ends well. I think I owe Mr Haji a hug or two."
Since he has been identified, many Kenyans have hailed Mr Haji as a hero but he disagrees.
"I think I did what any Kenyan in my situation would have done to save lives, to save other humans regardless of their nationality, religion or creed," he said.
Portia and her big brother have since been sent back to school in an attempt to establish "a new normal", Mr Walton said.
"Our two-year-old cries a little bit more and Portia wants to stand a little closer but really they are doing exceptionally well considering," his wife added.
Mr Walton said there was no question that they would now be leaving Kenya. "There will always be bad people in the world but it's the comfort of knowing that there are good people that matters," he said.
"The way this community drew together and responded was just incredible. It's an honour and a privilege to be able to live among such good people."
Asked what they would tell their children about the Westgate attack when they grew up, he said: "We will be truthful with them.
"It defies logic that they survived but we're a family of deep faith and take a lot of comfort from knowing that God protected them."
Thread locked due to hijacking.
TFS Rip cord
The thing is what the man did (Whatever was his religion) is really heroic, Hats off to him.
I just wish that one day we can break the connection between the two words "Muslim" and "Terrorist"
Because whom did that were not even a HUMAN BEINGS
you sure about that or does the interpretation change from sect to sect ?
Landowner - thus far there is no evidence, but given the size of the universe and the fact that there may be multiiuniverses it is probable.
LLR now that would be more believable if aliens influenced early man, their technology would seem like the work of the gods. The same as when the first Europeans hit South American shores in their fancy boats....
who taught you this rip??
we all have teacher..you only have to choose it
SPlit, Do you believe there are Aliens?
Captain - and Muhammad flew to heaven on a winged horse - right?
Yes. If you read the whole story of the story of Noah, then you will understand. Noah did hard work for 100s of years. They thrown stones on him until he was buried inside. Response to violence either by nature or by humans are acceptable in the context of peace and justice.
I think you did not read the full history.
So when god flooded the earth in the story of Noah he was killing those people in self defence of handing out the death penalty?
Sorry the captain the strong man is the one that can think for himself, not the one that follows blindly.
all of you brothers went to school
and you all know that there was on teacher in class
some got bad grades,some got good and others got excellent grades...
islam is school and our teacher is prophit mohammad.
its just happened that the bad grade muslims are all over the media
Death penalty & killing in defence are not murders, RIP.
Correct. Splitt. In fact god carries out the majority of murders! Not a very good role model......
Just like the bible ripccord .
Jet is does but it only condones murder under specific circumstances. The other bits are all peace and love
Doesn;t your holy Quran also say something about killing the infidel ?
As for when our time has come ,, i dont think the book was referring to a bunch of savages who supposedly did this in the name of their religion, so i find your comments offensive when used in the context referring to this story.
A little bit of decorum please gene.
Jetsetter, Nope, You have been misquoted.
Only few are ready to accept the truth ...
I actually just saw this in the News on tv...very brave man, well done...my question is this though...how was he allowed to go into the building? Police was already there...I mean, should they not completely block the whole area?
Kind of makes me wonder about the police force there...:/
Bla, bla, bla bla bla...words. And then what? I tell you what...the usual, NOTHING and laying blame on others.
that more Muslim world leaders should openly condemn such barbaric killings to send a message across to the world that such crimes are truly evil and have no place in Islam. As it is these terrorists are not only killing innocents directly, but by doing such terrible acts under the banner of religion, they are opening doors to more interfaith strife and disunion that could very well spell doom to Muslim minorities in certain lands. Truly these terrorists are by far the enemies of Islam and all Muslims should unite to condemn them, disassociate ourselves from them, and fight them however we can!
MN I've had time to look at your pictures now, truly shocking.
It is time the Muslim world that professes to love peace takes action and stands up to those that kill on the name of Islam. They rant about the west and in this case they are right, the west should not take action against these animals it is the so called Muslim countries that should track down these Islamic terrorist organisation that defame Islam and root them out from this world.
To stand by and doing nothing and spouting hatred against the west means you are helping these animals
Lol BE, jihad to be there....
Yes, Marco. The past can hurt, but the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it. :)
Have nice weekend. Cheers. :)
Jihad to be there !
Romancing the past, as usual.
those days when the reciprocity was in practice, when Jews used to keep their belongings in Muslim homes as they trusted them more than their own people, when they travel they would even say Muslims to take care of their young girls & families back home. Of course we are born human beings but religion pushes us further to be a better human being, e.g. once they were all in poverty, they got some food from someone but they thought their neighbours must be hungry too.so they sent food to their neighbours, they also thought the same, so the food was sent to the third house, after 7 houses food again came to the first place.
Thanks for sharing RIP. May God blessings always be upon you.
It is amazing how little condemnation there was from the muslim world to condemn this attack.
Innalilah wa inna ilahi rajihoon...these beasts will go to hell
http://themuslimissue.wordpress.com/2013/09/26/pictures-from-the-kenya-massacre/comment-page-1/
Looking at these photos,I just want to cry now.
YES, thank you RIP. I didn't know about this man until now when I read your post.
Why are yall ganging up on RIP? in my opinion he should be thanked for highlighting the heroism and story of one good and true Muslim and his putting his own life on the line to save another human's life. a story which the world media didn't care so much to cover. Instead look at yall sh*ttin on the guy cuz he has opinions that're different to yours.
What is your problem?
Correct MN this man's face should be on the front of all the papers. Not the white window or the faces of dead terrorists
Thank you Fatimah for being brave enough to say what a lot of others will not say - these people were animals who killed men, women and children.
When people like this aren't condemned by followers of Islam, it leads the rest of the world to come to the conclusion that they agree with what they did.
It's such a pity that the Muslims who have made headlines in Kenya are the people who did the killing, and not brave heroes like Abdul Haji.
Mast a number of those people you have posted were brutal warriors who killed many people. What type of message are you trying to spread, that you love military figures?
Jesus, you post a positive story about a Muslim rescuing non Muslims from these Islamic terrorists (it was them in their statements that say they were doing this in the name of Islam not me remember, so if you have a problem with them calling themselves warriors for isk take it up with them) and all you get is abuse.
Just goes to show, sone are not interested in the story of good news, just they want to carry on their prejudices against others
The post is 1 KM high and Soniya asked not to argue ?
Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, Al-Khawarizmi, Ibn Sīnā, Ibn Rushd, Ibn al-Haytham, Al-Biruni, Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi, Al-Kindi, Al-Majusi, Al-Battani, Al-Zarqali, Abbas Ibn Firnas, Al-Amir Abdelkader, Lalla Fadhma n'Soumer, Omar Mokhtar, Tariq ibn Ziyad, Musa ibn Nusayr, Qutuz, Baibars, Salaheddine, Muhammad al Fatih, Murad II few of them
List of Muslim Heroes for your Reference and Knowledge Abu Bakr,Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, Othman ibn Affan, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Talha ibn Ubaydullah, Zubayr ibn al-Awam, Abdur Rahman bin Awf, Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas, Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Zayd ibn Thabit, Salman al Farisi, Imam Malik, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Shafi, Sheikh Ak Şemseddin,
Not the murderous thugs of AS. May Allah grant him his rewards and blessings in abundance.. Aameen. He not only saved lives and battled terrorists which itself is a jihad, his actions also showed a far better example of his faith than the evil doers of AS.
With regards to the Quran having stories and quotes of other faiths, well we as Muslims are taught that before Muhammed and Islam, God revealed other religions to various prophets of different lands and times. So naturally the Quran contains references of these past religions, Prophets, and lessons they were taught as well.
No need to ruin a perfectly heartwarming post with bickering and bitterness. Peace out all!
easier for one is to search your soul .....
Guys, stop arguing...
Just chillax..It is weekend time..Enjoy it..
Soniya most religions come from early works such as the Zoroastrianism or mirthras tales, so a lot of sayings and quotes are plagiarised by later books
gene_lv, sorry to say this but the said QUOTE, "When our time has come, not an hour can it cause delay nor an hour can we advance in anticipation" is even written in our (HINDU) holy books too..:)))
The Holy Quran says, When our time has come, not an hour can it cause delay nor an hour can we advance in anticipation.
Good to know that humanity still exist...
Kudos to his bravery...