Okay, so, this is Difficult…
This is a stand alone blog post,
I am writing it first before I begin writing the proper blog entry about this morning’s Eid Al Fitr Prayer at Sayeda Khadija Centre,
Bismillah.
The timestamp on the above photo is 7:34 a.m. this morning.
My brother Amir to my left, and I, were standing in Iqamah in the first row of one of the classrooms inside Sayeda Khadija Centre.
On this Eid Al Fitr day, this classroom was being used as overflow Eid Prayer space for the Brothers.
In all the years of visiting Sayeda Khadija Centre, I have never prayed in this room, let alone even known of its existence.
An air purifier is immediately in front of me, the door is immediately in front of my brother.
Our prayer mats are in front of us.
Alhumdulillah, we had all the space we needed to pray Eid Salat.
To our far left, in the north east corner of the classroom is a metal filing cabinet, something you expect to see inside a classroom.
Classroom furniture had been vertically stacked up alongside the walls.
Folded chairs, folded tables, allowing for more open floor space, hence more overflow Eid Prayer spots.
I was audio recording the Eid Prayer, but at the last moment, unexpectedly to myself, something made me turn it off.
Allah knows Better, I didn’t think anything of it in the moment before Salah started, but now I understand.
The first four Takbeers of the first Rakat began soon after 7:34 a.m., after the instructions were given on how many takbeers in each of the two rakats.
During the first Rakat, after Surah Al-Fatiha, during the second Surah which I can’t even remember which one was being recited,
I heard a LOUD THUD.
So LOUD,
I could not imagine it was anything other than the Filing Cabinet furniture somehow falling over or tipping over.
The loud sound was from my left.
For a moment, I do not know and could not guess for how long, but everyone praying in the first row, my row, stayed standing in Iqamah.
The immediate lack of movement of brothers breaking their salat to move towards the position of the location of the loud sound, suggested to me it was still okay, something simply fell.
I was distracted, yet continued to try to focus on listening to the verses of Qur’an being recited for the remainder of the first Rakat.
No.
It was not simple.
I did not look to my left at all during Salat, I kept my eyes looking where they should be during prayer.
It might have been the Ruku of the First Rakat that everything began to change.
As we bowed down, brothers closer to the far left of my first row broke Salat and began helping…
Helping a brother who had fallen down.
My brother Amir and I were standing in Iqamah maybe only five or six people away from the brother who was now on the floor.
He was bleeding, but at this point, I did not know that.
He fell.
The side of his head, it hit the Filing Cabinet, as he passed out and was falling down.
Out of the corner of my left eye, with all the movement of a number of brothers now helping, I understood it was a person who had fallen.
I am trying to concentrate on Salat, there is nothing I can add, nothing I could do if I did break salat.
I am not a medical first responder with proper training.
I cannot concentrate on the prayer.
It has become mechanical, as I simply complete the physical movements as the three Takbeers of second Rakat are being called.
We raise our hands to the side of our heads for each of the three Takbeers.
Something the brother who is now on the floor cannot do.
My mind is thinking, the only thing I am thinking, is this brother, if anything happens to him, and you know what I mean, It happened while he was in Prayer, On Eid Al Fitr Day, well, this is what I was thinking.
How Could I not be thinking that?
Still in prayer, I can hear a number of voices, suggesting perhaps five people, are now around the man.
I do my best to focus on prayer.
The Eid Prayer finishes with salams over the right shoulder, then we look towards our left shoulder.
I am finally seeing what I was hearing.
There is a brother on the floor, on his left side, he was closest to the wall, suggesting he was standing in the left most position of the front row of Prayer, in Iqamah when he fell.
There is blood.
There are at least two blood-stained tissues placed on this brother’s head.
He is on the floor, there is blood on the floor.
Not much, but enough that you can see the difference in colour of it on the floor tiles.
There is nothing for anyone else to do.
I count about 40 to 50 brothers are and were sitting inside this classroom for Prayer.
About six or seven people are now around the brother on the floor.
The Eid Qhutbah has begun,
Brother Asim is the Khateeb for the first 7:30 a.m. Eid Prayer.
I am listening to the Lecture, but I am looking to my left and watching everyone doing their best to help.
The young Sayeda Khadija Centre volunteers, once they understood there was indeed a medical issue here, acted in a calm manner.
I did not hear it, my Brother Amir heard someone from a back row come forward and say, “I’m a Doctor.”
Alhumdulillah for that at that moment then.
But I didn’t know there was now a Doctor right there helping the man.
Not until later outside in the hallway, when I was speaking with Amir and learned there was Doctor inside the classroom right there helping, did I stop questioning something that was bothering me the whole time.
Once the Volunteers knew there was a medical issue, and that 911 had not arrived on scene so fast, why wasn’t an announcement made, and yes, make a request during the Qhutbah, asking if there were any Muslim Doctors or trained Medical First Responders present in the Jammat?
To help someone right away?
It was because there was a doctor right there, right there in the classroom.
I did not know that at the time.
Alhumdulillah the Muslim Community has PLENTY of Doctors, Nurses…
And one of them was right there.
May Allah forgive me for my incomplete understanding and thoughts….
From all the medical understanding I have from watching TV shows, it’s that you don’t move the head nor the body unless you know what you’re doing.
That was top of my mind as I saw no one was moving the brother on the floor.
The only thing different was that his head was now being held up so it was level to his body.
The hands holding up the head were also keeping the blood stained tissues in place on the head.
One of the volunteers asked if anyone knew if the brother had any family present?
The brother holding the man’s head said, “I’m his son.”
I gather that different male family members were praying in different rooms because of space limitations, understandable.
His son was here now.
I do not know if the man had another son, but a young boy wearing green remained present, stayed near by.
That Muslim doctor who was present, I believe it was him, gave an okay to gently sit the man up with his back against the north wall.
The man had regained consciousness.
He tried giving a smile a number of times while saying he was all right, but his voice almost whispered it, and everyone in that classroom, still listening to Brother Asim’s Eid Qhutbah knew it was not exactly all right.
The SKC Volunteers each assumed a duty without being told anything about what to do nor how to handle this medical issue.
I will not identify which volunteers, I could, but nyah.
One Volunteer, actually TWO volunteers each created a makeshift ice pack for the man to hold against the left side of his head, to lower the swelling.
One volunteer filled a ziplock bag with ice cubes from somewhere, the other volunteer also brought some ice inside a small plastic bag.
The ziplock ice pack was the one used, simply because it was handed to the man first.
All this time,
I am wondering, “Where is 911???”
At least twice, one of the volunteers asked inside the room if Anyone had called 911.
Yes, someone did.
911 was called, paramedics on their way.
But why were they not here yet?
The man is sitting there, awake, against the wall, but obviously he is not well.
It might have been the doctor who told the man that the “Blood ruined his shirt”.
I think it was then that I noticed the horizontal blood stain on the front of the man’s black shirt.
He answered something to the effect that the shirt was not ruined, the blood would be washed out.
He slightly smiled again, but it was one of those Yeah I’m Okay when you’re not really okay kind of smiles.
The young boy wearing the green khurtha/long shirt, he’s now taken water from a plastic water bottle, dropping it on something to wash the blood stain off of the floor tiles.
I didn’t know what to think about that, but I did keep taking note of it.
The young Volunteer who assumed the decision making role in the room, asked everyone to move back and give the man space.
I think he said this earlier but I am remembering this out of sequence now.
I was still trying to listen to the Qhutbah, but, was half listening to Brother Asim remind us that our good deeds alone are not enough, not even for the Prophet (upon whom be peace), to be granted Jannah, success in Hereafter, it is the Pleasure of Allah (SWT) alone that does. We should continue doing good deeds no matter how small, by keep doing small good deeds consistently, perhaps this may be Pleasing to Allah (SWT).
That’s about almost all the important things I can remember from the Qhutbah.
I would have audio recorded the Qhutbah, so I could re-listen to it later, as SKC doesn’t always upload both Eid Prayer services on their youtube channel.
I didn’t want to lose this Qhutbah.
Why aren’t the Paramedics still not here???
There are more details I could share, but it wouldn’t add much.
Only that the Volunteers all who were helping in any way, were helping in every way, in a calm professional manner.
Almost at the conclusion of the Eid Qhutbah, Paramedics have rolled their gurney down the hallway to the entrance of the classroom.
The Paramedics talk to the man and assess.
Asking if he thinks he’s okay enough to be lifted onto the gurney.
Yes he confirms.
Gurney, which I thought was too wide to enter through the door, did fit through without any issue.
Yeah,
So, I have my camera, I should, or more correctly my nafs wants to take pictures.
No.
I don’t take any photographs. At all.
Then I recall to myself, “If there is no record, there is no history, it didn’t happen.”
Can I get a photograph of the moment but without the man’s face?
I pray to Allah (SWT) and wait.
I take only one single photo and put my camera back in my jacket pocket.
That is the photograph:
The Qhutbah concluding with dua.
The brother is on the Gurney and being moved through the door by the Paramedics.
Of course during the Dua, I pray for Shifah for this Brother on the gurney now moving through the door and down the hallway to the ambulance outside.
Brother Asim concludes his Dua and the Qhutbah is complete.
Over the sound system, I think it was brother Nazim’s voice who asks everyone to stay seated for a few minutes, he informs the congregation there was a medical issue, he asks everyone for their patience until the medical personnel have moved the brother into the ambulance.
Worshippers inside the classroom, those of us nearest to the rolled in gurney, had already stood up and moved back to make room for the paramedics to do their work, then sat back down again.
With them gone,
There was no reason for us inside the classroom not to begin to leave.
Most everyone stood up and began that triple post-Eid prayer Hug to the Right, Hug to the Left, Hug to the Right.
I hugged my brother Amir and said Eid Mubarak.
But it seemed everyone inside that classroom were only going through the motions.
Muslim Muscle Memory kicked in.
Being right by the front door, I decide it was okay to begin leaving, so we did, and everyone else slowly began to filter out of the room.
The Man’s son was walking back down the hallway towards me, to properly exit with the other worshippers.
Through SKC’s open front doors I see the Ambulance parked with its doors open.
I don’t look too closely into the distant open cabin, but I think the gurney with the brother is now inside it.
I am walking beside the man’s son.
Respectful as I can be, I ask him what happened? Is his dad going to be okay?
He answers, “Yeah, he will be. He’s got cancer.”
I leave it at that.
I keep praying for them, for some number of moments, as I wind my way through the hallways of Sayeda Khadija Centre.
* * *
The drive home found us talking about how the Sayeda Khadija Centre volunteers and staff handled the medical issue, and kept wondering why it took so long for 911 Paramedics to arrive.
Explaining to our Mom and to our cousin sister what we understood happened, we ended up discussing how very large Muslim Gatherings like Eid Al Fitr can better prepare for Medical Emergencies.
My brother’s B.Sc. in Occupational Health & Safety resurfaces as we came up with ideas and frameworks for future Muslim large scale events.
Here’s what we came up with…
There are MANY Muslims who are Medical Professionals, not just doctors and nurses, all levels of Medical experts are present in our congregations who regularly attend Muslim Events.
So we have the people, and within each of these individuals is the know-how of what to do when things like what happen this morning, happen.
The idea then is to create stand-by teams, who volunteer themselves for scheduled shifts, during larger scale Muslim events.
Taking this morning as an example, a number of those medical volunteers might be on Stand-by during the first Eid Qhutbah, being the First “Team”, who then join the second Eid Prayer as worshippers, no longer on duty.
Likewise, another group of medical volunteers would make up a Second Team, who prayed during the First Eid Prayer, who then become active and on stand-by medical duty during the Second scheduled Eid Qhutbah.
A model like this already exists.
The category is “Event Medicine”.
But it does not exist for Canadian Muslim Events…
Well not, not yet.
I am not a doctor, I don’t even play one on TV, so the person who makes this happen is not me.
But it could be you.
Large Music Concerts on the U.S. West Coast often give free concert tickets to Nurse Practioners or Doctors or other middle level Medical Practioners who work a fixed number of hours on medical stand-by duty, who are then free to attend the concert as fans once their volunteer shift is done.
Fair Exchange.
Likewise, many larger Muslim Events share logistics with Large Music Concerts, think Reviving The Islamic Spirit or ISNA’s Labour Day Convention or MAC National’s Convention.
The Muslim Medical Association is not the organization to do this.
But it could be.
“The Muslim Medical Association of Canada (MMAC) is a registered non-profit organization, providing a national platform for Canadian Muslim physicians and medical students to collaborate on clinical services, community health promotion and outreach, professional education, networking, mentorship, advocacy and research initiatives.”
Envision Muslim Event Medicine Stand-By Teams, comprised of Muslim EMTs, Muslim Nurses, Muslim Nurse Practioners, Muslim Medical Students,
Who get free tickets to RIS, or the ISNA Convention, or who would attend MAC’s Large Eid Prayer and Festival being held today at the Better Living Centre in Toronto, where perhaps 20,000+ Muslims would show up to Pray and Celebrate.
There’s more to this idea, “Muslim Event Medicine“, that I am typing here, but I will stop typing here.
If you do decide to be the person who starts this, let me know, or ask me for the rest of what we came up with.
InshAllah, By Eid Al Adha 2023, which is Two Months and Ten Days from today’s Eid Al Fitr 2023, we can field an embryonic or prototype of a Team in place somewhere, perhaps at a larger Masjid or large outdoor Eid Al Adha Gathering.
InshAllah, Ameen.
HiMY SYeD
