A FAMILY'S TRAGEDY
According to local news reports in New York City, over the weekend a husband and wife lost their seven children in a fire in which the mother and another child were critically injured. The accident was described by Mayor Bill DeBlasio as "an unbelievable tragedy". The facts of the fire are now well known, but when I heard the news reports I was reminded of a similar tragedy in the Bronx eight years ago. That time eight children died and one adult. The Bronx family were Muslims. The Brooklyn family were Jews. The magnitude of the deaths are the same , and who amongst us can fail to be moved by such occurrences? These events remind me of these sacred and authenticated narrations of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him): أنه صلى الله عليه وسلم وأصحابه قاموا لجنازة فقالوا : يا رسول الله إنها يهودية ، فقال : إن الموت فزع فإذا رأيتم الجنازة فقوموا – صحيح مسلم Translation of meaning: He (peace be upon him) and his companions stood for a funeral bier and [people] said: O