Subhanallah..! Masjid Untouched By Mentawai Tsunami, 50 People Saved
Zilhajj 04, 1431 A.H, Thursday, November 11, 2010
MENTAWAI ISLANDS, Indonesia -
That morning, at around 10.00 hr local time, the sky over
Sikakap looked gloomy. Outside the house, the soil was still
muddy. The trees and grass were still wet after being washed
down by the heavy rain throughout the night. Soon, it looked
like heavy rain would fall again. Yeah, washing off the grief
from the Land of Sikerei.
Outside, the stench of corpses perforated. Unpleasant aromas
dispersed, blown by the wind. Indeed, until Friday (29/10),
the corpses are still lying on the roadside. My mind
immediately thought of the hundreds of the residents of South
Pagai holding out in the hills, in a difficult thunderstorm
condition. Besides suppressing hunger in the coldness of the
night, they also have to fight the disease that was now
attacking.
It was apparently true. Heavy rains flushed Sikakap. Not just
the rain, but also the storm. In the main post, journalists
and volunteers had assembled. As usual, every morning we were
ready to comb out the remote villages which had not been
touched by the aids. That morning, the team of volunteers and
journalists wanted to go to Pasa Puat village in North Pagai.
All the houses in the village were destroyed. Lucky, no one
died.
We used a wooden boat
or long boat for the trip. The vessel was able to load 12
passengers and a few logistics for the evacuees. After a few
minutes sailing, we were obstructed by two-meter high waves.
Thus, we halted the sailing. After waiting for one hour, the
boat which was captained by Dayat continued the two hour
journey. All along the way, the boat almost sank because it
was filled with water. We reached the destination at about
17.00 hr local time.
From the coast, Pasa Puat village looked quiet. There was no
slightest sign visible indicating that it is a village. The
residential are was flattened to the ground. Not even a house
of the villagers was standing. All were horizontal. Yet, there
is one building still standing firmly facing the beach. Yes,
it is a masjid. The caretaker of the masjid
also survived. His name is Zulfikar.
The day was moving
toward dusk. The rain had not let up. Zulfikar looked prepared
to perform the Maghrib prayer. In our conversation, this 40
year old chap claimed to have been living in the village since
his childhood. Almost equivalent to the age of that masjid,
which was built sometimes in the 1960's. "This is the
oldest masjid in our village. The original design of the
masjid is not there anymore, as it kept on being renovated,"
Zulfikar said.
Zulfikar narrated, this masjid was not touched by the
tsunamis at all on that night. Whereas, its location is not
far from the beach. While the houses of the villagers in the
vicinity of the masjid were all razed to the ground.
It was this masjid that became a place for shelter
for the community when the big waves came.
Like a miracle, the sea water only reached as far as the
terrace of the masjid. Outside the masjid,
Zulfikar witnessed with his own eyes the waves of the tsunami
which reached a height of eight meters. "There were about
50 people in the masjid, while the rest of the residents had
fled to the hills which are one kilometer away from the masjid.
Seeing the masjid untouched by the raging waves, we were
amazed. After that we realized that this was God's will,"
this bearded man said.
Zulfikar and the 50 other residents could not stop uttering
words expressing the greatness of Allah. Outside the
masjid, the tsunami kept crashing in as many as three
waves. No one expected, the tsunami avoided the masjid.
"The sea water seemed to split at the mosque, that even the
floor of the masjid did not get wet at all," he said.
"The Power of Allah", only that could be said when a masjid in Pasa Puat village, North Pagai Island, here, is stil standing. Even though the houses in the surrounding areas were destroyed after being struck by tsunamis.
The masjid was not touched by the water, as if the water was avoiding it as soon as it came to the fence of the masjid. The water instead went by on the left and right side of the masjid.
Waves as high as coconut trees during the tsunami also destroyed the residential area as far as 100 meters from the beach, but did not take away the life of any of the 321 villagers who inhabited the village.
(voa-islam/arrahmah.com)
Submitted by a Mujahid