HUMANITY IS BIGGER
THAN EVERYTHING
“Be the reason someone smiles. Be the reason someone feels loved and believes in the goodness in people.”
Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
Let me share with you another powerful story. In May 2018, during the holy month of Ramadan, I, like many other Muslims, observed the fast. The month was passing full of blessings each day. A piece of news came to my notice through my local news source in the UAE (Khaleej Times) that a Muslim in Bihar, India, chose humanity over religious customs and broke his Ramadan fast to donate blood to an eight-year-old Hindu boy with thalassemia and saved his life. Thalassemia is a blood disorder; patients need blood transfusions after every three to four weeks.
On Tuesday, May 22, 2018, Jawed Alam, a man in his 30s, donated blood to Rajesh Kumar in Gopalganj district, Bihar. The boy was rushed to the emergency of Sadar hospital (one of the premier medical hospitals in the state) by his father. The patient complained of uneasiness and weakness, and required immediate blood transfusion.
There was no blood matching Rajesh’s blood group available in the blood bank. They said it would take at least two to three days to arrange it.
The boy’s condition deteriorated quickly. His father had traveled some 200 km from the Kuchaikote area (one of the administrative divisions of Gopalganj district in the Bihar) and was fast losing hope as he waited in the corridors of the blood bank.
It was then that a hospital sweeper and cleaner informed Anwar Hussain, a member of the District Blood Donor Team (DBDT), about the child. Hussain requested his friend Jawed Alam, an active member of DBDT to rush to Sadar hospital.
“When my friend Anwar requested me to donate blood to a seriously ill thalassemia patient, I politely informed him that I was observing Ramzan fast. But he convinced me to arrive and consult [with the] doctors. At first, even the doctors refused my offer as I was fasting. They agreed only after I took their advice, broke my fast and consumed fruit juice and some solids,” Jawed said.
Change your thoughts and you
change your world.
Norman Vincent Peale
He said, “My religion teaches me to help a fellow human first, so I broke my fast and donated blood to save little Rajesh. Islam preaches that humanity is bigger than everything.”