Analysis, Featured, Middle East

Syrian Maternity Hospital Bombed

An airstrike has hit a maternity hospital in northern Syria supported by Save the Children, the charity has said.

Two people were killed in the attack, and several others injured including a woman who was six months pregnant who lost her leg. Several babies were also hurt when their incubators crashed to the floor in the attack.

The hospital was the only one providing maternity services in the area and delivered about 300 babies a month.

The strike on the hospital in Kafar Takharim in a rebel-held part of north-western Idlib province came after earlier airstrikes that killed at least five people and injured more than 25, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. (Guardian Newspaper 29/07/2016)

 

Comment:

It seems that nothing can shock us anymore with the attacks happening against the people of ash-Sham, by the regime, the Russians or the USA and her allies. All international laws are broken and each red line is crossed and still there is no voice of condemnation or anyone who will stop this from the leaders of the Muslims, may Allah سبحانه وتعالى account them severely for their silence and inaction.

Rules of war under capitalism are extremely barbaric and unjust with no one spared in the goals sought by the Western powers in its foreign policy objectives. In the case of Syria there is severe punishment to break the resolve of the people and their desire to remove the regime and live by Islam. Sonia Khush, Save the Children’s Syria director, described the bombing as a “shameful act, whether it was done intentionally or because due care was not taken to avoid civilian areas”.

She added, “There is no excuse, and unfortunately this is only the latest in a series of strikes on health facilities in Syria. We condemn these attacks, which are illegal under international law, in the strongest possible terms. We need an immediate ceasefire across Syria and an end to the appalling bombing of medical facilities.”

Denial of safety in medical facilities goes alongside siege and starvation for the Ummah in Syria.

Whilst it is Islam that is portrayed as barbaric and unjust, especially with the mention of jihad, it is in fact only Islam that has a foreign policy that is motivated to liberate and not obliterate. Islam’s foreign policy restricts the rules of war so that one is not able to freely bomb, torture and starve the innocent and non-combatants of war.

The Prophet ﷺ instructed his people before battle;

«لا تقتلوا شيخا فانيا ولا صغيرا ولا امرأة»

“Do not kill any child, any woman, or any elder or sick person.” (Sunan Abu Dawud)

and Abu Bakr also advised Yazid who was the commander of one of the battalions:

«لاَ تَقْتُلَنَّ امْرَأَةً وَلاَ صَبِيًّا وَلاَ كَبِيرًا هَرِمًا وَلاَ تَقْطَعَنَّ شَجَرًا مُثْمِرًا وَلاَ تُخَرِّبَنَّ عَامِرًا وَلاَ تَعْقِرَنَّ شَاةً وَلاَ بَعِيرًا إِلاَّ لِمَأْكُلَةٍ»

“Do not kill women or children or an aged, infirm person. Do not cut down fruit-bearing trees. Do not destroy an inhabited place. Do not slaughter sheep or camels except for food.” (Muwatta Malik)

The double standards of the Capitalist system are continuously exposed and it is high time Muslims rise to challenge the inherent corruption that emanates from this system and show the real alternative of the Islamic Khilafah State (Caliphate) upon the method of the Prophethood which will not only protect the oppressed Muslims in Ash Sham and every land of war but also carry the Islamic call in the best manner through a just foreign policy.

 

Nazia Rehman