The first thing you notice about him is the calmness and humility that engulfs him, and then you see his soft and gentle eyes. This is Dr. Thaer Ahmed, a Palestinian American Trauma Physician- who went to Gaza with Med Global.
There was probably nothing that could prepare him for Gaza and the resilience of Gazans. He rediscovered the meaning of iman and taqwa and found new courage, which led him to walk out of the meeting with the President of the US, Joe Biden.
Dr. Thaer Ahmed is a physician who was born and raised in a Palestinian American family in Chicago. Being thousands of miles away from Palestine, however, could not keep him from visiting it often - to reach out and provide medical assistance when and where needed.
So, in January 2024, he went to Gaza again with MedGlobal. He stayed in Nasser Hospital for several weeks and treated the patients, who were mostly women and children. Immediately after entering Nasser Hospital, Dr. Thaer found himself surrounded by wounded and traumatized patients.
One of the patients, a young man of about 22 years, did not survive and succumbed to his injuries. As Dr. Thaer stood—overwhelmed—his Palestinian colleague turned to the father to break the news. To Dr. Thaer's amazement, the Doctor just said, “Your son's last words were أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأشهد أن محمدا رسول الله (I bear witness that no one deserves to be worshiped except Allah, and I bear witness that there is no prophet except Muhammad (peace be upon him)).”
Instead of crying out in pain, the father of the young boy asked the doctor, “Do you promise?” When the doctor reaffirmed, the father simply turned to his family, ‘telling them their son is a shaheed, and may Allah accept his shahadah.’
He and his other son picked up the Shaheed and left for the burial. Subhan Allah!
Dr. Thaer was moved beyond words; he had seen and treated trauma patients. Some of them had been brave too, but never had he seen such sabr and such taqwa and, above all shukr for embracing martyrdom. He learned that one has to believe strongly in the Akhira to be comforted by such words of one's dying son.
There were other incidents that impacted him deeply. As an ER doctor at a trauma center, he had seen hospitals where people could access rooms, medicines, and facilities. In Gaza, it was 'huddled masses,' where people were on concrete floors, 'blood stained muddy (floor) too because people are walking back and forth.' Despite this, 'the respect for dignity' was unbelievable. If a patient was being moved and his belly was exposed, nurses, staff, and even the doctors would rush to grab a sheet to cover the patient. If there were a younger patient with many tubes running in and out of him and another patient who was elderly, the younger patient would leave the bed for the elderly person. A Grandmother who was shot by a drone and was paralyzed from the waist down was addressed as ‘Mama’ out of respect. These were real-life living examples of ithar and the belief that اِنَّمَا الۡمُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ اِخۡوَةٌ (Surah Hujrat Ayah 10)
His visit to Gaza has strengthened his iman, especially after meeting with the people who are living tawheed (there is no God but Allah) and are manifesting حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَ نِعْمَ الْوَ كِيلُ (Allah (Alone) is Sufficient for us, and He is the Best Disposer of affairs (for us) (Surah Al 'Imran Ayah 173).
Dr. Thaer returned to the States after a few weeks. His struggle is far from over. He has been very vocal about the plight of Palestinians and has spoken on different forums about the rights of Palestinians. Dr. Thaer and other Muslim Doctors were invited to the White House during the first week of April. President of the US, Joe Biden, met with them.
He wanted to share what he had witnessed first-hand with the president - and speak out against potential Israeli military action in Rafah. Later, he told reporters, ‘We’ve been on the ground, we've seen just how overcrowded Rafah is — just how little aid is getting in — and that any sort of military activity there would be catastrophic'.
He also handed over a letter from an eight-year-old orphan girl, Hadeed, who had asked Biden to stop Israel from entering Rafah. While the meeting was in progress, Dr. Thaer rose and walked out. As a muslim he did not want to ask the oppressor for aid. There was no point in humiliating themselves by asking the enemy for help. Finally, he wanted to tell the President that what the White House has done so far is insufficient.
Dr. Thaer has drawn strength and courage from the resilience of Palestinians. Men, women, and children have stood their ground against all odds. Each wave of bombardment encourages them to revisit their iman and say, alhamdulillah.
Their ithar reminded Dr. Thaer of the Ansar of Madinah, who were ready to share their household with their brothers from Makkah. Their unwavering faith is similar to that of our beloved Prophet (May peace be upon him) and Sahaba when they were in Shaib e Abi Talib for three years as part of the social boycott of Banu Hashim by the pagans of Makkah. Dr. Thaer’s story and his visit to Gaza tell us that the stories of courage, iman, sabr and ithar did not end with sahaba and that Muslims of today are also trying to emulate them. May Allah grant us all the virtues of sahaba, Ameen.
