Brother Waleed Shaalan; one of the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting, April 2007.

He was 32 years old. He was a civil engineering Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech. He was a Muslim brother, known for his broad smile and wave that he gave to everyone. His name is Waleed.

Waleed began his Ph.D. program in Zagazig, Egypt until he was offered an assistantship position at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States of America. Has he heard of Blacksburg before that? I doubt it! He decided to leave his new born son, Khaled, and his wife of 3 years, Amira. “Only for a few months,” they probably told themselves. He first stepped into Blacksburg in August 2006. Little did he know that this is where he is going to die.

He bacame roommates with two other brothers; Fahad Pasha, originally from Emirates, and Irfan Waseem, orgininally from Pakistan; the three of them international students seeking a better education than what they would find in their home lands. Waleed was their oldest, always motivating them and even cooking for them. Fahad later recalls saying that he would find them studying for their exams and he would make tea for them. Little did he know that his time on earth is going to be dramatically cut short.

This summer, he was planning on visiting Egypt, spending time with his parents and relatives, and bringing his wife and only child with him to the US. He probably missed his family very much, and they must have missed him. The morning of the incident, Waleed was studying late for his exam. He spoke to his roommate Fahad about how amazing it would be once he brings his wife, Amira, and his son, Khaled, back with him after the summer. Little did they know what the next few hours had in play for them.

Waleed is described as bright, energetic and caring. Despite his hectic schedule, from classes to TAing, he was particularly active with the Virginia Tech Muslim Students’ Assocation community activities. Little did anyone know that he wouldn’t be helping them out any more.

I didn’t know brother Waleed; but I keep thinking to myself, “It could’ve been you!”

Solomon Vandy, enslaved by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) to work in a diamond field in Sierra Leone. [From the movie Blood Diamond]

Edward Zwick, the director of the movie, said:

What would happen if the industry decided to dedicate a portion of every single African diamond sale – to the rebuilding of infrastructure and the creation of sustainable development? The Red Campaign is doing it with Gap t-shirts and jeans, American Express is using credit cards, what’s to stop the branding of West African diamonds.

– Edward Zwick, Director, Blood Diamond at the Rapaport International Diamond Conference, New York, Feb. 5, 2007

For the full speech: http://blooddiamond.pacweb.org/thinkingaboutdiamonds/

A recommended watch, the movie Blood Diamond touches several topics; from the exploitation of African resources, to the abuse of child soldiers, to the civil war in Sierra Leone. The title of the movie refers to diamonds mined in war zones, a.k.a. conflict diamonds, often if not always used to finance the war.

More about the movie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Diamond_%28film%29

Did you know that nearly 60% of Sierra Leoneans are Muslim? 

Also another interesting point…

Of 10 governments worldwide implicated in the recruitment or use of children as soldiers, nine receive US military assistance.

– Human Rights Watch
(http://hrw.org/campaigns/crp/child_soldiers/index.htm)

This is a very interesting post on a sister’s blog. It is a summary of a lecture delivered by Dr. Jeffrey Lang, a revert to Islam. The lecture was titled “An Athiest’s Interpretation of the Quran”…

http://mardyani.multiply.com/journal/item/57

The above post is very mind opening. It will be as if you are reading the first few verses of the Quran for the first time. The lecture he gave is similar to the first few chapters of his book Even Angels Ask: A Journey to Islam in America.