Salah Farah was a hero. After banding together with fellow muslims to save the Christian passengers on a bus that had come under attack by Al-Shabaab militias, he was wounded by a gunshot. Now he has died in a Kenyan hospital.
His body was brought to his hometown by a police helicopter, where he was buried.
They wanted the Muslim locals to identify the Christians among them. There is little doubt as to what would have happened to the Christians if the Muslims would have complied.
In 2014, 28 people were killed by militias on a similar attack on a bus in the province of Mandera.
The attackers forced all passengers off the bus and tried to single out the Christian passengers among them. They ordered the Muslims to return to the bus, as they were free to go.
The muslims, however, refused to return and remained silent, even when the terrorists threatened to kill every single person present.
With at least 10 heavily armed attackers threatening them, the locals saved their neighbors’ lives by refusing to cooperate.
In a region that is regularly the scene of vicious terror attacks, it is stories like these, that make us hope that the power of tolerance can eventually overcome the cruel brutality of a senseless war.
In an interview with voice of America Farah said:
“We are brothers. It’s only the religion that is the difference, so I ask my brother Muslims to take care of the Christians so that the Christians also take care of us. … And let us help one another and let us live together peacefully.”