Will I see my son (alive) again?

As I dropped my kids to their school today and headed back to my car, I shuddered when I thought about parents in Gaza waking up this morning having lost all their children! Going to sleep tonight not knowing whether they'll still be parents in the morning or not?

I recalled the distraught gaze on the face of a father staring into his dead 2 or 3 year old son... kissing his face gently... repeatedly... repeating "you died my son? you died?" "متت يا ابني... متت؟"

Couldn't help but think as I drove away... will I see my kids alive again?

The Prophet (P.B.U.H.) said: "If the child of a person dies, Allah says to the angels: 'Have you have taken the soul of the son of my slave?' The angels say: 'Yes, our Lord.' Allah tells them: 'Have you taken the fruit of his heart?' The angels reply: 'Yes, our Lord.' Allah says: 'What did my slave say?' The angels reply: 'He praised you, and said we all belong to Allah, and to Him we return.' So our Lord, the Most Powerful, and Most Majestic says: 'Build a house for my slave in Heaven, and name it the house of praise.'" (narrated by Tirmidhi)

The women once told Prophet Muhammad: "The men have the advantage in your company over us, so make a day just for us." The Prophet said: "Yes." So the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) came to them one day, and he advised them and talked to them. And from among the things he told them was: "Any woman among you who has three of her children die before her, this will be a barrier for her from the hell-fire." So one woman said: "What about two children?" The Prophet said: "Yes, and two children as well." (Bukhari)

حدثنا ‏ ‏سويد بن نصر ‏ ‏حدثنا ‏ ‏عبد الله بن المبارك ‏ ‏عن ‏ ‏حماد بن سلمة ‏ ‏عن ‏ ‏أبي سنان ‏ ‏قال ‏
‏دفنت ابني ‏ ‏سنانا ‏ ‏وأبو طلحة الخولاني ‏ ‏جالس على ‏ ‏شفير ‏ ‏القبر فلما أردت الخروج أخذ بيدي فقال ألا أبشرك يا ‏ ‏أبا سنان ‏ ‏قلت بلى ‏ ‏فقال حدثني ‏ ‏الضحاك بن عبد الرحمن بن عرزب ‏ ‏عن ‏ ‏أبي موسى الأشعري ‏ ‏أن رسول الله ‏ ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ ‏قال ‏ ‏إذا مات ولد العبد قال الله لملائكته قبضتم ولد عبدي فيقولون نعم فيقول قبضتم ثمرة فؤاده فيقولون نعم فيقول ماذا قال عبدي فيقولون حمدك ‏ ‏واسترجع ‏ ‏فيقول الله ابنوا لعبدي بيتا في الجنة وسموه بيت الحمد ‏ (سنن الترمذي).

عن أبي سعيد , رضي الله عنه , أن النساء قــلن للنبي محمد صلى الله عليه

وسلم اجعل لنا يوماً , فــوعظهن وقــال : أيُما امرأة مات لها ثلاثة من الولد

كانوا حجــابا من النار , قــالت امرأة واثنان قال النبي محمد صلى الله عليه

وسلم واثنان. (رواه البخاري)

The photo of a 6 month old dead infant below killed along with other children by Israeli rockets in Gaza way before the current conflict. This was back in February 2008!! See story at: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9345.shtml