大象传媒

From Sarah Joseph, Editor of a Muslim lifestyle magazine:

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A year ago today, it was Ramadan, as it is now. I鈥檇 woken for the early morning meal. I opened the back door to the garden. There was a strong, acrid smell that hung in the air. I would come to realise that it was from the inferno at Grenfell Tower, a few miles from my London home. The blaze took the lives of 72 and injured dozens more.

The tower has scaffolding round it now, but for months the charred-out remains dominated the landscape.听 A sign reads 鈥淕renfell 鈥� Forever in our hearts鈥� I would drive past it four times a week 鈥� taking my daughter to and from the hospital twice weekly. I would have to psyche myself up to drive past, and would often find myself sobbing. Me - not a resident, not a local, merely a passer-by. I can barely imagine, the trauma of living daily in its shadow.

And yet, in some way, I feel we all live with its reverberations. 72 fellow humans died in an inferno that could have been prevented, and which many had warned would happen.

Many people ask how God can allow such a disaster to happen. Personally, I鈥檓 more inclined to ask about human involvement.

The Qur鈥檃n declares, 鈥淪urely God commands justice and the doing of good.鈥� I believe, we can鈥檛 just past the buck to God.

Grenfell was an 鈥渆veryman tower鈥� 鈥� multiple faiths and races lived there together, and lost their lives together. The local response was equally unified, with local community centres, churches, and mosques, opening up their doors to provide emergency relief; and have continued to provide all manner of support.

And whilst we can focus on the human outpouring of goodwill following the tragedy, I think it鈥檚 also important not to lose sight of asking the very real questions as to why and how this horror could have happened in 21st century Britain.

The Inquiry has probed a litany of problems.
Given the magnitude of the disaster, of the stages of grief 鈥� denial quickly moved to anger. The stages of grief may eventually lead to acceptance, but I believe we must never accept that inequality should lead to such calamity.

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