Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Shootings claim two lives...

The group of friends had just left the Phoenix Concert Theatre on Sherbourne St. in downtown Toronto after enjoying its weekly reggae music and hip hop night. They were heading to a car parked on a nearby street just before 4 a.m. yesterday, when a man came up to them and fired several shots. Two men died and another was hurt. Police don't believe the gunman knew the victims. What they do know is that guns have been used in more slayings this year than in all of 2004. Ali Mohamud Ali, 19, died instantly in the shooting early Monday near Homewood Ave. and Maitland Pl. A 20-year-old man was also hit. Friends tried to drive Loyan Mohammed Ahmed, 23, to a nearby hospital. A few blocks away, near Bloor and Jarvis Sts., they waved to police for help. An ambulance came but paramedics weren't able to save him For full article, click here It turns out, my brother went to high school with Loyan Mohammed Ahmed, one of the victims of this shooting. He was such a nice guy, he always used to say salaams to us and hang out around our building with his friends. Inalillahi wa ina ilayhi raji'un. This is very sad. Edit: There's another article about him in today's Toronto Star. You hear about people getting shot all the time, especially in Toronto. But you never think it's going to happen to someone you know. His picture was in the paper today. And I was thinking, he was here just a few days ago, and now he's just gone. May Allah grant him forgiveness. "He it is Who gives life and causes death. And when He decides upon a thing He says to it only: "Be!" and it is." (Ghaffir: ayah 68)

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un :(

its sad :(

Anonymous said...

Your mum talked to my mother today. We need to meet soon to discuss. I dunno, it seems like everything is happening so fast. I wanna know your thoughts.

dot said...

Inna lillahe wa inna ilaihe raji'un.

Ameen to your du'a, and may Allah grant his family the sabr to deal with this tragic ordeal, ameen.

And I was thinking, he was here just a few days ago, and now he's just gone.

I know where you're coming from, a family friend of ours drowned two years ago. It was a very sad time for all the Afghans in London that day. He was one of the good guys and maybe Allah didn't want to leave him in this sinful world any longer.

Sameer Vasta said...

loyan will be truly missed. his father works at kingsview village (as i do as well) and the entire family was well-loved in the community and great, caring people. my thoughts are with the family right now.

Anonymous said...

Totally off-topic:

If I give you a CD full of mp3s, will you know how to put them on your mp3 player? I know it sounds like a lame question, I'm just curious. Because I have that CD for you. I thought it would be sort of pointless to give a mix CD/tape if you have a mp3 player.

And no, I don't know what my point was ... not yet anyway.

Asmaa said...

Sara, I actually have no idea. Technology is not my forte. So...what's in store for me on this CD?

When you find out what your point was, let me know. I'm curious.

Anonymous said...

CD = wickedly awesome music

But that's obvious, coming from me. Hah!

Anonymous said...

Astagfurullah!, Music?!?!....

Asmaa u're an MSA exec. U can only listen to nasheeds

Shun this girl, Sara! (u cud pass the CD to me so I won't let u listen to music ;)


NO MUSIC FOR YOU!, COME BACK 6 MONTHS!!!

Squeeky said...

Assalaamu Alaikum

*Ina lillahi wa ina ilayhi raji'un"

I heard about this, so very sad :( And to know that you guys knew him, how unfortunate.

Anonymous said...

I totally called you on Thursday to go running, around 2. Way to not be home.

Modest Hijabi said...

Inna Lilahi Wa Inna Alaihi Rajioon

Anonymous said...

I have a question for all on this;

How can teens stay out so late?
Don't the parents do something about this?

Not to blame parents, but I'm just asking what can be done to prevent this?

Most of the shooting deaths that have occured take place in the wee hours of the night after 11pm till early hours of the morning (this particular incident took place at 4.30am)

Anyone know an affective way of not letting kids stay out so late?!

Asmaa said...

Dodo, you make it sound a lot less complicated than it is. I mean, sometimes it's just not in the hands of parents.

This man was 23 years old and was capable of making his own decisions. I truly believe in being responsible for one's own actions. Of course, parents should definitely advise and try their best to keep their children out of harm's way. But there comes a point when young adults just have to make conscious choices about their behaviour...

Anonymous said...

I agree with what u are saying Asmaa...but the other kid who died was 19 so what about his case?

>I truly believe in being >responsible for one's own actions.

You're making it sound like parents have no say in all this. Yes every decision we make is our own decision but you have to realize; do you think if your parents were not religious would this not have negatively affected you?. There are religious kids of non-religious parents too, but the chances of lets say a daughter of a non-hijabi mom has higher chances not to wear the hijab than one whose mom wears the hijab...
(This is not always the case, but the odds do favor what I said)

So whatever decisions we make is our own, but our parents do influence those decisions.


As I mentioned in my previous post its not like I'm blaming parents but there are cases where parents should do more to get involved in their kid's lives (see who their friends are, who the kids hang around with, etc)

My point also meant to focus on our own decisions and the lifestyle we choose for ourselves. Such shooting incidents usually have a pattern i.e. often at clubs, hangouts, bars etc & at late hours of the night.

So one can avoid such a lifestyle in order to lead a more safer/better life
(don't stay out too late!)

Asmaa said...

I'm not denying that parents have a HUGE influence on the way their children behave or how they turn out when they reach adulthood.

What I'm saying is that we, the children, need to snap ourselves out of this idiotic cycle of making bad decisions. We need to put more effort into our self-development. We can't always rely on our parents to spoon-feed us everything we need to know - they are only humans and can make mistakes sometimes.

I look at my parents, and I love and admire them, but I know they have made mistakes.

At the same time, we should know that Allah guides whom He wills - if He wills that the son of the most religious parents becomes a kaffir, then it's going to happen.

Anonymous said...

At the same time, we should know that Allah guides whom He wills


Nicely put, that sums it all... coz no matter what a parent does or an individual does its all up to the Will of Allah as to what is really going to happen.

U must be really strict with your parents! :P

Anonymous said...

I knew Loyan from highschool and was so shocked when I heard. A bunch a highschool friends were out one night after and we all felt very sad about what happened. This is the second person that went to the same highschool that has been killed...the police need to crack down on this big time. Loyan was a fun loving guy that you could talk to, get advice from, or just joke around with. He had alot going for him. My condolences go out to his family and everyone that knew him.