“ I swore. I will stay here until the last patient leaves.”

What makes a person work under challenging conditions by risking their life without getting anything in return, completely voluntarily? It is hard to give a realistic and reasonable answer to this question. Especially, one need to reflect on this kind of generosity that is coming from a well-educated person who has a handful of comfortable life choices with an eligible job in nearly every part of the world. There is a remarkable amount of people almost all over the world who volunteer to work in war zones under immense bombing and help people. Some of them do it via charity organizations, others individually rush wherever the disaster is. And just as many don’t abandon people despite heavy conditions trying to help by presenting an inhuman effort. Most of them pay heavy prices for this cause, even if it is their life.

The universal realm of spiritual values that humans could exist in is exactly this altruistic motivation and it is also what makes this motivation possible. Human is literally a state of awareness and consciousness independently from religion, politics, ideology and other narratives in any sense. At the foundation of this intrinsic state of being lies the human heart — the cradle of consciousness and awareness. It is, in other words, an inwardly focused gaze, the conscience that guides the human toward goodness in every sense, and the ever-alert heart that continuously warns against temptation. Indeed, the prophet of Islam (pbuh) said: “Neither the earth and the sky can contain Allah, but the heart of a believing servant can contain him.” Conscience indicates a godlike characteristic in a sense, an inhuman one. The altruistic motivation could be defined as a completely natural awareness state between the creator and human without being tied to any political, ideological or any institutional religious generalizations. A pure state of conscience. Goodness, as a purely free human act—without a sense of indebtedness to anyone, without gratitude, without expectation of return—is in itself a higher state of being, a profound sense of responsibility toward life, and a courageous act of 'stepping forward' that the modern individual, subdued by countless fears, may find difficult to grasp. The mundane daily lives of these brash and surprising people which is far from parade and being visible makes it more interesting.

The subject of this text, Dr. Mahmoud Abu Amsha, is a great example for this enviable boldness despite his ordinary life. He was targeted by the Israeli army at the hospital where he worked voluntarily in the midst of Israeli genocide in Gaza. Dr. Ezzideen Sehab, one of the young doctors who knew him well, delivers the conversation they had just before his martyrdom as follows:

‘One day, I asked Mahmoud why he chose to stay at Kamal Adwan Hospital when the situation was so catastrophic, why he didn’t flee like everyone else. At the time, it was something I couldn’t truly understand. He answered in a soft voice, “I really don’t know. I just felt I had to stay for those trapped inside. There were no doctors left to help them.” Then he added, “We studied medicine to save lives, not to run away.” Back then, his answer only left me confused… but now, I finally understand. Mahmoud did not belong to this world, not to this cruel, indifferent world. He belonged to a purer world, something much more honest and selfless. That’s why he left us. Because this world was not made for souls like his. We mourn Mahmoud not just as a doctor. We mourn him as the kind of person this world desperately needs and loses all too quickly.

Mahmoud was born on April 21, 1997, in the town of Beit Hanoun, into a refugee family displaced by the occupiers, like the majority of Gaza’s population. He was the child of Dr. Rafiq and Dr. Ghada, both doctors. After completing his primary, middle, and high school education in Beit Hanoun, Mahmoud earned the right to enroll at the Faculty of Medicine at Alzaiem Alazhari........

© Stratejik Düşünce Enstitüsü