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A Muslim leader Norodin Lucman refused to vacate his house in Marawi despite of the onging war.
His friends and relatives were begging him to vacate however, he stood up with his descision to stay. And he could not tell them the reason, which was that he was giving refuge to a group of civilians whose lives would surely be forfeit if they were found by the extremist rebels.
“I cannot tell them that I have Christians in my house for fear that somebody might get wind of the information and tell the ISIS (group),” said Mr Norodin, who refused to abandon them.
It was the initial days of the rebellion in Marawi launched by extremists under the black flag of ISIS, and the rebels were executing Christians they came across.
In the midst of the bloodshed, stories have emerged of Muslims – who form the majority in the southern Philippine city - putting their lives on the line to protect Christians and to help any desperate souls seeking escape from the bombing by government troops and shooting.
When the miliant first stormed into Marawi, days before Ramadan, He thought that the fighting would be over in just a couple of days.
So he told the group hiding in house to "stay put, relax". "Nothing will happen to you while I'm here," he assured them.
But the fighting dragged on, with several close calls – like the time the rebels came knocking on his door. Fortunately their leader knew him as a respected community leader.
On the twelfth day, they ran out of food and water. Staying was no longer an option.
“Come what may, because these people were going to die of hunger - rather than ISIS bullets or military bombs - I had to make a decision,” said Mr Norodin.
“After dawn prayers, I woke them up and said, ‘Let's get ready, we are going to break out’.”
He instructed the men to carry the children and the women to dress like Muslims with their heads covered, so that they would look like families. And he told them to keep shouting “Allahuakbar” (Allah is great, in Arabic).
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| Photo credits to owner |
It was a long and terrifying walk to get to the other side of town across a bridge, with snipers on the rooftops watching them intently.
As they reached the mouth of the bridge, a militant blocked his path. It turned out to be a young man he knew. "He motioned to his partners, on the other side of the bridge, to let us pass."
“And I was so glad that he recognized me. Because if not, then I don't know what would happen,” he said.
Watch the danger they were in:
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Credits to: Channelnewsasia
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