Kenya's President Honors Muslim Teacher Who Died after Shielding Christians From Terrorist Attack

Leah Marieann Klett : Apr 4, 2016
Gospel Herald

"He died defending people who he did not know. This is because he believed in their right to freedom of worship and he knew that every single life—irrespective of faith—is sacred."

A Muslim teacher who died shielding Christians after Islamic extremists attacked a bus in Kenya has been posthumously honored for his act of courage. (Photo: Salah Farah before he succumbed to his injuries/Voice of America/via Gospel Herald)

As earlier reported, Salah Farah was traveling on a bus that was seized by the radical Islamic group al-Shabab, whose stated goal is to turn Somalia into a fundamentalist Islamic state, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

The terrorists killed two people and wounded four others in the December attack before ordering the Muslim passengers separate themselves from the Christians—but the Muslims on board refused to comply.
 
"They told us if you are a Muslim, we are safe," Farah recalled to the BBC, "We asked them to kill all of us or leave us alone."
 
In an effort to protect the Christians on board, the Muslim passengers even gave some non-Muslims their religious attire to wear on the bus so that they would not be identified easily.
 
Though Farah and several others were shot during the attack, the militants decided to leave after the passengers' show of unity. A month after the attack, the father of five died from his injuries.
 
Fox News reports that now, three months after the attack, Farah will be honored posthumously by Kenya for his act of courage, the country's president announced this week.
 
President Uhuru Kenyatta told parliament during his state of the union address Thursday that he is awarding the Order Of The Grand Warrior—one of the country's highest honors—to Farah, according to multiple media reports. (Photo Credit: Voice of America)
 
"He died defending people who he did not know. This is because he believed in their right to freedom of worship and he knew that every single life—irrespective of faith—is sacred," Kenyatta said during the State of Nation address in parliament, Al Jazeera reports.
 
"He is a powerful symbol of our country's ambition to attain the full expression of secure and cohesive nationhood, and he is a costly reminder that we all have a role to play in protecting our freedoms.
 
"I want to tell his children that their father's sacrifice will never be forgotten—and...
 
Click here to continue reading.