At Shiite checkpoint, Aisha said ‘my name is Fatima’

Frontier agent: What’s your name?

Aisha: My name is Fatima!

Frontier agent: do you have your identity card on you, Fatima?

Aisha: I lost it when we left the house.

This short interaction between the Iraqi girl Aisha Hameed, 7-year-old, and a member of the Iran-backed Shiite militia, Hashd al-Shaabi at the checkpoint of Razaza in the Sunni-dominated province of Anbar in Iraq.

Her lie has saved the life of her family since she was vigilant enough to change her name from from "Aisha", such a named used oftenly by Sunnis, to "Fatima" a name used by Shia Muslims, refers to the youngest daughter of the Prophet Muhammad and the wife of Ali and mother of Hasan and Husayn.

Despite not having any toys to play with, Aisha claims she will not leave Turkey and return to Iraq, saying: our house collapsed on the ground because the police poured oil in it and blew it to pieces.

Aisha and her family left their home in the Ramadi the center of Anbar province of Iraq, heading to Baghdad; they were however detained in the camp Bazeebz.

Aisha's father, Saeed, heard from a family that had just arrived at the camp that there was a specialized hospital in an area held by Turkish-backed Euphrates Shield forces. They, then, had to pass the Razzaza checkpoint, in which 1,700 civilians from Anbar and Salahuddin got lost, and whose fate is still unknown to this day, especially those who have family members who have Prophet Muhammad’s companions’ names peace be upon him, such as "Omar, Othman, or Aisha", the name of this little girl.

Saeed says that when the family arrived by bus to the "crowd control", he gave all the personal identity cards of each member, except for Aisha's, for fear of what might happen. An armed man from the crowd approached the child to ask about her name; she answered after a short pause to think: “my name is Fatima” being, in this way, the saviour of her wretched family from the inevitable fate.

After crossing the notorious barrier, the family moved to areas under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Ezzor province. And then, relying on some smugglers, the family could finally travel to Turkey through a difficult journey and with the help of Syrian man, who sympathized with them and gave them the money ($ 1500) needed to cross the border after learning from his father about their difficult conditions and the sickness of one of their children.

Zaman Al Wasl