Jihad’s Mysterious Death & the Cursed Palm Tree

Nur Hossain, he is also a tailor, and Nur Hossain's brother's home is in Rajganj, beside the Rajganj Bazar in the Rajganj Union of Noakhali district. And Mamunur Rashid's brother's home, or ancestral home, although in Noakhali, he was born in Ghorashal, Narsingdi. His father works at the Bangladesh Jute Mills, so his current home is there, of course. But their ancestral home, or their absolute paternal residence, is in Noakhali. So, the incident happened near Rajganj Bazar, in an area right beside the market, where Nur Hossain's brother's house is located. The incident happened very close to Nur Hossain's brother's house. It was a very tragic incident that happened to a family. So, in a place beside that Rajganj Bazar, a man, what did he do? He dug a hole, basically a hole covering two percent of the land. The reason was that his house was a bit low-lying. During the rainy season, water would come up and flood the courtyard. So, he thought he would demolish the houses and then dig this hole, use the soil from the hole to raise the foundation, and then rebuild the houses there. So, with that thought in mind, he basically dug a kind of ditch on two percent of the land. And after digging it, he raised his house with that soil. However, he did everything normally, there was no problem. Usually, there wasn't much water in that hole, and the hole wasn't that deep either. And a pond on two percent of the land doesn't really happen; it was more of a hole. But during the rainy season, a lot of water would come there, and the water was quite clear. During the rainy season, it was very good for bathing or doing other work. So, since it became usable during the rainy season, the owner of the house, what did he do? He built a ghat there, or a ghatla. We call it ghatla in our regional language.

So, there, they made a small platform by putting tree trunks and such. A little boy from that house, his name is Jihad, this Jihad is actually the grandson of that house, meaning the son's son. The grandfather basically built this platform. Now, what happens is that the family members always go near the platform. The little boy Jihad, he also goes. He's not very old, just two or three years old, something like that. What he does is, he takes different things, like he might take some puffed rice in a bowl and sit there eating it by the platform. Then you see him going down to the bank or the platform and taking water in a bowl, and then he lifts the water in the bowl and throws the water droplets. He plays like that. And usually, when kids go near water, the guardians are bound to be worried. And that boy also didn't know how to swim, meaning Jihad didn't know how to swim. So, they would often pick him up from there and take him back home. And next to their house, there was a palm tree. Many people used to say that there was something in that palm tree. But the family had been living there for a long time, and that family never felt any kind of presence of the disembodied spirit of that palm tree. As a result, the family had no idea that there could be something in this palm tree, or that there was anything like that. They never felt anything. They had passed by it many times at night, but they never felt anything. Because of this, the family members assumed that maybe there was something there before, but not anymore. So, they didn't have time to think about this issue. Once, what happens is, suddenly Jihad can't be found. It's been about 20-25 minutes since Jihad has been missing. It was the rainy season then, and the incident isn't very old, about a year ago. Jihad can't be found. Everyone went towards the platform and saw that Jihad wasn't there. And since he often goes there and sits, since he wasn't there, the family members started shouting and screaming. People from the neighborhood came running.So, in that small space, I mean, even otherwise, the place isn't deep. And then, in just two percent or even a little less of that area, that hole or pond, whatever we call it, or pit, in that small space, even if not all at once, 70-80 people went down. They searched every inch, but Jihad was nowhere to be found. After searching for a long time, since Jihad wasn't found, people started saying, "Hey, that kid is actually very cheerful. It seems someone carried him to the market. Go check the Rajganj market, see if you can find him." So, they went to the Rajganj market and inquired, but Jihad wasn't found. No one had taken Jihad.

Occasionally, someone would carry Jihad. He was a very beautiful child, very cute, very cheerful. Many people would carry him to the market, buy him some biscuits and snacks, and then bring him back. As a result, that idea was created. But when it turned out that wasn't the case, people became even more worried, especially his family members. There was a wave of crying at home, wondering what suddenly happened, where Jihad went. A long [pause/duration] time passed. Meanwhile, the family members were searching every nook and cranny around, but no, Jihad couldn't be found.

In the meantime, suddenly there was a sound, a strange kind of sound. Then Jihad's grandmother said to Jihad's mother, "Hey, Jihad's mother, there was a sound in this 'gata' (hole/pit - local term). It felt like something fell. My heart feels uneasy. Let's go quickly, what if it was our Jihad who fell?" Then Jihad's grandmother and mother both rushed there and saw a terrifying scene. They saw Jihad floating on the water, and like when a heavy object is thrown into the water, like if a football is thrown, the football floats, but after throwing the football, ripples are created all around, something like that had happened. It seemed like the ripples were still there. They had rushed there so quickly, and it seemed like someone was holding Jihad's body, shaking it, which was causing the ripples, something like that.

So, after seeing this, they rushed to him. He was in the water, but it wasn't very deep, just a small area. They ran and pulled Jihad out. Jihad was dead. Even before coming near this small hole, Jihad had eaten from his mother's hand. It was seen that the food was coming out of his mouth like vomit, and his body was still warm. It felt like he had just died, even though he had been missing for almost five or six hours. If he had been in the water all that time, his body would have turned pale. [Music] When people heard that Jihad had been found, everyone came. When everyone learned about the incident, they all said that Jihad had been taken to the palm tree, and from there, he was thrown into the water and killed and left here. Anyway, everyone was very upset, and it's only natural. Such a small, innocent child, a victim of such brutal death. Can anyone really accept this? The child who used to run and play in the yard all day, filling the house with joy, filling the neighborhood with joy, many people used to take him to the market in their arms, buy him biscuits, buy him chocolates. What crime did that child commit that he had to die? Why did he have to die? Why was he murdered? This question is in everyone's mind, and the answer to this question will probably never be found, which is why everyone is sad. Everyone said that the palm tree is to blame, which is why Jihad had to die. However, the incident was not limited to Jihad's death. Various incidents continued to happen even after Jihad's death, whether during the day, at night, in the early morning, or in the morning, at any time. That is, in that small pond-like place, or ditch as it is called in that area, in that ditch-like place where Jihad died, after Jihad's death, it was often seen that a female member of that household was washing dishes there. It was seen that Jihad's mother was washing dishes, or Jihad's grandmother was washing dishes, or another female member of the household was washing dishes, whether it was afternoon or noon. But if you went to the house and asked, "What's going on? Didn't I just see you washing dishes in the pond? Now you're at home cooking or doing some other work. How is that possible?" Then they would say, "No, we weren't sitting by the pond like that."

Initially, they thought it was a misunderstanding or something similar, but one incident focused the entire thought process on one point. It happened when Jihad's grandfather was returning home a little before evening, before the Maghrib prayer call. He saw Jihad's grandmother, his wife, sitting at the pond's edge, washing dishes. This made him very concerned because his wife was ill and had gone to her father's house for treatment. He wondered what she was doing there. He hurried home and asked the other family members when Jihad's grandmother had arrived. Everyone was surprised and said she wasn't there, she wasn't home. But he insisted he had just seen her. He rushed back to the pond, but couldn't find anyone. People had often said they saw family members washing dishes there. Initially, he hadn't paid much attention, but when he saw it himself, he realized something wasn't right. He then tried to talk to ten village elders about the matter, explaining that there was a new problem, a new ominous sign, that something new might happen. The villagers advised him to quickly fill the hole with earth. First, put branches and leaves in it, then fill it with soil, and don't leave it open.

He then very quickly brought soil and sand from outside and filled the area. Since then, by the infinite mercy of Allah, there haven't been any problems until now. However, in the meantime, a fresh, innocent child passed away. I don't know in which corners of the world children are still constantly falling victim to such brutal incidents. Not just children, but people of different ages, classes, and professions are also victims of these kinds of events. I don't know for how many thousands of years this has been happening, and for how many more years it will continue to happen. Why do they find joy in killing these innocent people? What do they gain by killing them so brutally? Undoubtedly, they do this to demonstrate their power, but do they ever think that they will have to stand before Allah for this deed? If they thought about it, they wouldn't do it. But it's not like all jinn do this. These incidents only happen through evil and demonic jinn. May Allah protect us.