Bereaved OFW remembers people of Quwayiyah for help in need

Rasol Abbas, a Filipino father of six, is recovering from shock after losing his wife Raihana to a car accident early last month while returning to Riyadh after performing Umrah.
Before moving to Riyadh last year, Raihana and her husband lived in Jeddah for more than 20 years. During their long stay in the western Saudi city, the couple loved playing host to Filipino pilgrims, especially their relatives who come to perform Haj and Umrah in Makkah.
While shifting to Riyadh, Raihana's only concern was that she would no longer be able to serve pilgrims in Makkah. To compensate for this missed opportunity, she decided to open a center to teach Arabic to Filipino children free of charge.
Raihana often asked her husband to travel to Makkah, so she could perform Umrah and at the same time see her relatives living there. Last month, when schools closed for the spring break, she accompanied her relatives in a convoy to perform Umrah for their mother who recently died in the Philippines.
While Raihana was inside the Al-Haram Mosque, she reminded her relatives about death. “Look at those people carrying bodies. They are dead and so will we be one day,” she had said.
On their way back from Makkah on April 7, a Nissan SUV in the convoy crashed following a tire burst near Al-Quwayiyah, 160 km from Riyadh. Raihana was in that car and she died on the spot.
“I was in contact with my wife that day and was monitoring them all the time,” said Abbas. At 12 p.m., he contacted his wife’s cell phone and she said everything was just fine. That was their last conversation.
He tried to contact them again around 2 o’clock at night, but the line was dead. “I tried to contact my daughter, who was with her in the vehicle, but her mobile also was out of reach. I was worried about them and could not sleep that night.”
After performing the Fajr prayer at around 4.30 p.m., he tried to catch some sleep. But Abbas said he woke up after having a strange dream. “I saw my wife beside me. ‘You have already arrived,’ I said. I tried to talk to her while putting my hand on her, but she suddenly stood up without a word and went out with her black abaya on.”
Abbas said he felt very uneasy and was worried that something must have happened to his family. He tried to contact his relatives but could either not get through or he got answers that did not settle his worry.
At last the wife of the man who drove the Nissan picked up the phone and explained the incident. “Uncle, we believe in fate and must be patient with whatever Allah’s wants for us,” she told Abbas. “Please tell me what happened to my family,” he asked her. She gave the phone to his daughter Azizah. “Here is your daughter, talk to her.”
“Abie, my mother is gone,” she told her father. Then he finally realized what his wife had tried to tell him in his dream.
Abbas's wife thrown out of the vehicle by the impact of the crash. There were seven others in the car, including the driver and three children, and all of them escaped with minor injuries.
Abbas expressed his utmost gratitude and thanks to the quick response of the Saudi Red Crescent (SRC) after a Saudi passerby alerted them. He also conveyed his thanks to an unknown Saudi man in Al-Quwayiyah who paid hospital bills and offered other help to the victims. Abbas buried his wife in Al-Quwayiyah prompted by the humanitarian nature of the people living in the area.