He said he was in Chechnya as a charity worker during the first or second Chechen-Russian war. Whilst there, he came across some of the fighters who were resisting the Russian invasion.

One day he came across a young man who didn’t look like the others – he was young and looked like a bit of a chiller. So he asked him;

‘Why are you here’?

The man replied; ‘My mother sent me here’.

My friend said he was surprised at this answer and so the young man explained;

‘My mother used to watch the television and would hear the stories about what was happening in Chechnya. One day, she came across a story which really upset her.

She then called her sons (my brother and I), and she told us:

“By Allah, I will not be content until you go to Chechnya and support your brothers and sisters!”.

The young man said, ‘When we heard that, we both left to come here and here we are…’

Some people might not agree and may say that how could this woman send her children to a war zone?

However, others will respond and say that she embodied the understanding of hating oppression and pure sacrifice for the sake of others in need.

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I also include a quote from Liz Truss (below) just to show that people and governments will have their own different reasons for when it is allowed or not allowed to provide support for others in warfare.

There are double standards no doubt, but it does demonstrate an important point. Deep down, *everyone* feels it when innocents are being oppressed or freedoms are at threat of being attacked. It’s a natural human reaction.