In Allah’s name

When two female hostages held by the Taliban were released, it was reported that Lee Ji-young, 36, gave up a chance to come home, telling her captors to send someone else in her place.
According to Al Jazeera, which interviewed the two released hostages, Kim Kyung-ja and Kim Gi-na, Lee had said she had more experience in Afghanistan so she would remain with the others.
This was a noble act of sacrifice that is hard for ordinary people to grasp with their common sense and weak willpower. She gave her chance to be released to her colleague when she must have been exhausted in body and mind. She could also be killed at any moment.
Lee was in bad condition for a while, but she recovered a few days before she was told she could go home. She told the Taliban her health had been restored so another person must be released instead. Deeply impressed, the captors allowed her to write letters.
In her letter, she worried about her parents, writing that she was doing fine so they did not need to worry. She urged them to stay healthy.
The families of the hostages have been acting with a lot of dignity.
When the bodies of Pastor Bae Hyung-kyu and Shim Sung-min returned home, their families bit their lips and swallowed their sadness. They appealed for the release of other hostages, moving the people deeply.
The family members of other hostages made a video clip, appealing to international society for the release of the hostages. They also visited the embassies of Muslim countries in Korea.
They have never acted irrationally, in a way that would harm the government’s negotiations or worsen public opinion about the case.
Now it is the Taliban’s turn to reply. These people cannot be considered enemies of Allah. These young Koreans wanted to help their brothers who were sick or who could not learn. They tried to teach them that life is precious and they wanted to show their love.
The Koran says that to kill a person who does no harm to others is like killing all of humankind and to save one person is like saving the whole human race. The Taliban must not continue committing sins and must release the hostages in the name of Allah.