Saturday was one of those rare moments in life when the masses could finally rally behind a single noble cause: Saving the Moroccan boy Rayan. Such simple acts of kindness might not be the sexiest thing and do not get all the clicks in our ratings-dominated world, and as a result, front pages or news broadcasts will never lead with just feel-good stories. When was the last time you saw a push notification on saving rhinos in Africa?
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But on Saturday the entire Arab world rallied behind a single cause: saving a five-year-old who had fallen into a water well.
According to Islamic tradition, the Prophet Mohammed's ring got passed on from one khalif to the next. The story goes like this: One day when the ring fell off Khalif Uthman ibn Affan's hand and into a well. He was beside himself, and ordered the water extracted so that the ring could be found. But to no avail.
This was also the case on Saturday in Morocco. Newscasts opened with updates on the rescue effort. Millions were glued to television screens so that they could follow every development. It was like Big Brother, but with the little brother spinoff.
This was a rare fusion of tradition and modernity, the old meets the new. It had Al Azhar University, the most prestigious Islamic institution, engage in prayers to have him return home safely, while simultaneously it saw thousands of Moroccans take to Twitter with a special hashtag #SavingRayan.
We would have all preferred to see him safe and sound, but despite the sad outcome, his ordeal serves as a reminder that humanity ultimately prevails.
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