Word: jahrani
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When Abdul-Wahid Jahrani tells you religion saved his life, he's not getting ready to take up a collection. "I'm just glad I'm a Muslim, and we build our mosques so high," says the 49-year-old fisherman from Wuring village, on the eastern Indonesian island of Flores. When a massive tsunami slammed into the island's north shore 10 years ago, Jahrani survived by clinging to the crescent moon atop the local mosque...
...around 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 12, 1992, and Jahrani had just come back from the morning's fishing. "We didn't catch anything. It was like the fish knew something was about to happen. I had tied up the boat and was walking to my home for a siesta, when there was an incredible boom and the ground felt like a giant was shaking it. I was knocked off my feet. Everyone was in shock for a minute or two, then people were screaming, 'Run, run, the water is coming!' Next thing I know, I'm swimming near...
...couldn't see another soul along the length of the beach. It was almost impossible to imagine this tranquil sea, waveless and lambent with the day's dying glow, as a foaming cataract of devastation. And as the waiter glided off to fetch another drink, I remembered Jahrani's parting words: "We live on the edge of the fire here in Flores. We know death can come at any time, from the mountains or from the sea. So we must try to savor each day like it's our last...
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