Scattered Pearls – لُؤْلُؤًا مَّنْثُورًا

Part 2:

“Can I write to my family?” Aymen asked a guard standing outside his cage. He was now literally held in a cage with a few others whom he didn’t know, but whoever they were, he knew they were his brothers. The humid air struck his face as he watched the stars twinkling in the distance.

“No! Get some sleep! You got a long day tomorrow!” he shouted, kicking the cage. A soft murmur came from a caged companion. For the stark night, it was much of a loud noise.

“Hey YOU! What’re you reading?” the guard diverted his attention towards the soft noise. The man looked up from his book. “WHAT ARE YOU F***IN READING? Give it to me!”

The man looked around. The others woke up due to the commotion. How was he to give the book to the guard? There was no hole.

“I said give it to me!” He unlocked the door, snatched the book out of the man’s hand and inspected it. “What’s this SHIT? Your plans for the next terrorist attack? Or Osama’s personal diary, hahahahaha! No way, you read Osama’s diary as if you’re reading POETRY!”

“That’s… the Quran.” Ah, the Quran, thought Aymen, he didn’t have one with him, but at least someone did. The companion of the prisoners and the source of condolence for the lonely at the times of hardships and trials.

“OH! Your freakin holy book aye? Full of plots against us, eh? Your freakin Prophet commands you to kill us, don’t he? Cause we don’t believe in your ******n Al-la!” He threw the Quran on the floor with such a force, it fell flat on and kicked it around as though it was a soccer ball. After a several kicks, he picked it up and threw it in a bucket, a bucket used for urinating.

Another man stood up, “DON’T YOU DARE BADMOUTH THE PROPHET!! Respect the Quran! It’s not any old book!” One by one, they all stood up in protest. Different languages could be heard protesting. Yells and shouts came from every corner of the cage. Aymen remained quiet for a bit, but after a few minutes, when his anger started boiling, stood up too.

A few minutes later, five guards were brought to the man who had been reciting Quran. One kicked him from here another from there, another punched his face, another his head. He fell to the ground, moaning in pain. They stepped on him and kicked him. The shouts slowly receded.

“Who wants a piece of this??” A guard held out his fist. “Huh, huh? Ya’ll wanna piece of this? Well then you better shut your mouths!”

They all sat back down. Aymen looked at the bucket in which the Quran was brutally thrown into, then at the guard.

“DON’T LOOK AT ME! EYES DOWN!” he yelled. Aymen looked down and rolled his eyes. He looked around to find who had yelled at the guard and found him held in a right corner cage. Their eyes met and they smiled at each other. Their smiles grew larger when they noticed that they hadn’t come to the attention of the guards as of yet. Aymen looked back down at the ground and wondered how it had all started. Faint memories came back to his mind…

“Salam sweety…” Aymen entered his home. Boy, was it nice to be home after a tiring 3-day business conference. “Fatima? Where are you? Faaaaatimaaaa!?” Entering the passage to the living room, the house seemed dead empty. Everything was silent.

“BOO!!!!”

“AAAA!!!! WHO IS IT?! WHO IS IT!?! LEAVE ME!” A hand gripped his neck.

“It’s meeee, dimwit!” She appeared in front of him.

“Ya Allah! You scared the hell out of me! Not funny!!” He said, as she burst out laughing.

“Yes it isss, you should’ve seen your face!!”

“Yeah right… I think we need to take a vacation.”

“Another honeymoon?” Fatima giggled.

“Yeah, something like that,” Aymen winked.

“Where to?”

“Hmm… Kashmir… India, Dubai… where ever you want.”

“What?! Are you crazy? You wanna go that far? Isn’t it going to be too expensive?”

“Nah, c’mon… Don’t worry about that! There’s enough cash.”

“Whatever you say. How about Afghanistan?”

“You’re telling me I’M crazy?!?! Girl, what do you wanna do in Afghanistan?”

“I don’t know, I’ve been intrigued by Afghanistan lately. Oh and I’ve got a friend there too. She told me it’s a beautiful place and wants us to come over.”

“Friend?”

“Yeah, college friend… She’s American, I don’t know how she landed up there though.”

“Ok well, if my lovely wife wishes to go there… Ain’t afraid of the talibans?”

“She doesn’t live in a Talibani area, Aymen!” Fatima laughed.

“Wow, sure is a dusty place.” Aymen adjusted his sunglasses in place as the hot sun shone on their faces. They had landed in Kabul and were strolling the streets, looking for a place to eat.

“I’m hungry, here carry my bag,” Fatima said, as she slung her large coach bag onto his arm.

“You’re so mean to me,” Aymen made a puppy face. “Aha! Look.”

They looked into the distance and found a sheltered area where in they could have some rest and food. A few local men and women stared at the couple because of their odd sense of dressing. Finally reaching what looked like a mini-restaurant, Aymen greeted the shop owner.

“Assalamu-Alaikum!”

“Wa Salam!”

“Urdu?”

“Jee… Aap kaha se aye hai? Aapko yaha kabhi nahi dekha hum ne…” the shop owner, who seemed to be a jolly man with a big belly and well groomed white beard.

“Hum… America se aye hai,” Aymen replied, with his American accent.

“Ohh, Acha, ayye ayye. Marhaba, beht ye, main aapke liye khana lata hoon!” After leading Aymen and Fatima to a table, he disappeared into a room and in a few minutes came back out with two plates. A few others sat around munching and cracking jokes in a language Aymen and Fatima couldn’t understand, but broke into smiles seeing them laugh.

Everyone’s attention suddenly turned towards the TV set, as the voice of an American women was overheard. The joking stopped and everyone sat silently, awaiting news. Flashes of bombing were shown, and then a picture of Osama bin Laden.

“The United States of America has launched the war on terror in Afghanistan. A few hundred troops have been assigned to begin the hunt for Osama bin Laden who, according to intelligence agents, has retreated into a cave south of Kabul. Bombing is expected to start during midnight in suspected Taliban supporting habitations. The objectives of this war, as stated by the Bush Administration have seemed to be clear: we are under threat from al-Qaeeda and other such extremist groups who threaten to destroy America, and thus, the War on Terror is being fought to abolish any acts of terrorism and bring justice and freedom.”

Aymen and Fatima looked at one another. They surely hadn’t come at the right time.