THE BROTHERHOOD Read Free Page B

white beard, the elder asked the men what could be achieved by jihad . ‘There are various forms of jihad , brothers,’ he explained. ‘Do you speak of the struggle in the cause of God? There is no one true meaning I can explain for you to understand such a complicated word.’
    Aazim listened intently as the cleric carefully chose and polished his words.
    ‘Many in the West see it as a call to arms or “ jihad by the sword”. This one form is the most glorious but it is much more than that. There is “ jihad of the heart and soul”, the inner struggle of good and evil. Another is “ jihad by the tongue”, a struggle against evil by means of speech and writing. “ Jihad by the pen and knowledge” is a struggle against evil by intellectual means, and the last one, “ jihad by the hand”, is a struggle by force. This jihad can be carried out by political means, infiltrating the enemy in furthering the cause of Islam,’ he added.
    With those final words the debate was concluded and the crowd slowly dispersed. On their way out the two friends discussed the value of the visit and Rami turned to the subject of the debate. He had observed Aazim’s interest in the topic and decided to delve a little further.
    ‘What did you think, Az? Did you enjoy the discussion?
    ‘I understand the anger felt by these guys, but some Muslims contribute to the problems we face instead of fixing them.’
    ‘I agree. Western companies are invited to our countries by our own governments. They exploit our resources while we take on their values. We can’t even live together. The Shiites and Sunnis kill each other, the extremists want a theocracy, the moderates want a secular government, the Middle East is a mess, Iraq is holding together by a thread and Afghanistan is still in the middle ages,’ Rami expounded. 
    Aazim shrugged. ‘No wonder Westerners are scared and confused. I can’t understand it myself.’
    ‘Westerners are not doing us any favours, Az. TV and newspapers these days show people getting blown up, kidnappings and shooting rampages, and it’s all done by those “crazy Muslims”.’ Rami made a gesture of inverted commas. ‘The other side of Islam is just not interesting enough. No one cares about all the literature, architecture, mathematics and astronomy we gave the world. Instead, bloodshed and reality TV make the highest ratings in this country,’ he added, shaking his head.
    They waited around for Sam but he didn’t return. Eventually the two friends decided to call it a night and went their separate ways.
    The following day Sam called Rami and passed on his apologies to Aazim. Apparently urgent matters at work had required his immediate attention.
     
     
     

Chapter 2
     
    Aazim went along to the discussions at the mosque for a month after his first introduction to Sam. He did so because of the job offer and as a favour to his friend Rami, but he also found the debates stimulating; the young men there all had such interesting stories to tell. One of them had come from Pakistan and gave a lecture on life in remote regions bordering Afghanistan.
    ‘The Americans call the Taliban terrorists – does that mean the man cutting your hair is a terrorist? If that’s so then the man fixing your shoes is one too, and the tailor and the goat-herder and the butcher and his children, yet they don’t all carry a weapon. They’re all Taliban and they practise the strictest interpretation of sharia law, the truest form. The Americans, my friends, will never win the war. They’re not fighting terrorists but ordinary people who are willing to die for Islam.’
    The man had spoken with passion; he was one of many who contributed to the fiery atmosphere.
    ‘How do we get rid of the invaders?’ someone called out.
    ‘Give me a Kalashnikov, brother, and I will show you the answer!’ the Pakistani had replied.
    There was a murmur of voices and gleaming faces nodded.
    ‘If I forced myself into your home and told you