The Camel Club by David Baldacci Read Free Book Online Page B

their underwear. They wiped their menstrual blood on me, or at least what they called their menstrual blood, so I was unclean and could not perform my prayers. They rubbed their bodies against me, offered me sex if I talk. I say no to them and I am beaten afterward.” He sat back. “I have been threatened with rape, and they say I will get AIDS from it and die. I do not care. True followers of Muhammad do not fear death as you Christians do. It is your greatest weakness and will lead to your total destruction. Islam will triumph. It is written in the Qur’an. Islam will rule the world.”
    “No, that is
not
written in the Qur’an,” Gray rejoined. “Not in any of the 114 suras. And neither is world domination mentioned in the sayings of Muhammad.”
    “You’ve read the
Hadith
?” al-Omari said incredulously, referring to the collections of sayings and the life of the Prophet Muhammad and the first Muslims.
    “And I’ve read the Qur’an in Arabic. Western scholars have never done a good job of translating that language, unfortunately. Thus, Mr. al-Omari, you should know that Islam is actually a peaceful, tolerant religion, though it
is
a religion that defends itself vigorously. That’s understandable, since some ‘civilized’ cultures have been trying to convert Muslims to their faith ever since the Crusades, first with the sword and then the gun. But the
Hadith
says that even in jihad, innocent women and children must be spared.”
    “As if any of you are
innocent,
” al-Omari shot back. “All of Islam must fight back against those who would oppress us.”
    “Islam represents one-fifth of the face of humanity, and the overwhelming numbers of your brethren believe in the freedoms of speech and press and also equal protection under law. And more than half of the world’s Muslims live under
democratically
constituted governments. I know that you were trained at a madrasain Afghanistan, so that your knowledge of the Qur’an is limited to rote memory, thus I’ll forgive your seeming ignorance on these issues.” Gray didn’t add that at the madrasa al-Omari’s training would have also included automatic weapons and how to fight holy wars, earning such a training center the dubious title of Islamic West Point.
    Gray continued. “You aspired to be a
shahid,
but you had neither the nerve nor the zealotry to be a suicide bomber, nor did you have the backbone and instincts to be a mujahid.”
    “You shall see whether I have the courage to die for Islam.”
    “Killing you does me no good. I want you to work for me.”
    “Go to hell!”
    “We can do this easy or hard,” Gray said, checking his watch. He had been up for thirty hours now. “And there are many ways to attain
Janna.
”
    Al-Omari leaned forward. “I will get to Heaven
my
way,” he said, sneering.
    “You have a wife and children living back in England,” Gray noted.
    Al-Omari folded his arms across his chest and assumed a stony look. “Bastards like you will serve us well in the next life.”
    “A son and a daughter,” Gray continued as though he hadn’t heard the man’s retort. “I realize that the women’s fate may not overly concern you. However, the boy—”
    “My son will gladly die—”
    Gray interrupted in a very firm voice. “I will
not
kill your son. I have other plans for him. He just turned eighteen months old?”
    A trace of concern crossed al-Omari’s face. “How did you know that?”
    “You will raise him in the Muslim faith?”
    Al-Omari did not answer; he simply stared at the camera.
    Gray continued. “Well, if you do not agree to work with us, I will take your son from his mother, and he will be adopted by a loving couple who will raise him as their own.” Gray paused for the emphasis he would place on his next words. “He will be raised in the Christian faith in America by Americans. Or not. It’s all up to you.”
    So stunned was al-Omari that he rose from the chair and staggered toward the camera, until