Chapter 5

THE VEIL

16th of Jumaada al-awal 1417

(September 29, 1996)

Khozem glanced about the naked room of the university hall. It seemed stripped of any aesthetic quality. A desk sat menacingly in the corner. A picture of his father stared at him from the wall. A long table with chairs lay towards the front of the room. To Khozem the desk by his father’s picture seemed out of place. No one really came here to get any work done. Rather, people sat in judgment of each other in this warm, muggy room, so muggy that the wallpaper perspired and peeled in places.

He took a seat on the first chair nearest to the entrance. Like a cobra he waited for the other professors to arrive. He was usually asked to sit in judgment, and he liked this position of power, so extreme that with the slight nod of the head or a wave of the hand he could expel anyone he wanted. The rest of the professors on the committee would side with him. After all, he was the bavasaab’s son, and Allah had placed him in a position to rule however he saw fit. Like waiting for kulfi on a hot summer’s day, he waited in the stark room to exercise his power. He was always the first to arrive, which irked him a bit, since he should be the last to arrive for a change. Respect demanded he be the last. But he could not wait and arrived on the early side.

He did not know the person he was expelling today. The other professors on the board were advisors. Khozem would make the final decision, and he would push for expulsion. For the last year he had done nothing but that and got his way each time. The other professors never put up a fight. Some of them rolled their eyes, snoozed in boredom, or played with their thumbs. They left it up to Khozem.

Dr. Fahrrukh was the second to arrive. His corpulent body moved like the sail of a vessel through the open door. His face was formed by globs of sweat and scarred from old acne, making him look like a jolly pineapple. In his white robe and turban he smiled to Khozem before dropping his small notebook and taking a seat.

“So who are we judging today?” asked Dr. Fahrrukh, opening his notebook and glancing about the room.

“I’m not sure,” replied Khozem. “I heard it’s a man who yelled at a professor over the Verse of the Throne.”

“Ah yes. The one who claimed that Islam had too many commands, too much hellfire and damnation. The same man who said the Prophet was an epileptic. If only Allah knew how much I would like to punish these people. I’ve always had faith in the Verse of the Throne:

Allah! There is no god

But He, – The living,

The Self–subsisting, Supporter of all

No slumber can seize him

Nor sleep. His are all things

In the heavens and on earth.

Who is thee can intercede

In his presence except

As He permitteth? He knoweth

What appeareth to His creatures

As Before or After

Or Behind them.

Nor shall they compass

Aught of His knowledge

Except as He willeth.

His Throne doth extend

Over the heavens

And the earth, and He feeleth

No fatigue in guarding

And preserving them

For he is Most High,

The Supreme (in glory).”

Khozem said the Verse of the Throne with Dr. Fahrrukh, as though They were two children learning nursery rhymes.

“Let there be no compulsion

In religion: Truth stands out

Clear from Error: whoever

Rejects anything worshipped beside Allah

And believes in Allah hath grasped

The most trustworthy

Hand–hold, that never breaks

And knoweth all things.

Allah is the Protector

Of those who have faith:

From the depths of darkness

He leads them forth Into light. Of those

Who reject faith the patrons

Are the idols from light

They will lead them forth

Into the depths of darkness.

They will be Companions

Of the fire, to dwell therein (For ever).

“I get choked up every time I say that,” said Dr. Fahrrukh. “Supposedly this man even rejected the Verse of the Throne. He told his instructor that Allah is a narcoleptic, that Islam is a result of both narcolepsy and epilepsy, that without the earth, Allah has no existence. He said when He slumbers, people die accidentally, are thrust into poverty, or begin to fight in wars and kill themselves. In other words, I believe this man thinks Allah is not perfect. Did you hear about all of this?”

“How dare someone think that. Allah uses this earth as his footstool. These verses are not to be tampered with. How many times do we have to expel people for it?”

“Expulsion is not such a bad thing.”

“No, I guess not. It makes for smaller lines in the lunch room, more books. He can’t expect to get away with it.”

“I get your meaning,” said Dr. Fahrrukh. “I sometimes dream about locking all of these criminals in a sound proof cage and yelling at them through a tiny speaker within the cage. They hear me, but I can’t hear them screaming back.”

“What would you yell into the cage?”

“I would turn the volume all the way up and recite my favorite verses of the Qu’ran. They would hate it so much that they would want to be Jews by the time they got out.”

“They would all start kissing the feet of Jews,” laughed Khozem.

“That’s precisely my point. They would not want to be Muslims anymore. All these criminals would become Jews, and they would flock to the Jewish colony. And because there would be such an influx and infiltration by them, the good, obedient Muslims would take the Jewish colony by force. We could crush the Hebrews one by one. We could lock them both up. The criminals and the Jews together, and this time electrify the sound proof cage...”

“Stop it. You’re killing me,” as Khozem burst into laughter.

“No, I’m being quite serious. Sound proof, electrified cages for all the criminals and the Jews. This will be the wave of the future. I will have the science department set it up for me.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Khozem chuckled as Dr. Farrukh turned the pages of his notebook to a clean sheet. The other professors soon wandered in, telling jokes and laughing. Khozem evil-eyed them for their lateness, and they quickly cut short their laughter and feigned coughing.

There was the hidden rule that the man under judgment could not enter until all the professors on the committee settled in their chairs and were in the mood to hear the plea. None of the professors were in the mood to judge a person today. Khozem, however, tried to get them in the mood. He asked for silence as bits of conversation ended at a polite pause.

“I believe the young man who is making his plea thinks there is too much hellfire and damnation in our holiest of books,” began Khozem. “He has had an argument with one of his instructors about the Verse of the Throne and called him a ‘slimy pig’ in his presence. He has called our Prophet an epileptic, and his God a narcoleptic, and I would submit to this board that we expel the individual on the spot for flagrantly misinterpreting the Qu’ran, for it is not about damnation and hellfire. The All Mighty does not slumber while the tragedies of life continue.

Allah did not create Islam through the seizures of his Prophet. Islam is about our full and total submission to Allah, the one and only God. The world is his footstool. It is about beauty, honor, and tradition. The man must learn there are dire consequences for certain actions, so certainly there shall be hellfire for him; hellfire for those whom go against the statutes the Qu’ran clearly outlines.

“No one has the right to comment on the Qu’ran in such a manner, let alone call an instructor directly the lowest form of life. The pig simply is the lowest form of life, am I correct? Let this person sleep with the animals if he likes the word ‘pig’ so much. Let this person be damned to hellfire for thinking the Qu’ran too impractical and commanding. Let him be expelled; that is my point of view. What do the rest of you think?”

A pause filled the air. The professors squirmed as Dr. Fahrrukh rose from his seat.

“I think I can speak for all of us when I say, you Khozem, are a distinguished credit to our faith. Islam would be weak without you, and when you move on to sit beside Allah in a prime seat of heaven, you’re absence will be felt for many generations. We agree with your judgment, but in accordance with Qu’ranic law we must hear the plea. You have thought about this matter fully. We respect what you say and shall implement the full orders for the expulsion of this man.”