“Of course, we’ll have to remove all this old shelving. And then this would be a good spot for the Mihrab.”6 He continued enthusiastically.
“And we can definitely have a mosque kitchen,” exclaimed Nilofer excitedly as she inspected the old sink and cooker.
“What do you know?” retorted her older brother Yousef. “You’ve never been to a mosque, and you never pray, you just hang out with your kafir7 friends.”
“Just because I’m not a fanatic like you and your friend Jamal does not mean that I do not believe.” Nilofer snapped back.
“How can you say that?” demanded Yousef. “Jamal is a good Muslim!”
“If you want to ruin your life then that is your problem.” Retorted Nilofer, “Just keep Afzal out of it!”
“Astagfirullah8 sister, you have no Haya,9 you . . . ” retaliated Yousef.
“That’s enough!” thundered Dr. Malik. “This place will be our mosque. You will treat it with respect. I won’t hear any more arguing.”
They all fell silent.
Afzal looked out of one of the stained-glass windows onto the street and saw Jamal walking towards the old building.
“Jamal is here!” Afzal exclaimed to his brother pointing out of the window.
“Come, brother, let’s go see him,” Yousef said smiling.
“Afzal, you will stay here with us.” Nilofer smiled at her younger brother. Nilofer sensed that Jamal was trouble and she was hoping to persuade her young brother to stay away from him.
Afzal looked at his older brother for what to do.
“Come on, Afzal. Don’t listen to a girl!” Yousef glared at Nilofer as he put an arm around Afzal’s shoulder and guided him to the door.
The two Malik brothers rushed out the old oak door to greet Jamal as Nilofer scoffed, stamped her foot, spun on her heels and then rejoined her father as he continued with the inspection.
“As-Salaam-Alaikum10 brother!” Yousef declared as he hugged Jamal with the traditional Pakistani one-armed hug.
“Wa-Alaikum-Salaam11 my brothers!” Jamal replied as he hugged both the brothers.
“You have come to see our mosque which we are going to build.” Exaggerated Afzal.
Jamal raised his index finger. “Insha’Allah,12 brother, Insha’Allah.” Jamal reminded him.
“Yes, of course, Insha’Allah, of course.” Afzal agreed sheepishly.
“Come on, come in and see.” Yousef urged.
“Another time brother, Masha’ Allah,13 my brothers. It is a fine building indeed and a worthy work, but we have another business to do today. I want to introduce you to a new brother. His name is Mustafa and he has recently come to the faith and has a fire in his heart for Sharia.14 He has been communicating with a brother in the Ummah15 Come let us go and see him.”
They all walk off towards Mustafa’s house talking excitedly. Afzal looks back at the window of the old church and sees his sister watching them walk away. He quickly looks away and continues walking with the others.
4. Masjid: Arabic transliteration meaning: Mosque.
5. The Qibla is the direction that should be faced when a Muslim prays. It is fixed as the direction of the Kaaba in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
6. The Mihrab is a semi-circular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla.
7. Kafir is an Arabic term meaning: infidel or unbeliever.
8. Astagfirullah an Islamic expression of disapproval meaning: shame.
9. Haya is an Arabic word that means: sense of modesty.
10. As-Salaam-Alaikum is the Arabic greeting meaning: Peace be unto you.
11. Wa-Alaikum-Salaam is the Arabic response to the Arabic greeting and means: And unto you peace.
12. Insha’Allah an Arabic expression meaning: If Allah wills it.
13. Masha’Allah is an Arabic exclamation meaning: Allah has willed it!
14. Sharia Islamic law is a religious law and the basis of state law in many Islamic countries.
15. Ummah is an Arabic word meaning: Islamic community.
The Robbery
London, England
David and Gazza are sitting in the silver C Class Mercedes that Gazza had ‘acquired’ last week and kept in Reggie’s rented lockup garage on the local council housing estate. David keeps the engine purring and they both sip from take away coffees in Starbucks paper cups that David had ‘grabbed on the way’. The rain is falling softly and is brushed away from the windscreen intermittently by a silent swish of the windscreen wipers. They watch in the car’s wing mirrors as people enter and exit the Santander Bank twenty yards behind the car. Gazza decides the time is right and turns to David.
“So, look, it’s like I said, the response time for the armed fuzz16 is eight minutes, anything that shows up before that is not going to want to tackle me with this.”
Gazza nodded to the AK47 assault rifle held between his knees, the butt of which he had placed on the floor of the car.
“Six minutes we agreed.” David reminded him. He took his watch off his wrist and set the timer function to zero.
“Yeah six minutes, you just keep the engine running, Davy boy.” Gazza playfully slapped him twice on the cheek.
Gazza wrapped the sackcloth around the gun and stepped out of the car and pulled down the rubber mask of Arnold Schwarzenegger over his face.
He pointed the gun through the window at David.
Exaggerating the Schwarzenegger accent, he teased. “Ahl bee bahk!”