The Dangers of Islam: The Terrorist

Chapter 16: Extremists

     "Sister Iman?" Dawood asked in confusion as he drove. "I apologize for calling you like this, Brother Dawood, but I couldn't think of contacting anyone else in this situation. I have tried searching for Sister Rana's contact number, but there is no record at the mosque and I know it is against protocol, but I found your number on one of the donation forms from last month. You have to stop them, Brother Dawood," Iman said quickly. "Breathe, Sister Iman," Dawood said calmly, "Tell me what's going on. Who do I have to stop?" Dawood glanced at Khadijah through his rearview mirror and said, "Headphones on, Shehzadi." "Yes, sir," Khadijah nodded with a smile. "What's going on?" Harun asked as he looked at his son. "She's in full panic mode. Sister Iman? You still there?" Dawood called out as he looked at the on board Bluetooth system to see if the call was still connected.

     "Imam Nedim is out of town. I believe he is still in transit for the convention in Australia. Brother Dawood, we have a soldier's mother here. Her son just passed away. He was killed by an IED. The interim imam refuses to hold his janazah at the mosque. He refuses to pray for him. How can he do that?" Iman whispered in disbelief. Dawood heard the hurt in her voice and said, "You need to calm down. Right now, you're the only sane person there. I'll call Rana and have her call you. Don't feel guilty, Sister Iman, you did the right thing." With that Dawood hung up and quickly called Rana from his steering wheel controls. "We're almost at the restaurant. Where are you?" Rana answered.

     "Dawood Bhai!" Dawood heard a familiar voice squeal on the other end. "I take it Ruby's with you," Dawood smiled. "Hi, Ruby." "How's my ghora bacha doing?" Ruby asked. "Not so great. There's been a change of plans," Dawood began and filled Rana in about Iman's call. "That's freaking ridiculous," Ahmed snarled before Rana could reply. "Let's head to the mosque." "You got it," Dawood replied and ended the call. "Baba, can you call Mariam Baji and tell her the change of plans?" "Yes, of course," Harun nodded before taking his phone out. "I'm really sorry, Baba. I didn't want any drama at this dinner," Dawood sighed. "Seems like drama follows me everywhere." "No, my son. The professor called you because you are reliable and you bring change. This may be your moment to make a change," Harun said in reassurance.

     Dawood met up with Iman, Rana, Ahmed, and Ruby at a gas station to hear the story of what happened. They decided to go inside the mosque in force and try to negotiate some sense into the interim imam. Dawood glanced at Iman and frowned before saying, "What's happening?" "Do you know Sister Tehmina?" Iman asked as she crossed her arms across her chest. "No," Dawood said uncertainly. "Do I?" "Auntie Tehmy," Ahmed explained. "She's Persian, remember?" "Oh, yeah, yeah," Dawood said quickly. "Yeah, I know her. We helped her donate old things when her husband died. I spoke to her son Farrokh last week. He was being deployed for the first time. Good kid." As Dawood mentioned Farrokh, he noticed Iman's face become somber and whispered, "It's Farrokh? Please tell me you're pulling an insanely awful joke on me, Sister." "Sister Tehmina had a visit from the military police a short while ago," Iman began and flinched as Dawood turned around and kicked at the ground violently. "Dawood," Rana reached out and touched Dawood's shoulder, "calm down." "Calm down?" Dawood scoffed. "You want me to calm down? I trained that kid. I taught him right from wrong when his dad passed away. Heck we both did, Ahmed. How does this not piss you off? He JUST got deployed!" "I AM pissed," Ahmed defended. "More than you probably, but something worse just happened, man." "What?" Dawood scoffed and rubbed his hands over his head. "What could be worse than a nineteen year old dying? He didn't even fight! He was a freaking medic!"

     "His funeral arrangements need to be made," Iman began again as she looked at Dawood. "Since Imam Nedim is away, one of the board members volunteered to be interim imam." Iman sighed and continued. "Brother Dawood, I know how hurt you are by this. He felt his world shatter when his father passed away; your visits helped him. He would talk about you a great deal in our youth sessions whenever he came. He needed someone's help back then when things were tough. I called you because he needs you one last time." Dawood rubbed his temples and fought to maintain his composure. He had seen too much death in his lifetime. Before he could dwell in more misery, he heard Khadijah's voice calling him from their car. "Baba! Can I come outside?" Khadijah asked as she poked her head out of the window. "Give us a few more minutes, Shehzadi," Dawood replied with a forced smile. "You got it," Khadijah nodded and flashed a thumbs-up before rolling the window back up. "I'll make it quick," Rana sighed. "The asshole who is the acting imam says that Farrokh can't have a janazah because he fought against Muslims." Dawood noticed the way Iman cringed at Rana's language, but nodded as Rana continued, "He's denying the kid a funeral, Dawood. His mom begged and pleaded and that asswipe said that he can't have a janazah prayer because HE felt like Farrokh might as well be a non-Muslim."