The Dangers of Islam: The Convert

Chapter: Hope

"You think this is a joke, camel jockey?" Carl growled. 

"Yes," Dawood chuckled, "because that's the only way I'm making it through this shitty ordeal."

"Who says you're getting through this?" Carl asked with a chuckle of his own. Dawood could be heard wheezing before saying,"

 "You won't kill me because you still need me for whatever fucked up situation is going on outside of this torture arena. Propped up and fucked by my own government. Can you imag-." 

Iman heard a sickening crunch followed by heavy breathing. Khadijah was now pacing while wringing her hands. She could see the fury this video had ignited behind Khadijah's eyes and it worried her. The last thing she wanted was for her daughter to be caught up in some sort of revenge fantasy. She nearly stood up to console her eldest when she heard Dawood shudder  and say, 

"Break my body. Break my bones, but you will never break my resolve. I'm not a good Muslim. I'm not even an adequate Muslim. I killed for a living, but you know what? I did one good thing. I had a kid. I raised a daughter. Her name is Khadijah Amina Khan. You remember her name because she saw everything and you know what? She's being raised by an even tougher woman, Iman Abdullah-Khan. She's OUR girl which means you can break her body, you can break her bones, but you will NEVER break her resolve." 

The video cut out and Iman glanced at Khadijah who seemed to be fighting a mixture of tears and fury. The tall teen gritted her teeth and glanced at Sam who looked at his cousin with a mix of apprehension and hope. Khadijah frowned and paced before whispering,

"What happened next? You turned it off."

"Yeah well, it's just him getting beat up," Sam shook his head.

"I just heard my baba's voice for the first time in nearly a decade and it was of him being interrogated. What part of that did you think would make me smile, Sam Bhai?" Khadijah asked seriously. 

"The part where people are asking questions, demanding answers, Khadijah. You were fighting this ALONE. You were trying to bring him back ALONE. Now, we've got people on our side. There's HOPE, Khadijah. There's hope for REAL justice," Sam explained and smiled at the teen.

"Sam, does your mother know about this?" Iman asked before approaching Khadijah and placing an arm around her shoulders protectively. 

"Uh, I wanted to show you guys first. Look, change comes when people get riled up about an injustice. There's nothing more unjust than what happened to Uncle Dawood. Khadijah, you HEARD him. You are the catalyst in this entire thing. You didn't give up one day on your dad. Not one day. They'll never break your resolve and now, people know that you were there that day. There's is nothing more powerful than a group of college kids with a cause," Sam explained. 

Khadijah looked at Sam in thought before looking at Iman. Iman smiled and whispered, 

"He's right. I used to be one of those college kids with a cause. Shehzadi, your baba said something very important in that tape. Did you pay attention?"

"They can't kill him. They need him for something," Khadijah murmured. Iman noticed a smile playing at the corner of her lips, "He told us. This was his message to us." 

"Yeah, I think it was, but that means he knew this would be leaked," Ahmed nodded in thought and looked at Sam before asking, "How was this tape leaked?"