One evening when Ossi shared his doubts about the future with Ahmed and Abdullah, they asked him if he would like to travel and experience some adventures rather than just become another brick in the wall. Ossi wanted to know what they had in mind and they invited him to meet their spiritual guide at the community center on Friday before the morning prayers. With nothing better scheduled for that day, Ossi agreed to meet them at the back entrance of the community center.
The two youngsters were waiting for Ossi at the appointed time, though such punctuality was untypical for them, and when he arrived they knocked three times on the small side door. It was opened by a young woman wearing a long black robe that covered her body and a chador that left only a pair of gleaming black eyes visible through the opening covered with a fine net. The way she carried herself and the mysterious power radiating from her intrigued Ossi but wisely he kept his silence.
Without saying a word she dismissed Ahmed and Abdullah with a small hand gesture and signaled for Ossi to follow her. She led the way down a narrow bare staircase to the basement and knocked on a metal door that bore no sign. When the door opened Ossi could see that a large Afghan carpet was spread on the floor and a lone old man was seated on a low wooden chair surrounded by some cushions arranged haphazardly in front of his chair. He sensed a strange odor purveying the basement but could not quite identify it. The girl bowed towards the old man, gestured for Ossi to sit on one of the cushions and left the room, gently closing the door behind her.
The old man spoke so softly that Ossi could barely hear him instructing Ossi to take a deep breath, hold it for as long as he could and exhale slowly. Doing as he was told, Ossi felt a strange peace and quiet come over him. The old man looked into his eyes for a long moment and Ossi felt as if all his thoughts were like an open book to the old man. After a while the old man asked Ossi what he wanted to do with the most precious gift in the world — his life. Ossi was at a loss for words but then heard himself saying in a weak voice that he wanted to do something significant, something important, something that would leave his mark on the world. He felt that this was exactly the answer the old man expected.
The old man smiled briefly and said that he would guide Ossi along the pathway for fulfilling his true wishes, but that it would be a tortuous path with many physical and moral obstacles and that once he set foot on this path there would be no turning back. He invited Ossi to stay for a while and attend the morning prayers and sermon that he would be leading shortly and asked him to meet again afterwards.
The old man pressed a small button next to his chair and summoned the girl, whom he introduced as his niece, Fatima. In Arabic he asked her to take Ossi to the small semi-concealed alcove above the main hall of the community center that served as a mosque during prayer time. Once again, without uttering a word, Fatima motioned for Ossi to follow her. As soon as the basement metal door was closed behind them she offered Ossi her hand to guide him through the dark corridor. When he touched her he felt as if he was hit by a surge of electricity and had to let go of her hand. He did not see her veiled face but sensed that she too was overcome by the impact of the brief physical contact. Still not saying a word she led the way up two flights of stairs, through a narrow hallway and into the small alcove overlooking the main hall of the community center. A bead curtain separated the alcove from the hall so that the people in the hall could not see who was in the alcove. Without a word Fatima departed leaving Ossi alone in the alcove.
A few minutes later all the worshippers stood in straight lines facing the podium and Mecca. The old man slowly ascended the podium and led the prayers in Arabic. After the prayer the old man delivered a sermon in Swedish, explaining that not all the worshippers spoke Arabic beyond the verses required for prayers. Ossi could see that among the crowd below there were quite a few men of obvious African ancestry, some Scandinavian looking fair skinned men that were probably new converts but the majority of men were probably of Middle Eastern and North African descent. He quickly noticed that there were no women among the worshippers, unlike the service in the church he attended as a child and a young man.
The old man began his sermon by quietly praising the deeds of Allah and the cornucopia his true believers were promised and then started accounting the evils brought upon the believers by the infidels. As he continued with the sermon his tone rose in volume and intensity. As he mentioned the heroic acts of 9-11 when a small group of 19 true believers sent 3000 infidels to Gehinem (hell) and the dastardly invasion of the Muslim countries of Iraq and Afghanistan that followed, his voice became exceptionally loud. When he described the way that the fraudulent Colonialists bribed and bought the cooperation of Arab despots and coerced them to join the coalition troops invading Iraq, spittle sprayed out of his mouth. He went on to describe the defeat of the Iraqi army as a test by Allah to see if the holy warriors, the Jihadists, would carry on the battle. Towards the end of his sermon, the old man clung to the podium his face took on a crimson hue as he swore to avenge the deaths of the true believers. Suddenly his voice wavered and he collapsed on the podium. Two men rushed up and carried the old man down from the podium and then into his room in the basement.
Ossi wondered whether he should keep the appointment with the old man but before he could reach a decision Fatima quietly entered the alcove and motioned for him to follow her. She kept her hands in the pockets of her robe to discourage any contact. Once again she led Ossi along the hallway and down the stairs to the basement. When the door opened he could see that the old man was seated in his chair holding a glass of water and a person he assumed to be a doctor was taking his blood pressure. When he saw Ossi,the old man dismissed Fatima and the doctor and spoke softly to Ossi asking him what he thought of the sermon. Ossi hesitantly replied that he knew nothing of the injustices inflicted on the Muslims and had to learn the facts before answering. The old man smiled painfully and said that his niece, who was a history major at Uppsala University, could tutor him privately and show him the true facts, since the information he would find in the Internet was planted there by the American CIA and its collaborators. Ossi barely managed to conceal his enthusiasm at the opportunity to spend more time with the enigmatic Fatima and agreed to the proposed tutoring. Hearing this, the old man once again summoned his niece and told her that she would be Ossi's tutor. She answered in rapid Arabic that Ossi did not understand but he realized that she protested against the idea and this upset the old man. He repeated in Swedish his command that she guide Ossi through the history of Islam and its relations with Colonial forces, especially after the events of 9-11. Reluctantly, Fatima faced Ossi and set a date for their first lesson to commence the following Sunday at noon in the university library.
Ossi spent the time until their meeting trying to read as much as he could about the history of Islam from its inception in Arabia in the 7th century AD, through its period of grandeur in the Middle Ages until its present status in the 21st century. He was not able to fathom how the rift between Sunni and Shiites continued for over a thousand years with each side doing its best to send the followers of the opposing sect to meet with Allah prematurely. The more he read the less he understood how a proud nation that during the dark Middle Ages in Europe was at the forefront of science and mathematics, literature and poetry, culture and architecture, and was a considerable economic power became a symbol of backward and murderous tribal rivalry among the Muslims themselves as well as against the Judeo-Christian world.