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by Khaled Hammad

A Journey Through Hell Fire

Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here. Part 4 is here.

Chapter 5: “A threat to my Identity”

Ahmed kept talking most of the time while I was listening in disbelief. He was confident about his knowledge. I heard a very different point of view from the one I was used to hearing in Friday prayers or when reading Islamic books. The dilemma I was in that night was that the Quran warns Muslims about conversing with anyone critical of Islam, especially the Quran verses, which were torn to pieces by Ahmed. The Quran says: “And when you see those who engage in [offensive] discourse concerning Our verses, then turn away from them until they enter into another conversation. And if Satan should cause you to forget, then do not remain after the reminder with the wrongdoing people” (El Annam (6)/ 68). I could not reply to anything because of the inability to reason with such novel views. Still, I was frustrated with my failure to defend God’s religion and his beloved Prophet.

Questions

All I did was ask him questions. I do not recall all of my questions, as this was long ago. But I remember asking him what he thought of all the miracles. He said let’s discuss them one by one. I referred to the splitting of the moon. It is in the Quran. He said there was no evidence of that whatsoever. I said what about the prophet’s ascending to the heavens and meeting god, you know, on the winged donkey? No one could deny that. He went to Jerusalem that night and described the city with a very high accuracy. He said ‘Khaled, if the current president wants to write a book and say anything, his entourage will ensure that through planned propaganda campaigns, we will believe this to be a fact in history books for generations to come. People in those times believed in paranormal activities, and Mohammed was powerful with a robust army.’

I expressed my concern about him and thought that the guy had read too much philosophy. He probably had too many questions. Muslims are required not to ask specific questions, which might lead to infidelity. The Quran says, “ O you who believe! Ask not about things which, if made plain to you, may cause you trouble. But if you ask about them while the Quran is being revealed, they will be made plain to you. Allah has forgiven that, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Forbearing.” ( El MaEda (5) / 101).

Infidels

Ahmed said, ‘If I were the king of Saudi, I would dig up the grave of Mohammed to see if his body was still intact. The prophet said that Allah has forbidden earth from decomposing any of his prophets’ bodies. Let’s see if that is correct, Khaled.’ I was not in agreement. I was getting more and more terrified. I felt that something inside me wanted to know more, but I could not continue. I believed I was in danger of falling into the same trap myself. Ahmed looked at me and said: ‘You will get there one day.’  This statement that had the most terrifying effect on me of all that I had heard from him. I felt threatened. Islam was my identity. If that happens, I will lose myself in this life and then I will be in hellfire for eternity. I must stop seeing this infidel.

[To be continued.]