Beyond the Sand Dune

by Asen Djinah

  With his voice breaking, Hayder had to pause and recollect himself before continuing. The men in the audience looked at each other incredulously. They certainly had not expected the husband to come to the defence of his wife.

  ‘I absolutely believe the events that took place on that dreadful night were exactly as my wife has described. We are both thrilled by the fact that she is expecting our first child. I do not blame her for being protective and instead, I thank her from the bottom of my heart for putting the welfare of our child before her own. How can she be guilty, your Excellency?’ he appealed to Caliph Omar.

  Hayder was well aware that once a verdict was reached there could be no appeal, for there was no such procedure within the judicial system. That would be it. He shuddered at the thought of the sentence reserved for women adulterers. So, despite the weakness in his legs and the pounding of his heart, he decided that he had to say what should be said, even if it meant upsetting the caliph and the scholars.

  ‘I am the wild one,’ he told himself to gather his courage.

  Hayder was thinking about the nickname he used to be called when he was a young boy. His mother and his peers used to call him fondly ‘the wild one’ although he was anything but wild. He looked at Caliph Omar and was no longer hesitant.

  ‘Your Excellency, I would like to add some personal thoughts, but I fear that these might upset you. I beg for your forgiveness. May I continue?’ he asked.

  The caliph’s curiosity was aroused and with a wave of his hand and a hint of a smile, he directed Hayder to speak. He remembered that he had liked this young man the first time he had met him at the palace.

  ‘This must be an extremely difficult situation for him,’ Caliph Omar again thought, respecting the husband’s loyalty to his wife.

  ‘Your Excellency, the penalty for adultery is death by stoning. However, there is no mention of this sanction anywhere in our Holy Book, upon which our law is based. Yet our judicial system has been applying this punishment, which is in direct contradiction to the teaching of the Holy Scripture regarding the sanctity of life. Death by stoning is a punishment that has been prevalent since the ancient times of the Greeks and which we have adopted. In Judaism, men of great wisdom have dissuaded people from such practice, yet we – who have received divine guidance through our Prophet – are still applying it. I believe that there is no place for such a barbaric act in our laws. That is all that I wanted to say, your Excellency. Please forgive my outspokenness.’

  The ulamas looked at each other in disbelief and at their leader Kateb who seemed outwardly unperturbed. There was uneasiness among them and even Grand Vizier Jaffar looked stunned.

  ‘How dare this man insult our judicial laws?’ he thought.

  Only Kateb and Caliph Omar looked calm. After his outburst, Hayder did not move back to his place by the wall. Instead, he turned and walked back the few steps to stand by the side of Amel and her guards. His arm reached out over the guard and touched his wife briefly on the shoulder. Amel felt heartened by his intervention and presence.

  ‘Thank you God for making Hayder believe me,’ she thought.

  All eyes turned towards the caliph, as everyone was eager to see his reaction to the young man’s criticism… and to hear the verdict.

  When it was Grand Vizier Jaffar who acted as Qadi, he would openly consult Kateb to agree upon a verdict. They usually whispered quietly out of earshot of the others and this was usually brief since both shared similar lines of thought. Being Qadi was only a presiding position, with the ultimate decision lying with Chief Ulama Kateb – the highest authority in judiciary matters. However, when it was the caliph who acted as Qadi, being the supreme leader, he could not be seen in public to openly consult with the leader of the ulamas. So over time the two men had developed a system. Caliph Omar would look at Kateb for his guidance and if the ulama nodded imperceptibly, then according to religious law, the defendant would be guilty. If instead, he shook his head sideways, then the defendant would be innocent. During his tenure as caliph, Omar had never disagreed with the leader of the ulamas on any verdict, for he too had a deep understanding of the religious laws.

  Caliph Omar had already reached a decision. There was only one witness instead of the four required, the aggressor was not available to shed light on the incident and the defendant could have lied but was definitely a truthful person. Both the defendant and her husband were respectable members of society. The fact that she was expecting a child very plausibly explained why she remained impassive during the ordeal.

  ‘Yes,’ he thought, ‘the woman is clearly innocent.’

  Caliph Omar glanced in the direction of Kateb to confirm the verdict. To his utter bewilderment, the leader of the ulamas was nodding his head. The caliph could not believe his eyes and he kept staring at Kateb.

  The old man must have seen the uncertainty on the caliph’s face, for this time with his toothless lips the old man mimed, ‘Mudnib – Guilty’.

  He wanted to make sure that there could be no misunderstanding in his recommendation. For once Caliph Omar was at a loss.

  ‘How can such a high scholar find the defendant guilty? He who has a thorough knowledge of the judicial system and is experienced in the interpretation of evidence? We have always agreed on our rulings,’ he thought, stunned at Kateb’s guidance.

  He was unsure on how to proceed, for Kateb was the highest scholar in judiciary matters and had the final say on every verdict. He could not openly go against Kateb and proclaim the woman innocent. Kateb could correct the caliph publicly, undermining his authority especially after voicing his recommendation openly for the other scholars to hear. Yet Caliph Omar could not possibly condemn this innocent woman to death. He glanced at Grand Vizier Jaffar, who seemed equally surprised at Kateb’s recommendation.

  Omar closed his eyes and remained silent as the crowd waited for the judgement, oblivious of the conflict between the caliph and his chief ulama. After a while Omar stood up from his elevated seat and surveyed the crowd. His voice rang loud and clear across the room as he prayed.

  ‘In the name of God, the infinitely Compassionate and Merciful.’

  ‘Praise be to God, Lord of all the worlds.’

  ‘The Compassionate, the Merciful. Ruler on the Day of Reckoning.’

  ‘You alone do we worship, and You alone do we ask for help.’

  ‘Guide us on the straight path, the path of those who have received your grace;’

  ‘Not the path of those who have brought down wrath, nor of those who wander astray.’

  ‘Amen.’

  ‘Amen’, everyone repeated after him.

  Caliph Omar was finally ready to deliver his verdict and everyone held their breath.

  ‘I have listened carefully to the prosecutor, paying attention to his three points. I have listened to the defending ulama explaining the circumstances of these three points. I have also listened to the speech made by the husband of the defendant and I have reached a decision. My ruling is this: since the defendant is with child, I will not deliver my verdict today. I will make my ruling public only after the child is born. The defendant will be detained until then. After the baby is born, the court will reconvene and I will make my judgement known.’

  There was a momentary look of disappointment on all faces, as the men felt deprived of the pleasure of witnessing the sentencing of such an important case. Still, the public respected the wisdom of their great caliph.

  ‘The sin of the mother cannot be laid upon the unborn child,’ one of the men said loudly for the others to hear, showing his support for Caliph Omar.

  Kateb had a wry smile on his wrinkled face. He had anticipated that Caliph Omar would make such a shrewd move. In fact he had been praying for Omar to delay the verdict. On the other hand, Safwan the prosecutor was frustrated that he could not witness yet another win over Nuffay. The more he discredited his rival, the lesser the chances of him making a comeback. Yet he could do nothing but wait until the case was reconvened.
The delay in the judgement felt like a defeat and left a sour taste in his mouth. His rival Nuffay was also disappointed. He thought he had given his best defence possible under the circumstances and had hoped that he could save the defendant from a guilty verdict. However, now he was not so optimistic.

  ‘Caliph Omar would have given his verdict straight away had he believed the woman to be innocent,’ he thought gloomily.

  ‘The fact that he has delayed his judgement means that he must presume the defendant to be guilty,’ he concluded.

  Both Hayder and Amel had hung on to the belief that the truth would prevail and expected the nightmare to be over. They did not know what to make of this reprieve and were dejected that the charge had not been dismissed outright.

  Fadel was the only one in the entire room to feel elated.

  ‘God is finally showering me with good fortunes,’ he thought with glee.

  For the next six months at least, he would have a roof over his head and would continue to receive his stipend. He was looking forward to exploiting the good nature and charity of the people of Qadday for as long as possible. He was already dreaming of amassing a small fortune. Caliph Omar waved to the guards to take Amel away, when a voice rang from the far end of the hall.

  ‘Your Excellency, with your permission, may I make a proposal?’

  It was Asif, moving in between the sitting men to reach the front. Caliph Omar could not believe his eyes again. There, in front of him, appeared Asif the merchant, the very person who had introduced Hayder to him and who had been in his thoughts just a moment ago.

  ‘Why is this eminent man getting involved in this case? Is he trying to influence my judgement?’ he wondered.

  After Hayder had left him, Asif had been thinking about Amel.

  ‘In the worst case that she is found guilty, the authorities would not apply any sentence until after the birth of the child,’ he had thought, pondering the situation.

  ‘If they do, then they would have to detain Amel throughout the rest of her pregnancy,’ he anticipated.

  So despite agreeing with Hayder that he would be looking after the business, he had hastily collected his savings and left for Qadday the following morning. On reaching the town, exhausted by the journey, the old man had overslept and nearly missed the proceedings. He had come in late and followed the case from the back of the room.

  When Asif reached the front of the room he was out of breath and although the caliph waved him permission to speak, he had to wait for his heart to slow down.

  ‘Thank you, Your Excellency. I am Asif, guardian of Hayder and Amel. I propose that I detain Amel on behalf of the authorities at my house until you call her back to court. I solemnly give you my word that I will personally bring her back when summoned. To prove my sincerity and the seriousness of my suggestion, I would like to deposit eighty gold coins as security,’ he blurted it all out in one continuous stream, like a child reciting a poem he had memorised.

  The crowd gasped at this large amount of money. Many of them could only imagine such a fortune in their dreams. Caliph Omar felt relieved that Asif had not pleaded for clemency for the accused, but instead had come with a solution to the problem of incarcerating a pregnant woman.

  ‘Your suggestion is indeed a useful one, for we do not have jail facilities for women, especially one who is pregnant. Therefore, I agree to deputise you as the official custodian of the defendant until she is summoned again. At the end of the session, please meet with the grand vizier to take the oath and finalise the formalities,’ Caliph Omar ruled.

  The Story of Omar

  Chapter 1

  Chief Ulama Kateb chuckled to himself as he shuffled down the corridor to the grand vizier’s office, leaning on his wooden staff. Instinctively he chewed his lips with his toothless gums, thrilled how the recent turn of events had gone better than he could have hoped for.

  ‘God bless this young man for criticising our judicial system,’ he thought.

  He had certainly not expected this sudden outburst in court and as soon as the young man had spoken, Kateb had recognised the opportunity. The look of disbelief on the caliph’s face when he had nodded the guilty verdict came back to his mind and he chuckled again.

  ‘The good of the many must outweigh the good of the individual,’ he thought as he made his way to see Jaffar.

  After a long day at court, Kateb would usually head home to rest his weary body, but not today. He simply had to see Grand Vizier Jaffar and get him on board before the meeting with Caliph Omar the following morning. Having been a mentor to the grand vizier from his young age, he knew that they both shared the same vision regarding the running of the empire.

  ‘Jaffar will welcome the opportunity, once I explain it to him,’ Kateb thought with confidence.

  As usual, he entered Jaffar’s office without knocking and saw that the grand vizier was not alone. He was seated on a cushion on the floor in front of a low varnished desk, writing in a ledger with an old man sitting opposite him. On closer look, Kateb recognised the man as Asif, who was in court earlier. He was completing the formalities to put down his security deposit as the deputised custodian of the accused woman.

  ‘One moment, Kateb,’ Jaffar said when he saw Kateb at the door.

  Despite the age difference between them, Kateb had insisted that the grand vizier called him by his first name. Jaffar had found it awkward at first, but eventually got used to calling his mentor Kateb.

  After finalising the details with Asif, the grand vizier wished him good luck and ushered him to the door.

  ‘I have already informed the guards to release custody of the accused into your care. I will see you when the case is reconvened,’ he told Asif.

  Finally finding himself alone with Kateb, Jaffar looked his mentor straight in the eye.

  ‘Kateb, I do not understand the logic of your recommendation. How can you find the woman guilty? Would you care to explain it to me? At tomorrow’s meeting, the caliph will also demand an explanation,’ he stated without preamble.

  ‘Jaffar,’ Kateb softly replied, chewing his lips and avoiding the question, ‘do you remember the oath we took together? We vowed to defend the empire against our enemies from outside – but also against attacks from within, just like the criticism from the young man today.’

  ‘But his criticism was in the context of his wife’s case. Anyway, I don’t understand how his comments could affect his wife’s verdict,’ Jaffar replied matter-of-factly.

  ‘My dear Jaffar, don’t you see? This is an opportunity for us to convince the caliph that we need to formalise our religious traditions and customs into a set of divine laws that will form the framework of our judicial system for years... for centuries to come. We have discussed this before, but we haven’t found the opportune time to share our ideas with the caliph until now. The comments of the young man attacking our laws in an official court give us that prospect.’

  Jaffar fell silent. Whilst he understood Kateb’s point, he still felt that a grave injustice was being committed towards the woman.

  ‘I do see the opportunity Kateb, but not at the cost of a human life. Both the caliph and I believed the woman to be innocent and I know you well enough to know that deep down you think so too. Why can we not affirm her innocence and at the same time use her husband’s comments to convince the caliph to our project? We can surely do both.’ Jaffar argued.

  ‘Oh Jaffar, I admire your innocence. But worry not; there is no official verdict yet. We have six months until the baby is born. This gives us plenty of time to put our plan in place. We will offer a not-guilty verdict as a potential concession to the caliph to pressure him to agree to our project. Remember Jaffar, we are writing history here. Our burden is huge, but we have a duty to build a strong and secure empire for the generations to come. I sometimes find it overwhelming too, but today God himself presented us with this opportunity.’

  He cunningly used the idea of divine intervention, knowing the grand vizier believed t
hat everything was preordained.

  Jaffar remained silent. Kateb gave him time to think it over. The chief ulama knew his protégé very well and was confident that he would eventually agree. Like him, Jaffar also wanted to strengthen the future foundations of the empire.

  ‘If it makes you feel better, my dear Jaffar, I solemnly give you my word that we will do our best to clear the woman. The final say will ultimately rest with the caliph though. We have six months ahead of us, so let us not worry about that now. We have plenty of time,’ he offered, in a conciliatory tone.

  After some time, the grand vizier conceded.

  ‘Okay Kateb, we will wait and do it your way, but remember, it is also our responsibility to ensure that justice prevails,’ he said.

  Chewing his lips, Kateb was relieved to see Jaffar agreeing to his plan and looked at him with affection. He could still see, in the middle-aged man standing in front of him, the young boy he first met all those years ago when he was just an ordinary imam.

  Chapter 2

  It was a young Kateb who first noticed the frail boy. He had just finished leading the evening prayer and was sitting with other scholars when he saw a young boy of about twelve years, sitting aloof from the group. All the other devotees had left with only the young boy remaining behind. Kateb and the other scholars usually spent the few hours between the evening prayer and the night prayer discussing the affairs of the mosque and other matters referred to them. Sitting not too far from the group, the boy was casually listening to their discussion while his lips moved in silent prayer.