PSPA

9

"To think of you as I do is a sin. To look at you as I do is forbidden. To touch you as I wish is a crime."Royce.

BILEL'S POV:

"Cortada," I answer my phone, slamming the car door as I drive home.

"What the hell game are you playing, Bilel?" Adil asks angrily, making me sigh in annoyance.

Adil and I have known each other since we were children. We met during a tragic moment in our lives that immediately brought us together and made us survive together.

He's two years younger than me, I'm 25 and he's 23, but you wouldn't know it from everything we've been through.

We're restless souls trying to cling to life, hopeful to find our own light in this endless cloud of darkness that has always shrouded our lives. But first, we have a mission to accomplish. Our time to go to paradise hasn't come yet.

First, there's the struggle for good, for the triumph of the Word of Allah, for its dissemination among the peoples of the world. It's a way of getting closer to Allah, a sign of the servant's love for his Creator.

The Prophet said, "Those who die without having participated in jihad or without having nurtured in their hearts the hope of participating in it, die with a trace of hypocrisy."

It's a military effort to defend the Community. Allah said: "You have been commanded to fight, even though it is detestable to you. Well, it may be that you dislike what that is good for you, and it may be that you love something that is harmful to you. Allah knows, and you do not know." (II,216) "Fight them until there is no more persecution and worship is (acknowledged to be) for Allah alone." (II,193)

This is what my adoptive father, Omar, the caliph at that time, taught me and Adil.

I also remember when I talked to an Imam (considered an ideal guide for human merits and esoteric and exoteric religious knowledge, because of his blood and spiritual ties with ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad), he told me something that shook me... that this struggle could also be conducted non-violently.

It opened up a whole new world, a new perspective on the struggle.

I still remember the words of the Most High that he quoted to me, "Fight in the cause of Allah against those who fight against you, but do not transgress. Surely, Allah does not like transgressors." (II,190).

He said that war is purely defensive and must be waged without ever resorting to cruelty and brutality. The Prophet said, "Do not kill the elderly, children, infants, and women," and he said, "Believers are the most humane even in the cruelest of conflicts"; he forbade the use of fire as a weapon against people, forbade cutting down trees, and forbade polluting water. Islamic law specifies the rules for declaring war, ordering surrender, treating prisoners, and ransoming them. War is considered an exceptional condition that must end as soon as possible.

One day I mentioned this to Omar, and he not only ordered the exile of the Imam, but also quoted the words of the Messenger of Allah: "Whoever fights in the cause of Allah, and Allah knows best who does it for Him alone, is like one who fasts and prays constantly. Allah guarantees Paradise to the mujahid (who fights in the way of Allah) who meets death. If he returns from the Jihad safe and sound, He grants him booty and reward".

Words that no longer echo in my mind. On the contrary, I'm obsessed with the image of a blushing, smiling girl playing with her hair, biting her lip impatiently... I have other things on my mind, things that if Omar were to find out, he would turn in his grave.

"Playing?" I ask as I enter the house after unlocking the door.

"You haven't been answering your phone since this morning, two attacks have been thwarted. I had to handle the recruits myself and send them back to the Brussels base. Some even tried to run away out of fear. Do you know what would have happened if I hadn't caught them?"