Empires of Faith

Chapter 15: Downtime

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"How can you disbelieve in Allah (God) when you were lifeless and He brought you to life; then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you [back] to life, and then to Him you will be returned." (2:38)

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26 Rajab, 1663

"Where are they?" Uthman ibn Sulayman demanded, shaking the man by his shirt. There was no answer. Uthman pummeled the man with a few hard fists to the face. "Answer me!" Still, no reply came.

This had been going on for days, with hardly any results. Uthman was put in charge of the interrogation of the captives from the enemy army. Though the others spoke what they knew, this man in particular remained silent, and for a good reason. The other captives had little information, if any, to share in the first place. This man, however, was one of the high ranking officers; he had many secrets to hide.

He had been captured after the most recent skirmish between the Muslims and the Kwaadi armies in the Eastern Mountains. General Isa's plan had been an overwhelming success, with the Kwaadi largely unprepared and easily defeated. The battle lasted no more than a matter of moments. The Muslims were victorious, and many of the Kwaadi men were taken captive.

Hoping to ransom them for a good price, perhaps to earn some supplies for their army, the Muslims kept the captives alive and were heading towards the nearest inhabited land, where the Kwaadi folk would pay to free their peoples.

The plan would easily have been a complete success, were it not for the folly of one man. Shah bin Azad had been tasked with keeping watch over the chained captives for a short time while the others made ready to pray on one particular night. However, due to his irresponsibility and negligence, the Kwaadi captives were able to orchestrate a quick escape, freeing most of their comrades and hiding away in the mountains. Only a few of them were recaptured. Commander Puedam Eman was one those recaptured.

Now he was being questioned after several weeks' stay with the Muslims. Uthman had been interrogating him for hours a day for the past week, and he'd barely managed to get any information out of him. He was growing impatient. "Tell me where you sent them to!" He threw the man across the floor. Breathing heavily, he walked over and grabbed the man by the short hair on his head. "Now!"

"That's quite enough," a voice spoke up as a light shined through the dark tent.

"Commander," Uthman said, respectfully turning to face Abdur-Rahman and shake his hand. "I've yet to break him; I think we should continue."

"You'll never get what you want," the man said in a weak voice. "Neither you, nor your God will make me speak!" Uthman turned around furiously and backhanded him onto the ground again.

"I said that's enough," Abdur-Rahman said, catching hold of Uthman's arm. "You know better than this. This isn't how the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) ordered for the captives to be treated. We are resting for this day; you should go and calm yourself."

"I-"

"Go. Have some food, pray, or relax with our comrades. We are sending messages back to our homes later this evening; perhaps you might consider drafting a letter for your family? Whatever you do though, I want you to leave from here; you are through with your interrogation."

"But I-" Uthman sighed before reluctantly accepting the orders. Eyebrows heavy and teeth gritting angrily, Uthman pushed through the tent's opening and marched away. Abdur-Rahman now turned his attention to the bleeding man on the floor.

Taking a piece of cloth, he wiped away some of the blood from the man's eye. "Don't think that by coming in here and pretending to be nice you will earn my trust," the man defiantly spoke. "I will tell you nothing."