Locked In

Sanctuary

It was a week before we docked in port. During that time we had followed the rules of Sebastian's Uncle and stayed in our cabins. Will's friends who were sympathetic to Muslims brought us food twice a day. At midnight there was a knock on our door.

"It's safe to leave the ship. Everybody is either out on the town, asleep in their cabins or at the party."

"Thank you," I said. I shut the door and went to wake my children. "It's time to leave. We're finally in Sweden Alhamdulillah."

We gathered our bag and went out closing the door behind us. Standing a little way ahead of them they saw at the railing that there were two other families. We did not carry any flashlights for fear of attracting attention. The gentle lapping of the water against the side of the ship lulled me into a trance. Daboor shook me and guided us off the ship. Behind us some of other families followed and we could see four families on the ship. Within half an hour we were all safely on Swedish shores.

"Well this is our new homeland," Yusuf said. "It's hard to see anything at night."

"Where are we Mommy," Sabura asked.

"We're in Malmo, Sweden. We still have a long way to go to get to Ostersund."

Just then a light shined in front of us. "Assalaamu Alaykum. My name is Imran."

"Walaykum Salaam. We didn't know there were other Muslims here," Ahmed said.

"Yes a few families live here. According to our contacts there is another group on the way. Right now they are in Norway. I gather you are the escaped prisoners from that camp in the States?"

"How did you know about that?"

"The Americans broadcasted it to their allies. We just hacked into their transmission and got information that way."

"There are other Muslims coming here? From where?"

"They are also from America. Apparently they are all converts except for four born Muslims. They are slaves of the society who declared war on Muslims everywhere in the world. The Devil's Thorn."

"Isn't that the group that person told you about back in the camp Parasa," Ahmed asked me.

"Yes. I didn't know there were slaves who had escaped."

"I imagine you're all tired. We have a small Mosque in the outskirts of Malmo where you're welcome to spend the night."

"Is it true that Sweden is sympathetic to Muslims?"

"Yes Alhamdulillah. They don't care for other nations telling them what to do. You're perfectly safe here."

We walked down the winding streets and alleys until we came to a huge Mosque in a small field. Across the field we noticed alot of houses.

"This is where the majority of Muslims live in Malmo," Imran said in answer to our silence. "Any Muslims who have managed to escape their governments come to Sweden to start a new life. So far the Swedish people are fine with us being here."

"Have there been any problems between the Muslims and the non-Muslim population," Yusuf asked.

"When the United States, Britain, Russia, New Zealand, France, and the other countries issued worldwide warnings to all Muslims some of the people were concerned that if Sweden granted sanctuary to Muslims that the country would not be safe. As you may remember from history or possibly Geography class, Sweden is a neutral country. There are some citizens who don't take kindly to Muslims being here."