Authors: Darryl T. Mallard
“What?!” cried a man, in shock. “But that is not allowed in Islam!”
“Indeed. Most Muslims were equally shocked and horrified, but the damage was done. The cry of outrage was loud. Shoko ordered the Imam who urged violence on those who left Islam arrested. There were many who were pleased with this, but his followers were not among them. Then a grove sacred to ‘Nana’ was burned. Both Christians and Muslims had been vocal in their criticism of the native religion and its sacred places, thus Bellasarians from Melmoria to the Great Forest Kingdom began attacking Churches and Mosques in retaliation. Well, even the queen could see where this was going and the council quickly took action. They ordered all public preaching and proselytizing stopped and all alien houses of worship closed, destroyed or turned into buildings for other purposes. In other words, the queen was reinstating former Queen Bellasaris rules again. Violence began to erupt, but Queen Shoko was not as ruthless as Queen Bellasaris and the radicals knew it. She would not condone excessive force or slaughter and tried to contain the situation in a humane and civilized manner. It was about this time that the Jews decided it was time to leave and establish their own state, but now enough was enough. Shoko ordered military action against this.”
“Why?” asked an Israeli official. “If they wanted to leave and establish their own nation why not let them? After all, this is a planet; surely there is enough room for one Jewish state.”
“Because under the agreement signed by the religious leaders of all three faiths during Bellasaris’s rule, it was stated that a religious state from ANY of these faiths would not be attempted, established or tolerated. All Imams, Priests, Pastors and Rabbi reaffirmed this agreement with an oath once ordained or given their status as religious leaders and teachers. THAT
hadn’t
changed. The Jews attempt to break from the empire and establish their own nation was a blatant violation of the pact and seen as open rebellion. Naturally, they had prepared for this possibility, but they counted on the Queen’s other problems with the Christians and Muslims to keep her from taking full action against them. Besides…many, even among her own council, had seen the queen as soft and too accommodating. She had been warned about dissolving Bellasaris’s precautions concerning ‘The Peoples of the Books’, and she had deemed the warnings outdated paranoia. Sadly, we ourselves proved her wrong. However, she
did
act quickly and forcefully in this case and the Jews, who were vastly outnumbered, were crushed violently and then scattered throughout the empire in numbers too few to raise large warrior bands and closely watched. Even today, they are the fewest of the three major Earth faiths on Bellasaria. Humph! Many Muslims and even some of the Christians were thrilled at their fate. But we’d be getting ours soon enough. Terrorist acts were now becoming a serious problem in the empire. Muslims were rightly accused by the Christians, but it soon became obvious that
they
were not so innocent either. The hammer fell when Queen Shoko herself was assassinated.”
“What?!?” cried a delegate. The gathered guest couldn’t believe what they had heard.
“Yes,” said Prince Muhammad. “The woman that had allowed the rebuilding of buildings of worship and permitted many practices once frown on by other rulers, was killed by the very people she befriended.”
“Who…Who killed her?” asked someone. “Was it a Muslim? Please say it wasn’t.”
“Yes,” said Prince Muhammad with a sigh, “by a man named, Ali Assad. He was seeking revenge for what happened to his father, Mustafa Assad, the Imam who was beheaded for instigation. The only thing he accomplished though was the utter extermination of his entire family and the unleashing of hell on the rest of us. The Illyrian royal family vowed that they would put us all in our place no matter the cost. And then they placed Shoko’s daughter, Beral II on the throne. ‘The Iron Panther’ was not as…
tolerant
of our behavior as her mother, whom she had loved dearly. She immediately proved to be every bit as ruthless as Bellasaris the Great herself, actually…even worse. She waged terror for terror on the terrorist, killing not only the perpetrators, but their families as well. The family of a terrorist was deemed accountable for his or her crimes equally and shared his fate. Only mutant children of very tender years were spared death. Infants were placed in new families that practiced ‘Nana’ and toddlers were mind swiped and scattered to the most remote realms of the empire and also raised by Bellasarians of the native faith. The only way a family could escape this fate was by reporting any dangerous or suspicious activities of a relative themselves. Not reporting a terrorist would make even nonrelated witnesses or villagers equally guilty should the worst happen. In a society full of telepaths, people would take no chances and reported
any
suspicious individual immediately. In case you’re wondering, torture really wasn’t that necessary for getting at the truth and for the same reason…even for mutants. Once a control collar was place on someone’s neck they were powerless against a telepath. The innocent had little to fear if they but submitted to questioning peaceably. The guilty would sooner kill themselves rather than be taken alive. In case you are wondering about human rights, know this. Terrorist are not considered human on Bellasaria, but animals on two legs.
No one
will pity or show them any mercy…or those who corrupt or incite them. Preachers, Rabbis and Imams who preached militancy were impaled or crucified and their families with them even though their followers were killed quickly, depending on their crimes. This was done even if they themselves had not taken any part in acts committed by their followers. They were deemed even more guilty and cowardly by reason of instigation than those who followed their teachings.”
“This was barbaric!” cried someone.
“Humph! Call it what you will,” said Prince Muhammad, “but it worked! Terrorism disappeared from Bellasaria and has NEVER appeared again…for
any
cause. Incidentally, this worked so well that it changed law enforcement and made it what it is today. Beral II employed these same tactics against crime as well, minus the slaughter of course, and with almost the exact same results. But Beral II didn’t see this as the end, but just the beginning! It became forbidden for our people to gather in numbers above ten people at all, not even in tents or caves. We would keep our mouths shut and our books out of sight in public. Other Bellasarians treated us like the carriers of a contagious and dangerous disease; because that’s the way they saw us! I suppose in a way, we were.” The prince laughed bitterly. “Everything our ancestors had achieved from our rights to our image in the eyes of the people was destroyed because of those…those… (Sigh). Anyway, ever since, ‘The People of the Books’ have walked a
very
tight line. Beral II and even her more benevolent successors have seen to it that we would never again gain the power and influence among Bellasarians that we once had. People here live long and have long memories. They are capable of tolerance and forgiveness, but only just so far. Today you may have noticed that there are temples, churches and mosques elsewhere in the empire, yes?” The others nodded. “But did you notice that they are all the same size and of the same number in
every
Bellasarian town or city? No more, no less. Oh, sorry. You haven’t been many places yet. But it’s true. We are no longer hated. And we are now treated well, but we are not trusted completely, and are still deemed potentially dangerous by other Bellasarians even today. We do
nothing
to make other Bellasarians nervous anymore…nothing.”
The various leaders were silent for a moment and then one of them spoke. “Prince Muhammad, what of you? You are actually related to the Melmorian queen and even Empress Beral III. Yet you are a Muslim. How is that possible? Well, considering…”
“My great grandfather was a convert to Islam in the early days and did not renounce it. His children followed his example…some of them.”
“I see. You say your people do not value wealth and money, but…Please do not take this the wrong way, but you and the other nobles seem to be living quite large here,” said a man.
The prince chuckled. “Our people are privileged, but most of our palaces are home to not just us, but our extended kin as well. Hereditary servants and their families fall into this category as well. Also, most of the buildings of any estate on Bellasaria are open to the people. They are maintained by the people because they are as much theirs as ours. Besides…having wealth in itself is not dishonorable. It is the loving of money and material wealth to the extent of allowing one’s neighbor’s and their children to starve that is despicable to us. There is very little poverty on Bellasaria and no hunger. Everyone eats and has a place to sleep. Isn’t that what Allah truly want’s?”
“But tell us of ‘Nana’” asked someone. The woman appeared to be Pakistani. “Why do these people cling so strongly to it?”
“If you want to know about a faith,” said a female voice, “ask one who follows it.” The others looked over and saw a tall and extremely beautiful woman approaching. She was modestly dressed, but her figure could be easily discerned beneath her clothes. She wore no veil and her long black hair was uncovered. She knelt next to the prince and hugged and kissed him on the cheek. Many murmured in disapproval at this public show of affection in front of others, but the prince seemed not at all embarrassed.
“This is my wife,” Princess Catal,” said Prince Muhammad, introducing her.
“It is a pleasure to meet you,” said the princess. The tips of her fangs appearing slightly as she smiled. “Now, what do you want to know about ‘Nana’?”
“How does it differ from Islam?” asked the woman nervously.
Catal chuckled. “We believe in one all-powerful being like you, but most Bellasarians refer to the creator in the female tense. However, some do choose to the male form. But most Bellasarians would not speculate too long on the true nature or face of a god. We usually say ‘The Creator’ in mixed company. Also, we do not build buildings of worship. There are many reasons for this, but I think the most important one is that a deity doesn’t need a house.”
“Where do you pray?” asked someone.
“Anywhere we wish,” replied the princess.
“I mean, congregate, fellowship,” asked the man.
“There are places of unusual beauty here and in other places of the empire, and indeed the world. We see such places as touched by the goddess and therefore sacred, people often go to such places to commune with the goddess, but a Bellasarian rarely prostrates to anyone or anything…and
never
to an unseen deity. We see the creator as our parent, not our master. It is our belief that to trouble a deity for no good reason is to invite disaster. The creator will aid in subtle ways those who strive on their own…if she chooses.
“You do not serve and praise your god…er…goddess? Funny how you do not show
her
the same respect you show your rulers. This is what a
‘goddess’
deserves, no?”
One of Catal’s feline eyes twitched in irritation at this insult. The prince placed his hand on hers, and she smiled again, but this time her formidable teeth were fully exposed and her voice changed noticeably.
“That is where you would be wrong,” said Catal. “It is
our
belief that a REAL god wouldn’t
want
his or her name being called annoyingly all the time 24 hours a day. They certainly wouldn’t demand it! This implies an ego, and THAT is a
human
quality! We honor and show our respect to our deity by behaving the way she or
he
would want. It is our belief that this honors her more than all the groveling and singing ever could!”
One of the Islamic diplomats raised a hand. “Please forgive this man, princess. I am certain he meant no offense.” The other man nodded and apologized, but it didn’t take a telepath to know he was insincere. “Please, what is the way God asks that you behave?” said the first man.
“Hmmm, we obey those commandments you say
you
believe in…most of them. You know, the only ones your faiths all agree was written by the hand of the creator himself. We do not murder. We do not steal. We strive not to covet the properties and mates of others. We honor our parents and indeed all our ancestors. We bow to no other gods. Why would we? We don’t even bow down to our own. We make no graven images of the creator. How could we? We have no idea what she, he or
it
looks like. We have a little different view of what adultery is than you, but I will say we don’t touch the mates of others without their permission. Bearing false witness against someone is lying, so that is covered already, no? As for keeping a holy day, that is a matter of personal choice in Nana. Because we have no temples, there is no need for us to congregate as a group on one particular day anyway. Of course, people fall short of perfection in these things, but that’s the nature of mortals, no? Strange, the creator or ‘Allah’ as my husband calls him, made everything so simple and uncomplicated, ten, arguably
nine
, simple rules written
himself
by his own hand. There is nothing about who you can or can’t sleep with, providing they were not married already, or what you can or can’t eat, drink or wear…nothing. Actually, these simple rules alone are not that
easy
to keep, but they still leave a lot of room for people. We cannot understand why ‘The Peoples of the Books’ have chosen to make things so complicated and hard.”