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While we were in Sharm el-Sheikh, President Mubarak
happened to visit the place.
I remember the fear which suddenly engulfed the town when it was
announced that Mubarak was coming on an unexpected visit; I can still
see the cavalcade of black cars on the day of his visit and feel the
almost physical awareness of fear, like a cold chill on that very hot
day in Summer.
It was a weird experience; Mubarak is not considered the worst of the
Islamic tyrants and yet, the fear of the ordinary Egyptians for their
leader could be felt even by me. I wonder how Saudis feel when their
King is in town, how Libyans feel when Gaddafi announces his coming,
how Iraqis must have felt when Saddam Hussein was near. A few years
later, I read in the Koran how the 7th century Arabs felt in the
presence of Muhammad, who, as several verses describe, “cast terror
into their hearts” (suras 8:12, 8:60, 33:26, 59:12). [Extra
credit if you're Moslem]
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Excellent piece, and a modern classic.
ReplyDeleteCasca
Thank you Rog for the correct spelling-moslem
ReplyDeleteI have 2 "moslem" friends that have always snickered at the way they've connived English writers to use the form, "muslim"
MM