Chit chat on the Oriental Express Café
By: Aadel M Al-Mhady
Chapter
2: Religions
Interrupting
them, Memmis, the assistant manager, came in the conference room wearing a
broad smile on his face and a big apron with an oversized pocked in the. He
held a pen and a pad in his hand. Quickly, he scanned the group with his eyes. He
knew who always wanted what. “Yes, gentlemen, is it the usual or am I going to
take different orders?” he asked the group. “The usual and don’t forget my pack
of smokes!” said Ben Ya-Quob in pure Egyptian accent ─ Dawoud Ben Ya-Quob is an
American Jew whose family left Egypt
for New York in the USA long time ago. Although he
lived in Israel for a few
years, he always yearned for visiting Egypt,
his birthplace; a matter that became possible after a peace treaty has been
signed between Egypt and Israel. As much
as Ben Ya-Quob supports the Zionist state of Israel and her right to exist, he
condemns the Israeli governments for all the crimes they are committing against
the Palestinians.
Memmis
popped his head out of the door and announced the order, “One local beer for
Mr. Bale and make sure it is very cold, hot fenugreek, whole, not ground for
Mr. Al-Ghazali, hot cocoa with milk and marshmallow for Mr. Osamah, and make
sure the tea for Mr. Al-Dhamanhouri is strong and medium sweet, and as usual
Mr. Al-Bahrawi would like his cold liquorice from the fresh batch, and make
sure the froth of the Turkish coffee of Mr. Ben Ya-Quob, Mr. Khorshed and Mr.
Al-Husseiny is still intact and sweetness minimal, and one caraway for Mr.
Bahloul, and one Anis for Mr. Salibah, and please don’t forget his Marlboro
smokes!” Osamah said, “Memmis, I suggest, you make it a standing order…print it
out and post it on the wall beside Dhabbourah, and whenever we want the same,
we will say the “usual. So will you to Dhabbourah” Memmis said, “Good!” and
then looked at Ben Ya-Quob and asked, “Is that all for now?” Ben Ya-Quob
replied, “Ah, on your way out, don’t forget to hang the do-not-disturb sign on
the door!”
“You
have not lost the Egyptian slang or the accent, Dawoud, though you have been
away for a long time. You still have the lisp. Remember when we were kids? I
used to tease you?” Al-Bahrawi said as soon as Memmis swung his body out
closing the door behind him. “Oh, yes, how can I forget? What sweet days! You
know, I looked for that dead-ended street where I used to live but when I found
it, it did not look the same” said Ben Ya-Quob. “Except one thing” Al-Bahrawi
said. Ben Ya-Quob became so curious.
Al-Bahrawi then said, “The name...though the government gave it a different one,
people still remembered the place by its old name” Ben Ya-Quob said, “Haretel-Yahoud”
Al-Bahrawi confirmed, “Yes”.
Sitting
back in his chair and waiting patiently until everybody settled down, Ahmad
Al-Ghazali ─ an eloquent postgraduate student studying law at Ein-Shams
University ─ pushed his crooked hat down to make it sit well on his head and resumed
his conversation that was interrupted by Memmis, “I am not a philosopher or a theologist.
I am no an atheist, either. I do believe in God whom I think of as the father
of all things. Nevertheless I am an evolutionist. I am a free thinker whose
mind is open to receive, discern and then absorb. My four criteria for weighing
things are my instinct, my experience, logic and science” ─ “What is your say on religions, then?” asked Al-Dhamanhouri
─ Hussam Al-Dhamanhouri is a student at Al-Azhar, studying Hebrew ─ “Manuals written for young humanity to seek
guidance therein and to maintain its physical self and spiritual self”
Al-Ghazali said. “Who are the manuals authors?” Al-Bahrawi, who finally decided
to lower his bucket into the well of discussion and scoop some of its water, then
asked. “Whoever created the universe and all that is therein” Al-Ghazali said,
“You may call it the Universe, the Force, Allah, Yahweh, Amon, Ra. These are
all different Name-Masks” Al-Bahrawi asked, “If that’s true, why then under the
banner of religion we see all sorts of atrocities are committed?” ─ Ahmad
Al-Bahrawi is a student in the American
University, studying
business administration ─ “A good question and mostly answered incorrectly”
Al-Ghazali said. “What do you mean?” Al-Bahrawi asked. “To answer correctly,
one should not only talk of the religion” Al-Ghazali said, “but also of the
follower of the religion, the time, the culture, the geographical location
where the religion was proclaimed and of any other factors one may deem
important to take into consideration” Al-Ghazali added. “Can you further
explain?” Al-Dhamanhouri asked. Al-Ghazali explained, moving his hands all the
time in affirmative gestures, “For instance, do not judge a religion by
contemporary established criteria but by universal ones or the criteria of the
time during which a religion was proclaimed. The laws were provided to suite
their current culture; their geographical and social issues. We should not also judge a religion by its
followers, but the followers by their religion. Napoleon was Christian but
committed crimes against humanity, so did Muslim Timor leng, and neither of the
two religions encourage killing” Al-Bahrawi asked, “Why did they commit these
atrocities then?” Al-Ghazali answered, “For reasons other than what the
religion dictates, for reasons the people who committed those crimes, through their
literal interpretation of the words, believed they were true, or they had just
grabbed the words by the nick and twisted them to suit their own selfish or extreme
purposes, or because of a political or personal agenda”
Memmis opened the door; signs ow worries on his face, and said, "Gentlemen, is there a doctor in the house?
Memmis opened the door; signs ow worries on his face, and said, "Gentlemen, is there a doctor in the house?
Chapter not yet complete
