The Cup

CHAPTER 48

In Raqqa, Abdul Haddad was thinking about Darraya and the hidden library. The irony did not escape him. He'd been looking far away for the cup used by the prophet Isa, when all along it had been close nearby.

In a normal world it would have been within easy driving distance. The world wasn't normal anymore and it wasn't going to be easy to get to it. Darraya was one of the places in Syria were ISIS was not in control. It was under siege by Assad's forces. Scum. Pigs. Words would never describe how much Haddad loathed the Shia.

He knew about the prophecy in the Book of Simon from his spy in Sweden. It fit with the signs of the coming of the Mahdi laid down in the Hadiths, teachings collected after the death of Mohammed. Haddad was certain he'd been chosen by Allah to help fulfill the prophecy. Why else had he found himself at the center of this search for the relic?

One man traveling alone had the best chance of getting through Assad's lines. Once through the ring of steel surrounding the city, he would need to be careful if he wanted to stay alive. Discovery meant torture and death. Allah would protect him, but he needed to prepare.

He would have to take on the appearance of the thing he hated most, a Shia apostate. Few in the caliphate knew as much about Shia ways as Haddad. Aside from his personal distaste, it wouldn't be difficult to pass as one of them. In the service of Allah, anything was permitted. He would be forgiven for his deception.

Haddad didn't know the exact location of the bombed out building where the secret library hid the cup. The library had been created by University students, as a way to continue their studies in the midst of the chaos. It wouldn't be hard to find out where the students gathered. One of them would tell him where the library was, whether he wanted to or not.

Most of Darraya had been destroyed and many of its inhabitants slaughtered by Assad. Those who were left were being bombed by the Russians and shelled by Assad’s troops. The city was on the old road to Damascus, famous as the place where the traitorous Jew Saul had received his conversion to Christianity. Haddad prayed the destruction of the city would be complete and all association with the Christian heresy wiped forever from the face of the earth.

But not before he found the cup of Isa.

Just as the Christians believed in the final judgment and an eternity in heaven or hell, Islam believed in the coming of the Mahdi and the yawm al-qiyamah, the Day of Retribution that would follow. On that day the faithful would ascend to paradise. All others would be cast into hell and suffer the torments of the flames for eternity.

The coming of the Mahdi was something Haddad wished for with all his heart, as all true followers of the Prophet did. He would find this cup the Christians wanted so badly. When Jaffari's bomb exploded in the great American city, the final war would begin and the rest of the prophecy would unfold.

The call to prayer echoed through the dusty streets of the city. Haddad spread his rug on the floor and began the ritual ablution.