Open Writing

Two days after my arrival I discovered that the personnel clerk was taking bribes from prospective employees, to which he confessed when I confronted him with my accusations. He departed on the next truck to Homs. Meanwhile an explanatory phone call to Farouk arranged for Mohammed Soukariya as a replacement. He arrived the next day and I was happy with the selection.

Mohammed spoke perfect English and he had a genuine, ready smile, with a sense of humour to go with it that blended with mine. Mohammed discovered quickly that the Overseer of Watchmen was also taking bribes. After confessing in like manner, he found himself terminated.

There was no watchman capable of filling the position, and I engaged Tewfiq Eshayk from Palmyra. He was also an excellent choice. But the Personnel team was not complete. I still needed a driver for our Humber Super Snipe that Busty had allocated to me. The car had been modified so that it carried three passengers in a front cabin, while the back was open like a pick-up truck and able to carry six people sitting on the floor.

That day I had a visit from a Sheik (pronounced 'Shay-kh' in Arabic), and with him came a short, wavy-haired Arab, a hooked nose contrasting with his ready smile, laughing eyes and respectful manner. Standing rigidly to attention, he gave me almost a Guardsman's salute with which even Sergeant Daly would have found little fault. Like Tewfiq, he spoke no English, but this was of no matter. My daily use of Arabic had made me fairly fluent although still woefully ungrammatical.

So Hassan Salaamy joined us. He was an excellent choice. Not only was he a first-class driver, but he had been driving the Sheik in his ramshackle old truck in smuggling activities across the Syrian border for years. Hassan knew every single desert track, hazard and short-cut. We spent hours together and had many laughs. From that first moment onwards, he always addressed me as 'Master', and refused to do otherwise, despite my entreaties.

In this desert area our labourers were engaged from the Bedouin tribes, 'El Bedou'. The Bedou are a wonderful people, simple, proud, and very, very hospitable. They are also genuine. The Bedouin will ask you how you are and wait for your reply, all attention, almost anxiously. Then in turn he enquires about the health of your father, mother, brother and children. My parents would have been flattered to know the number of times a Bedouin enquired so seriously about their health and welfare.

The Bedouin is devout, as are all genuine Moslems, and prays five times a day (although this is not demanded in The Koran). Sometimes while working, or even during a conversation, he may go to one side, face Mecca, and drop on his knees, forehead to the ground and pray to Allah. 'Allah' is the Moslem Arab's word for 'God', while the Christian Arab uses the word 'Rub'.

It has always surprised me the number of times that I have heard Christians state, incorrectly, that the Moslem worships the Prophet Mohammed. It also surprised me to discover, on reading the sacred book of Islam, The Koran, that Islam recognises Jesus. He is mentioned several times, but as a prophet and the Son of Mary and not the Son of God. The Koran recognises the miraculous birth as one of the signs of God, Allah, and makes mention of the Apostles and Jesus' ability to perform miracles such as the healing of the leper and raising the dead.

There are also references to many of the Old Testament characters such as Job, Moses, Joseph, David, Soloman, Isaac, Jacob, Aaron, Jonah, Lot, Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit, Noah and the flood, also the 'camel through the eye of a needle' and John the Baptist.

The Koran, like the Holy Bible, is heavy going at times. It is also interesting and left me wondering why there has been so much animosity between the beliefs of Islam and Christianity. We all worship God. We just do it in different ways.