Ahmad Khalil: The Story of a Palestinian Refugee and His Family

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Contents

1. 1 Front matter pp. 1–3
   • THE STORY OF A PALESTINIAN
   • REFUGEE AND HIS FAMILY
2. 2 AHMAD KHALIL p. 4
   • The Story of a Palestinian Refugee and his Family
   • Mohammad Yusuf Khan & Sons
3. 3 In memory of the late Mufti of Jerusalem pp. 5–(v)
   • In memory of the late Mufti of Jerusalem : Haj Amin al Hussaini
4. 4 PREFACE p. (vi)
5. 5 CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY pp. vii–I
   • I
6. 6 II pp. 6–17
   • anymore! It is ugly!” He ran to his mother and clung to her for protection against the unknown.
7. 7 III pp. 18–85
   • I am the Shaikh of Iraq al Manshiya…
   • Ahmad Khalil watched terrified. It seemed to
   • IV
   • their own ……
8. 8 V pp. 36–48
   • VI
   • If the Germans win the war, the Jews will be destroyed, the mandate of the British finished and then Palestine can become an independent Arab state.
9. 9 VII pp. 49–63
   • die! If I call her loud enough, she will surely
   • did not have to happen. If we were not so ignorant, if we had education, if we were part of
   • VIII
   • “I know nothing of charms or amulets,” retorted
10. 10 IX pp. 74–65
11. 11 X pp. 66–69
12. 12 XI pp. 70–81
    • XII
    • after himself ….. “.
13. 13 XIII pp. 82–95
14. 14 XIV pp. 86–91
15. 15 xv pp. 91–108
16. 16 XVI It was Ramadan, the holiest month of the year, the month when the Quran was first revealed to the Holy Prophet Muhammad, the month of fasting from dawn until sunset, the recitations from the Quran and the lengthy night prayers in the mosque. In previous years, Ramadan had also meant to the children of Iraq al-Manshiya, the brightly-coloured lanterns which illuminated the entire village, the processions in the streets, the trained monkeys, parrots and dancing bears brought by their trainers from village to village to amuse and delight them, the magicians, the story-tellers and wandering minstrels with drums and crude one-stringed instruments, relating the heroic deeds of the great Sultan Salah-ud-din Ayubi and Sultan Baybars who drove out the Christian crusaders and saved Palestine for Islam. It was the earliest morning hours when Ahmad Khalil remembered how he and Abdul Aziz used to accompany their fathers while they made their rounds from door to door to awaken the villagers for their pre-dawn meal, beating on drums and chanting: pp. 109–112
17. 17 XVII pp. 113–117
    • went black…..
18. 18 XVIII pp. 118–167
    • to sleep……..
    • shook Malak Wahab awake.
    • prey . . … .
    • . . . . . . . .
    • But I must see before I can decide …..
    • inside ….
    • trees and lovely flowers …..
    • “No. It is still there. Soon after the fighting
    • but we lost everything …..”
    • even a corner to pray in that is not polluted …..
    • than I am ….”
    • “…. But you promise to speak to the doctor!”
19. 19 XVIII pp. 168–184
20. 20 . . . . . . pp. 177–181
21. 21 . . . . . . . . pp. 182–186
22. 22 XIX pp. 187–207
    • palm leaves ……..
    • By the tens of thousands they attempted to escape
    • “Wait, Ahmad Khalil,” interrupted Rashid, “I want to see if Khalifa is sleeping soundly.”
    • IMITATION OF THE CONQUERORS BY THE VANQUISHED
23. 23 XX pp. 208–136
    • XXI
    • XXII
24. 24 XXV pp. 237–252
    • It was a bad year. Due to unfavourable weather, the harvest at the oasis-garden was meagre and Rashid’s wages more meagre still. At last, half of the property was sold to a construction firm which cut the date trees down to make way for a prosperous, thriving new residential suburb. Already construction of the modern air-conditioned homes had begun. Rashid thought of Khalifa and watched them go up with bitter hatred and resentment. In desperation, Maymuna begged Rashid to
    • XXVI
    • coming here to give him an oral examination. If he does well, it will mean a scholarship to one of the primary schools connected with al-Azhar University.”
25. 25 XXVII pp. 253–275
    • XXVIII
26. 26 XXX pp. 276–288
    • It had
    • not wait to share it with you … “ Abd ur-Rahman
    • XXXI
27. 27 The Night of Majesty is better than a thousand months. The angels and the Holy Spirit descend therein by permission of their Lord with all decrees. That night is peace until the rising of the dawn ........................... " At that moment they were all startled by a knock at the door. Rashid jumped up to open it and there stood Ismail wearing a new smartly pp. 297–318
    • If they cannot persuade them to do so quickly enough, then they try to attain what they want by force. Their medicines, machines and books are their weapons. If we stay ignorant and lazy, we cannot
    • when I was young! If only I had gone to school, acquired knowledge and tried to study the new sciences when my father gave me the chance! Then I might have achieved mastery over both civilizations. Then I might have known what we could learn even from our bitterest enemies without harm to ourselves and how we could resist their evils. Instead I tried to flee when there is no refuge and no escape not even here in the Holy City of Medina. I told myself that I was only a peasant and not a scholar. My love for the soil is as intense now than it was when I was a boy in the village but the village is no more, the land has been robbed from us and given to others who shamelessly live off our stolen property and there is no place for the simple peasant in the life of today, not even at the bottom. And I never thought to prepare for that. Now it is too late. This was my great mistake.
    • of Allah are infinite…..”
    • It really doesn’t matter, Father, because she is Christian in name only. Our common belief in the absolute freedom of the individual from the
    • hospital soon…..”
    • forever with this starvation….”
    • to Jeddah only every two hours….”
    • gold . . . . .
    • in the hearts of other men . . . . . “
28. 28 THE AUTHOR

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