Night had fallen and the escapees decided that there were more cons than pros in traveling in the dark, so they set up camp and a bonfire. Soleiman was reluctant at first but Mustafa knew a technique to smother the flames and light by carefully covering the bonfire with damp clothes. They had managed to get a hold of a few fishes from the river which they impaled with a stick and roasted on the bonfire. Soleiman offered to help but Mustafa politely refused and told him they he needed rest, so he set up the beds for the both of them instead. Mustafa continuously shifted himself as he squatted in front of the fire. He only bent one of his legs, trying to prevent any stress on the wounded one.
"Where are you from?", Mustafa asked while he maintained his focus on the fish. Soleiman was silent. There was no reason for him to not trust Mustafa, but still he felt awkward talking to a man who had just came into his life, in a hostile territory, a few hours ago. But the stranger somehow knew to save his life. Mustafa noticed the hesitation. "We might not leave this place even as a corpse let alone alive. So, what's the point in keeping secrets? Talking just might ease the pain", he added.
"I came from Karachi, Pakistan", finally responded Soleiman after overcoming his hesitation.
"Any chance that someone might be looking for you?", Mustafa inquired on.
"Yes. My colleagues have likely survived and might have spread the word. My organization will look into my disappearance. Even if they don't, I'll understand because I knew what lied ahead when I signed up", Soleiman answered as he explained to him about his organization, what it did and his role in it. He further told him in detail about his mentor. Mustafa recognized him in an instant. He had attended one of his lectures when Sheikh had visited Istanbul. Mustafa shared the details about his organization and how it operated. The more they spoke, the more similarities between them arose. Mustafa's role in his organization, like Soleiman, also required him to travel to far off remote places to preach, and to display the best example of a Muslim that would implore someone to convert. The structure of the organization that Mustafa described sounded a lot more developed and advanced as compared to Hizb ul Muballigheen. The unhinged government funding and grants might have to do something with it. Whereas, the Government of Pakistan had always hesitated in granting anything to Hizb ul Muballigheen and other religious institutes because of the foreign pressure of anti-radicalization.
"You are lucky! My people don't even know where I am. I rebelled against my organization and took off with a bunch of outsiders and drop outs on my own. My friends back home are probably still thinking that I have locked myself in my room, still mad about something", Mustafa told his state of affairs.
"You rebelled against your own people?", asked Soleiman bewildered that a preacher could even think of that. He had been loyal to his organization without even knowing it. It was like a family to him and his mentor was like his father.
"Like I said, it was my duty to travel the far-off locations to spread the word of God. I got word that satellite images discovered some villages situated near the coastal area of South West Africa that no Muslim conqueror or preacher had ever touched. It was all over the news. I urged the organization to send me as soon as possible but they refused and asked me to wait for the rest of our preacher teams to return from their expeditions. I insisted that the reinforcements were not needed but they ordered me to wait for them and wouldn't listen to me", Mustafa said. "But there was a catch. Our researchers had also found out that in the past few years, Christian missionaries had been trying to infiltrate the villages and had sent a few teams of pastors and priests. The entire teams were lynched and killed. No survivor was left to relay the story to the successors", he continued, "If only had I known".
Mustafa had ignored the opinions of his seniors and had decided to visit the remote villages without the permission of the organization. He had assembled a team of preachers by recruiting dropouts and pass-outs of the institutes where he had some influence. On his team was a graduate of his organization who had friends in the research wing. Only after they had arrived at the continent did he tell Mustafa the whole truth of why the organization was reluctant to send him there. "I was so mad that I almost knocked him out. The fella just wanted to go on a preaching expedition so he kept it a secret", Mustafa added.
They both sat there in silence for a while. Soleiman felt sorry for him. Soleiman's friends were more than likely still alive and his superiors knew of his whereabouts but that was not the case for poor Mustafa.
After a long silence, Soleiman asked, "The ones who attacked you, were they the common villagers or the apprentices?"
"The common villagers led by the apprentices of the temple", Mustafa replied. "But you, my friend, are a lucky one. You escaped from the grasp of the supreme Shaman", he continued.
"God sent you to right place at the right time", Soleiman thanked him. Mustafa was clearly close to getting fed up with the concept of a greater divine plan.
"This is the last time I walk this path. I spent my entire childhood reading about preachers like Abdul Aleem Siddiqui and Ahmad Deedat and wanted to walk into a stranger territory and change it singlehandedly like they did, but I ended up leading my men recklessly to their deaths", Mustafa continued, "If God really wanted me to do this, he would have helped me and I wouldn't have seen my friends, who had never set a foot wrong, die the way they did".
Soleiman stared at him blankly as Mustafa carried on tending the fish. "You're gonna give up? just like that? At least honor your martyrs by staying on the path", he implored. Mustafa snapped, "Have you been listening to a word I have been saying? Everything from the word 'go' went south. Anything that could have been messed up, did. These wolves are beyond repair. It is beyond a shred of doubt that these savages are destined to die like the animals they are. They will keep raping, killing and plundering their own kin for years to come and when this batch of barbarians die out, a new one will take their place and the cycle will continue. God doesn't want them to be corrected. I should have arrived with some armory. If I weren't able to change these monsters, I would have surely reduced them".
"But you were able to change two of your students, isn't that something?", Soleiman tried to convince him.
"For a price of ten preachers? This is anything but a good deal!"
"What if something better was planned for the future? God's blessing is always nearby".
"Tell that to the corpses that surround you", Mustafa was fed up.
Soleiman was taken aback. Mustafa caught the look of surprise on his face. He added, "You didn't know? You had tripped on a corpse of a Christian missionary when I grabbed you. There are dozens of cadavers scattered around the woods. They only turn the execution of the leader of a group into a circus, the rest of the group is just killed thrown away like mine was".