Shiraz meets Jesus

[Part One]

Chapter 1.

[Shiraz tells the story. As we enter his flat, he is on the phone to his fiancée Adinah.]

"Adinah, for the last time, you've just got to believe me!"

"But everything I've told you is true, so help me Allah."

"Yes, I know it's difficult for you, but we are to be married later this year, so doesn't that mean anything to you any more?"

"Oh Adinah, you're breaking my heart. I love you!"

"You mean that my family have poisoned your mind?"

"But don't you think I've suffered enough already, without that?"

"But can't we just meet? What about this evening? At the Plaza?"

"But it's essential that we talk."

"I'll meet you at eight, outside the Plaza, usual place. O.K.?"

"Adinah! - - Adinah! - - - - Damn! She’s never hung up on me before.”

I’m sorry. The phone went. It’s not the best way to start explaining myself. I’m in a mess. That's putting it mildly. Just a fortnight ago the world was at my feet, but now - -.

I'd better start at the beginning. Oh, by the way, that was Adinah Shahriza on the phone. As you probably gathered we're engaged. Or at least we were engaged. Now everything's falling apart. Excuse me. I'll try to be coherent. It's very difficult for me to get my act together again. I’ll try to explain everything as best I know how.

My name is Shiraz. I come from the Moslem family of Ibrahim. The family has been in Britain since just after the last war. I was born in 1967. My father is a millionaire. Head of a large chain of business equipment suppliers. Also the patriarch of a large family, and everyone lives in luxury. Large country houses. London flats in Chelsea. Private ocean-going yacht. Stock market - you name it, he's got it. But that was yesterday for me. Now it's all changed.

Oh, excuse me - the phone's ringing again.

"Shiraz Ibrahim."

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Steve Walton - now let me see, ahm, . .I'm sorry, but I don't think we've met."

"Oh yes. My business manager. You know him? Hey, that's great! So how d'you fit in the picture?"

"Yeah, yeah. That's just about it. Some folks take a tumble, but boy, I've just hit the deck, and it hurts."

"O.K. you want to see me. But I doubt there's anything you can do to help, but it's nice of you to ask."

"Yes, well, if you think it's all that important, come round at about eight this evening. I thought I was going out, but all that's fallen through now."

"Oh sure. I really appreciate that. See you then. - - Bye."

Now where did I get to? Oh yes. My father's world. Trouble is, the higher you climb in the world of finance, the further it is to fall, and then, as I said to this guy Steve, you really get hurt.

Not that it was my fault. Nor yet my family. That's the strange thing about it. The real - underlying - basic -foundational cause of this mess is so bizarre that nobody will believe me! But after THE EVENT, pow! I was left without any choice. I wonder whether I can persuade you to believe that? My family didn't like it one bit, and that's putting it very, very mildly. Oh boy! My father! I've never seen him in such a rage.

Now let me think for a moment. When exactly was it? Last week. The beginning of the week. Yes. It must be almost ten days ago now - seems more like a century! I was up north on business. Phoned London to say it was too late to get back. Intended staying in that Motel back of the Little Chef. That was where it happened. Must have been Monday. Yes, I'm sure of it now, because the following morning I was due to chair a meeting in Dunstable, and I reasoned it was a convenient place en route.

Oh, if only I still had my London pad. It was really, really nice there. I think if I had my way I'd have stayed in London most of the time. I liked London life. So much to do. So many people to see. Shows. Films. Eating out with friends. That was the life. But now - I've changed. Oh boy, have I changed. All because of that evening in the Motel. Could that sort of thing happen to anyone else? It's crazy! And yet I can't get it out of my mind. I'm just left with it to handle all by myself. A Moslem de-moslemised and nowhere to go.

Hey! It's nearly eight o'clock. That guy will be here in a minute. I’d better just tidy the place up a bit. Papers everywhere. Mugs and bottles. I don’t suppose he'd mind, but it's not very welcoming, especially as I've never met him before. I wonder what he wants to tell me. At least he won't be one of Allah's vengeful angels.

Chapter 2.

"Won't you come in, Mr Walton. Nice of you to look me up."

"Thank you. I'm very pleased to meet you. Your business manager told me a little about your present predicament - not that he knew much, but what he did have to say made me prick up my ears."

"Yeah - - well, let me take your coat. - - - Thanks. Just go through into the lounge. Make yourself comfortable. Like a drink?"

"Not at the moment, thanks."

"O.K. a bit later perhaps. I've only got tea and coffee. We're not allowed to have alcohol in the place, you know."

"No. I realise that. I've had quite a bit to do with Moslems, in fact I spent three years working out in Saudi Arabia - have a degree in geophysics - I was connected with the "black gold" industry."

"Ah yes - there's plenty of lollie in that!"

"Yes - - but would you mind if I got straight to the point?"

"No, not at all. I'm curious as to why you've called. You said earlier that it was important."

"Yes - I believe it's very important. And if my guess is correct, you’ve become yet another in the ever-lengthening chain of Ishmael’s children to be called by God."

I jumped out of my seat at this.

"Mr Walton - what have you heard?"

"Oh, please call me Steve. It's less formal."

"O.K. Steve. I'm Shiraz. Now, what have you heard about me?"

"Coleman said that you've had some sort of hallucination which didn't go down well with your family. He also said that you seem to have been shaken up by it and it’s affected your lifestyle pretty drastically. Am I right so far?"

"Yeah - - - you're right - - - except that it wasn't hallucination. That's the really tricky part. That's the thing nobody will believe."

"Try me. I promise I'll take you seriously."

"Yeah - - - and I'm sure you mean it. But that's what my father said, until he heard the sum total of it, and then it was Richter 8, and Pow - I was out of town, and outlawed from my London property until - - until - - I came to my senses and reneged on it all."

"And have you?"

"No Steve, - - - not yet. I'm still making up my mind. Or shall I say I'm trying to. But I'm all alone in this. There's no one, literally no one to help me sort this out. Like you British guys say, I've landed between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea."

"There may be a way out. Please tell me what happened. I promise not to interrupt."

"O.K., but I'm warning you. This'll sound so bizarre that you may want to laugh before I'm through. Yeah, - - - or else you may want to ring for the shrink."

"I don't think I'll want to do either - for reasons that are best left unspoken for the moment."

"O.K. Let's relax. I'll turn the main light out. It'll help me to regain the atmosphere of that Monday evening in the Motel. - - That's better. Now I suggest we put our feet up - this'll take a bit of time, depending on whether you want the full account, or just a brief overview."

"Tell me briefly to start with. I have a reason for asking."

"O.K. then. Let's go for it."

Chapter 3

"You’ve probably learned already that I was up country that Monday night. Too late to get back to London, so I booked into a Travelodge, you know, the Motels connected with the Little Chef chain."

Steve nodded - he was obviously used to using them as well.

"I'd settled down for the evening. Had my supper over in the Little Chef, and returned to my room at 8.45. I remember the time, because I intended to watch the nine o'clock news on the Box. There was just enough time to get myself a cup of coffee and relax in the armchair. And that's when it all started. At nine o'clock."

I stopped there for a moment, but Steve never said a word.

"Steve - - I - never - saw - the - nine o'clock - news. D'you believe me?"

Steve nodded, but said nothing.

"As soon as the news started, it faded, and something else came on in its place. . . . . . . . . . Now, I've been thinking this over very carefully ever since, because if the BBC was responsible for changing the programme, they had all the facilities for doing so, but if others had seen what came on the screen, I'm sure the daily papers on Tuesday would have been full of it, but I checked the following morning, and there was nothing unusual. That's what made me realise my experience was individual. Something, or someone, homed in on me, and me alone, and somehow changed the programme."

I sat looking up at the ceiling in the subdued light, trying to remember the sensations of that night. Steve was quite relaxed. He never said a word. Just waited for me to continue.

"At first I imagined the TV had somehow changed channels, so I got up and checked. But no, the little red indicator light was showing next to channel one. So I went back to my seat and watched to see what would happen. It was like a film to begin with. I was alert, waiting to see what was going to happen.

"There was no sound. It was eerie in a way. No background music. Not a sound. Just a nighttime scene. I remember noticing that it was full moon, and as the moon was almost overhead, the time must have been around midnight in the scene before me. The camera took me over to where there were some very old trees. I saw the gnarled trunks. Great thick trunks. Their girth must have been all of fifteen feet I should think.

"And as we zoomed up I could see three men in eastern dress, asleep under one of these trees. Then the camera panned round a bit to where another man was kneeling on the grass under a tree. His hands were out in front of him, and his forehead was on the ground. It reminded me of the prayer position taken by countless Moslems several times each day. And I heard him groaning deeply, as though he were in deep distress, not prayer. . . . . Perhaps both. I don't know. Also, I saw a young man’s head peering out from behind a tree, quite near to where this man was praying. He had a white sheet over his shoulders. He was watching and listening intently.”

"Then the camera took me back to the three men, who were being awakened by the fourth. It was then that I heard him speak, and although the words were in a different tongue to mine, the strange part was that I found myself able to understand what he said. 'Could you not watch with me for one hour?'"

I watched Steve's reaction. He sat up, showing intense interest. I wondered why. Had he seen this film as well? But I knew it was best not to interrupt the flow, and so I continued.

"Look, you wanted an overview, and I seem to have started giving you a precise and detailed review of the film. Let me cut this short now by saying that this fourth man was soon to be accosted by a band of soldiers and taken away. I saw them arrest him without much of a struggle. And they went down into a valley and up the other side, entering the walls of a city, which later I realised must have been Jerusalem.

"The camera then showed me a large court room, at least, I assumed it must be that because of what took place there. It was a travesty of a trial really. All prosecution. No defence. Bitterness, hatred, you should have seen the way they treated him. But he said hardly anything in his defence.

"I'm leaving a lot out Steve. I'm only giving you the barest outline of what I saw. The whole thing took hours. When it was finally over, it was getting light outside, and I realised it was morning. I'd been sitting there ALL NIGHT watching this film."

Steve sat up again, bolt upright, and said "What!!" But then flopped back into the chair, saying "I'm sorry. Please go on."

"Yes, it takes a lot to believe, doesn't it? Everybody knows that there are no films that go on all through the night. Especially BBC 1. But I'm telling you the truth, Steve, I can only recall what I actually saw, and if you think it necessary, I can fill you in with every little detail in due course. But for now, I'll skim over the story as quickly as possible. You're from a Christian country, so you'll already realise what the film was all about. And yes, I saw the sequence where Yeshua was taken before Pilate, and then Herod, and back to Pilate, and finally they nailed him to a stake.

"Steve, it was all so distressing. I'm not a man given to tears, but this really hit me like a ton of bricks. The absolute injustice of it all. And the look on that man's face. I shall never forget that. The camera zoomed up many times to show me his face at different times during the whole long tragic course of events.

"And d'you know what? When he was hanging there, he actually prayed to Allah, asking him to forgive them for what they'd done! But I heard him call out loud, saying 'Allah, Allah, why have you deserted me?' It was terrifying. Then it grew dark. Strangely dark. Not a natural darkness because it was mid-day, but nevertheless almost completely dark. But I could still vaguely see what was happening.

"Finally he died, and the sun's light returned. He was removed from the stake, and buried, and I thought this must be the end of the film. I knew from my history lessons that Yeshua had been crucified. Every Moslem knows that. The Koran speaks of him as a prophet sent from Allah. But - it - was - not - the - end. The film went on. I saw a rock tomb where they laid him, and the great circular slab of stone, reminiscent of a mill-wheel, was rolled over the entrance in a slot, purpose-made to receive it. And then the film seemed to register a time lag. Perhaps it was a couple of days. I couldn't tell exactly. But as it was getting light, early one morning, I saw an earthquake, and two angels appeared. One of them rolled the stone back. The other went into the tomb, and straightway he re-emerged, accompanied by Yeshua, ALIVE! Would you believe it Steve. He was alive!

"And just as the light grew in the film, so the light began to grow outside the windows of my room, and I remember turning round to see, and when I looked back the TV was showing the BBC morning programmes, as normal. One more thing. During the night I was there. It was not like a film all the time. I was actually there. Can you believe that Steve?"

"Yes Shiraz. I can believe it, even if that surprises you."

Chapter 4

"Before I make any comment, d'you think I might have that cup of tea you promised earlier."

"Oh sure. . . . . . I'll get it now."

I went through into the kitchen, and returned with the tea, and we sat silently for a few minutes before Steve opened up to me.

"I am very privileged, Shiraz."

"How come? I'm not with you."

"Privileged to have heard your story, even if it was a very brief summary of what happened."

"You mean it?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then you are the only one to have said that to me. Everyone else has either blown their top, or treated it as a bit of a joke. I've not been able to share the experience on the basis of credibility. Even Adinah, my fiancée, can't take it. But then she's scared. I'm sure of that. You see, amongst us Moslems, there are principles that are very exacting. Very hard. In the ultimate, it becomes Jihad - a holy war, . . . . justified by Allah of course! That's what she's frightened of. She wants to save her skin, and I don't blame her. But it's very hard to take, Steve. Very hard. I feel badly used by people, and it's none of my fault."

"Believing that Jesus, Yeshua as you call him, is God himself has always had a price tag attached."

"Yes - - NO! - - Hey, what are you saying? Did I hear you correctly? GOD? Yeshua is GOD?"

"Yes, that’s exactly what I am saying, and the Old Testament writings confirmed it long before he was born."

"Oh man! - - You mean there's more to this than even I have realised?"

"Yeshua is the Lord. He gave you the night-long film that you watched. And he's calling you, Shiraz."

"So help me, Allah. - - But I don't understand. When Yeshua was on the stake he called out to Allah. I heard him. How can he be Allah?"

"It troubles many people, because they cannot understand the complexity of the Godhead. God has presented himself to mankind as Father and Son, and yet he is one God. I cannot understand that, Shiraz. It is beyond my comprehension. But I can BELIEVE it, because Jesus said that he and his Father are one."

"Say, have you ever been to Jerusalem?"

"Yes, I joined one of those special package deals a few years ago, you know, where they take you to all the holy sites."

"Did you get to see the Moslem shrine - the one they call the Dome of the Rock?"

"I saw it from a distance. It was considered unsafe to get too close."

"Yeah, that's true. - - I've been there. Been inside. - - But it's the writing at the entrance that I'm thinking of just now. I can't remember the exact words, but it's something like - 'Don't say that Allah had a son. God is one.' That is standard Islamic belief."

"And the Jews found it equally impossible to accept, didn't they?"

"They went mad Steve. I saw it. That chief priest literally tore his garments when Yeshua declared himself to be the Son of God. THAT was the final straw. They had him pinned. After that it was just a matter of getting through all the red tape to obtain the execution of the criminal."

"Many Jews are still mad with rage at the mention of his name."

"Islam likewise - but with certain differences. Islamic moral fervour can be very hard, Steve. Relentless I would say. Being brought up in Britain, and living amongst your people has probably given me a softer outlook on life than many of my people back in Saudi Arabia. So I find the blood lust repulsive. Much as I think Salman Rushdie was a fool for publishing those Satanic verses, the way they mercilessly hunt him to the death is sheer evil. D'you know Steve, a few years ago there was a young Arabic woman living in Paris who fell in love with a Frenchman. But her two brothers were thorough-going Islamics, and so they murdered their sister, so that she couldn't defile herself in an improper marriage. What sort of inhumanity allows that?"

"I find it almost impossible to understand. But what a contrast with the character of Yeshua, as you saw him, in his last hours on earth."

"I have never witnessed manliness and sheer selflessness in the degree he showed. And his endurance under suffering and torture was beyond belief. D'you know Steve, there was a Roman centurion standing guard at the scene of the crucifixion. He had several other soldiers with him. And at the time when Yeshua died, this man declared to his fellow soldiers that he believed Yeshua to be the Son of God. Just think of it! Think of the mockery he was going to endure afterwards. I saw it on the faces of some of the soldiers, and knew that he was heading for trouble."

"And you likewise, Shiraz."

"You can say that again. - - I can't get his face out of my mind. Wherever I go, I keep seeing it. His eyes bore into my very skull - the eyes of great moral and spiritual strength, and yet of great compassion. Those eyes must have been able, by their steady gaze, to wither any opposition. People were frightened of him, Steve. I can vouch for that. I saw their reactions, even the soldiers who came to arrest him. They fell back as if they'd impacted the power lines."

"So what does this all mean to you Shiraz? Has it changed your life?"

"It's difficult to describe. - - Ever since that Monday night I’ve carried around in my visual memory things that cry out for attention. I can't ignore it. I can't just walk away from the experience and shrug my shoulders. I can't do that, Steve. That face haunts me. It's almost as though he keeps calling me, beckoning me out of His past. I don't know where to go or what to do. There was something so dynamic, so magnetically attractive about his personality, that it's virtually impossible for me to ignore him. What am I to do?"

"Stop thinking that he's calling you out of the past."

"But the film, the vision, whatever it was, was a replay of events that occurred nearly two thousand years ago."

"But eternally present."

"Come again? - - You're speaking in riddles."

"The events may have happened two thousand years ago, but who visited you on that Monday night? Who gave you the replay?"

"POW! - - - Now you've hit the nerve centre! That’s the missing piece in the jigsaw. I'd not thought of that before. - - But you're right. Who gave me the experience? And for why?"

"A simple child-like answer would be, Yeshua himself."

"But why, Steve? What could he possibly want of me? I'm not a Jew. I'm not a Christian. I don't belong to his people at all. In fact the Moslems are rabidly against him when he claims divinity. Why should he lavish nearly nine hours of his time on me?"

"Because he created you. You belong to him by the right of creation. And in the film he showed you that you belong to him by the right of redemption."

"You're going too fast Steve. Creation - - yes, I can see that Allah created everyone. O.K. I'd overlooked that point. But it still doesn't add up. Look, there are in excess of five billion other human beings on this planet. So why me?"

"I can't answer that question. God has his own purposes, and he doesn't need to explain them to us. But wasn't it a privilege?"

"Yeah, - - makes you feel like the guy who's just been left a fortune he never expected from the will of some long-lost uncle"

"He loves you, Shiraz."

"O boy! You sure know how to hit below the belt. Look, I'm supposed to be a man of the world. You know, tough, hard-hitting, great business acumen. But shall I tell you something? You'll find it difficult to believe. After seeing that film, I cried. - - I mean it! I cried. And it came as great sobs from deep within me. The tears welled up from the pit of my stomach, I was so deeply affected."

"Shiraz, what was the focus of that deep feeling?"

"Yeshua himself. O.K. the film was The Epic of all Epic films. I've watched Ben Hur and The Ten Commandments and they were great films. I appreciated the story-line, and there was some great acting. But what I saw that Monday was different. I was being allowed to see deeply into the character of just one man. Everything else was incidental. He dominated the film from beginning to end, and yet never obtrusively. I couldn't keep my eyes off him. My mind registered everything else that was going on, but only as a backcloth to him as the main character."

"And He was the source of your tears?"

"Truly he was. - - I’m convinced no other man has ever lived with his strength of character. He was the man of all men. No one has ever come anywhere near to his achievement. And yet, in spite of that, they had to kill him. Why? For heaven's sake, why?"

"There was no other way. The evil of evil men drives them to do what is necessary for their own ultimate salvation. They are blind to it but operate under a God-given principle."

"Hey! You’re a deep one. Where did you get all this understanding? You seem to have an air about you that reminds me of him. Almost as though you had been under his tuition. Like that servant girl said to Peter in the courtyard, 'Your speech betrays you.'"

"Maybe that's true, but let's not talk about me. I said a while back that the second reason why Yeshua gave you this experience is that he has rights over you by redemption. Do you understand what that means?"

"Sounds a bit like a pawnbroker's shop to me."

"Right! It's exactly that. When a person is down and out, lost all his money, he takes something of value to the pawnshop. In exchange he is given some money. But to get the article back a price has to be paid, called the redemption."

"O.K., I understand all that, even though I've never been in that position, thanks to Allah. But what's the connection?"

"We are all in the pawn shop, Shiraz. Yeshua's death was the redemption price. Once we have our eyes opened to understand that, we are free! The price has been paid for our redemption, the redemption from our own sin, even the High Priest who put Yeshua to death."

"Yeah - - you remember me saying? That's what he said before he died. "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing.""

"Exactly. They didn't know what they were doing. But the very evil of their natures was being redeemed by their own hands in the execution."

"So - - how does this apply to me?"

"Yeshua's visit that Monday was to demonstrate that he had bought you back. He made a personal appearance to declare his love for you."

"Why doesn't he do it for everyone then? Why just me?"

"Suppose he does, and you don't know about it."

"But if others had seen the film, they would have responded more positively to my tale. But so far it seems I've been singled out."

"Maybe not in this life, but suppose that film is seen by people after they've died. Who knows?"

"POW! Even if you can't answer all my questions, you've certainly got some strong thoughts going. But I still can't see why he gave this film to me. I can see what you said about the Chief Priest. I registered that from the film. And you're saying that Caiaphas never realised what he'd done in his life, but after his death, Yeshua might have revealed to him what it was all about?"

"It's a thought, based on what Yeshua said as he was dying."

"O.K. then. But so far as I'm aware, I've never had any ill feelings towards Yeshua. He hadn't crossed my horizon until that Monday evening. I know that Moslems discard him, other than as a prophet, but to me he was wholly incidental to my life. So why do I need redemption?"

"Have you ever been aware of doing any dirty deeds in your business life?"

"Hey now! That's a loaded question! What business man is there who at one time or another hasn't clinched a deal to his own advantage and the other guy's disadvantage?"

"Exactly. But how do you feel about such practices now?"

"It's just business Steve. It's the way businessmen operate. Is it wrong?"

"Let's take a hypothetical case. Suppose you pull off a deal from another chap, and he finds himself greatly inconvenienced afterwards, so much so that he eventually has to sell up his home to pay off his debts. How would you feel about that?"

"Tough. In the business world you need to have a hard nose, and keep your wits about you, otherwise that sort of thing can happen to you. It would probably have been his own fault through not being sufficiently sensitive to market trends etc."

"Do you really think that? Is that the way you tick?"

"That's the way I used to be, Steve, but since the film I've begun to feel differently."

"Tell me more."

"Well, there was this guy who tried to sell us some dud equipment, you know, out of date stock that was being advertised as the most recent up-market stuff. I spotted what he was up to straight away, and thought I'd play a game with him. So I declined his offer, saying that we had no need of the stuff at present, but gave him the names of five other companies who trade in business equipment. I suggested he went to them. But what I didn't tell him was that I'd contact each of the companies and warn them of his little game. He fell for it. Went to each company, and was exposed each time. Eventually he went bankrupt. Lost everything. We laughed. Thought it was great fun. That was six months ago."

"But since then - ?"

"Yeah, since then I've seen the film, and I began to feel sorry for that guy. Don't ask me to explain why. It just came over me. You see, I happen to know that he lost his home and his goods, and even his car. The bankruptcy court took everything. He and his wife and two children now live in a council house, and he's on Income Support."

"What was the outcome for you?"

"I did something to help him."