The Blood of Lambs: A Former Terrorist's Memoir of Death and Redemption
352
The Blood of Lambs: A Former Terrorist's Memoir of Death and Redemption
352eBook
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Overview
As the terrible fruit of Kamal's early life in jihad screams from today's headlines, he courageously puts his life on the line to defend America, the country he now calls home.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781439159286 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Howard Books |
| Publication date: | 04/07/2009 |
| Sold by: | SIMON & SCHUSTER |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 352 |
| Sales rank: | 522,015 |
| File size: | 569 KB |
About the Author
Lynn Vincent, a US Navy veteran, is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and coauthor of eleven nonfiction books with more than sixteen million copies in print, including Indianapolis, Same of Kind of Different as Me (with Ron Hall and Denver Moore) and Heaven Is for Real (with Todd Burpo). A veteran journalist and author of more than 1,000 articles, her investigative pieces have been cited before Congress and the US Supreme Court. She lives in the mountains east of San Diego with her husband and their three Labrador retrievers.
Read an Excerpt
It was at my mother's kitchen table, surrounded by the smells of herbed olive oils and pomegranates, that I first learned of jihad. Every day, my brothers and I gathered around the low table for madrassa, our lessons in Islam. I always tried to sit facing east, toward the window above the long marble sink where a huge tree with sweet white berries brushed against the window panes. Made of a warm, reddish wood, our table sat in the middle of the kitchen and was surrounded by tesats, small rugs that kept us off the cool tile. Mother sat at the head of the table and read to us from the Koran and also from the hadith, which records the wisdom and instruction of Allah's prophet, Muhammad.
Mother's Koran had a hard black cover etched ornately in gold and scarlet. Her grandfather had given the Book to her father, who had given it her. Even as a small boy I knew my mother and father were devout Sunni Muslims. So devout, in fact, that other Sunnis held themselves a little straighter in our family's presence. My mother never went out without her hijab, only her coffee-colored eyes peering above the cloth that shielded her face, which no man outside our family had ever seen. My father, respected in our mosque, earned an honest living as a blacksmith. He had learned the trade from my grandfather, a slim Turk who wore a red fez, walked with a limp, and cherished thick, cinnamon-laced coffee.
Each day at madrassa, Mother pulled her treasured Koran from a soft bag made of ivory cloth and when she opened it, the breath of its frail, aging pages floated down the table. Mother would read to us about the glory of Islam, about the good Muslims, and about what the Jews did to us. As a four-year-old boy, my favorite parts were the stories of war.
I vividly remember the day in madrassa when we heard the story of a merciless bandit who went about robbing caravans and killing innocent travelers. "This bandit was an evil, evil man," Mother said, spinning the tale as she sketched pictures of swords for us to color.
An evil bandit? She had my attention.
"One day, there was a great battle between the Jews and the sons of Islam," she went on. "The bandit decided to join the fight for the cause of Allah. He charged in on a great, black horse, sweeping his heavy sword left and right, cutting down the infidel warriors."
My eyes grew wider. I held my breath so as not to miss a word.
"The bandit fought bravely for Allah, killing several of the enemy until the sword of an infidel pierced the bandit's heart. He tumbled from his horse and died on the battlefield."
Disappointment deflated my chest. What good is a story like that?
I could hear children outside, shouting and playing. A breeze from the Mediterranean shimmered in the berry tree. Mother's yaknah simmered on the stove -- green beans snapped fresh, cooked with olive oil, tomato, onion, and garlic. She would serve it cool that evening with pita bread, fresh mint, and cucumbers. My stomach rumbled.
"After the bandit died," Mother was saying in her storytelling voice, "his mother had a dream. In this dream, she saw her son sitting on the shore of an endless crystal river, surrounded by a multitude of women who were feeding him and tending to him."
I turned back toward Mother. Maybe this story was not so bad after all.
"The bandit's mother was an observant woman, obedient to her husband and to Allah and Muhammad," my mother said. "This woman knew her son was a robber and a murderer. 'How dare you be sitting here in paradise?' she scolded him. 'You don't belong here. You belong in hell!' But her son answered, 'I died for the glory of Allah and when I woke up, He welcomed me into jannah.' "
Paradise.
My mother swept her eyes around the kitchen table. "So you see, my sons, even the most sinful man is able to redeem himself with one drop of an infidel's blood."
The Blood of Lambs © 2009 Arise Enterprises, LLC
Reading Group Guide
1) As a young boy at his mother’s kitchen table, Kamal learned to embrace the teachings of radical Islam and hate infidels. Was there anything you learned in your childhood home that you later found to be untrue? How does knowing that some Islamists are taught their beliefs from childhood affect your view of them?
2) Throughout the book, Kamal tells of the infiltration of radical Islamists into the United States. How do these revelations affect your views of your own safety here? What, if anything, will you do differently in the light of these views?
3) When Kamal is beaten up three times on the way to work at his uncle’s business, he takes refuge in a mosque. Later, the imams of the mosque take Kamal out into the ethnic neighborhoods to avenge him. How did you feel about these scenes? Were the imams delivering justice? Why or why not?
4) What did you learn about Muslim and Lebanese culture that surprised you?
5) Over the course of Kamal’s childhood, financial pressures change his relationship with his father. How did you feel when Kamal’s father pulled him from school and sent him to work at age 7? Are there any childhood family relationships that changed the trajectory of your life?
6) At his home, during madrassa (Muslim religious school), Kamal learned of various teachings from the Koran and hadith. Which of these teachings were new to you? Which most surprised you and why?
7) Prior to reading this book, were you aware of the number of domestic terrorist attacks thwarted by U.S. authorities since 9/11? If not, what about these plots most surprised you? Were you aware of the number of homegrown jihadists operating in the U.S., as opposed to those who have immigrated from other countries? How does that affect your view of the threat of jihadist terrorism on U.S. soil?
8) How did you feel when you read the scene in which Kamal’s unit of child soldiers comes under rocket attack in the Golan Heights? How did you feel when his young friend Mohammed was killed? What have you learned from this book about jihadists’ use of child soldiers?
9) In the Fatah/PLO terror camp at Sabra, Kamal was mentored by a radical named Abu Yousef. How do you think Kamal’s life might have been different if Abu Yousef had not mentored him? Would Kamal be alive today? What does Abu Yousef’s mentorship tell us about the power of male role modeling in the life of a child?
10) During the story, Kamal is tracked to his hometown and also threatened via email by a group of radical Pakistanis. Were you aware that this type of activity is taking place in the U.S.? What are your thoughts on that?
11) What new understanding have you gained from this book about the roots and nature of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict? How has this book affected your view of whether peace is possible in this conflict?
12) During the story, Kamal travels to Libya to train terrorists from around the world in desert camps sponsored by the dictator Moammar Ghaddafi. Were you aware that such camps existed and still exist today? What are your thoughts on the existence of these “universities of terrorism?” How does it affect your thinking about Islamism to know that camps exist only to train people to kill Jews and Americans?
13) Kamal’s story reveals the link between Saudi Arabian money and Islamist terrorism. How has the book affected your view of our staunch U.S. ally?
14) We learn from Kamal’s story that “honor killing” is now taking place in the United States. Why do you think the U.S. media has placed so little emphasis on covering these crimes?
15) Were you surprised to learn that the man who made a jihadist threat to Kamal after he spoke at the U.S. Air Force Academy was released back into American streets? How does that affect your view of the First Amendment and whether jihadists are using American liberties against this country?
16) Clearly, Kamal Saleem has killed people and is now telling his story. Do you believe a man can repent of such a life and go on to do good in the world?