hand which read: "Sister Isabella, I have to talk to you on some
important things, so be kind to takethe trouble of coming here at
once. The matter is very important. You should not delay at all. Just
now I am waiting foryou anxiously in another house. Please come
alongwith this maidservant. Your sister, Mirano."
Isabella immediately got up to follow the maidservant while suspecting
that the letter was not from Mirano, butwas a secret conspiracy of the
priests. She followed the maidservanton the road which, rounding from
the Palaceof Martyrs, went straight to Rabat Ramani. At somedistance
the maidservant turned to a lane and entered a grand house and as soon
as she entered all the doors were closed and unsuspecting Isabella was
taken to another room whose doors were also closed and Isabella was
taken to another room whose doors were also immediately closed. Here
Isabella suspected that she probably had been taken prisoner. Then two
or three monkspushed Isabella to the stairs leading to the underground
room. Isabella was perturbed and she realised that she was in the grip
of the Inquisition. When she puther feet on the stair a monk gave a
hard blow on the back of the poor, delicate girl, and said. O accursed
one! why do you not go ahead? See that the fire of Lord JesusChrist's
anger is ready to burn you up. Unlucky girl! you have defamed
Christianity and dragged the honour of your father, the head priest,
into the mire.
Poor Isabella was silent. Shivering and suffering blows on her back
she got down to the underground chamber where human skeletons were
lying here and there in all corners and human craniums were hanging on
the walls. Going inside the monk lighted a lamp and said to Isabella:
Now you haveto live here so that you may know the consequences of
hostility to Lord Jesus Christ. Unluckily girl (pointing tothe
skeletons), these have been deputed to chastise you.
Isabella kept silence and felt as if she was in a dream. In the
meantime all the monks went out ofthe cell after locking it and
engaged themselves in prayer and devotion inother rooms. After some
time Isabella came to her senses and soon realised that she was put to
the tortures of being shut up in this chamber of ghosts because of her
acceptance of truth.
The day passed somehowand darkness of the nightenveloped the world.
After eighth part of the night Isabella was taken out of the chamber
and was given some parched and ground grain with water to drink. The
monks even now continued to snub her. Then Isabella was taken to
different rooms of the house where monks were engaged in various
devotional exer-cises. The object of this round was to frighten
Isabella by the austerities of monks which might appeal to her
conscience.Isabella watched all this with great interest. One person
was lying bound up in chains and another person was striking him with
a lash. Isabella was terrified at this sight and thought that probably
hewas also a guilty one like herself. She soon found that it was a
method of subduing the self, and self-torture was voluntarily taken up
by monks. In the large room of the house there was an idol of Virgin
Mary, around which monks andnuns were sitting in meditation. Some
monks were lying along the wallwith faces downward and some were
sobbing in a corner ; for subduingthe self they had not taken food for
the last twenty or twenty-one days. Isabella was aware of these things
but had not yet actually witnessed these scenes with her own eyes.
An elderly monk said to Isabella: O abandoned girl, if you want to
gain salvation, practise such austerities and by these achieve the
pleasure of Lord Jesus Christ.
Isabella laughed at it andsaid : Why does God needsuch austerities ?
The purpose of religion is that one should perform the duties which a
man has towards other men and serve men, not that he should hang
himself in a corner like abat. Further, when, accordingto you, Jesus
has atoned for all Christians, then such austerities are useless.
On this the monk's eyes became red with anger, and he struck a fist on
the chest of Isabella with full force saying : Hellish girl, you can
never be reformed. Go away, sit at your place. You will get your full
treatment there.
So the monk again opened the door of the underground chamber and
forced poor Isabella inside.
Isabella sat in a corner of the chamber where tons of human bones were
scattered and human skeletons all around were creating an awesome
spectacle. In the beginning Isabella's mind was somewhat perturbed but
soon her senses revived and she was able to think about her past and
future affairs. In this fearful andsilent house of the dead if there
was a slightest sound Isabella looked around perturbed and worried,
but soon she brought herself up and began to recite prayers. At last
the night ended and in this dark and closed chamber some rays of light
entered through some holes. After some time the door of the chamber
was opened and a monk brought her out in the large hall of the house
here twelve idols of the Disciples of Christ and other martyrs were
stalled. Isabella was taken where two very famous priests were
sitting, Isabella sat beforethem. At first a great dealof anger and
fire was demonstrated and then preaching began.
They said : Have you become a Muslim ? Isabella: Thank Allah, Who gave
me the great boon of Islam .
Priest: Leave out the praise of Islam. Just tell me if you want to die
an obnoxious death, or do you want to become again worthy of God's
grace?
Isabella: After accepting Islam any person becomes worthy of God's
grace and no one is morefortunate than the one who is given the luck
to accept Islam as this religion alone is the source of God's pleasure
and love.
Priest: Do not praise before me a bloody religion like Islam. I just
want a reply in two words, whether you like to die or to live a
Christian. Reply at once for your fate is to be decided today.
Isabella: What tribulations Christian martyrs had not suffered in the
very beginning, but did they renounce the truth? They were burnt
alive, thrown before tigers and lions, cut into two by saw and yet
they held on to the truth.
If for the sake of truth anyone has to meet death, it will be the
means of having God's pleasure and satisfaction of his conscience.
Since I am on the right, nothing on earth, even death, canmake me
deviate from it. The Holy Quran has taught me that "My prayer and my
sacrifice and my life and my deathare surely for Allah, the Lord of
the worlds—no associate has He."* I havebeen enjoined to remain firm
on it, and I am among those devotees.
Priest: That is, you do not want to give up Islam and enter into the
grace of Lord Jesus Christ, Well, then your fate will be decided
today.
Isabella: Whatever decision you like you may make about me withyour
heart's content. The utmost you can do is to take my life, but you do
not know that the Being to Whom I am related is Allah, Who lives for
ever.
Priest: When death will confront you, you will forget all these verses
of the Quran and Allah, etc. We shall see if the Quran or Prophet
Muhammad saves you from death.
Isabella: The same problem was put by the Jews before Jesus Christ
that if he was on the right, he should come down from the scaffold and
save his life. Now either (Allah forbid!) Christ was wrong that,
according to you, he could not save himself from death, or you are in
the footsteps of Jews.
Priest: O devil, hellish, evil-minded, worthless, unlucky! You call me
a Jew! Now keep quite andwait for your end.
Isabella: It will be better if you also keep quiet and leave me alone
and do yourself whatever youplease.
Priest (to monks): Lock upthis girl in the underground chamber, do not
give her any food or drink. Holy Father (Isabella's father) has
ordered that she should be given over to the Inquisition and her fate
will be decided tomorrow.
On this the monks caughthold of Isabella forcefullypushing and beating
her,and carried her out of the room. Outside the room the beating was
harder and numerous. Isabella fell and got up. At last she was thrown
in the underground chamber and locked up.
Now three days had passed in this confinement and Isabellawas not even
once taken out. But she was so happy and complacent asif angels of
firmness and stability were deputed for her. In the solitude of the
night human skeletons made the atmosphere quite fearsome, while monks
and nuns were engaged in austerities ; their weeping and cries reached
Isabella's ears.
In the meantime Isabella's friends (Mirano, Mertha and Hanana) had
also learnt that Isabella had been fraudulently called and thrown into
the underground chamber of a monastery and was being subjected to
great tortures. Then they consulted together and decided to inform
Umar Lahmi and Ziad b. Umar. One night they went to the assembly of
Ziad b. Umar and narrated the whole episode which greatly excited the
Muslims who were present there.
One person: By Allah, if we continue to remain sotolerant Christians
will put great obstruction in the propagation of Islam.Isabella is now
our sister in Islam and it is the duty of every Muslim to release her
from the grip of Christians at whatever cost.
Another person (drawinghis sword): By your permission I can go at once
and release Isabella.It is a pity that while our sister is under such
tortures we sit silent even now which is a great injustice.
Umar Lahmi: Brothers, excitement and outburstswill not do. The case is
now before Hazrat Ziad b. Umar and we shall do whatever he orders.
All (to Ziad b. Umar): Well,sir, whatever you order we are ready to
carry it out.
Ziad b. Umar : My advice to you is that you should not show any
excitement as it will cause the death of poor Isabella. If we like we
can get her released by sending a contingent of our army, but it is
expedient to takea strategic action. If Isabella is in trouble it will
InshaAllah (God willing) strengthen her faith and the fact is that the
worth of Islam is realised in the taste of tribulations.
Umar Lahmi (to Mirano, Mertha and Hanana): Now say what is your
opinion and how far you can help our sister Isabella.
Mirano: If we are allowedand the matter is left to us we can easily
relieve Isabella from the trouble.
Umar Lahmi: Thank you very much.
Ziad b. Umar: You have our permission to do whatever you can in
yourown way to get Isabella released.
The three girls, making firm promises, sought permission to depart.
They left and went to their respective homes. The plan of releasing
Isabella remained under discussion all the way.
Isabella – A girl of Islamic Spain
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And Allah Knows the Best!
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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA
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