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We have to interpret God's messages
George Wehbi likes to go fishing, and he's fortunate to live
in a fisherman's paradise. Though he's a Christian from the
Lebanon, George and his wife live in Senegal, where more than
90 per cent of the eight million inhabitants are Sunni Muslims
and where fishing is a national obsession.
''Senegal is famous for the richness of its halieutic resources,''
declares one guidebook, meaning that there are more than 50
species of big game fish alone and that rod-and-line competition
goes on all the year round.
But the flat, stumpy-tailed creature that ended up on George's
hook one afternoon puzzled him, and his wife agreed it shouldn't
be gutted and grilled.
Instead, he took it to the local imam, Sheikh al-Zein, who
confirmed the white markings on its grey scales did form Arabic
letters. On its side, the words 'God's servant' were clearly
formed. At its head was the name of Muhamed and at its tail,
'God's messenger'.
Readers might remember that earlier this year I wrote about
a fish-cutter named Zelmen Rosen in New York, who was terrified
when the 20lb carp on his slab began to speak and prophesy
in Hebrew.
Zelmen told a reporter from the New York Times: ''The fish
said 'Tzaruch shemirah' and 'Hasof bah', which essentially
means that everyone needs to account for themselves because
the end is near.''
I believe now, as I did then, that in a cynical and sceptical
world, signposts for the human spirit must be luminous and
unmistakable.
Subtle hints to the soul go unnoticed - if we are to sit
up and take notice, the message has to be delivered in DayGlo
capitals and bellowed through a megaphone. So if messages
on the sides of fish seem an eccentric way for God to communicate,
it is important to remember that the Higher Intelligence has
been attempting to communicate with us for thousands of years
through more conventional and low-key means, such as books.
And how much attention does humanity pay to that? In an overwhelmingly
Muslim nation such as Senegal, it is practical for God to
use a fish as an advertising hoarding for the Koran.
In New York, one of the great Jewish centres, a fish makes
an excellent loudspeaker for a Torah reading. These are not
isolated miracles.
There have been many, just as bizarre: the aubergine bought
in a Bolton greengrocery, for instance, whose seeds when it
was sliced open spelt out the words 'Ya-Allah' (God exists).
In fact, the name of Allah has appeared on eggs and eggplants,
beans and tomatoes, melons and honeycombs. The German government
fenced off farmland when thousands of pilgrims converged on
a row of trees whose trunks appeared to read, ''There is no
God but Allah''.
The most significant Islamic miracle of recent years was
the emergence of Shariff Idd, a boy born to a Swahili-speaking
Catholic family in Arusha, north Tanzania, in 1994. His first
words, at four months old, were in Arabic: ''You people repent
and you will be accepted by God.''
His parents had him exorcised, but Shariff's extraordinary
gift did not go away. At one-year-old he could recite the
Koran; at five he was touring soccer stadia in East Africa
and preaching in English, Swahili and Arabic.
On a visit to the Congo, he discovered he could understand
and speak the local Lingala tongue as easily as a native.
''When he is not preaching he is just like any other kid,''
said one of his guardians, Haji Maroulin. ''But when he preaches
he changes. For a child he has strangely adult mannerism.
He speaks confidently, mainly in Swahili unless he is delivering
a sermon.
''Then, he fixes his piercing brown eyes on the person he
is addressing without inhibition.''
In Bethlehem last month, another extraordinary child was
born. Bethelehem is used to stories of miraculous babies,
of course, and it was not coincidence that this story broke
on December 1, the beginning of the Christian Advent festival
which leads up to Christmas.
This baby was not Christian, nor Jewish; baby Ala is a Palestinian
Muslim, born in the Aida refugee camp outside the city. His
father's brother was a notorious Hamas terrorist, shot dead
by Israeli troops eight months ago.
Security forces suspected the uncle of masterminding a bomb
attack on a Jerusalem bus in November 2002 which left 12 dead.
Baby Ala was named after his uncle. What makes him remarkable
is the port wine stain on the right side of his face: extending
from his ear almost to his nostril, it forms the Arabic letters
for Ala.
His parents were convinced at once that this was a sign from
God, and called the imam, who broadcast the news from the
mosque. Reuters and CNN were soon shown to the door of the
family's shack.
At any other time of year the story might have been ignored
but, in the increasingly fundamentalist atmosphere of Christian
America, any sort of a news story with a Biblical angle is
going to get serous coverage.
I do believe that our spiritual nature, guided by the Higher
Intelligence, tries to make contact with our conscious minds
when these phenomena occur.
I understand that a port wine birthmark is caused when nerve
endings under the skin malfunction, allowing too much blood
to flow into delicate capillaries. But I also understand that
the human mind searches out messages, not medical explanations.
However God speaks to us, it is no use if we fail to interpret
rightly. I am disgusted that some radicals close to this family
are claiming that God has commemorated a terrorist by inscribing
his name on a baby.
Surely, the message is much simpler, and much harsher: there
was an Ala in this family once, and he did terrible things
and died a bitter death. Here is a chance to begin again.
Here is a chance to make things right. Do not waste this life.
Email
him at uri@urigeller.com
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