Skeleton 03 - The Constantine Codex by Paul L Maier Page B

crucial. Osman was half a head shorter than Jon but likely weighed more. The man had a bald pate that somehow failed to detract from his appearance. He made no attempt to cover it by combing long remaining strands of thinning hair across his bare dome, as happened so often, but kept his remaining dark thatch well trimmed along the sides. His velvet brown eyes always seemed to have a playful quality, and his classes at Harvard were packed, thanks to his excellent communication skills.
    Since al-Rashid had supplied his e-mail address in the letter of invitation and had even suggested that they use the electronic medium to facilitate arrangements, Jon opened the meeting by reading the e-mail he proposed to send to Cairo:
     
“Dear Dr. al-Rashid:
Thank you for the honor of your invitation to debate the topic ‘Christianity or Islam—Which Is More Credible?’ I am pleased to accept. Perhaps we might first decide issues of time and place for the debate, then draw up mutually agreeable guidelines for our discussion.
I would also like to thank you for the remarkable address you delivered at the commencement of al-Azhar University this past June, not only because you were kind enough to give me favorable mention, but also in view of your splendid championing of academic freedom in the cause of truth. Yours is a most welcome voice in the Muslim world.”
    “Well, my colleagues, what do you think?” Jon asked.
    Heads nodded in approval, until al-Ghazali commented, “What do you want to send there, Jon, a love letter? This man wants to trounce you in a debate!”
    Jon was taken aback. “Are you serious, Osman?”
    “No, I guess not,” he said, smiling. “I’m just a little ticked that he went public before reaching you.”
    “He claims it was someone else’s error. That sort of thing can happen, Osman, right—the ‘error’ bit?”
    Al-Ghazali threw his arms up and chuckled. “ Touché ! I plead guilty!”
    “Okay, then. Marylou, please send this to Cairo. The e-mail address is on al-Rashid’s letterhead.”
    “Done.”
    Jon turned to al-Ghazali again. “Now, please tell us, Osman, why in the world would al-Rashid issue this debate challenge? We all thought he was progressive, a Muslim moderate who was anything but doctrinaire.”
    “Simply because that’s exactly what al-Rashid is.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I heard from my contacts in Cairo that he got a tremendous amount of flak after that address you raved about—and it was worth raving about, believe me! But some archconservative mullahs started scheming to have him replaced. He learned of it, and in a steamy faculty meeting, he announced, ‘It is easily possible to be faithful both to Islam and the cause of academic freedom!’
    “That led to more hot debate, until one of their reactionaries, who inclines a bit to the right of Genghis Khan, yelled out, ‘Prove it, then! Prove that you are indeed faithful to Islam by taking on that Christian professor from Harvard in debate!’”
    “But why me , for goodness’ sake?”
    “Glad you asked,” Osman said with a twinkle. “Whether or not you know it, Jon, you are big in the Arab world, big —thanks to that innocent mistake in the Arabic edition that seems to have catapulted you into stardom!”
    “Can’t be.”
    “Remember those Christian versus Muslim discussions you had Marylou ask me to monitor after you spoke to her from Meteora?”
    “Yes.”
    “Well, they’re starting also in the Muslim world. Not Christian-Muslim debates so much as Muslim-Muslim discussions on some of the issues you raised in your book. Al-Rashid simply had to put his money where his mouth was.”
    Marylou was staring at her laptop when she suddenly raised her hand. “Sorry to interrupt you all, but a return e-mail has just arrived from Cairo.”
    “Please plug your laptop into the projector so we can all read it at the same time, Marylou.”
    When the screen at the far end of the conference table lowered from the