There had been much talk between the others after Chaim retired for the night, but when they awoke the next morning, Chaim was gone. So were Mashallah and Gambuti.
At a humble roadside tea shop not far from the godown, the trio were sipping sweet milk coffee and eating chappatis. Although it was still quite early, the street was alive with pedestrian and motor traffic.
"The Q'uran is a tool," Chaim was saying. "It's not God. In every religion there are people who try to trap God inside a box, and holy books can become one of the biggest traps of all ."
"But the prophet (blessings be upon him), he received the words from God," pleaded Mashallah.
"Mashallah, if you have a dream and God talks to you in the dream, what language does he use?"
"Arabic, of course," said Mashallah.
"But what if he wants to talk to Gambuti? Or to me? Would he use Arabic? And if we could see him as a person, would he have white skin or black skin?"
"Well , I..." and Mashallah faltered.
"God just tells us as much as we need to know; and he says it in the language that is easiest for us to understand. He doesn't expect us to make a god out of the words he uses, or his language, or the colour of his skin. He just wants us to get the message.
"Your religious leaders, and my religious leaders became so busy trying to understand the words, that they missed the message. There's a new world coming, Mashallah, and it doesn't matter if the Mahdi has a mole on his cheek or not. It doesn't even matter if there is a Mahdi, as long as you are seeking more truth and more love every day. And if there is a Mahdi, then his job will be to help you do exactly that."
"From how they talked last night, when you were sleeping, I think they will say that you are Mahdi now," said Mashallah. "It is not what they were thinking, but... but they can change. What you say about the Q'uran is true. Gambuti, too, teaches that."
"You two must teach the others," said Chaim. "Get them to see that Muslims too must look for God in other religions and be open to change."
And then he turned to his plans for the day.
"I've taken a risk by letting them see me, but I can't go back. Today I'll watch only from a distance, without them seeing me. They're here for you to teach, not me. About this Mahdi thing... They can tell others that my name is Judah if they like, but do not give out my full name. We are not here to promote me or to promote the Mahdi. Understand?"
Mashallah agreed.
"So how's it going... apart from this Mahdi business?" he asked.
"Fine, fine. Here, and in Bangladesh, and in Indonesia, we are mostly Muslim. So our problems are about small, small Muslim differences. These are special people. They all know how to listen."
"They listen well to what I say," testified Gambuti.
While the world appeared to be growing together in religious unity under the leadership of Secretary General Xu Dangchao, most Muslims (and, indeed, people from many other religions as well) knew that their opinion mattered little in terms of how things were progressing. Dangchao, it turned out, had Jewish ancestors, and he had managed to use his immense power to quell any Muslim dissent to the building of a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. On the surface, there was much cause for celebration as the Jews anticipated the opening of the Temple in just a few days. But Chaim saw more ominous warnings behind it.
"We have only three years left to prepare," said Chaim. "And then, it'll be the worst trouble the world has ever known. These next three years are going to be teach, teach, teach. I hope you and your people understand that. While everyone else enjoys the freedom, we must prepare for the reality."
"How long can you stay?" asked Mashallah.
"Tomorrow I fly to Delhi, and by Monday, I'll be back in Sydney," Chaim responded. "It's going to get harder to travel without the mark, so we'll need to depend more on email if we are to keep in touch.
"But don't forget that it isn't me you need to stay in touch with. Just keep listening to God. Stay open to change and to one another."