Night Train to Marrakech

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'May God increase your kindness,' I said, and slid open the door.

The conductor touched his chest reluctantly and thanked me. Then, just as he was about to step into the corridor, he turned back into the compartment and pointed a trembling finger at the seated couple. 'Christian!' he spat in English, his voice brimming with contempt. He slid the doors closed and we heard him make his way noisily down the corridor.

For a moment, no one spoke. I remained standing by the door, gripping the luggage rack as the train tilted through a wide turn. 'That was an odd thing to say,' I said with a laugh.

'I'm Jennifer,' the girl said. 'This is my husband, Malcolm. Thanks for helping us. Things could have gotten out of hand.'

'I don't think so,' I said. 'I'm sure he's already forgotten all about it.'

'Well, there was nothing to forget,' Malcolm said.

'Of course.'

Suddenly, Malcolm was furious. 'The truth is that man has been hovering over us ever since we boarded this train.'

'Malcolm,' Jennifer whispered, squeezing his hand. I tried to catch her eye but she would not look at me. Malcolm was shaking with anger.

'Why would he do that?' I asked.

'You heard him,' Malcolm said, his voice rising. 'Because we're Christians.'

I flinched. It was an involuntary reaction -- a mere twitch of the eyebrows -- but Jennifer caught it and said, almost in apology, 'We're missionaries. We're on our way to the Western Sahara to preach the gospel.'

All at once, I understood why the conductor had been shadowing the couple, why he was so rancorous and unforgiving about having caught them in a compromising position. For the first time since entering the compartment I noticed a small, open cardboard box perched between two knapsacks on the luggage rack. The box was filled with green, pocket-sized New Testaments in Arabic translation. There were three or four missing.

'Would you like one?' Jennifer asked. 'We're passing them out.'

Reza Aslan is the author of the new book No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam (Random House), from which this piece is adapted. Reprinted from the online magazineKillingTheBuddha.com(June 27, 2005).

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