God's Little Soldier

Book excerpt: God's Little Soldier From the backstreets of Bombay to the hallowed halls ofCambridge, from the mountains of Afghanistan to a monastery inCalifornia, the story of Zia Khan is an extraordinary rollercoasterride; a compelling cliffhanger of a spiritual quest, about a goodman gone bad and the brutalization of his soul. Growing up in a well-to-do, cultured Muslim family in Bombay,Zia, a gifted young mathematician, is torn between theunquestioning certainties of his aunt's faith and the tolerant,easy-going views of his parents. At Cambridge University, his beliefs crystallize into a ferventorthodoxy, which ultimately leads him to a terrorist training campin Afghanistan. The burden of endemic violence and killings,however, takes its toll on Zia. Tormented by his need forforgiveness, he is then drawn reluctantly to Christ. But peacecontinues to elude him, and Zia is once again driven to seek outcauses to defend and fight for, whatever be the sacrificesinvolved. Posited against Zia is his brother, Amanat, a writer whose lifeis severely constrained by sickness, even as his mind is liberatedby doubt. Theirs is a relationship that is as much a blood bond asit is an opaque wall of incomprehension. Weaving together thenarratives of the extremist and the liberal, God's Little Soldierunderscores the incoherent ambiguities of good and evil, and thetragic conflicts that have riven people and nations.