CHAPTER 69
Harvath reached for a box of matches from the study’s mantelpiece. It was going to be a cold night. If he didn’t start a fire now, the room would never get warm. It was both a drawback and part of the charm of living in such a historic structure.
Once the fire was going, Harvath took a seat near the desk where the professor was working, picked up the puzzle box, and asked, “Now that you have decoded some of Jefferson’s notes, how does al-Jazari fit into all of this?”
Nichols scanned several pages on the desk until he found the one he was looking for. “Al-Jazari’s work was well known throughout the Islamic world and his inventions were highly coveted. Like da Vinci, al-Jazari relied on patronage as well as commissions for his livelihood.
“Also like da Vinci, al-Jazari was a dedicated man of science. Even as early as the twelfth century, Muslim scientists and academics were aware of multiple errors throughout the Koran such as Mohammed’s incorrect explanations of the workings of the human body, the earth, the stars, and the planets, which he had communicated as being the true words of God. There were also the satanic verses.”
Harvath knew all too well about the satanic verses. Desperate to make peace with his family’s tribe, the Quraysh, Mohammed claimed that it was legitimate for Muslims to pray before the Quraysh’s three pagan goddesses as intercessors before Allah.
But when Mohammed realized what he had done and how he had compromised his monotheism to get his family’s tribe to join him, he took it all back and claimed the devil had put the words in his mouth. The abrupt about-face acted like gasoline being poured on a smoldering fire with the Quraysh and remained a fascinating retraction, which many throughout history, Salman Rushdie included, have found quite notable.
“There is belief that, like da Vinci,” continued Nichols, “al-Jazari was skeptical of the infallibility of the faith that dominated the society in which he lived.
“Supposedly, when al-Jazari first learned the story of Mohammed’s final revelation and its exclusion from the Koran, he became obsessed with finding it.”
“And did he?” asked Harvath.
Nichols took a breath. “According to what Thomas Jefferson uncovered, yes, he did.”
Harvath waited for the professor to continue.
“Al-Jazari’s notoriety and not insignificant celebrity provided him access to anyone and everyone throughout the Muslim world. He traveled far and wide and met with Muslim heads of state as well as their ministers, scientists, and court officials, as well as merchants, pirates, traders, and numerous scholars.
“By al-Jazari’s time, Mohammed’s final revelation was thought by many who knew the tale to be no more than a myth; more fiction than fact. If such a thing truly existed, why hadn’t it been brought to light?
“Al-Jazari supposed that if Mohammed had indeed had a final revelation that got him assassinated, then there still could have been forces in the Muslim world that would kill to keep it quiet. If these same forces got their hands on it, the revelation would undoubtedly be destroyed.
“So al-Jazari went looking among the people most likely to know about the revelation and where it might be hidden-the scientists and scholars of his day. The more he probed, the more he believed the secret was being kept alive somewhere.
“It took him many years, many journeys, and many intrigues but al-Jazari finally located it-the original copy of Mohammed’s final revelation as dictated to his chief secretary and sealed by the prophet himself shortly before he died.”
“Where did he find it?” asked Harvath.
Nichols shook his head. “I haven’t decoded that part of Jefferson’s notes yet. What I have decoded, however, says that al-Jazari was so impacted by what he read that he was moved to make sure the revelation was preserved and passed on to those who thirsted for the truth.
“The Islamic tradition is pretty well known for the penalty it imposes on those who blaspheme Islam or apostasize themselves from the faith.”
“Death,” replied Harvath.
“Exactly. There are many lay people and scholars alike, both within and without the Muslim community, who feel that the pure, orthodox Islam of the fundamentalists could never survive outside the context of its seventh- century Arabian origins. Apply twenty-first-century science, logic, or humanistic reasoning to it and it falls apart.
“They believe this is why Islam has always relied so heavily on the threat of death. Question Islam, malign Islam, or leave Islam and you will be killed. It is a totalitarian modus operandi that silences all dissent and examination, thereby protecting the faith from ever having to defend itself.
“It’s no wonder that those who knew about Mohammed’s final revelation were so careful not to reveal it.”
“But al-Jazari did,” said Harvath, “right?”
“Yes,” said the professor. “Even if it might not ever be widely disseminated, al-Jazari wanted to make sure that those Muslims who sought the truth about their religion and its patriarch would always be able to find it; even if they had to work hard to do it.”
“I’m guessing that Jefferson had to work hard at it too.”
“According to his journals,” replied Nichols, “the task was extremely difficult. He did, though, have one of the best resources in the world at his disposal: the United States Marine Corps.”
“
“Precisely,” replied Nichols. “In his diary, Jefferson recounted how in 1805 he sent Army officer William Eaton along with a contingent of Marines under Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon to attack Tripoli and depose the pasha, who had declared war on the United States. It was America’s first battle to take place on foreign soil.
“Eaton recruited the pasha of Tripoli’s brother, Hamet, the rightful heir to the Tripolitanian throne who was in exile in Egypt, to aid in a little eighteenth-century regime change. Their target was the wealthy and highly fortified port city of Derna.
“After an hour of heavy bombardment from the USS
“Many of Derna’s Muslim soldiers were terrified of the Marines and quickly retreated, leaving their cannons and rifles unfired.
“Through the chaos and pandemonium in the streets, a small unit of Marines split off from their colleagues on a top secret assignment from President Jefferson. Their job was to infiltrate the governor’s palace. There was a small snag, though.
“Over the objection of Lieutenant O’Bannon, Hamet and his Arab mercenaries had identified the governor’s palace as their second objective after securing the road to Tripoli.
“O’Bannon’s contingent of Marines was told they had to get in and get out before Hamet and his men arrived. Their primary objective was to recover a very important item for the president.”
“Let me guess,” said Harvath. “This very important item had something to do with al-Jazari.”
Nichols nodded. “The Marines fought run-and-gun, as well as hand-to-hand, battles all the way to the governor’s palace. Like their fellow Marines fighting at the harbor, their bravery was unparalleled and would set the standard for every Marine action from then on.
“Within an hour and fifteen minutes of the initial ground assault, Lieutenant O’Bannon raised the American flag over the harbor fortress. It was the first time the stars and stripes had ever been flown over battlements outside of the Atlantic. Shortly thereafter, O’Bannon’s covert Marine unit returned, having successfully completed their assignment.
“After holding the city and repelling a counterattack, Eaton wanted to press farther into Tripoli, but Jefferson held him back, preferring instead to conclude a peace treaty and secure the release of all Americans being held in Tripoli, in particular the crew of the USS
