"Liberty" from The Messiah of Darfur

The forefathers of Ibrahim Khidir were descendants of a slave called Bakheet, the father of a female slave named Bakheeta, who later became known among slaves and masters alike by the nickname "Bakheeta the soot". It was not important if they had real names. It was sufficient to know their selling price. The grandfather was sold for 55 Sultanate Riyals, substantially higher than the others, thanks to smallpox traces on his face, which meant that he became immune to that disease which had cost merchants severely last year. She was offered free of charge to the merchant who bought her father because she was quite young and needed someone to take care of her. No merchant could have bought her, for she was a sure loss, and were it not for a temporary mercy that invaded the heart of the slave trader he would have dumped her to the wolves that always followed the slave caravans to feast on slaves who died or sustained incurable injuries.

Father Bakheet—we will call him Bakheet because his true name remained unknown until his death—was carrying his newborn daughter to his tribal god who lived in a nearby mountain to bless her, when he was caught by slave hunters. Bakheet, however, blamed only himself for that because he had committed three grave mistakes. First, he did not go in a group armed with spears and arrows, as was the common practice, particularly during the period from the end of the rainy season up to the beginning of the next one, when the threat of slave hunters was at its peak. Second, Bakheet forgot to carry along his amulet that always protected him against bullets and stabs; otherwise, the slave traders' guns and spears would not have frightened him. The third mistake, the gravest, was that Bakheet had renounced his tribal god and associated himself with a group that worshipped a different god. This new religion banned worshipping personal gods, drinking alcohol, and wearing amulets, and made it compulsory upon worshippers to observe prayers and fasting. However, in the face of insistence by his parents and his wife, he reluctantly went to his tribe's god who decided to punish him by making him suffer under the hands of individuals who shared his new religion, worshipped the same god, prayed the same way he was taught to pray, and didn't believe in his tribal god.

The father and his daughter were taken to the Daim market. He was immediately offered for sale. He was well-built, in perfect health and had already recovered from smallpox, although he was in rage and his face was swollen. He had fiercely fought for his freedom but, as they say, numbers defeat courage. At the market, he said to the slave agent in the language commonly used in those territories:

"I am a Muslim—like you."

"But you are a slave", answered the slaver. "A slave ends up at the slave market. That's where he belongs."

The picture was now perfectly clear to him: he'd be offered for sale from one souk to another. If lucky, he would end up in Omdurman where the slaves were better off. But if the curse of his mountainous god befell him, he'd fall into the hands of a farmer or a toddler or a sultan who'd use him as a warrior. He might even get castrated, and that scenario was so dreadful that whenever a man was caught by the slavers his family would make special prayers to God asking Him if He can't get him back to them then at least to protect him from castration.

On the third day, as he was feeding his daughter who was screaming out of hunger, eight youngsters were dumped into the den. They turned out to be members of his religious group. After Bakheet's disappearance, the villagers attacked them, so they had to run for their life and take refuge to a remote mountainous cave. On the way, however, they were caught by the slavers and...