It’s the story of Brother Carlo who was received a university degree in philosophy and became president of Catholic Action in Italy. At the age of forty-four Brother Carlo received a divine call to leave worldly life and fully devote himself to the worship. Brother Carlo answered the call and left Italy for Algeria where he joined Little Brothers of Jesus. His residence in Algeria was a cave near Tamanrasset in the mountains of Ahaggar.

It was there that he came to know a Muslim father and son pair, Aleck and his eight year old son Abdaraman. Like Brother Carlo, Aleck was also absolutely committed to his Muslim faith. Aleck prayed five times a day, observed fast every year as well as offered annual animal sacrifices. Brother Carlos was particularly struck by the fact that even though Aleck was poor, he was always content and grateful to his god. Brother Carlos would meet Aleck’s son Abdaraman every evening on his way to hermitage for evening prayers.

One evening as Brother Carlos met Abdaraman on the way to hermitage, he noticed that Abdaraman was not his usual self. Brother Carlos thought that Abdaraman’s silence might be the result of him being punished by his dad or some other sad event. Abdaraman eventually revealed he is distressed that Brother Carlos will go to hell unless he becomes a Moslem. Abdaraman’s concern and sincerity moved Brother Carlos because he had never seen such a concern from anyone before in his life.

Brother Carlos is the main actor in the case. He was once a student with active involvement in campus chapter of Catholic Action and ambitious political dreams. Brother Carlos had been blessed with tremendous leadership qualities. He assumed leadership positions as a student, post-graduation and later received a divine call from his Lord to fully devote his life to the spread of gospel. Brother Carlo is kind and sincere. He was concerned about the actions of the French Foreign Legion who had camped along the bank of the small stream maintained by Aleck. The soldiers wasted water and Brother Carlos was worried about the impact of their actions on Aleck’s crops. Brother Carlos was also a deep reflector. He ccan decode the messages and lessons behind events. Brother Carlos is also not judgmental. He had the character to ignore the fact that Abdaraman knew nothing about Christian faith and recognized the sincerity behind Abdaraman’s words.

Aleck is Moslem and farmer by occupation. Even though he is poor he is very honest and has never stolen anything. He is also extremely devoted to his religion and observes all his Islamic obligations punctually. In addition he also has very strong faith in his god and believes that god always takes care of his people. He also believes that everyone gets what has been written in his destiny. This may explain why he didn’t complain to the French Foreign Legion for their waste of water even though it affected his crops.
Even though Abdaraman is only eight years old but he has a kind heart and has formed close bond with Brother Carlo. He also has a strong conviction in his religion and believes that his religion is the only path to salvation. Since he is close to Brother Carlo he became depressed that Brother Carlo will go to hell unless he accepts Islam. He is also extremely careful of being influenced by other religions which is why he never accompanies Brother Carlo all the way to the hermitage.

The case raises many important issues that deal with both religion and worldly life. The first issue is that whether there is only one way to reach salvation or multiple ways. Brother Carlo follows the teachings of Jesus while Aleck and Abdaraman believe in Mohammad’s message. Abdaraman’s faith teaches him that only the people of his religion are supposed to enter heaven. This begs the question whether it is sufficient that one believes in a god and leads a good life or one has to worship the right god otherwise all his good deeds on earth will be worthless. Abdaraman knows that Brother Carlo leads a pious life and has a very close relationship with the god of his chosen faith but he fears that all of Brother Carlo’s good deeds and hard work will be in vain because he follows the wrong faith.

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