I Can Feel Your Pain

By Sanusia Conteh

Contact number: 07951959357

E-mail address: sanusia1711@gmail.com
Address: Old Kent Road
London
SE1 5PG

In conjunction with the title credits.

OMNISCIENT MAN
"The world is not dangerous because of those who do harm but because of those who look
at it without doing anything"-Albert Einstein
ACT 1, SEQUENCE 1
INT, MEETING ROOM-DAY

The radical Muslim man opens his eyes waking from his deep sad thoughts to find himself in
a dark meeting room sitting across a Muslim woman dressed in white hijab attire.
Noticing that his eyes are now open, she sternly looks across at him.

MODERATE MUSLIM (WOMAN)

{In a calm but deeply concerned voice, hands clasped together in a prayer motion}
Why are you doing this, why are you using our religion as a war weapon, as a political tool?

RADICAL MUSLIM (MAN)

{Looks across at her, frowning}
Is that all you see? Do you really believe that those are the only reasons we do what we do?

MODERATE MUSLIM (WOMAN)

{Swings hands across in a casual but questioning manner}
Enlighten me, what other reasons could there be?

RADICAL MUSLIM (MAN)

{Raises his voice}
Protecting our resources. Defending ourselves from invasions and teaching them the right path to Islam.

MODERATE MUSLIM (WOMAN)

{In a questioning and surprised tone}
Teaching them the right path to Islam? By doing what? Killing innocent people? Kidnapping innocent men
and taking them away from their families? Is that your idea of teaching them the right path to Islam?

RADICAL MUSLIM (MAN)

{Saying it assertively with hand gestures}
We have to punish them if they do not adhere to our rules, Islam is the only way of life and we have to
make them learn that. The dead ones, they had a choice! Accept Islam or die!

MODERATE MUSLIM (WOMAN)

We can't compel them to follow our path. Allah told us that there is no compulsion in Islam. He said
"There is no compulsion in religion. Verily the right path has become distinct from the wrong path.
Whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold
that will never break. Allah is the all-hearer and the all-knower". It has to be a choice; it has to be their
choice!

RADICAL MUSLIM (MAN)

Look around you. What do you see?! There is incest! There is murder! There are homosexuals! Women
going out into the streets half naked! Fornication, adultery, stealing, rapes! These are atrocities that can
only be stopped by introducing Islam into their lives. We have made it our sole mission to make sure that
they accept Islam!

MODERATE MUSLIM (WOMAN)

Who are we to judge? Who are we to punish them for their sins? Did you not learn from the actions of
Prophet Isa Alayhisalam? When confronted with the decision of stoning a woman caught in the act of
adultery, He said he who is without sin should cast the first stone". If you are certain of your perfection as
a Muslim and you have never committed a sin in the eyes of Allah, then make it your responsibility to be
the punisher of sins!

The length of the table becomes shorter, this connotes that the radical Muslim understands
the point of view of the moderate Muslim.
MODERATE MUSLIM(WOMAN)
Why do you have to kidnap, imprison, torture and kill those innocent people? Where did they go wrong?

RADICAL MUSLIM(MAN)
They are merely paying for the actions of their nation.

MODERATE MUSLIM(WOMAN)
It is wrong to imprison and kill people without any justification!

RADICAL MUSLIM(MAN)
Tell that to the Bush administration who on October 17 2006 signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006
which gave them the authority to indefinitely hold prisoners without charge, take away their protections
right and subject them to horrific abuse. 50,000 of those unjustly held prisoners were Iraqis, they were our
Muslim brothers who were never proven guilty but were still tortured to death in the Guantanamo prison!

MODERATE MUSLIM(WOMAN)
Why punish a present generation for the actions of their previous leaders? why punish people who see that
those actions violated both the uniform code of Military justice and the four Geneva conventions? Don't
punish the present generation for their nation's past!

RADICAL MUSLIM(MAN)
If they could hold people as prisoners through their "stovepiping" means in which they do not determine
the accuracy of intelligence before passing it to officials, if they could torture and kill our Muslim brothers
based on potentially misleading chatter, why can't we?

MODERATE MUSLIM(WOMAN)
We cannot do as they do because Allah has said to us, the children of Israel, the Muslim ummah, He said to
us "You shall not accept any information, unless you verify it yourself. I have given you the hearing, the
eyesight, and the brain, and you are responsible for using them"! So how can you hold and torture innocent
people without any justification and go against the teachings of your lord?

RADICAL MUSLIM(MAN)
2,603 people were killed in the September 2011 bombing of the twin towers. Were the 15,000 dead
Afghan civilians responsible? Were the 19,358 people who died during the period of the invasion of Iraq by
America from March 20, 2003 to March 19, 2008 responsible? 39 percent of those were innocent children,
they were deprived of the right to grow up and become somebody, they were deprived of the right to live
their dream? Should we sit back and ignore these facts? Their death is proof enough and we shall avenge it!

MODERATE MUSLIM(WOMAN)
"The good deed and the evil deed cannot be equal, repel evil with one which is better, then verily, he
between him and you here was enmity, will become as though he was a close friend". In this verse, Allah
ordered us his believers to be patient and respond to an evil deed with a good deed. Why should you
respond in such a manner when you can just show them the beauty of being a Muslim, why can't you let go
of the anger and allow Allah to punish them for their actions?

RADICAL MUSLIM(MAN)
Sister, we have watched our mothers die, our children, our sisters, our cousins, our brothers, our fathers,
our weak and old grandparents, we have watched their body parts scatter as bombs destroy their once
active and joyful bodies. Sister!, those dead children, those dead women they were not responsible for
those Islamic terrorism actions that they were killed for. We have to stand up for them hence they were
not given the opportunity to stand up for themselves.

The length of the table becomes shorter, this shows that the moderate Muslim woman is understanding
the radical Muslim man's point of view.

MODERATE MUSLIM(WOMAN)
Does capturing towns and villages count as your methods of standing up for the deceased?

RADICAL MUSLIM(MAN)
Land and territory is a necessity when building status and power,

MODERATE MUSLIM(WOMAN)
"Who amasses wealth and considers it a provision. He thinks that his wealth will make him immortal. His
wealth and what he earns will not avail him." What is the point of acquiring status and power in the eyes of
man if it will not benefit you in the eyes of Allah?

RADICAL MUSLIM(MAN)
Our resources have been stolen, our lands have been destroyed, our businesses that we spent decades
establishing have been erased to nothing. Our family homes that have housed many generations have been
wiped clean off the face of the earth, so we definitely need more land to rebuild our lives.

MODERATE MUSLIM(WOMAN)
But does rebuilding your life have to cost others theirs? Do you have to force others out of their family
homes?, Do you have to steal their land? You are making vulnerable women and children sleep in the

streets, all because you destroyed their homes and killed their family members? They have nowhere to go,
you have destroyed their possibility and any hope they had of a brighter future.

RADICAL MUSLIM(MAN)
We sometimes have to take drastic measures to get the attention of our oppressors.

MODERATE MUSLIM(WOMAN)
You are getting their attention but in a negative way. You have angered the world, you had their support
when you were the victims of America's imperialism. But now, you have become the very people you were
fighting against, you imposing the exact same use of force that you were rejecting, you have become the
oppressors of the oppression you faced. The world does not support you in this and you can only earn their
trust and gain their support if you show them the peace within you!

Both lights over the heads of the actors turn off, a single light shines at the centre of the table, and a man's
voice is heard.

OMNISCIENT MAN
"No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion.
People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more
naturally to the human heart than its opposite".