The Servant of Dreams
It is the summer of 2014 in Jordan. Next door in Syria ISIS has declared the Caliphate and is busy posting crucifixions and beheadings online, and recruiting worldwide. The Syrian civil war is in its third year, and young Jordanians have gone to fight with the rebels — in thousands of cases, with ISIS. The Servant of Dreams follows James and Elle, American archaeologists, as they help their longtime friend Musa apply for a million-dollar USAID tourism grant to develop the Roman ruins and vacant village nearby.
Musa is the old sheikh of Bi’r Mathkour, a desperately poor village in the desert of Wadi `Araba. He is sick of being sheikh: it’s a thankless job. He wants to leave behind a legacy for his village, and he wants something more for his smart, capable eldest son, Muhammad — who is the one who found the grant application.
They know they’re out of their depth, and persuade old friends Salim and Lou — both development professionals — to help. Salim is also, it turns out, a mukhabarat agent: he works for Jordanian intelligence. Salim is aware that there is CIA interest in the project at Bi’r Mathkour, but he can’t figure out why.
`AbdalHalim is a Salafi religious leader in Wadi `Araba. Conservative Islam is gaining traction in Jordan, but `AbdalHalim is no jihadi. Nonetheless he makes people — secular Jordanians & foreigners alike — nervous. He preaches against tourism, a western illness that foments greed and poisons the youth of the country, endangering Bi’r Mathkour’s funding prospects. He makes concessions to Musa’s team in return for the promise of a clinic, clean water, and a grant of farmland for the village. It is a fragile alliance.
Contrary to all expectation the project makes cut after cut until it is shortlisted for the grant. Influential officials from Amman become interested and clamber on board, insensible to the delicate bargains that have been made. Even the atheists are praying that `AbdalHalim doesn’t do something extreme. Meanwhile Salim winnows through clues, hoping to save the project, and his career, from ruin.