Subhan Allah!

Something special has occurred. Hence, the post title. Subhan Allah is an Arabic expression for praising God for unexpected mercies.

My prayer group and other friends, including some who read this blog, have been praying for Maha, a friend of mine in Bahrain who calls me "Mom" and whose teenage brother and a large number of his friends were dragged from their beds in the middle of the night in May 2008 and accused of a crime they did not commit (trumped up charges about an illegal action taken that night in May against someone who had actually died the previous fall -- oops, the police forgot to check out that detail thoroughly). They had been jailed ever since. I don't know about the other young men, but Maha's brother was beaten regularly almost to the point of losing his eyesight. It was called interrogation. Every trial date during the intervening months was postponed, followed by a new "interrogation." It seemed to be a matter of ruling Sunni intimidation of the larger Shia population. Outside international investigation, including an international justice specialist from the United Nations, did not help. Western embassies were reluctant to speak up.

Without divine intervention, the likely outcome would have been the one that has happened in the past: 15 years, life, or death. (The last such group was convicted in the late 1990s, and the sentence was capital punishment.) So, prayers were the only medium available. I personally know people who prayed for these young men regularly in Bahrain, Canada, Egypt, Lithuania, Morocco, and the United States.

Earlier this week the prayers were answered. Maha's brother and the other young men have been released! They were declared innocent by the court and also given a royal pardon. Maha tells me that in Bahrain people flocked to the mosque the night before the pardon to pray for the young men; they prayed until the crack of dawn. She also told me that nobody really expected the outcome that all of them would be declared innocent and freed. (My comment: Wait a minute here...if you pray, don't you expect an answer? I do!)

These young men are now considered heroes for not caving in to the government. Blessedly, they are getting their old jobs back. Their families are celebrating as Arabs know so well how to do!

Many thanks to everyone who prayed for these young men. Sometimes, in international matters, our first, last, and best hope is God.