…places that have just been invented- you won’t find them on any map. They lie further out, quarters you have never heard of until you arrive…tarmac giving way to sand…There is Dar al-Salaam…even one called Allah Maafy, meaning “Allah is not in”, or maybe “God does not exist”…The western edge of Omdurman is now said to reach almost to Kordofan. Nobody knows what is out there.
-A Line in the River: Khartoum, City of Memory, Jamal Mahjoub
KhairAllah’s dar is in Dar al-Salaam. It is a compound for a big family, much more than a house. It is his abode, with a detached kitchen and sleeping porches and a sheepfold outside the bedroom window so he can hear his small herd rustle and jostle at night, just like back where he was born in Dar al-Kababish.
There is a majlis with an old rumbling AC window unit. I asked Soliman if his father had any relatives living nearby and he said, Yes, a lot more now that we have AC, they always come to visit in summer. I told a Sudanese friend in the US about KhairAllah’s AC and he said admiringly, In Dar al-Salaam that is like having a palace in the desert.
I’ve visited several times and thought the family could use more rooms. We don’t need rooms, KhairAllah said, We prefer to sleep in the open. The courtyard is surrounded by high walls. No one can see over them but everyone can walk in through the open door to the outside. He is that kind of man, that kind of neighbor. His is the abode of peace, not Allah Maafy. He keeps goats and sheep and his wife has an electric refrigerator and gas stove. No, God is not dead in KhairAllah’s dar. His son Soliman sends me emails from there.