Template:Interlibrary Loan Fictional CharactersHafez ibn Abd-al-Rahim was an Iraqi-born member of the Islamic State (ISIS). In 2017, he was part of an ISIS effort to obtain a copy of the Necronomicon.[1]
ISIS was aware that a copy in the original Arabic was located in the Special Collections of the library of Miskatonic University, in Arkham, Massachusetts. ISIS decided to take advantage of the interlibrary loan system, coercing one Professor Gamal al-Zubi of Al-Azhar University in Cairo to request Miskatonic's copy.[2] Hafez himself traveled to Arkham on a fake Egyptian passport with documents signed by the professor.[3]
Upon his arrival at the campus, the radicalized Hafez was disgusted (and perhaps a little aroused) by the sight of young women who were not covered to ISIS standards. In short order, he spoke with a circulations clerk, identified himself as the professor's graduate student, "Ahmad Goma", and was directed to the Special Collections section.[4]
Here he met with the head of Special Collections, Wilbur Armitage. Armitage satisfied himself that Hafez's paperwork was authentic, and took him to the Necronomicon. Armitage presented the book, which was held closed by a belt. Hafez was horrified by the realization that the book was bound in human flesh. Armitage warned Hafez not to unbuckle the book until he'd delivered it to Professor al-Zubi, otherwise Armitage could not answer for Hafez's safety.[5] Hafez agreed, and then asked to look inside the book. While Armitage didn't want to, it was a fair request, and undid the belt.[6]
Hafez quickly read some of the text, confirming that it was in archaic Arabic. However, he was soon horrified by the text itself, as well as the way the words began to run and glow and seem to take on a life of their own. He begged Armitage to close it. Armitage did, and Hafez put the book in his backpack. He noticed that the book felt quite heavy at first, then seemed to grow lighter as he left the campus.[7]
Hafez took a flight to Ankara, with a transfer in Rome. He had to bribe a customs official in Ankara to keep him from asking questions about the Necronomicon.[8] After eating and sleeping most of a day, Hafez drove to ar-Raqqah, Syria, where he delivered the book to two men, Khalid and Ibrahim.[9] They invited him to stay and watch while they cast a spell to attack the United States. While the two took precautions by creating a pentagram and several circles on the floor,[10] during the course of the enchantment, each mistranslated the Arabic, using the wrong verb tense. Immediately, some invisible hand erased part of each circle. Slime and tentacles overwhelmed Khalid and Ibrahim. Hafez turned to flee, but was also engulfed by slime and tentacles.[11]
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