By Sakeena Rashid

In my country, Sudan, we have a war in the Darfur Territory between two tribes, the Arab (Janjaweed) and the Fur Tribe. The Fur Tribe was living on this land for many years as farmers, and the Arabs were living there as nomads. Now, they are fighting each other for the fertilized land.

Because of population growth and desert movement, the amount of fertilized land has diminished. The Janjaweed tribe is getting government support so they have become powerful. They have killed or dispersed many in the Fur Tribe to other countries. They control the cities, and in the countryside they rob people who travel on the roads.

When people travel between cities in a bus, the Janjaweed will stop the bus and question all the people. You have to tell them your tribe. If you say that you are from the Fur Tribe, they will shoot you immediately.

One day, I was traveling between Kass and Niyla (cities in Darfur). The Janjaweed stopped my bus and questioned everyone. There were many of them. They were on horseback and carried machine guns. They spoke in frightful, loud voices and made us all get off the bus.

I was afraid when a man came up to me and asked me what tribe I belonged to. He was very frightening because of his loud voice and red eyes. Even though I am proud to be a member of the Fur Tribe and even though lying is not allowed in my religion, at that moment, I decided to tell a lie because I knew the Janjaweed and their cruelty.

They had already had burned my village and killed many of my relatives. I was lucky to escape. I knew the consequences of telling the truth, so I told them I was from the Arab Tribe. They believed me, and that saved my life.

Act Utilitarianism, says that in determining what we should do, we should consider how the specific act would produce the best overall consequences. If telling a lie would give the maximum balance of pleasure over pain, then it is all right to tell that lie.

In every situation, you must decide what is the best for that situation. I agree with the Act Utilitarianism. In this situation, the best overall consequence was not to be killed. I told my lie to save my life and no one was hurt by this lie.

This creates a dilemma for me because in my religion, Islam, you should never tell a lie.  If the situation means that you might die, then you are supposed to still tell the truth, be killed, and go to heaven. But this did not make sense to me because although I want to go to heaven, I was very young and wanted a good life on Earth.

I still feel that Act Utilitarianism, telling a lie this time, was the best action in that situation. Now I have two children who never would have been born if I had told the truth. By being alive, I hope that I can contribute important things and benefit my society.