In Sha Allah, If God Wills It: The Real-Life Story of an Afghan Combat Interpreter

A longtime Afghan combat interpreter recounts his life from early childhood in a mountain village through battlefield service to a perilous escape to America amid looming threats.

Wounded twice in service to America, Afghan combat interpreter Abdul Atah Wahedi is one of America's unknown heroes, but to the Taliban, he is considered the "Voice of the Infidel." As America began to exit Afghanistan, Abdul, hunted by the Taliban, must flee with his wife and family, but his escape is blunted by the closure of the American Embassy in Kabul during COVID. With less than a handful of days before his Special Immigration Visa (SIV) and the visas of his family are about to expire, the mother of Abdul's former commanding officer intervenes. Working with an American senator and an American SIV coordinator from Keeping Our Promise, she orchestrates Abdul's escape to America with his wife and children, getting them out with only hours to spare.

Born as his family returned to their ancestral village following years living as nomads in the caves of the Hindu Kush mountains during the Russian invasion, the story begins in the centuries-old village of Mata in the Panjshir Valley, and chronicles Abdul's life from his earliest memories, the drowning of his older brother in the Panjshir River, his education, life on the battlefield, his marriage, the births of his children, and finally his escape to America.