same men always stood in the first row behind the imam during the prayer. As soon as they caught sight of the imam, they called, ‘Salawat bar Mohammad! Blessings on the Prophet Muhammad!’
Hundreds of worshippers had come to the mosque for the evening prayer. They stood up when he entered and made way for him. He sat down in his usual spot, and the caretaker placed his books on the table beside him.
All eyes then turned to the muezzin, who called out from the top of the centuries-old Islamic pulpit, ‘Allahu akbar! Hayye ale as-salat! God is great! Hasten to the prayer!’ The moment he mounted the stairs, the prayer had officially begun.
The muezzin was Aqa Jaan’s cousin, Aqa Shoja, who had been born blind. Aqa Shoja had a beautiful voice. Three times a day – just before sunrise, at noon and just before sunset – he climbed to the top of one of the mosque’s twin minarets and cried, ‘Hayye ale as-salat!’
No one ever used his name. Instead, he was known by his title: Muezzin. Even his own family called him Muezzin.
‘Allahu akbar!’ he thundered.
The worshippers stood and turned to face Mecca.
Normally it was impossible for a blind man to become a muezzin. He had to be able to see when the imam bent down, when he touched the ground with his forehead and when he got up again. But in Aqa Shoja’s case the imam simply raised his voice a bit to let him know he was about to bend down or touch the ground with his forehead.
Muezzin had a married daughter named Shahin and a fourteen-year-old son named Shahbal. His wife had died of a serious illness. Muezzin had no desire to remarry. Instead, he slipped off every once in a while to the mountains to visit a couple of women. At such times he donned his best suit, put on his hat, grabbed his walking stick and disappeared for days at a time. While he was away, his son Shahbal took over his duties and climbed into the minaret to call the faithful to prayer.
After the evening prayer Imam Alsaberi was escorted back to the house by a group of men. Aqa Jaan always stayed a bit longer to talk to people. He was usually the last to leave the mosque.
Tonight he had a quick word with the caretaker about some repairs that needed to be made to the dome. As he was heading home, he heard his nephew Shahbal call his name.
‘Aqa Jaan! May I have a word with you?’
‘Of course, my boy!’
‘Do you have time to walk down to the river with me?’
‘To the river? But they’re expecting us at home. It’s almost dinnertime.’
‘I know, but it’s important.’
So they walked down to the gently flowing Sefidgani, which was not far from the house.
‘Actually, I don’t know how to say this. You don’t have to give me an immediate answer.’
‘Spit it out, my boy!’
‘It’s about the moon.’
‘The moon?’
‘No, not about the moon, but about television. And about the imam.’
‘Television? The moon? The imam? What are you trying to say?’
‘We . . . er, I mean, the imam needs to know what’s going on. He has to keep up with current events. Alsaberi only reads the books in his library, and they’re old, written centuries ago. He doesn’t read newspapers. He knows nothing about . . . well, about the moon, for example.’
‘Make yourself clear, for goodness’ sake! What is it that Alsaberi needs to know about the moon?’
‘Everybody’s talking about the moon these days. At school, in the bazaar, in the street. But we don’t discuss things like that at our house. Do you know what’s going to happen tonight?’
‘No, what?’
‘Two men are going to land on the moon tonight, and you don’t even know it! Maybe it’s not important to you or Alsaberi. But the Americans are going to plant their flag on the moon, and the city’s imam isn’t even aware of it. He didn’t make a single reference to it in his sermon. He should have mentioned it tonight, but he doesn’t even know it’s happening. And that’s not good for our mosque. The mosque is where people should hear about things that affect their lives.’
Aqa Jaan waited.
‘I tried to bring it up with Alsaberi,’ Shahbal went on, ‘but he didn’t want to hear it. He doesn’t believe in such things.’
‘What do you want us to do?’
‘The moon landing is being broadcast on television tonight. I’d like you and the imam to witness this historic event.’
‘How?’
‘On television!’
‘You expect us to watch television?’ Aqa Jaan was astounded. ‘You expect the city’s imam to watch television? Do you understand what you’re asking, my boy? Ever since television came to this town, the mosque has been warning people of its evils, urging them not to listen to the corrupt shah, not to watch the Americans. And now you’re suggesting that we sit and stare at the American flag! You know that we’re opposed to the shah and to the Americans who put him on his throne. We don’t need to bring the shah’s face and the American flag into our home. Why on earth do you want us to watch television? It’s a weapon used by the Americans to undermine our culture and religion! All kinds of strange things are being said about television. It’s full of disgusting shows that poison people’s minds.’
‘That’s not true! Or at any rate not entirely. They also broadcast serious programmes, like tonight. You ought to watch! The imam ought to watch! If we’re opposed to the shah and to the Americans, that’s all the more reason to watch it. Tonight the Americans are going to set foot on the moon. You’re the most important man in the city, and you should see it. I can rig up an aerial on the roof.’
‘You want to put an aerial on our roof? You’ll make us the laughing stock of the town. Tomorrow everyone will be saying, “Did you see the aerial on the roof of the house of the mosque?”’
‘I’ll fix it so that nobody will be able to see it.’
Shahbal’s request had taken Aqa Jaan by surprise. The boy knew what their position was on certain issues, but he dared to stand up for what he thought was right. It was a trait that Aqa Jaan had noted earlier in Shahbal. He admired his nephew for it.
Aqa Jaan had two daughters and a son, who was five years younger than Shahbal. And yet when he looked at Shahbal, he saw in him the man who would later take his place at the bazaar.
He tried to involve Shahbal in the important affairs of the house. He loved him like a son and was raising him to follow in his footsteps.
After school Shahbal always went directly to his uncle’s office, where Aqa Jaan told him about the latest developments in the bazaar and discussed the decisions he had taken or was about to take and asked him for advice.
Now, though, Shahbal had broached the subject of the television and the moon. Aqa Jaan suspected
