NEWSLETTER

BY ANN DE CRAEMER, PHOTOS BY PIETER-JAN DE PUE

Our hero, Hojatoleslam Hosseini.

The room is full of garish plastic flowers that make it impossible to concentrate on what the man seated in front of me is saying. Not helping matters is the overwhelming heat, which has me fidgeting uncomfortably in my chair. The black chador draped over my head—in keeping with Islamic dress code—falls, and a sweaty clump of hair slips to my shoulder. Mr. Hosseini, one of the highest-ranking Islamic leaders in Qom, Iran’s religious capital, doesn’t notice. He is rhapsodizing.

“There is a reason why I want to meet personally journalists who visit the Hazrat-e Masumeh shrine,” Hosseini informs me through my translator and guide. “There are many misunderstandings about Islam. I want you to remember this: Islam is peace. Unfortunately, politics always separates people. But we are not hostile to anyone.” Clearly, he means it, but I’m being forced to listen so it isn’t very convincing.

I’ve only just arrived in the sleepy city of Qom with my photographer, Pieter-Jan, after a one-week stay in press-packed Tehran. In the taxi from the train station to the city center, our driver was puzzled: “Be khoda, in the name of God, what are you doing here?” Before I could explain that we’re here gathering research for an upcoming book on youth movements, he caught my eye in the rearview mirror, smiled, and shook his head. “There are rarely any foreigners in this city—not even journalists. You will be the talk of the town.” He dropped us at the Hazrat-e Masumeh, the holiest shrine in Qom, and we quickly understood what he meant. “Salam khareji! Hello, foreigner!” a young man waved at me from the other side of the street. “Be behesht khosh amadid! Welcome to paradise!”

Hazrat-e Masumeh: The holiest shrine in Qom, one of Iran’s most holy cities.

We had barely entered the shrine when the head supervisor insisted we come with him to the office of the local hojatoleslam. This title is given to clerics of advanced standing in Islamic studies—in essence, influential interpreters of the Koran and setters of the moral standard. They wield immense power in every echelon of Iranian culture, and it was made obvious that if we refused to meet with him, we would not be interviewing or photographing anyone anytime soon. “Don’t worry. Mr. Hosseini just wants a friendly talk with you,” the supervisor said to us. I’d had a similar chat with civil authorities in Tehran—it is a strange thing to get accustomed to.

But here we are, in a steamy room with Hojatoleslam Hosseini. The discussion turns to tyranny, injustice, and other very bad things that Islam stands against. “It grieves me that there are so many people who commit crimes in the name of Islam,” Hosseini begins. “Keep this in mind: The Taliban and suicide bombers have nothing to do with Islam. Nothing at all. They are uneducated people.” His eyebrow raises slightly. “If they did receive any education, it was in the United States. As you know, Osama bin Laden and other important Taliban leaders were trained and educated in America.”

I nod politely and take a sip of the tea set out for me by Hosseini’s secretary, who is sitting in a corner of the room dutifully acting interested. Sweat trickles down his face and he is holding a crumpled handkerchief in one hand and a cell phone in the other. There are holes in his black socks and I can see two toes poking out.

Qom is the heart of Islamic studies in Iran. It is also the city in which the late Ayatollah Khomeini first attacked the quasi-American-friendly shah’s policies in 1962. This prompted the shah to imprison and ultimately expel Khomeini from Iran in 1964—in effect igniting the conservative Islamic Revolution Khomeini led, which, to some extent, continues to this day. The same one Hosseini is trying so hard to untangle for me.

But his voice is growing weaker by the minute. He is caught in a coughing fit and his face turns bright red. He smiles back at me when he notices my concern. “Inshallah, we will have a more peaceful world tomorrow,” he tells me. “You have your Jesus and we have our Mahdi. Both of them will come back and create a revolution in the world, which will then be a perfect place.” Not long after this we are free to go.

I’m relieved to be back in the streets. The forthcoming presidential election has invigorated Qom. Women hold their black chadors with one hand and clutch a picture of incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the other. A boy has a green parakeet on his arm. Iranians believe parakeets can predict the future, so I ask him what the next four years have in store for his country: “Ahmadinejad!” He smiles radiantly and his father nods approvingly.

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Comments

Anonymous, on Sep 2, 2009 wrote: what an unlikely hero. he looks kind of evil in that picture....but no. hes a good guy?
Anonymous, on Sep 1, 2009 wrote: @roadkill probably pretty brutal
	catbird, on Aug 24, 2009 wrote: dick cop’s
Anonymous, on Aug 24, 2009 wrote: Sucks that you were forced to leave Iran but truthfully, it’s probably for the best. The demonstrations were not something a white girl needed to be in the middle of.
Anonymous, on Aug 24, 2009 wrote: Hmm.. Maybe Ahmadinejad didn’t skew the results as much as I originally believed.
Anonymous, on Aug 24, 2009 wrote: your lucky they didnt chop your arm off... im pretty sure thats what they do over there
	gnarwhal, on Aug 24, 2009 wrote: well if my bathroom looked like that my shits would take even longer than they do now and i already get complaints about my toilet time.
	road_kill, on Aug 24, 2009 wrote: what exactly would an islamic jail be like I wonder....
	poozer, on Aug 24, 2009 wrote: i can think of much worse things than having to go to english class. you should be very thankful.
Anonymous, on Aug 24, 2009 wrote: the Hazrat-e Masumeh looks like a giant, very beautiful bathroom. no offense to them
Anonymous, on Aug 24, 2009 wrote: "weapon" "justice" and "sink"...some of the most important words in the english language. they are teaching them good stuff over there
Anonymous, on Aug 24, 2009 wrote: thats a really crazy story! i wonder what would have happened if that guy wasnt there to help you out. you could have been seriously fucked
Anonymous, on Aug 22, 2009 wrote: yet another Westerner having to deal with police in the Middle East -- these stories are so uneventful, can’t you report on anything else?
Anonymous, on Aug 21, 2009 wrote: believed you until the parakeet
	foxface, on Aug 20, 2009 wrote: wonder what happened to those cops? i hope that they get shafted.
	joe bananas, on Aug 20, 2009 wrote: fucking cops, no matter where you go they are going to try and fuck with you.
Anonymous, on Aug 19, 2009 wrote: What about the times when you accidentally piss off your cab driver and they intentionally take you through the worst parts of town?
Anonymous, on Aug 19, 2009 wrote: The ’extreme right’ would read this and see what exactly? A city ruled by thugs; fearful of outsiders and oppressive by force. Chloro-Phil, this article reinforces what us on the right know: there is lots of good in Iran but the authority is a bunch of fucking maniacs. These journalists were lucky they only got a day in prison.
Anonymous, on Aug 18, 2009 wrote: never a good sign when your cab driver warns you not to go somewhere.
Anonymous, on Aug 17, 2009 wrote: parakeets predicting the future?! i kind of like that
Anonymous, on Aug 17, 2009 wrote: there is a reason why Qom has no tourists. you found out the hard way
Anonymous, on Aug 13, 2009 wrote: one thing our culture has in common with theirs...cops are dicks.
Anonymous, on Aug 13, 2009 wrote: mustbe been great to see hossieni yell at those guys
Anonymous, on Aug 12, 2009 wrote: oof! being arrested in a foreign country would be so scary. your luck you had people on your side
Anonymous, on Aug 12, 2009 wrote: awesome that that dude yelled at the policemen for you! i bet that felt goooddd
Anonymous, on Aug 12, 2009 wrote: the shrine is jaw-droppingly beautiful. it really is a shame out two cultures continue to infuriate one another.
	Chloro-Phil, on Aug 12, 2009 wrote: The extreme right should see this. I have a feeling they wouldn’t read it. They’re good at seeing what they want in things.