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Iran Book Excerpt 5 - Home of the Mullahs – Qom (Day 16) I’d been told by one Iranian that, “an American in Qom is like an Al Qaeda in the White House.” So I was a little nervous about this stop, and I could tell Professor was too. Qom (rhymes with ‘gnome’) is home to one of Iran’s (and Shia Islam’s) holiest sites. The city itself is a stronghold of the current conservative government and served as Khomeini’s base for the revolution in 1979. No liberals or opposition groups here; this is the center of mullah control over the government, culture, and politics of Iran. From this city spreads Iranian religious and political influence into Iraq, Lebanon and Hezbollah, Palestine and Hamas, and a host of other organizations and countries around the world. While most international attention focuses on the nuclear program down in Natanz, or the politicians in Tehran, it’s the clerics living in Qom that actually control the fate of Iran. From guidebooks, media, and talks with people along the way I rolled into Qom with a sense of dread. The nervousness reminded me of how I felt boarding the plane into Iran a couple of weeks previous. Then the sense of the ominous was quickly displaced by the man on the plane doing his giant book of puzzles and mazes. Pulling into Qom, all darkness and seriousness, the spell was broken when the first thing I see from the exit is a giant Ferris wheel sticking out over a gaily-painted amusement park. I actually laughed out loud, getting a weird look from a still-nervous Professor, at the incongruity of my preconceptions and the happy little carnival. Still, I was entering the heart of the beast, so to speak, and judged not a lot of people around these parts would be too enthused over my nationality and objections to their nuke program. Whether due to the buildup or not, the place felt sterner and colder than any we’d visited before. Unlike other cities there were no light headscarves or chirpy jackets on any of the women here – all were in full headgear and body coverings, of course colored mainly in black and more black. |
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The shrine we were heading towards is one of the holiest, and due both to its location in Iran and its recent history, also one of the most conservative, in Shia Islam. Shia pilgrims and religious scholars come from all over the world to visit the Shrine of Fatima but, everyone plus the guidebooks told me, non-Muslims are never allowed inside. This is not a recent rule – even some of the historical accounts I’d read of non-Muslims visiting Persia tell how people outside of Islam are prevented from entering the grounds of the shrine. We can view it from close-by, and take pictures from outside the walls, but under no circumstances are we allowed inside the actual complex. After parking the car nearby, Professor and I, feeling somewhat self-conscious, walked down the street toward the shrine. Around us the city went about its business, which in the case of Qom is heavily related to religion. As we neared the shrine we could see groups of pilgrims ahead of us. |
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The shrine’s attraction to these pilgrims, some of whom stay in Qom and study for months and years, strengthens worldwide Iranian influence over Shias and related groups – some perfectly harmless charities, others like Hezbollah, very far from harmless. For the first time since Daniel’s Tomb I actually felt nervous. |