One day in 1982, I was performing my afternoon prayers at the al-Imam Ali mosque, the main mosque in the city, where the fourth Caliph was buried two days after being wounded by an assassin’s sword. As I sat facing the mihrab, I felt the strong presence of the past in the aura of that space. Under the huge golden shining dome, through the wide, high gates, was a wide interior decorated with greenish blue mosaics. And in the central