Here's Professor Lo with another Imam, this one the Imam of Masjid As-Shuhada, a builiding which is, contrary to grammatical expectation, larger than Masjid al-Kabeer (the big Masjid), where Professor Lo and I went last week. This Masjid is two stories tall and far more grandely adorned than the simpler Masjid al-Kabeer. Golden crystal chandeliers that manage to encompase the size, shape, and majesty of pregnant manatees hover over worshippers, while Qur'anic excerpts are carved into the very substance of the walls. Even more striking than the appearance of the Masjid, was the oratory experience that it offered. To my surprise, and contrary to what I had been led to believe about the structure of Masjids in Sana'a, the Imam of the Masjid delivered the kutba, or the friday sermon, himself, rather than leaving that duty to a state appointed Kaatib. Also, though I lack a command of the Arabic language sufficient enough to understand what the Imam was talking about, I did notice that the kutba lasted almost twice as long as the one at Masjid al-Kabeer, and was delivered in a tone of spit flecked passion rather than with the bovine passivity of the state approved Kaatib. Also, I'm sure that I heard the hot button words "Palestine", "Israel", and "Iraq War", which I thought were pretty much taboo for Friday rumination. Either the Imam was directly breaking the law, in which case he is either protected somehow (maybe has family high up in the government), or will soon face whatever legal penalties are invoked against Imams who lead their own congregations. Whatever the reason, it was certainly the most interesting Friday prayers I've experienced so far in Yemen.
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