The society, Iranian style

Once upon a time, an American discovers that the Western media news coverage of Iran is not reliable. He decides to make a journey to Iran in order to get to know the country from Inside. In the U.S., he had heard a lot about the influence of Islam on Iranian lifestyle and politics. So decides to start his field trip by visiting a large mosque in Tehran.

Stepping inside the mosque, he is surprised to see that there is no sign of any ritual prayer. Instead, people are sitting all around the area, eating chicken and rice. Obviously, it’s a feast of some sort…. The American is very surprised and starts a conversation with a young man who is standing in a corner.

American: “Excuse me…. What’s going on in here? I thought a mosque was a place for people to pray, but everyone’s eating here!”

Young man: “That’s true. But you don’t see much praying in here. If you wanna see people pray, you should go to Tehran University. They have large prayers, especially on Fridays.”

The American is now even more confused:

“at the university?! Isn’t that supposed to be a place for students, academics and intellectuals?”

Young man: “Yes, normally. But the students and intellectuals are all in prison nowadays, so….”

The American can’t believe what he’s hearing:

“In prison?! That’s the place for thieves and criminals, so where do you keep your criminals?!”

The young man looks at the American and shakes his head in disbelief: “who the hell do you think is running the country then?!”