A Muslim worshiper in Baghdad went to his imam to ask if he should agree to sell air conditioners to the U.S. forces occupying Iraq. The imam said no.
"I told him he should deal with them only in so far as it pleases God," said Sheikh Fadel Muhsin. "I said it was a sin to cooperate with them (the U.S. occupiers) in harming Iraqis or in any way that helps consolidate their presence in our country."
As Iraq struggles to rebuild itself after the war, the role of Muslim clerics has been strengthening as they seek to fill the leadership vacuum left by the collapse of Saddam Hussein's government.
In a troubled community, people need guidance, and in a society where law and religion are intrinsically linked, clerics are well poised to fulfill that need.
Iraqis have always visited clerics for advice, but their influence on a confused and leaderless public is growing to such an extent that they are increasingly also stepping into political and legal areas.
Power-hungry parties led by clerics who want to see Islamic rule return to Iraq have sprung up across the country, taking advantage of a new-found freedom of expression after years of strict government control.
Muslim clerics who see politics as integral to Islam have exploited the absence of a central authority and the U.S. preoccupation with defending its troops to raise the tempo of their anti-American preaching.
"Sermons are more fiery than before when you were never allowed to talk about politics," said Sheikh Kazem al-Nasser. "Now that the tyrant has gone and the occupiers are unable to prevent such speeches, we are exploiting this to express the views of the Hawza (Shi'ite religious authority)."
GROWING INFLUENCE
Some clerics are even stepping beyond their own communities to speak to the Muslim population at large.
"Iraq will be a cemetery for America," Sheikh Walid al-Azawi told a joint prayer session for Sunnis and Shi'ites at Baghdad's Qabaa mosque.
"They have come to fight Islam and to destroy our values and defile the sanctity of our holy shrines and tear our unity."
The message is not always anti-American. In some cases, Muhsin said a Muslim could give the occupying forces information -- for example if it could lead to the arrest of a Baathist with blood on his hands.
But others give strident messages of armed resistance, saying Jihad, or holy war, is the true path for Muslims facing occupation by a foreign Christian invader.
Many of Iraq's mosques, whether Sunni or Shi'ite, hold special prayers to end the occupation and some hail guerrilla attacks against the occupiers.
Ordinary Iraqis are turning increasingly to clerics for advice on a whole host of social, ethical and political issues -- some predictable postwar matters, others suspended civil affairs dealt with previously by Saddam's now defunct administration.
In the absence of a fully functioning legal system, Shi'ite clerics have proclaimed edicts to check the unrestrained settling of scores by angry Iraqis against former Baathists. Some political parties are using mosques as recruitment centers.
SPIRITUAL HEALERS
In the Azmayah district of Baghdad, Sheikh Muaid al-Azami said he has little time for his own family because of all the people asking his advice.
"People always seek Allah in times of hardship and adversity," said the bearded Sunni cleric, adding that his role was something like that of a spiritual healer.
Mosque clerics and volunteers played a leading role in restoring order and protecting public buildings from looting in the days that followed Saddam's overthrow.
Clerics said traumatized Iraqis were seeking counseling to cope with anxiety when they left their homes due to the lack of security on the streets, where crime is rife and the threat of gunfire or guerrilla attacks often present.
"The successful Imam is the one who tackles real issues that touch peoples' lives," Azami said. "We are needed because people feel lost because of lawlessness and undisciplined freedom. It is fear for the safety of their family and their home that is preoccupying people."