‘Be warned, young man! Think before you open your cursed mouth! Or is it that you have strayed into this mosque thinking that it is your usual street corner where you spend your life, making a fool of yourself?’ Rehman spat out, bristling with anger.

‘Malik sir naraaz ho gaye lagta hai,’ the young man said, a smirk on his face.

He felt Malik’s icy glare on him but continued nonetheless. ‘You must be thinking who am I and why am I talking the way I am talking, right? I will tell you my story. I am from Mumbai. I belong to a conservative Muslim family. Five years ago, when I was in my final year of college, I used to attend lectures at Dr Syed Mujtaba’s clinic in Goregaon West.

‘We would discuss all the biggest challenges before the community, from the intifada in the Jewish-controlled West Bank and Gaza in Israel, to the massacres in Bosnia, to the destruction of Babri Masjid and the riots in Meerut, Bombay and Bhagalpur. Talk of killing and dying, killing and dying – jihad aur shahadat. That is all we heard for two years on every Friday at Dr Syed Mujtaba’s clinic.

‘Eventually, I got bored and tired and left. That majlis was of people from Hindustani Majlis as well,’ the young man said.

‘What is your name? Where are you from? And what are the names of your father and grandfather? Who are you staying here with and where?’ Malik asked.

‘Usman Sheikh, twenty-eight. I am a computer engineer. My father is the late Mohammed Khwaja Sheikh; my grandfather, the late Khwaja Syed Sheikh. I was born in Mumbai, but my family is from Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh,’ the young man, CTC operative Rohit, said.

‘It is good, Usman, that you shared your doubts. Doubts are the traits of a ticking mind,’ Malik said. ‘Now let me clarify these doubts.’

‘For one, in spite of what you think of the people who work for Hindustani Majlis, they are not doing badly. They are talking about jihad and shahadat. At least they are not sleeping like most and are doing something. Second, it is futile to waste your time complaining about others in the community when you already know what needs to be done.

‘I have no time for whiners. Just go ahead and do it. There are many youth who have risen above their personal desires and goals to submit themselves to the needs of the community and the will of the time.

‘If you wish to do something for the community, then do something about it. Jigar le ke saamne aao. Look around, you will find a way. You may meet other devout believers like you,’ Malik said.

Rohit looked at Malik and raised his right hand above his right shoulder in what was a snap reaction to what the latter had just said. ‘Can’t agree more,’ Rohit said.