BABIL, Iraq — When Ayman Hussein is not at the University of Babylon pursuing a degree in engineering, he spends his time receiving religious lessons in Shiite Islamic jurisprudence, known as fiqh. Hussein, 30, is always busy reading the Quran or visiting the mosque throughout the day to pray. He listens to a variety of religious programs online and via satellite TV, and whenever he has the time, he goes to preaching councils, such as the Husseiniya councils, to attend Quran reading sessions and events commemorating the martyrdom of Shiite Imam Hussein ibn Ali.
Hussein spends his time in an almost continuous cycle of religious activities. He told Al-Monitor, “Even when I commute to university, the bus that I [take] with my peers has the radio tuned to religious poems and Quranic verses. … Each weekend, the same bus drives us to holy places in Karbala and Najaf as part of the contract with the driver.”
