Word: stiffens
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...traditional Muslim call to prayer in Arabic. "Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar!" the call begins. Mesmerized, the Tadzhiks as one man -- there is not a woman in sight among the 10,000 except Alexandra -- raise their hands in the traditional Muslim posture of worship. The Soviets stiffen. The officers disappear from the windows. Except for the wail of the mullah, a total hush has descended upon the gathering. After the prayer call, the mullah reads a sura from the Koran honoring the dead. Three minutes later, the prayer and reading are over, but there is an unmistakable new militancy...