Synopsis
Just across the border from Afghanistan, 54-year-old Abdugaffar Khakkulov restores ancient Samarkand's mosques and minarets. By insisting on working from authentic medieval designs, he has fallen out with the Soviet state's 'official' craftsmen, whose priority is to attract tourists to Samarkand. After a row, he has gone freelance, a rare achievement in the USSR, and now works independently with his sons on sites of his own choosing. Among the Soviet Union's 50 million Muslims, very few people practise openly. But in men like Abdugaffar the spirit of Islam and the customs of Muslim life show no sign of being stifled. He may pay lip-service to Lenin, but his deeper allegiance is to Allah.
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