Historien om hvordan muja dreper frisører som barberer skjegg og lager moderne frisyrer i Bagdad, er bokstavelig talt hårreisende.

Den sier noe om hvor gale en del av muja er. Kanskje også noe om hvorfor deres oppslutning glipper.

Fremfor alt sier den noe om hvordan det er å leve for vanlige mennesker.

In southern Baghdad, the hazards of life have come to this: gangs of militant Islamists are warning barbers that it is haram – forbidden – to shave men’s beards or do Western-style haircuts. As many as 12 barbers have been killed, Iraqi officials say, including five in one day in late January. With little hope of police protection, most now refuse to offer the offending cuts, and have placed prominent signs in their front windows saying so.

The killings and threats are not the first efforts in Iraq to enforce a Taliban-style religious rule. In Falluja, armed mujahedeen ran an Islamic police state for several months before the American invasion last year, punishing beardless men and any women who dared to go out with their heads uncovered. In southern Iraq, Shiite militants have attacked liquor stores and sometimes killed those who ignored their threats.