After Homework, Duty as an Imam

"I was nervous. I was thinking I wouldn't be able to do it," he said, adding that with each day it has become easier, almost fun. "We're just trying to enjoy it because we have no other option."

His schedule has become much like Aman's. Wake up before sunrise, study the Koran, go to school, come home, study the Koran, break the Ramadan fast and study the Koran. In between, he prays five times and does his homework.

The Woodbridge center is simple, consisting mostly of a large community room and small office, hidden behind a Subway and video rental store on Jefferson Davis Highway. The center has a regular imam, but he has not memorized the Koran.

Those who congregate there said they are grateful for the boys. Still, they know they lost something when Mullah's entry was denied. In addition to leading the prayer, he would have guided donations and doled out advice if needed. The teenagers cannot play such a role, because it is the equivalent of asking them to have a master's degree in Islam.

"A young kid and a grown priest is a big difference," said Fahad Mirza, 29, adding that the boys are "wonderful" but that "they are there just because we have no choice."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is writing letters to politicians demanding to know why Mullah and other scholars were turned away at the last minute. Nationwide, at least four other Islamic scholars were denied entry, without explanation, Muslim community leaders said.

They are questioning why the government waited until the men arrived in the country instead of denying their visas early enough for the mosques to find replacements.

"We don't want this to fall in the cracks and to just be forgotten. We need to get answers from our government," Awad said. "We want people to be abiding by the law. We want to protect our country. . . . At the same time, we just want to make sure we do not step on people's rights and that we continue to be an open and welcoming society."

Officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection would not say why Mullah was turned away but said more than 1,000 people are denied entry every day for a variety of reasons. Kelly Klundt, a spokeswoman, said: "The State Department may issue a visa which allows someone to apply for admission into the U.S. It is not necessarily a guarantee that they will be permitted."

Those at the center describe Mullah as a soft-spoken man who was born in Gujarat state in India. They said his speeches were not extreme.

Chhipa said he had spoken briefly with him since the incident. "He said, 'I don't know why they did it to me.' . . . He said they only said, 'We're only doing our job.' "

Mullah was glad to hear that the center had found a replacement for him, Chhipa added.

Leaders, and Now Friends

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The teenagers weren't really friends before, seeing each other only occasionally during prayer time at the Woodbridge center. But now their parents say they are attached, having developed a friendship through their shared responsibility.

After the prayers ended one recent night, the boys shuffled out of the center, looking as tired as the older men among them.

Waiting for Uzair at home was algebra, English and Spanish homework.

Aman, who had finished his homework earlier that day, would get to steal a few rare moments of play. Within minutes of walking into his house, he shed his traditional garb for sweat pants and a T-shirt emblazoned with the word "basketball" -- his favorite sport. He then swooshed down in front of the computer, clicked on his favorite video game and within seconds was lost in a wooded area of imaginary beasts. In one corner of the screen, he chatted with friends in a language far from Arabic: "Sup?" and "Kool."