Once, back working at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, I’d accidentally walked in on my Pakistani colleague Iftikhar while he was praying. Mortified, I quickly turned and left, shutting the door behind me. Later, he brushed away my apologies. “That’s the difference between us,” he said, waving a hand breezily. “You Westerners make love in public and pray in private. We Muslims do exactly the reverse.”
