We entered a garden surrounded by mud bricks in the village of Nimetullah. We sat on the chairs in front of the house as the family welcomed us. Uncle Ibrahim, the village's old imam, lives in this house. I say "former imam" because Uncle Ibrahim suffered from cataract last year and had to give up his job as an imam.

Even though the mosque is only five minutes away from his house, he is unable to go there by himself. He was being driven to the mosque by his son, but he wasn't always available. High blood pressure is one factor in cataract development. Uncle Ibrahim had cataracts and his high blood pressure also had an impact on his eyes. I questioned him about how it felt to first go blind. "I had some concerns, but I persisted. I believed that Allah was the one who gave and took my eyes’’ he said.