Visitors to Qari Faizurrehman's spartan office in the Madni Mosque in Peshawar must take off their shoes before they enter.Located off a dingy back street in the centre of the bustling North West Frontier provincial capital, this room may soon be a busy recruitment centre for the threatened jihad, or holy war, against US forces in Afghanistan.
Faizurrehman is the head, or the "Muhtamim", of this mosque, one of the biggest in Peshawar.
The mosque is also at the centre of activities for the religious-cum-political group, Jamiat-I-Ulema Islam (JUI), which supports the Taliban.
The fundamentalist JUI is leading the recruiting drive for the jihad. Its colourful leader, Fazlur Rehman, was put under house arrest two weeks ago by the Pakistan authorities in an effort to halt the pro-Taliban rallies he was organising.
Women are usually not allowed into a mosque at the same time as men but there is a special exception for today's interview with your correspondent.
There is one condition - no pictures. And Faizurrehman politely declines my proffered hand. Muslim clerics do not shake hands with females.
The tall, overweight, bearded religious leader sits cross-legged on the floor, flanked by three men wearing prayer caps.
This week the mosque has started to accept money for Afghan victims of the US-led war against terrorism. The office has only a phone, a book to log donations and a box to put the money in.
Faizurrehman proceeds to give a lecture laced with the predictable anti-US rhetoric. President Bush, he says, has declared a crusade, a Christian holy war.
America is now bombing a civilian population and this is terrorism. That is why there will be a jihad to defend the Muslim cause.
But Faizurrehman stresses that the registration for volunteers to fight the jihad against the United States will not start until US ground troops move into Afghanistan, and until the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, gives the nod.
"Despite all the talk of jihad so far there has been no official call for holy war," says Faizurrehman. "We are waiting to see if United States troops go into Afghanistan."
Faizurrehman says that 45,000 men in the North West Frontier's tribal areas are ready to join the jihad when the time comes.
And 250 students in the religious school attached to the mosque are also ready to sign up, he adds.
In the tribal areas, he says, boys are trained from the age of five in the use of guns. "When Mullah Omar calls, they will be ready."
"At this time the Taliban is not in need of people to fight. They are sufficient for the moment and they are strong.
"It has been decided not to start registration until the US soldiers arrive".
The JUI is just one of many groups that will be opening recruitment centres for the jihad. The al-Badar organisation has recruitment offices in the border areas where young men can select the jihad of their choice.
Kashmir, the Palestinian territories and Chechnya are all popular destinations, but they are expecting Afghanistan to be the next favoured destination.
According to al-Badar, there had been a sharp rise in the number of men expressing interest in joining a jihad since the United States began its bombing campaign against Afghanistan's Taliban regime.
Part of al-Badar's success is due to its advertising campaign which includes an international mobile number, posters and bumper-stickers that read: "America we are coming." A spokesman explained that each recruit must be at least 18, a devout Muslim and accept al-Badar's philosophy: "jihad for peace."
Al-Badar conducts two types of training at secret camps in the tribal areas. Basic training involves tuition in the use of AK-47s and shoulder-fired rocket launchers.
The advanced stage is an intensive three-month course in guerrilla warfare. Recruits are not given any rank because all fighters in a holy war are equal.
Outside Mandi Mosque in Peshawar, Abdul Hakim is on his way into Qari Faizurrehman's office to donate some money.
He is waiting for Mullah Omar's call to go a step further and take up arms against "the Muslim enemy".
"I am ready as a Muslim to fight. When the word comes I will go."