Srinagar, Aug. 5 -- On a recent Friday, I stood near the arched wooden gate of Jamia Masjid and watched a motorcycle slide past a group of elderly men removing their shoes for prayer. It weaved between street vendors shouting over each other, then stopped beside a tea stall where the mosque's old stone wall had turned into a shelf for paper cups.

This wasn't a surprise. It's become a scene we've grown used to. And that's exactly the problem.

Jamia Masjid is more than 600 years old, a relic of grace and faith from an era when buildings were made to reflect the soul.

Commissioned in 1402 by Sultan Sikandar Shah and expanded by his son, the beloved Budshah Zain-ul-Abidin, it was designed not only as a mosque but as a symbol of harmony, co...