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They call us kafirs
They call us heretics
They call us raffidis
They call us by all
Kinds of denigrating names
With our thoughts
They disagree
We are Shia born
We will Shia die
Even after death
We will Shia be
We lovers of
Allah
Rasool
Ahle bait
Karbala
Our lesson in history
Yes call us by any name
We are Shias
Shias we wll be
Ya Hussain
Our destiny
Yazidiyat
By any other name
Is Yazidiyat you see
Under the banner
Of Hussainiyat
Only Shias you will see
You should not be
Shocked or surprised
We are Shias born to
Shed tears by a Holy Decree
Maksade Fatima
We are branches
Of such a tree
We love the Holy Progeny
Maksade Hussain
Ghame Hussain
Azadari E Hussain
What makes us Shia
Now you can see
Come Moharam
Even in little
Childrens eyes
Only Karbala
You will see
Enemies of Shiasm
Are enemies of Humanity
I read some real disparaging words against Shiasm , I think sites that propagate Hate towards any community should be completely blocked on the Internet sites such as Allah Ho Akbar , Char Yar, some Iternet policing is very important at an early stage…These are sites that fuel Hate , sectarian violence ,hate for a particular Nationality, hate for India and Indians specially Muslim Indians,site that are funded by a certain Islamic or perhaps UnIslamic school of thought with abundance of petro dollars at stake..very soon the dirt will find its way on their doorsteps too..
Most of these sites propound the Wahhabi doctrine of a puritanical Islam..
May 7th, 2007
I cut myself accidentally , very seriously, while in Delhi Chehlum,Moharam .The sword that I was using to cut my forehead was snatched from my hand severing the tendon of my right hand..I have tried everything, but the pain has never gone ,nor can I use my fingers, I take cloves of raw garlics as suggested by an internet well wisher, salt water formentation, but no relief ...
a scourging blade
a slashed tendon
a double edged sword
delhi chehlum
jumma masjid
21 miles walk
a hand of god
thank you
for small mercies
my head i nod
spare the child
spoil the rod
me stray musings
carter road promenade
or i would be lying
hand amputated
at sl raheja diabetic ward
but maksade hussain
a chant that binds me
to hussainiyat
a silken cord..
next moharam
i will do it again
thank you lord
#firozeshakir
#beggarpoet
28 June 2007
Posted at YouTube Community Tab
First you can post as much hate comments here at this Community platform..
it wont ever see the light of day ..I report your comment as hate speech and block you,
Unlike you I dont hide behind a nameless faceless mask..unlike you I post videos you have nothing to post with all your vacuous brains ,, I pity your ancestry your upbringing and your parentage ,,
I am an Indian a Indian that as a photographer I shoot all religion faith without discrimination ...my religious priorities is none of your business ..one thing is sure I am not a foul mouthed dog like those that post hate comments ..you could be a Wahabbi or a Salafi does not interest me at all ...I dont need your religious advise if you are so keen on changing my beliefs you better go and do such teaching with fundamentalists talibans and other such people maligning Islam killing innocent people ,, and giving Peace and Brotherhood a bad name .
Go find some other soft target for your headhunting...
Hussainiyat Zindabad Yazidiyat Murdabad .
I would rather be a Bawa than a sucked Wahabbi
I would rather be a Hindu than a Misplaced Muslim like you ..
189,489 items / 1,502,197 views
I start my new series at Flickr.com Ajmer Urus 2011 and one of its sub divisions will be Dam Madar Malangs of Ajmer .
I was initiated as a Dam Madar Malang by Baba Masoum of the Dam Madar Sufi order of Makkhanpur Delhi, though he heads the Gwalior group..
I have been shooting Baba Masoum Madar a Baba with 40 feet dread hair tied in a turban, since I first touched Ajmer through the grace and bounty of Peersaab Fakhru Miya Hujra No6 ..
Peersaab Fakhru Miya introduced me to Sufism, the Chishtiya Order and the Holy Saint Khwaja Garib Nawaz Moinuddin Hassan Chishti al Sabri..one of the greatest Sufi saints of India his philosophy his teachings his piety and above all his love for Hussain touching Shias like me too.
Every year I am faced with herculean problems at home and work that make my trip to Ajmer for the Urus utterly impossible but somehow the Holy Saint beckons me with broken wings fragmented hopes and I shoot his domain barefeet..
My dear friend Marc De Clercq was the person who inspired me to become a Dam Madar Murid of Baba Masoum Madar and Baba Waheed Madar from Kolkatta, it was Baba Waheed Madar who told Baba Masoum Madar to make me a Murid instantly, so Baba Masoum Madar called me the next morning gave me a bowl of water and sugar and asked me to trace my finger in it and drink the contents ..I did and I became a Dam Madar member with a brand new Sufi name Firoze Masoumi Madar
In all humility gratitude I placed my silver ruby ring on the finger of my Peer and surrendered my pride my ego my outer shell away .. I am a Fakir with a beggar bowl of a camera.. and images as poetry of my journey of life.,.
Marc de Clercq too became a Murid of Baba Masoum Madar he is now known as Marc Masoumi Madar.. and Marc Madar and I are now Peer bhais.. we are brothers spiritually and photographically..
My travelogue is long but a storyboard nonetheless ..
I used to call Marc a Dam Madar much before he became one as he used to walk all the way from Delhi to Ajmer with the Dam Madars ..he has walked for two years with them.
We shot a lot of stuff together but the best one the toughest one was climbing down Taragadh and Marc trailing behind me , my feet bare bleeding walking over rocks precipice to reach the Graves of the Hijra Saint and his biological son at Khada Pada close to Taragadh..this was my toughest trek, I had come here several years back in red djellaba and shot this place barefeet too.
Marc and I parted as I stayed at Peersaab Fakhru Miyas house , I shot hijras rafaees malangs hijra bawas beggars , I collapsed many a times in a trance like condition.. at Moti Katla too.
I shot the Chatti eve at Peersaabs house and the Chatti celebrations at his hujra.
I met dear Facebook fiend Syed Salman Chishty shot the dargah from his terrace.. ,
I shot the Dhai Djinn ka Jhopda too.
I missed a few friends Gopal Haji Saabs mother expired so he was not there nor the eunuch kids or Babita.
I met Laxmi Narayan Tripathi my hijra Guru..this was an eventful meeting as we never meet in Mumbai ever.
My legs are in very bad shape and the few days I stayed at Ajmer I did not take my diabetic medicine I never carried it in the first place..
And my one and only regret the hijra beauty goddess I love the most I could not shoot her, Khushi she was not there till the time I left Ajmer.
I shot Naina Raveena Simran and many hijras including Basanti the Gypsy Hijra..I shot a Sada Suhagin too..
But one person I am lucky to have met is the President of all Hijras transgender of Jammu Kashmir , I was touched by piety her simplicity ,Sarah Haji she has performed Hajj twice done Ziyarate e Karbala and she has invited me to come and shoot Ashura in Jammu ..this year..
This lady is a devout Hussainiyat loving trans gender cultured and lover of Fine Arts..
So this is my new set at Flickr.com..I get tired with words just see the pictures ...
Muqam e Ishq Koi Be Zameer Kya Janay
Hussainiyat Ki Haqeeqat Haqeer Kya Janay
Nabi (S.A.W.W) Ki Zaat Pe Hazyan Ka Ho Shak Jis Ko
Woh Do Rakat Ka Namazi ghadeer Kya Janay
Eid al-Ghadeer is a festive day observed by Shia Muslims on the 18th of Dhu al-Hijjah in the Islamic calendar. This day is to celebrate the appointment of Ali ibn Abi Talib by the Islamic prophet Muhammad as his immediate successor, as per Shia belief. It marks the anniversary of Muhammad's sermon, described in Hadith of the pond of Khumm, in which he stated, Whomsoever's master (maula) I am, Ali is also his (maula) master. O' God, love those who love him, and be hostile to those who are hostile to him.[1][2][3]"من كنت مولاه فهذا عليّ مولاه أللهم والِ من والاه و عادِ من عاداه"[4]
Shia Muslims celebrate the day with a tradition of taking a mass oath to reassert their commitment to Islam, in the same manner as individual Shia adults take an oath on reaching adulthood. This they believe to be continued from the period of their Imam.
Sunni Muslims do not celebrate this day as they feel that it not an established celebratory day. They also do not accept the Shia belief that the Prophet Muhammad appointed Ali his successor.
A few months before his passing on, Muhammad – living in the city of Medina – made his last religious pilgrimage to Makkah in a trip referred to as The Farewell Pilgrimage. There, atop Mount Arafat, he addressed the Muslim masses in what came to be known as The Farewell Sermon. After completion of the Hajj, or religious pilgrimage, Muhammad turned back towards his home in Medina. On the trip there, he stopped at the pond of Khumm (at present Al-Johfa) and appointed Ali as the master of believers and also took a covenant about his mastership from those who were present. The exact meaning of the word Maula (master) is a matter of disagreement among the major sects of Islam; the tradition is recorded in both Shia and Sunni authentic books of traditions but they disagree on the interpretation of the tradition and the event, specifically the word Maula. There are also minor differences in the exact words of the tradition but that is the case for many repetitive traditions found in a single book of tradition as well. The tradition recorded in authentic Muslim books such as Sahih Muslim is that after the pilgrimage, Muhammad ordered a gathering of Muslims to come to the pond of Khumm and there he nominated Ali to be the master (Maula), which the Shias interpret based on the events and the words of the tradition to be an announcement of Ali's successorship to the Prophet, while the Sunnis believe that it was just praise of Ali (a.s) that the Prophet intended to announce in front of his companions among whom were also some who did not like him, and hence the stoppage for two days and the event as well. The wording of the sermon in Shia accounts is as follows:
Oh people! Reflect on the Quran and comprehend its verses. Look into its clear verses and do not follow its ambiguous parts, for by Allah, none shall be able to explain to you its warnings and its mysteries, nor shall anyone clarify its interpretation, other than the one that I have grasped his hand, brought up beside myself, [and lifted his arm,] the one about whom I inform you that whomever I am his master (Maula), this Ali is his master (Maula); and he is Ali Ibn Abi Talib, my brother, the executor of my will (Wasiyyi), whose appointment as your guardian and leader has been sent down to me from Allah, the Greatest, Mighty and the Majestic.
References[edit]
Jump up ^ www.al-islam.org/ghadir/incident.htm
Jump up ^ Article: Eid Al-Ghadeer
Jump up ^ Eid-ul-Ghadeer
Jump up ^ translate.google.co.tz/
I shot this event on 8 Moharam at Carter Road Bandra for two years 2008 and 2009..
It was a nostalgic event as it has its roots in Lucknow the famous Daryawala Alam that starts at Daryawali Masjid ,,I shot this event once in Lucknow too.
However as I dont shoot Moharam in Mumbai and document Ashura and Chehlum in other cities ,,, these are now pictorial memories.. and as I have been shooting Carter road for several years , this too becomes a very significant segment ..the majlis here is recited by Maulana Yasoob Abbas of Lucknow son of erstwhile Maulana Athar Sab.
This documentation is part of my set on Shiasm in India
Dariyawala Alam at Carter Road Bandra, I shot this in total sincerity, trying to show you the grief of Imam Hussain as celebrated by Indian Shia Muslims.
Hussainiyat Zindabad is a voice of sanity and the universal reign of spiritual peace , tolerance among all Faith.
Moharam should be seen as such.
A revolt against Terrorism...that has spread its evil head destroying the basic tenets of the foundation of mankind.
Moharam is a 1400 old protest and shall continue...against Yazidiyat,,
Yazid was the Father of Terrorism.. against Humanity ,.
Merry... says:
A tribute to Hazrat Imam Hussain(AS)
1400 years ago one man with an Army of 72 stood for truth against an Army of 10,000~30,000. His cause was noble as was his grandfather's, Muhammad(PBUH). Apparently they lost the battle but it was soon proved that who won and who lost it in real terms. They fought to the last man but didn't surrender to the vicious armies of Yazid. This epic is one of the greatest examples of human faith, courage, tolerance and bravery. Verily said,
Qatl-e-Hussain asl mein murg-e-Yazeed ha
Islam zinda hota ha hur Karbala k baad
Darya khajil tha sabz pharaire mei'n thi wo leher
Sabza bhi iske ishq mei'n khaaye hue tha zeher
for two month
eight days
we bled
we cut
our backs
we cut
our heads
so whether
it is moharam
or eid e zehra
we choose
the color red
we curse
the killers
of imam hussain
and those eunuchs
of the yazidi force
who watched this
like cowards
tails between
their legs fled
long live
the martyrs
the purebred
hussainiyat
our only peaceful
homestead
#yazidiyat
#eidezehra
#shiasm
#firozeshakir
#beggarpoet
I cut my head on Athvi in Lucknow bleeding did not stop till eid e zehra
w
enjoying
the spiritual colors
of humanity
as gods gift
he a hindu
me a muslim
different ideology
we have no rift
on the karmic consciousness
of peace
we drift
saffronized serenity
hope and hindutva
bit by bit
synchronized solace
on sands that shift
the pain and passion
embedded as hussainiyat
of a shia pandit
as Indians
on a nations plurality
as brothers co exist
we bleed the same pain
the same sorrow
if you cut our wrists
yes we are both born
from a single grain
as humanists
I want to go to
Hindustan
said the Holy Imam
a land
where Hospitality
Hope and Harmony
exists
In the Land of the Crescent
Muslims killing Muslims
a sad thought hits
sectarian hate
sectarian strife
puritanical poison
on evil heart sits
dogmatic silence
a spiritual thought twists
Saudi gang rape sentence 'unjust'
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7098480.stm
A lawyer for a gang-rape victim in Saudi Arabia who was sentenced to 200 lashes and six-months in jail says the punishment contravenes Islamic law.
The woman was initially punished for violating laws on segregation of the sexes - she was in an unrelated man's car at the time of the attack.
When she appealed, judges doubled her sentence, saying she had been trying to use the media to influence them.
Her lawyer has been suspended from the case and faces a disciplinary session.
Abdel Rahman al-Lahem told the BBC Arabic Service that the sentence was in violation of Islamic law:
"My client is the victim of this abhorrent crime. I believe her sentence contravenes the Islamic Sharia law and violates the pertinent international conventions," he said.
"The judicial bodies should have dealt with this girl as the victim rather than the culprit."
The lawyer also said that his client would appeal against the decision to increase her punishment.
Segregation laws
According to the Arab News newspaper, the 19-year-old woman, who is from Saudi Arabia's Shia minority, was gang-raped 14 times in an attack in Qatif in the eastern province a year-and-a-half ago.
Seven men were found guilty of the rape and sentenced to prison terms ranging from just under a year to five years.
The rapists' sentences were also doubled by the court. Correspondents say the sentences were still low considering the rapists could have faced the death penalty.
The rape victim was punished for violating Saudi Arabia's laws on segregation that forbid unrelated men and women from associating with each other. She was initially sentenced to 90 lashes for being in the car of a strange man.
On appeal, the Arab News reported that the punishment was not reduced but increased to 200 lashes and a six-month prison sentence.
'Personal views'
Mr Lahem accused the court of letting personal views influence its decision.
"It seems that the sentence was influenced by the fact that the woman escalated the issue with her lawyer and also with the supreme judicial authorities," he said.
"This is astonishing because justice is supposed to be independent from all pressures as well as personal considerations, be it a feeling towards the lawyer or defendant herself," he added.
The Arab News quoted an official as saying the judges had decided to punish the girl for trying to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media.
Mr Lahem said that the judges' decision to confiscate his licence to work and stop him from representing his client is illegal.
weeping womanhood
in womanly throes
sorrowful seeds to plough
whether she was sentenced harshly
because she is shia or
simply because she is a woman
in a male chauvinistic society
one does not know
Islamic path as it glows
womanhood burns on the pyre
and it shows
woman in Islam were treated thus
as the winds from Karbala blow
sham as damacus was called
yazid on his throne crows
princess zainab of the hashemites
with a single call of kutba
in his courtyard
his power and his
opulence overthrows
tilawate koran
a head of hussain
recites Allahs verses
decapitated but
a head that wont bow
humanity thy name hussain
although
lost everything
to yazidi forces did no kowtow
True Islam Hussainiyat
to him as a tribute we owe
Peace and Brotherhood
to the entire human world
he did bestow
I leave to shoot Moharam with two world famous photographers , who also are my Flickr friends .
We will shoot Ashura in the Pearl City of Universal Peace , Hindu Muslim Shia Sunni amity .. all this and more is Hyderabad.
I first shot Moharam in Hyderabad in 2003 - 2004 and later 2009 and 2012.
I love Hyderabad , its people and I have friends from all over the religious canvas , Hindus , Sufis and others ,
I love Hyderabad for its austerity during Moharam , Shia house dont cook food for 10 days eating Niyaz e Hussain that comes from Majlis .
I prefer to be at Choti Bargah at Chatta Bazar with some of my finest friends elders and the younger ones like Qayam...Akthar .
I have a friend in Hyderabad a benefactor who has helped me in my bad times a great Amitabh Bachchan fan Mr Zain Hussain but we have never met just online friends ,, when I am in Hyderabad he is in Dubai.
I also like shooting 8 Moharam with the Nwabas of Hussain Koti.. but this time I dont mind not getting pictures but I want both my American and French friend to document Moharam in Hydrabad .
This means a lot to me , they wanted to shoot Moharam in Mumbai with me but I dont shoot Moharam in Mumbai because of the few bigots that have misplaced the meaning of Hussain and his Hussainiyat .
I will be off the net for a week.. might use Twitter
Goodbye ,,
I have always maintained in my blogs, that we are Shias not just because of our fathers , or the Mullahs, our Shiasm comes directly from our mothers womb, floating in the amniotic fluid, a pond of our birth, our gyrations in the womb, the cries of Ya Hussain..in our mothers womb baptizes us to our Faith much before we are born.
May be I sound 'exaggerative' , but I always felt this way, it is our mothers who carry us within their bellies or when we are born on their waists , dragging us from one majlis to another, this majlis hopping is unstoppable, if you stay in Lucknow ,you are into Moharam 24/7 .
The child is very perceptive to sound to visuals,the black clothes, the alams, the matam, the tears, call it a kind of brain washing , but a better word would be soul washing.
Now dont get shocked it is these children that make us better Shias , always leading from the front,their fervor , in everything connected to Moharam.
While at a young age they sit at Sabils the watering holes distributing water to one and all, without reservations , without Shia Sunni or Hindu Muslim difference..the water in the name of Hussain.
Yes our Faith is a drop of water,it resides in our eyes.
God made tears than placed them in Shia eyes.
Shia eyes will never run dry.. the rivers might.
As long as the Name of Hussain remains Alive.
This is Ghame Hussain.
I am fascinated with children, I shoot children ,Shia children shoot me , here in this picture I made them pose, purposely, to show you the discipline of their actions to anything connected to Imam Hussain.
They know this photographer long hair, earrings , blonde hair, whatever his country he is a follower of Hussain.. Hussainiyat is a Universal passport, no borders , we bond through the blood of Hussain..We might beat our chest in Delhi or Lucknow or Mumbai or Hyderabad on Ashura , but sounds will like speed of light cover Pakistan, Iran Azerbaijan, reverberate at the Roza of Imam Hussain at Karbala.. This is Shiasm.
No I do not forget those Shias in UK USA Canada, New Zealand Australia..here too the sounds are twice harder one for the land of their forefathers, yes I am crying, another for Karbala the land of our Faith.Our spiritual nationalism is Hussainyat another name for Humanity.
Yes we are Shias.
Call us what you want to , whether you call us heretics , kaffirs, the fact remains and almost taunts your pristine opinion, we have kept the Bayt alive .. we the believers of Ahle Bait.
We believe in the same Almighty Allah, the same Holy Prophet, you perhaps dont believe in his Progeny , but that is your prerogative.
We have the same Kalma , the same Azan.. we let our hands lose..
So why cant we co exist..
Why are we just Shia Sunnis .
Why during riots, ethnic cleansing by other races we are killed as Muslims, our women raped our children sodomized.. perhaps you are shocked at my harsh words,but they are mild very mild compared to the grenades that as Muslims we lob in Masjids, suicide bombing Namazis.
Yes we are Muslims..we are products of our Arabic ancestral barbarism, we kill to shock , with style, we kill each other like we killed Hazrat Ali in the Mosque.
Or Imam Hussain and his family mercilessly without water and food at Karbala.
But yes we are Muslims we slaughter cattle goats during Bakra Idd..
Yes we Muslms certainly love to kill.. our own kind more than anything.
Our Mullah are busy watching a late night show.
The Silence of the Lambs.
Below are pictures of Kids of Mr Shabeeb Rizvis household who reinforce my faith, every time it gets shaky..the Rizvi kids are the true apostles of our Faith.. I did not use the word Soldiers.. we have enough of them as 12 year old chopping heads for the greater glory of Islam across the borders.
a mother watches
Eyes that hold Karbala
The Matam
Ya Hussain Ya Hussain
May 3rd, 2007
abbas_naqvi2008 says:
Salam ya hussain i m nouha khawan my name is syed shah abbas raza naqvi moula waris hain hummara hardam ya ali taray siwa mushikal koosha koi nahi visit my website my friends and my sweets visitors here is my websities and e_mail address
Www.Shahabbasraza.Blogspot.Com
And here is my e_mail addresses
abbas_naqvi2008@Yahoo.Com
abbas_naqvi2009@In.Com
salam o all my visitors
its my mobile number
03082744918 abbas_naqvi2008 says:
Salam ya hussain i m nouha khawan my name is syed shah abbas raza naqvi moula waris hain hummara hardam ya ali taray siwa mushikal koosha koi nahi visit my website my friends and my sweets visitors here is my websities and e_mail address
Www.Shahabbasraza.Blogspot.Com
And here is my e_mail addresses
abbas_naqvi2008@Yahoo.Com
abbas_naqvi2009@In.Com
salam o all my visitors
its my mobile number
03082744918
SALAM HUSSAIN KI AAZMAT KO KHOON_E_HUSSAIN ZAINDABAD YAZAID KI SHAKAL PA NALAAT NALAAT YAZAIDIYAT MOORDABAD HUSSAINIYAT ZAINDABAD ZAINDABAD ZAINDABAD
Children generally have their own world , a world of peace love hope and harmony.
They transport you to this world on wings of angels that exists in their hearts their souls and in the cavity of their heads.
Their thought process is superfine, not like ours , which is a jarring graph of chaos and uncertainty.
Perhaps the birth of Marziya bought me closer to a child's world.
Marziya loves children but only those older than her , she treats kids of age or younger in a matter of fact way, she will touch their cheek and in a very condescending way..her sense of touch and her sense of smell being strong, she will blurt out fish much before I pass the Bandra Fish Market.
The amazing part of Marziya is her fondness for books, pencil and pen..
She wont have her lunch or supper , she needs to watch cartoons, Mr Bean being her favorite.
Yesterday I took her to a persons house and there was a dog exactly the same breed and color as Lucky, he growled at her , later he became Marziyas known friend.
So I find Marziya and animals is a inner bonding..an inner magical quality.
The only regret I have is I have not taught her swimming , but she is a water child , she loves getting wet in the rains shouting with joy the Hindi word for rain Barish.
The pajamas she is wearing is cotton stretch , remnant of a clients shirt fabric, she liked it, I immediately had it stitched like my own pajamas in 15 minutes, my guy took her waist hips length measure..but she was not surprised as she takes the measure tape and measures parts of my leg..she knows what it is used for,including the stick she is holding in her hand.
Most of the time she will cup her hand to the ear having an imaginary conversation,as one has while speaking on the mobile phone.
She knows her shoes , she brings them out of the shoe box in similar pair.
She loves jewelery, and most of all she loves herself in the mirror, she takes the final approval of her appearance in the mirror.
She is a Shia child , she knows her heritage , a heritage of pain that we call Hussainiyat, she does matam, she takes a hanky weeps cries, pretending she is at a majlis.She does it at the ladies Mehfil at Bandra when the sad part called the Masaib are recited.
But what gets her excited is the namaz, she will follow all the rituals after my wife, bending her head, folding her hands , she will take the tazbi,the beads and began turning it on her little fingers.
She loves her father, if she is with me and spots her dad whom she calls Abu, she will drop me like a hot potato than she wont come back to me .
And I dont force myself shooing Marziya , neither do I go overboard, I shoot her as an impulse , as a process to unlearning photography.
She knows Bandra bylanes and will lead me into them with her finger.
I took her to St Peters Church , I had gone to say hello to Fr Gerard and she loves the surrounding, the kids playing in muck..she loves the aura of most of the places that are my pictorial haunt.
I bought her a tiny umbrella but being moody she hardly has a urge for it, in short it has lost its newness..
Marziya has has encounters with the Hijras too, but she is wary of them, she hides her true emotions..she will watch them curiously but wont make any moves..
She loves beggar kids, I bought her two chocolates I told her to give one to the beggar kid, she gave it to her, the other one I told to keep it for herself, but without batting an eyelid she gave the second one to the beggar child too with a happy smile on her face.
Marziya has been my coming of age..close to my shop there is a Muslim pani puriwala, I happened to give her a taste of the pani puri, and I take the masala water spiced which is poured into the puri, now as we pass Mohomed Bhai the panipuriwala Marziya will put her finger in her mouth indicating she wants it..
Most of the kids around Bandra know her by name , the schoolk kids wave out to her , and if I dont bring Marziya down for a day or too, than they begin pestering me , Uncle where is Marziya..
In the lift Marziya knows the button to press , while going up or coming down.
Marziya loves cops, and the cops love her too, whenever I take her to Mr Shatrughan Sinhas house , she will leave my hand go and salute at the officers part of his security , shake hands with them.
I guess the power of the khaki uniform.
And today is Marziyas first commercial photo shoot for my daughters project - for an ad.
Marziya is a child born also from the womb of a camera is the least I can say about her..I miss the Canon G9 that a wretched person stole from me on 9 Moharam procession, it was Dr Glenn Losacks gift to Marziya .A perfect camera for her.
Marziya loves black tea like me and her father .
Marziya plays with her uncle Saif , and gets overexcited with Samiya my daughter and her husband Assad.
Whenever Shayan my nephew visits Bandra than she plays with him..and not sometime back, he had held her on his lap when she was one month old and Shayan about 6 years I think.
Marziya wont forget faces and places .
Simply because the Shia mother the beacon of Spirituality keeps the flame of Hussainiyat alive , taking her kids of every age to religious discourse called majlis , matams , and from a very early age this is absorbed by the child.
Majlis is the staple of Shia spirituality remembering the Battle of Karbala , really a battle between Good and Evil..
Sadly having shot Moharam all over the major cities of India the organizers build Sabils distribute Niyaz during the procession but you will hardly find mobile toilets for the women folk.. but despite all this the Shia mother the Shia ladies overcome these hurdles shortcomings only for the love of Imam Hussain.
This is my last Moharam segment of 292 pictures , shot in poor light conditions , shivering hands barefeet and my diabetic condition keeps the blood trickling from my head wounds .. but I documented what I saw the spirit of Shiasm.
And this is my tribute to the Shia mother ,,,my mother my childrens mother , and grandchildrens mother .
And our spirituality finally pays the ultimate tribute to Imam Hussains mother Princess Fatima who lost both her beloved children tragically Hassan and Hussain.
I dont glorify blood , but our history is written in our blood we Shias have been persecuted for 1400 years for simply stating tha yes here is Terrorism in Islam.. Muslims first love killing Muslims and than hen they have destroyed the Shias the Hazaras than they shoot murder rape other ethnicity .
The Talibans The ISIS the radicals all children of Yazid wont rest till they have destroyed the very core message of Islam Peace and Brotherhood .
I am an educated Muslim that is perhaps what saved me from the fires of this worldly Hell and come from good parentage .
And mind you we Shias are products of our surroundings our upbringings I refuse to be a narrow minded bigot Shia , my parents instilled humanity in me much before they consummated to create my human form.
I have been schooled by Christians , but never once did they ever encroach the parameters of my Soul.. I studied Catechism in my early years and my belief in my heritage my ancestry has remained intact.
Maybe my forefathers may have been Hindus , but I am happy being a Shia I d rather be a Shia than just a Muslim and not the Muslim of contemporary Wahabbi or Salafi mindset ,, and I would rather be a Hindu than a Wahabbi or a Salafi venom pouring Islamist .
These are my personal views , and I shoot Shiasm as Humanity as a vital part of Indias diverse religiosity .
I shoot with my time my camera , I dont do photography for money , photography merely is my poetry of Life.
I show you my backyard and if it is graphic bloody you dont need to see it at ll.
I dont need your criticism you have issues with Shiasm I am not a Mullah or a scholar , go discuss with them .. I shoot all religion I am a citizen of the world but yes Indian first .
I have shot over 60000 Hindu blogs , over 58000 Shia blogs and Sufi blogs .including Christian ethos .
I am a photoblogger my grammar being bad unstructured I use pictures as my storyboard.
I have Shiasm for those who are not Shias .. my foreigner friends , who might never ever venture into my world ,,my world is simplistic devoid of semantics polemics or other high powered philosophy ,, dont please judge me by what I shoot I definitely dont shoot porn..
I shoot reality as real as crystal as the tears in my eyes .. yes we Shias cry we mourn we bleed but we want to live in Peace ..Let Us Live ..
Our annual Moharam house majlis was held today , recited by Maulana Abidi Saab , and the ladies were gathered at my house , and the gents at the house of Hadi and Tehseen Mukadam our dear friends ..All my three grand daughters decided to be with the ladies , and as there are many majlis around Bandra at the same time the attendance was adequate ,..
Maulana Abidi Sab talked at length on the Tragedy of Karbala , the decapitation of Imam Hussain by Shimr and the pain of Ahle Bayt and his sister Bibi Zainab who witnessed the tragedy .of the Grandson of the Holy Prophet Of Islam .. and Imam Hussain was murdered by a Muslim .. and it is a fact and my personal poetic thesis that Muslims love Killing Muslims ..
Karbala exists even today and the persecution of the Followers of Imam Ali and the Mourners of Imam Hussain continues everywhere in Arab states and in Pakistan Afghanistan and Iraq.. and the Minarets of Hate are silent ,,,the so called custodians power brokers of Islam prefer a divide and rule policy, and it is the factionalism that has even seeped in the soul of Shiasm.. we are divided among our own, one Shia faction bent on destroying the soul of Hussainiyat..and in Mumbai maligning individual Shias by Shia bigots has become the norm , finding faults and judging him without proof simply on hearsay....why are such Shias taking such officious stands against other Shias beats me completely ,,, why cant we be united in Ghame Hussain , instead of politicizing the meaning of Hussainiyat ... and it hurts me deeply .. so the Masaib of Maulana Abidi Sab was about our loss our collective pain , our mourning and the Tragedy of all times ..and when Death draws near , the Azadar is judged for his mourning his tears is the crux of the meaning of Ghame Hussain..
I was weeping like the rest and it is our tears without color bias , our tears whether we are poor rich affluent that become a stream of thought for the generation Next.. a bolder more wiser generation ,cyber savvy and thought provoking.. Azadari and Ghame Hussain keeps the Flame of Hope Humanity alive .
There was Matam e Hussain and Niyaz that wife had specially made at home , galauti ke kebab and roti and Yakhni Pulao..
A lot of my friends did not turn up, and a a few passed away into the next world .. we missed them dearly..
One of my sons shot the pictures this time .. I took the camera at the end ..and this is the first Moharam documentary I have shot of Mumbai Azadari at my house ..
I shot Ashura in Delhi at Kashmiri Gate and might shoot Chehlum in some other distant city.. where it is Ya Hussain Labaik Ya Hussain...
Posted at Now Public
I deleted my account at Now Public.. for personal reasons .
There is a sizable population of Shias in India and you see them all together during the mourning period of Moharam, grieving for the Martyrdom of Imam Hussain the Grandson of the Holy Prophet. This is a period of two months eight days , and the solemnity is such that the Shias wear only black clothes , keep away from fun and festivities, no movies , no television , not even news.
Only Majlis discourse by the Maulana ,matam beating of the chest , crying and reliving the sadness of a moment that the Shias call Ghame Hussain
On the sidewalks are watering holes called Sabil offering free water sherbet to quench parch throats in remembrance of Imam Hussain and his sufferings on the sands of Karbala and the blocked water posts of River Euphrates.
I have been shooting Moharam since 9 years , trying to capture the pain of the community as a photographer as a blogger , that I am a Shia is incidental to my pictorial quest.
I have shot Moharam in Mumbai, Lucknow , Kolkatta , Hussain Tekri MP ,Hyderabad ..as I am enchained to Mumbai most of the time , I have captured the essence of the Shia faith as a photographer , the Shia culture , rites and rituals that differ from State to State .A world of Alams, Tazias, Zuljana replica of Imam Hussains Steed , Taboots ..
But one single thread holds all in a bind - the Pain of Hussain or Ghame Hussain.
The most importnat factor in keeping the Shia faith alive is primarily the Mother , she is the one who is the source of a river called Hussainiyat, she sees that the child learns to swim with the flow of his ancestral faith.
Th House Imambada lights the way the core element in a Shia house.
Than comes the Father who takes the kids to the various processions called juloos, the Imambadas where the child hears the sad narrative of Imam Hussains Martyrdom.
The Maulana is the Sutradhar he keeps the pain alive , and he guides the followers towards the right Path.
Most of the pictures I shot are in places where Non Muslims are not allowed , private areas , that I bring to you here via photographs.
A glimpse of the Shia culture , and there is no attempt to give it a religious bent..see this as a canvas of the pain and pathos of the Shia , his ethos and nothing else.
Through my viewfinder a landscape of blood sweat and tears.. there is no preachifying , no glorification , simple a study of a Shia way of Life during the austere month of Moharam.
As you are aware I shoot all religiosity with the same passion as I shoot my own Faith , yes I shoot with sincerity and become a part of the picture I shoot..call me Muslim ,call me a Hindu call me a Jew , call me a Christian..as a photographer I embody all Faith on the emulsion of your consciousness.
I am an Indian and I portray the diversity of my Indianneess which is as human as human can be.
But on the bedrock of all religiosity I am Human..
Hussain is Humanity and Moharam is a 1400 year protest against Terrorism that the Shias call Yazidiyat, from father to son, mother to daughter , kept alive by a message called Azadari.
The main Shia mourning days are Ashura 10 Moharam,Chehlum 40 Moharam and the last period known as Athvi when Moharam mouring comes to an end.The day after Athvi is time for celebrations for the Shia.
The Shias call this day Eid E Zehra or Navi .. this is the Mother of all Idds.
Vindication of Good over Evil.
My Shia sets about 80 are in a Collection at Flickr..you have to be signed in to see all my stuff.
www.flickr.com/photos/firozeshakir/collections/7215760730...
155,491 items / 1,226,077 views
I am in Chennai I reached here on the 13 December , I connected with a Momin Ashfaque in Dubai on the net he connected me to Misaq who is a devout helper of Hussain , he runs the Ali Moulah Channel here in Chennai.
I never knew these guys before his cousin Musayb picked me up at the station , I stayed a night at a lodge , shot the 7 Moharam procession on the streets of Chennai at Triplicaine .
They say there are only 10000 Shia souls in Tamilnadu , but I have never seen such a huge crowd the fervor the intensity as I found among the Chennai Shias and I am crying as I write at a Internet cafe in Dharmapuri,I cafe, I met Dr Abbas Meer , son of late Ali Master , he took me out of the lodge and bought me to his own house, his father died recently on Eid e Ghadeer , he took me around the streets of Chennai after I had shot the 7 Moharam juloos , I shall post pictures when I return to Mumbai after shooting the Chennai Ashura.
Last night I traveled with Dr Abbas Meer he has a assignment helping the poor sick people in Dharmapuri, I have come with him , I shot the streets of Dharmapuri he will return in the evening than I go with him to shoot the fire matam on the border of Tamilnadu Karnataka a place called Jagadevi in Krishnagiri District.
The warmth of the Chennai Shias is holistically healing they go out of their way polite soft spoken and though I look like a strange apparition with earrings pierced to my ear lobes they wonder who I am, , I am not wearing my usual signature jewelery because of Ashura , however the Chennai Shias are people who are bound to Hussain and Hussainiyat ...spreading Humanity and Peace as the Gospel of Ahle Bayt.
I have met some great folks here , actually I was only going to shoot 7 Moharam and than leave the same night to shoot Hyderabad or Bangalore Ashura....but after connecting with the Chennai Shias, with Misaq and Musayb I thought I will shoot the Ashura here too...and complete the circle of Shia mourning
So I am adding text to my old post I miss the lap top at home , I have already shot a 20 GB card as of now..in one day .
Dharmapuri is peaceful town of Tamilnadu and the people are very kind , the tea and the coffee here is heavenly , I have never tasted such coffee anywhere in India.
Dr Abbas Meer is a Shia scholar a Zkir e Ahle Bayt , a journalist and like me a colorful personality who gives equal respect to all religiosity , so we just clicked , I shot the Sunni Alams at Chennai street corners I shot a Sunni Alam procession on the street chanting Ya Hussain dressed in black clothes.
Chennai weather is very cool , and comforting, and in spite of traveling all night in the bus I changed two buses to get to Dharmapuri I am as fresh as ever.
I miss my grand daughter Marziya Shakir 3 years old worlds youngest street photographer and her picture on my mobile gives me comfort..and strength too.
My wife has gone to Karbala for Ziyarat I discover Karbala in the Soul of the Shias of Chennai.
And just above this Internet cafe computer is a Warning that says Dont Install soft wares in Computer..
15 December 2010
I am back in Chennai and staying at Dr Abbas Meers house , last night I shot the Ag Matam or Alawa at Jigdevi Krishnagiri district , a very memorable event I shot the ancestral Alams of Ali Akbar and Bibi Zainab that had miraculously appeared in a persons dream and were found in a rice storage granary at the family house of the people who own this Ashurkhana.
After the gents walk on the fire it is the turn of the ladies to walk the fire ,., I wanted to shoot this to share a single picture with the world to share with all of you the strength of our Shiasm , it is the ladies of our house who keep the flames of Hussainiyat and Faith alive from one generation to the next, an elderly gentleman Mr Humayun was convinced that a single picture would be a message of Peace anfd Humanity but I was refused by a arrogant over conceited Shia youth from Jigdevi and over educated too, I told him I would only shoot a single women in a hijab walking the fire.. I have ladies in my house too so my picture representation would be in the cause of Tablike Hussain , but such is the way of the narrow mind cloistered in archival anomaly that I walked away from the event in sheer humility.. as a Shia too.
A Hindu Shia a fact that I am proud of ...my Hussainyat is made in Karbala which for me is my beloved Hindustan the land the Imam wanted to come to in order to avoid blood shed among Muslims.
And I was here at Jigdevi only because of Dr Abbas Meer or I doubt if I could have come here on my own.
However the people I met at Jigdevi were hospitable in the truest sense., concerned about my well being and my diabetic condition, the Ashurkhana people also made arrangements , for our return journey from Jigdevi to Chennai past midnight.
I shall forever grateful to the kind folks all Syeds Momins and lovers of Ahle Bayt.
Today I have done a lot of street photography in Chennai including the temple area of Mylapore.
Glenn Losack to me
Please
explain this man to me
and a poem for sure
NizamUDIN in delhi
Photo courtesy
© Glenn M. Losack
glennlosackmd.com
This explanation is to a picture shot by Glenn Losack at the Dargah NizamuddinAulia of a Malang or Sufi ascetic in chains..He wanted me to say it poetically too.
After the battle of Karbala when Imam Hussain and all his braves were Martyred , the bodies were stripped of their belongings, heads decapitated placed atop spears , horses were made to run over what remained of the headless corpses.
72 heads on spears.
Yazids bloodthirsty Muslim army then moved towards the ladies tents, burnt all that remained, looted and pillaged.
Among the male survivors was the sickly son of Imam Hussain, whom they had spared as the sickly are not supposed to be killed , the only saving grace in an early Arab Geneva convention..
All the women and children including g the sickly son Zainul Abedin or the Fourth Shia Imam was thus made captives and made to walk from Karbala to Sham or Damascus in heavy chains.
At Damascus the vandals unveiled the ladies of the Imams house; incidentally they were all aware that Imam Hussain was the grandson of the Holy Prophet.
They were thus presented worse than common criminals at the Court of Yazid..the only one who stood up against Yazid the Caliph of the Ummayad Caliphate was Bibi Zainab the Indomitable sister of Imam Hussain.In Islam one thing that Allah does not condone is the abusive treatment of women. So when all this got over after imprisonment Yazid released the prisoners to go back to Karbala bury the dead and proceed to Madina their hometown..
The pioneer of the Shia mourning , the wailing was Bibi Zainab, she narrated the Tragedy of Karbala.The tragic month revisted Moharam,
When the Fourth Imam was asked in Life where he suffered most..
He burst out crying Sham Sham Sham.
This Glenn Losack, was the heaviest chains on a mans soul, the Imam could bear everything but not the snatching of the Veils the Ridas of the noble ladies.
This is the real meaning of the Hijab, when to hide their shame the ladies covered their faces with their hair.
This Shiasm, Shiite Shias the core belief bound to a 1400 year pain of a martyred Imam Hussain..
This is what a present somnolent conscience of Islam does not want be reminded of , this is the forbearer to modern Jehadi Terrorism a brain child of Yazid.. this is what we call Yazidiyat.
Following the footsteps of Imam Hussain is called Hussainiyat.
And the couplet at the Shrine of Khwaja Moinddin Chishty..
The fourteenth century Sufi saint , Khwaja Moinuddin chisti remarks in one of his famous 'rebayees ' :
"Shah ast Hussain , Baadshah ast Hussain
Deen ast Hussain, Deen panah ast Hussain
Sar dad no daad dast dar dast-e-Yezid
Haq ke bena la -ila ast Hussain ."
Loosely translated , the couplet would mean:
' A rular is Hussain , an emperor is Hussain.
Faith is Husain , guardian of faith is Hussain .
He offered his head and not the hand to Yezid.
Truly, Allal's true mirror of faith is Hussain '.
Moinuddin Chisti was referring of course to Hazrat Imam Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammed..
So now my poem
The Malang of Ajmer at the Shrine of Nizamuddin Aulia
Bound in chains reminds the world of a pain
The agony the shame faced by the women
At Damascus the court of Yazid after Imam Hussain was slain
Snatched Ridas from their head as they covered their faces
With their hair this was Yazidi Islam traditons values
A black page of Islamic shame eunuched bystanders
A greater pain and a refrain
Sham Sham Sham cried the Fourth Imam
Greater than any blood stain..
Live like Ali Die like Hussain
The Shia Resurgence
that explains
A malang in chains ..
cries invoking
Ya Hussain
Ya Hussain
The Shia children ,
To shoot this child I took her fathers permission, she knows that
what she s touching is a religious thing, and indeed it is the Taboot of Imam Hussain.
A replica of his coffin, bedecked with flowers at Kaiser Bagh before the Juloos.
A Shia child grows up fast on a fast track of Shiasm.
Her mother is the architect of her spiritual world, I say this as I watch sons wife teach Marziya to parrot words like Ya Hussain.
Marziya responds with gurgling sounds, that a normal two months old baby makes.
She is learnin grapidly she says Hi she says Hello...
And her mother takes her everyday cradled in her arms to the Majlis, the world around her, the cries the chant of Ya Hussain, all pervading her cosmic consciousness.
This is Shiasm, giving birth in the amniotic fluid waters of the euphrates held in the womb of Shia womanhood and motherhood.
We owe it to our mothers , our aunts , our grand mothers for keeping the flame alive.
The strength of our Shiasm lies in our Womanhood.
Mothers who carrying a baby on the waist two held to the hand go from one Majlis to another, poor sanitary conditions at Imambadasdoes not deter them, the kids are amply toilet trained , hardened to a life that seeks succour in Ghame Hussain.
Moharam is the pinnacle of a period od severity, no movies, no marriages , no parties, just black clothes and Ya Hussain Ya Hussain.
Before Moharam sets in the ladies of the House begin their arduous task of changing their life styles, the moth ball smelling black clothes come out from the trunks and cupboards the boys get their Zanjir blades out of the drawers still stained with dried blood of last Ashura matam , the house Imambada is decorated ,new patkas made fr the Alams, from gold brocade fabric, the Alams are sent to be silver polished..
This is Shiasm..
New Nohas , are noted down in the Byas or the Matam reading copy book..and the entire Shia household awaits the Chand of Moharam,, the Moon of Moharam.And my eyes are slowly getting moist as I remember my departed Mother who made us good human beings by just making us Shias..
Yes this is Shiasm.
Tolerance was the cornerstone of my Mother late Shamim Shakirs faith and creed.
Our house maid was an old Hindu lady we called Bai.. who would stand in a corner and slowly beat her chest repeating Ya Hussain , she taught me that Hussain is not a part of a Muslim Religion but part of a life to be lived.
Yes I am crying, as I showed the same respect to her beloved Ganesha and ate the Modak she offered me..
Yes this is pure pristine Shiasm of an ethos called Mee Mumbaikar..
This Hindu Maharashtrian lady from Colaba Military Quarters who worked at our house that belonged to the family of Nawab Kashmiri at Wodehouse Road made us what we are today, I remember her son Tulsiya too..
So simultaneously I remember my maternal grandmother Nazmi begum wife of late Daroga Nabban Saab of Pata Nala who would visit us and add the charm of LUcknow that we hardly knew I talk of circa 1955 .Or my paternal grandmother Khurshed Baji who too came to visit us from Vazir Ganj Lucknow.
All these collective memories become a part of our everlasting tryst with Shiasm.
With Marziyas birth they come out alive and her mother who has become the newest daughter of our family.
So Shiasm is feeling of self respect mutually respecting the religious rights of others and this all came to us as our ancestral heritage the gift from another Mother,
yes a Mother who lost everything the Mother of Hassan and Hussain.
Princess Fatima the daughter of the Holy Prophet.
This is what a picture does to the poetry of my soul..
This is a poem if you read it as such.. a poem of Human life
Yes this is Shiasm a poem of human life that we call Hussainiyat...
“Shah ast Hussain, badshah ast Hussain Deen ast Hussain, deen panaah ast Hussain Sar daad, na daad dast dar dast-e-yazeed Haqu-e-binney la ilaahaa ast Hussain”
“King is Hussain, King of Kings is Hussain/ Faith is Hussian, Protector of Faith is Hussain/ He gave his head but not his hand in the hand of Yazid/ Verily, truth is but Hussain.”
“Bache toh agle baras hum hain aur yeh gham phir hai/ Jo chal basey toh yeh apna salam-i-akhir hai.“
I have a confession to make , I am a photographer , a bullock less cart driven by the passion of a blogger , however I must remind you much before Cheru Jackson of Alpha Inventions came on the scene and changed the ideology of a blog , I had insured my human soul of a blog to Brandon Stone of Photoblogs Org and to Biz Stone who is following me on Twitter from his quintessential yacht...
I owe it to both of them for making me a photo blogger
Now I always wanted to shoot tears from the human eyes, so I travelled to Lucknow during Athvi , and this is a huge Shia event , the Shia anjumans come to Kazmain for one last time as Moharam ends by the night, they come do vigorous hand matam, and they begin to cry, now this is no ordinary crying at all, this is a cross between a mother wolfs howl on the loss of her loved ones or the sad silent smothered cry of mother deer on the loss of her fawn..
So crying is as metaphoric as the tears that deluge the consciousness of human sorrow, I was new to photography and I would a bit scared shoot the Shia crying at Imam Hussains Roza..lost pictures some where on negative I have to find scan and post..
So shooting the tear plunging down the crevice of a jagged bearded cheek..and shooting it before it disappeared into the nothingness of sorrow was my way of honing my amateur skill as a painter at work on his easel..without paint and brush just a pictorial imagination..
Moharam is the remembrance of good over evil, Imam Hussain the grandson of the Holy Prophet and Yazid .. the Butcher of Karbala..
We relive Karbala we relive pain.. our tears are the waters of the Euphrates that were blocked by Yazid ..so the Imams family was deprived of all essence of survival..
But such was the Imam he survived all his sufferings the loss of his beloved family, his greatest pain was the misery of the women folk of his Family at the Yazids court in Sham Damascus..
So everything that hurt the Imam .. springs out as nostalgia as a memory from the fountains of our eyes yes Hussainiyat is bond a pledge within the tears of our Shia ancestry, we are Maksade Fatima for a Maksade Hussain.
I do not have to show Shiasm as it spills out as words from the Mullahs mouth.. now just hold a second see that drop of tear suspended in Time ..it reveals the power of our Faith
a Faith so strong that erodes all opposition and for 1400 year the chant of Ya Hussain lives ... even after we are dead buried and gone..
This Is Shame Ghariba men sitting on graves listening to the Majlis on Ashura and our dead ancestors part of this mourning crowd..
Salam qaak nasheenoun pah soghwaroun ka
Ghareeb detey hain pursa tumhare pyaroun ka
Salam un pah jinhe sharm khaye jaati hae
Khule saroun pah aseeri ki qaak aati hae
Salam us pah joh zehmat kashe salasil hae
Museebatoun mein imaamat ki pehli manzil hae
Salam bhejtey hain apni shahzadi par
Ke jisko soump gaye marte waqt ghar Sarwar
Musafirat ne jise bebasi yeh dikhlaayi
Nisaar kar diye bachhe na bach saka bhayi
Aseer hoke jise shaamiyoun ke narghe mein
Hussainiyat hae sikhana Ali ke lehje mein
Sakina bibi tumhare ghulam haazir hain
Bujhe joh pyaas toh ashkoun ke jaam haazir hain
Pahaad raat badi der hae saverey mein
Kahan ho shaame ghareeban ke ghup andheray mein
Zameene garm yateemi ki saqtiyaan bibi
Woh seena jis pah ke so-ti thi ab kahan bibi
Yeh sin yeh hashr yeh sadmay naye naye bibi
Kahan pa baithi ho qaime toh jal gaye bibi
Janab maadarey besheer ko bhi sab ka salaam
Ajeeb waqt hae kya dein tassaliyoun ka payaam
Abhi kaleje mein ek aag si lagi hogi
Abhi toh goadh ki garmi na kam huvi hogi
Na is tarah koi kheti hari bhari ujdey
Tumhari maang bhi ujdi hae goadh bhi ujdi
Nahin andheray mein kuch soojhta kahaan dhoondein
Tumhara chand kahan chup gaya kahan dhoondein
Nahin layeenoun mein insaan koyi Quda hafiz
Darinde aur yeh bewaarisi Quda hafiz
Salam turn pah shaheedon ke bekafan laasho
Salam turn pah rasool-o-Batool ke pyaaro
Bachein toh aglay baras hum hain aur yeh gham phir hae
Jo chal basein toh yeh apna salaame aaqir hae
Salam e Akhir written By Aal’e Raza Marhoom.
Perhaps myopic he night be right
My forefathers might have been children
Of Shree Ram..
Converted head bowed to Islam.
My Sunni Grandfather found a Shia
Wife he found love devotion calm
He was once a Mogul Pathan
Jai Bharat
Jai Hindustan.
My religion
my personal prerogative
My faith my Iman...
I try to be a good Insan
My wife's family from Iran
Hussain is Humanity
Our eternal chant..
Seeds of Hussainiyat
Into the soul of our children.
We plant much before
They are born..
We may die
But our Hussain
Lives on..
we both walked
with grieving hearts
me from bibi ka alawa
you from panje shah
our hearts locked
to your city you will depart
sharing this long journey
of the shias of hyderabad
as poetry and art ,, remember
ghame hussain before you start
the nobility of a bereaved mother
bibi fatima the daughter of our
hallowed holy prophet a
message of hope humanity
as hussainiyat she imparts
her sacrifice on the sands
of karbala stands apart
imperialistic hegemony of
a maloun yazid her son
did thwart ..our hope he is
our mother thou art
237,730 items / 1,995,188 views
Azadari e Hussain .
The hosting of majlis matam juloos or processions is the basic ingredient of Shiasm.
This is what separates us from the rest of our Muslim brethren, though we believe in Allah Hi Holy Prophet , His Holy Book.
We also pay tribute to the Ahle Bayt..and Ale Mohomed , the heritage of the Holy Messenger of Islam.
For two mont eight days the Shias mourn for Imam HUssain his progeny, the carnage at Karbala this mourning binds us all, globally, we maybe part of a nation but we are part of a spiritual nation without borders called Hussainiyat.
On Ashur 10 day of Imam Hussains Martyrdom the Shias carry Tazias to the cemeteries, bleed , and remember the sacrifice of Imam Hussain..the Saviour of Islam..
In the words of Mohammad Ali Jauhar,
Qatal Hussain asal main marg Yazid hai
Islam Zinda hota hai har Karbala kay bad.
Khawaja Moinuddin Chisty’s powerful verses epitomise the reverence and devotion of Muslims towards Imam Hussain:
Shah ast Hussain, Badshah ast Hussain
Deen ast Hussain, Deen Panah ast Hussain
Sardad na dad dast, dar dast-e-yazeed,
Haqaa key binaey La ila ast Hussain
Loosely translated
Ruler is Hussain, Emperor is Hussain,
Faith is Hussain , guardian of faith is Hussain .
Offered his head and not the hand to Yazid.
Truly, the mirror of faith is Hussain
Razar Rumi has given a beautiful definition in his blog post, that I quote several times , so awe struck I am..of Shah Ast Hussain
Last evening 22 Feb 2009 I took as train to Mira Road to shoot this very important Shia procession , an event put up by the Shia residents of Mira Road ably supported by the Shia from all over Mumbai..
I had shot this many years back and this was the first place where I walked on fire ..called Khandak.
The Mira Road Shias leave no stone unturned to see that this Juloos reaches its destination Hyderi Chowk peacefully translating the Mission of Imam Hussain ..Peace, Tolerance and respect for Humanity beyond caste color and creed ..and giving a dimension to our duty as citizens of Hussainiyat a world without borders.
I am writing this in a hurry as in a few minutes I leave for town to shoot the events at Zainabia, as on this day the Shias mourn the Martyrdom of the Holy Prophet and Imam Hassan.
I am not to well, I walk barefoot and my recent hand injury during Chehlum this year add to my pain.. but no pain greater than Imam Hussain..
When the Mira Road comes to an end at Hyderi Chowk, there is a Majlis , the fire matam, and of course on the way Zanjir matam and the kama zani by adults and kids.
The Mira Road Shias have won the hearts of everyone around them, people come in great numbers and the Mira Road Police adding to the support base.
So I shall add less text read my pictures and see Shiasm another name for a Protest against Yazidiyat or terrorism in all forms.
Imam Hussain gave the Human Rights Mission a thought to ponder with his ultimate supreme sacrifice.
Shah ast Hussain, Badshah ast Hussain
Deen ast Hussain, Deen Panah ast Hussain
Sardad na dad dast, dar dast-e-yazeed,
Haqaa key binaey La ila ast Hussain
Loosely translated
Ruler is Hussain, Emperor is Hussain,
Faith is Hussain , guardian of faith is Hussain .
Offered his head and not the hand to Yazid.
Truly, the mirror of faith is Hussain
What is Islam ?
A thought divined
Peace and Brotherhood
A message from Allah
To Mankind
Through the Holy Prophet
Beautifully spiritually
In the Holy Koran confined
Mecca Medina
Holy cities combined
What is Islam ?
A new hope a new message
Refreshingly Redefined
Shah ast Hussain , Baadshah ast Hussain
Deen ast Hussain, Deen panah ast Hussain
Sar dad no daad dast dar dast-e-Yezid
Haq ke bena la -ila ast Hussain ."
By the Holy Prophets grandson Bloodlined
Ruler is Hussain, Emperor is Hussain,
Faith is Hussain , guardian of faith is Hussain .
Offered his head and not the hand to Yazid.
‘Indeed, Hussain is the foundation of La-ilah (the
declaration that none but God is absolute and almighty)
Powerful words
Soulfully enshrined
Hussain’s head
A new life line
On the sands of Karbala
Weeping blood
Burning tents
Martyred moments
For the glory of Islam
All sidelined
Islam saved just in time
From the scourge
That is Yazid who lost his shine
A single blow of Shimr
Of a bastard line
Rose a phoenix
A new lifeline
Hazrat Kassim
Ouno Mohomed
In death throes entwined
Ali Asghar Ali Akbar
To martyrdom consigned
Mashke Sakina
Tears in a water pouch
Mingles with
Hazrat Abbase’s blood
On the shoreline
Manacled chained
A Holy Family maligned
The Bazar E shaam
Stolen ridas
Angelic faces covered with hair
No bigger shame
Than this shame outlined
Janabe Zainab
The Indomitable sister of Hussain
Her Kutbas crushing
Yazids evil design
A noble head on a spear
Bibi Sakina bleeding ears
Slaps innocence in tears salined
Yes it was sham sham sham
Said the Fourth Imam
Crying profusely
Where time stood a Caliphate
Turned blind
Verily Hussain
A supreme savior of Mankind
Hussainiyat that left Yazidiyat behind
A majestic Mantra even the heavens spellbind.
I write this words breaking out of my head to give way to poetic turbulence outpouring of my Faith in the Ahle Bait.
#shiasm
#shiapoetry
#firozeshakir
#beggarpoet
the shias
the hindus
live in peace
hussainiyat
hope and hindutva
mutual coexistence
both communities hearts do please
watan parast shias are hard core indians
at the crease
muslims yet called heretics
for their blood shedding idiosyncrasies
azadari e hussain a thought
they can never seize
said the Imam
I want to go to Hindustan
the land where people
are hospitable
live in Peace
away from my
grandfathers ummah
hate as disease
he did not come to Hindustan
but gave his head
not his hand
Islam from
clutches of Yazidiyat
did release
Kabala a land of Sorrow
with his blood did appease
May 14th, 2007
#shiasm
#shia poetry
#beggarpoet
Ghame Hussain ka waris
hame banaya hai
Bibi Fatima ne hume rone
ke liye bulaya he
Bibi zainab ne pharsh e aza
Bhichaya hai
Humne seena peet kar
Ya Hussain Ya Hussain
sunaya hai
Yazdiyat ko kuchal kuchal kar
Aansu ke samandar
mein dhubaya hai
khun ke dariya mein
kama lagate hue
zanzir lagate hue
Mohabat e Hussain
ko zinde rakhne ke liye
hume Shia banaya hai
Azadari ne Hussain ko
phir Hindustan bulaya hai
Hussainiyat ke jhande ne
Islam ko sajaya hai
Sar dekar
Nane ki umnmat ko
bachaye hai
Mecca aur Madine ko
Allah ka ghar banaya hai
Karbala ki khak ne
Kya kya nahi dikhaya hai
Aaj yazidiyat ne phir
Hume jagaya hai
Saddam ko phansi se
Hamri duaon ne latkaya hai
Karbala zinda rahe
Matam aur majlis zinda rahe
Is liye Khuda ne Musalmanon
mein ek kaum ko Shia banaya hai
Aliwalon ko Aliwalon se milaya hai
posted at word press.com
my new poem …a tribute to the muslim girl child.. the future of our unborn future
The Wazir brothers Munir, Wazir Asghar who organize this awesome grand spectacular procession from their house at Bashiron , the building where Mr Subhash Ghai had his first office Mukta Arts and a very lucky one mind you..just a stones throw from where Mithunda lived many years back, and known as Guru Nanak Park close to late Mohomed Rafi Saabs bungalow is the place where the Shias of Mumbai congregate , this juloos was started by their dad a renowned Momin and lover of Ahle Bayt..and so it continues as a heritage by his posterity.
The juloos begins with nohas a majlis ably and beautifully recited by Maulana Ali Hasan Hilal A Rajani of Karachi Pakistan, who spoke about the Hussaini Brahmins, and the message of global peace a message on the wings of Hussainiyat.
From Guru Nanak Park accompanied by Alams , Imam Hussains Taboot , Imam Hussains steed a replica we call Zuljana the juloos supported by the Bandra Police , controlling traffic snarls and law and order .. moved on.
In between the Anjumans from various parts of Mumbai did matam, women children men making the bulk and spirtual strength of the juloos, nobody was inconvenienced and this is the mystifying magic of tolerance respect for another mans religion in Amchi Mumbai..Jai Maharashtra.
Liitle kids did zanjir matam, this is the juloos kids love for the freedom to scourge without restrain , but eyes of the elders on them , taking care of their wounds.
At Almeida Park, there was water , snacks hot tea fo the mourners here it was woman and kids and families..I had moved away with Marziya my two year old grand daughter , who shot pictures of the kids scourging on my Nikon D80 assisted by me, we headed towards the Bandra Shia Khoja Mosque, I sent Marziya home as the blood scenes of sword matam, hardcore zanjir matam is just out of the world , performed by the boys of Anjuman e Yadgare Mehndi all Bandra boys like Mintu Mohsin Hallauri, Meezam Riyaz and others .Habib Nasser my friend cut his finger while shooting this event, most of the guys had to be rushed to Bhabha Hospital for stitches they has cut open their backs with the swords that required urgent medical aid.
At the mosque there was Niyaz e Hussain, but I could not taste it, my passion is documenting the spiritual fervor of my Shia race and and the indomitable spirit of humility and humanity we call Hussain.
And the day after this I shot the juloos organized by my dear friend Ali Reza Shirazi at Mount Mary.. that is last night.
My uploading is slow and has taken a very long time , the Guru Nanak Park Juloos was shot on a 1.50 MB memory card..so now you know what I have to go through to share these pictures with all of you..My uploading stops after some time and I have to manually re start again , thanks to You Telecom slow and a very bad connection..
In the picture Munir Bhai in gray shirt the organizer of the Guru Nanak Park juloos and me and Halu a dear friend from the area..
I shoot pain
Painting with light
Pedestrian pain
street poetry
without constrain
decisive moments
where emotions reign
simple English
simply plain
that Truth engrain
on my human heart
reminiscing Karbala
remembering Hussain
not scholarly
not dogmatic
not pedantic
not racist
not biased
this campaign
a drop
of a tear
encapsulating
1400 years pain
Our forefathers kept alive
On a parchment
As a covenant
on our souls membrane
This burning pain
where Truth triumphed
where as Yazidiyat
that held the dagger
Over the Imams head
Now lies slain
surely Humanity
thy name Hussain
from the manacles
of a spiritual terrorism
to which it was bound
he did unchain
giving his head but not his hand
without complain
the grandson of the Holy Prophet
son of Ali and Fatima
a towering hope
called Hussain
beyond the diversity
of man made religion
a thought humane
he taught us Tolerance
his blood soaking
parched Karbala
in every grain
a tear strained glass
on a window pane
every year in Moharam
we regain
through this Azadari
matam, majlis juloos
we attain
a divine domain
a decapitated head
Tillawate Koran
Keeping a bayt alive
In Ummayad reign
Ya Hussain
Ya Hussain
Picture shot of a painting in a Sabeel outside Moghul Masjid.Earlier I used to take pictures from ShiaImages.net but I realized , there is such a vast array of images in our Imabadas that I have begun using this with poems.
I am a photo blogger , photo journalist, also an opinion blog.
This is a photo gallery, depicting scenes of collective community life of India, as I saw it on the view finder of my human soul.
So what does not pertain to your religious sentiments, don’t unlock those galleries….you highly respected guys in the city of my birth.
I reiterate the Shia poetry comes from within the reservoir of my Hussainiyat.
5.30am Feb. 25 2007.
#shiasm
#shiapoetry
#imamhussain
#beggarpoet
Eyes of Orthodoxy
watch espy
dont question why
mystical meanderings
spiritualistic segregation
stylistic spirituality
10%short charged Shia
in a Muslim majority
we share a common Allah
the saviour of humanity
the Holy Prophet
our faiths Specific Gravity
but than comes Zulfikar
a sword of Hazrat Ali
after him the Holy Progeny
they stake their claims to
Mecca and Medina
that through the eyes of Karbala we see
Najaf Najahul Balagha the key
blood splattered sands euphrates
to be or not to be
blocked waters.. shamey gariba
tents women children
ummayad islam
inhuman captivity
wails of Al Atash
Faith reborn free
ya hussain a chant
brings Yazidiyat on its knees
Ali Asghar
Ali Akbar
Bibi Sakina
Ouno Mohomed
Kassim
Abbas Alamdar
the entire
first family
Zainul Abedeen
And through the Rida
of Janabe Zainab are finally
set free ...
Shaam
Shaam
Shaam
Moula I do agree
I await Moharram
my scarred back, my scarred chest
my forhead
that weeps fountains
of blood at every stroke
through the love
that you give me..
I was born
for a Maksade Fatima
a Maksade Hussain
tears my covenant
oath of my mothers milk
Hussainyat
my nativity
I dedicate this to that One Lady that took on the might of Ummayad Islam Janabe Zainab.
poem no 620
#shiapoetry
#shiasm
#beggarpoet
I gave this picture a water color treatment , as I lost the sharpness.
I wanted this picture , the look in the kids eyes to live forever.
we play holi with blood on ashura day
our way..we wont let
another karbala happen any way
hussain and hussainiyat
you cannot slay
every yazid
has a price to pay
no more heads on a silver tray
shah ast hussain
badshah ast hussain
the only way
everyday
because of this
the Truth that we obey
we as Shias from
your fraternity
had to breakaway
1400 year old pain
is not just a passion play
May 14th, 2007
155,491 items / 1,226,077 views
I am in Chennai I reached here on the 13 December , I connected with a Momin Ashfaque in Dubai on the net he connected me to Misaq who is a devout helper of Hussain , he runs the Ali Moulah Channel here in Chennai.
I never knew these guys before his cousin Musayb picked me up at the station , I stayed a night at a lodge , shot the 7 Moharam procession on the streets of Chennai at Triplicaine .
They say there are only 10000 Shia souls in Tamilnadu , but I have never seen such a huge crowd the fervor the intensity as I found among the Chennai Shias and I am crying as I write at a Internet cafe in Dharmapuri,I cafe, I met Dr Meer , son of late Ali Master , he took me out of the lodge and bought me to his own house, his father died recently on Eid e Ghadeer , he took me around the streets of Chennai after I had shot the 7 Moharam juloos , I shall post pictures when I return to Mumbai after shooting the Chennai Ashura.
Last night I traveled with Dr Meer he has a assignment helping the poor sick people in Dharmapuri, I have come with him , I shot the streets of Dharmapuri he will return in the evening than I go with him to shoot the fire matam on the border of Tamilnadu Karnataka
The warmth of the Chennai Shias is holistically healing they go out of their way polite soft spoken and though I look like a strange apparition with earrings pierced to my ear lobes they wonder who I am, , I am not wearing my usual signature jewelery because of Ashura , however the Chennai Shias are people who are bound to Hussain and Hussainiyat ...spreading Humanity and Peace as the Gospel of Ahle Bayt.
I have met some great folks here , actually I was only going to shoot 7 Moharam and than leave the same night to shoot Hyderabad or Bangalore Ashura....but after connecting with the Chennai Shias, with Misaq and Musayb I thought I will shoot the Ashura here too...and complete the circle of Shia mourning
So I am adding text to my old post I miss the lap top at home , I have already shot a 20 GB card as of now..in one day .
Dharmapuri is peaceful town of Tamilnadu and the people are very kind , the tea and the coffee here is heavenly , I have never tasted such coffee anywhere in India.
Dr Meer is a Shia scholar a Zkir e Ahle Bayt , a journalist and like me a colorful personality who gives equal respect to all religiosity , so we just clicked , I shot the Sunni Alams at Chennai street corners I shot a Sunni Alam procession on the street chanting Ya Hussain dressed in black clothes.
Chennai weather is very cool , and comforting, and in spite of traveling all night in the bus I changed two buses to get to Dharmapuri I am as fresh as ever.
I miss my grand daughter Marziya Shakir 3 years old worlds youngest street photographer and her picture on my mobile gives me comfort..and strength too.
My wife has gone to Karbala for Ziyarat I discover Karbala in the Soul of the Shias of Chennai.
And just above this Internet cafe computer is a Warning that says Dont Install soft wares in Computer..
157,363 items / 1,245,832 views
Dressed in black a Press Card round her neck this picture was shot by my grand daughter Marziya Shakir 3 year old on the Nikon D 80.
I was not in a great frame of mind so I had planned not to cover this juloos because of my sever cold and flu but when Marziya returned home from a majlis I took her with me both of us shot a few frames.
The Mehfil juloos begins from the Bandra Mehfil and ends at the Bandra Shia Mosque Bandra Bazar Road.
This year the message of Hussain and Humanity was driven home with powerful banners placed on the Sabils.
My good friend Ashiq Ali and the boys of Anjuman e Yadgare Mehdi had really done a great job with a passion driven by their love of Hussain and their collective cause of promoting peace as the only message among all communities beyond caste color and creed.
Because of this helpful attitude of these Shia boys Furkan Mohsin Ejaaz Irfan and others even the neighboring boys non Shias come around and help in the cause of Hussainiyat.
Marziya first shot the Zanjir matam last year when she was barely two years old at the Almeida Park Moharam juloos.
Yesterday was the Shia and the Sunni Shabbarat.
The Sunnis normally head to the graveyard and to the various Dargahs for a holy vigil all
night and prayers in their Mosques .My staff is all Sunni so I shut shop very early at about 5pm.The other guy who works for me is a Hindu , he did not come to work because of Raksha Bandhan.
I was at home all evening; wife had made Halwa Puri, as this day is the Shia All Souls Day.
We remember our ancestors are near and dear ones who left us this great heritage
that we call Hussainiyat.
Also on this day the Shias celebrate the birthday of the 12 Imam the Mahdi.
Prayers are offered at the graves, I did not go this time to the cemetery.
But at 4.30 am wife and I with my Nikon F100 my Manfrotto monopod headed towards
town, to the pier at Gateway of India , this was my wife Afshaan ‘s first visit in 31 years,
strangely though we stayed at Colaba at my parents house , none of us had ever visited
the pier to watch an event called Bajra.
Bajra means a boat, that florally decked comes to the pier with sweets called Nazar, that you taste,the entire area is jam packed , but as I had left my wife in the ladies section, I came to the pier steps took shots on negatives, later when the boat arrived I entered in took shots of the tasting of the Nazar.
There was a heavy Police Bandobust , due to the blasts in Hyderabad, I was very simply dressed , as I did not want to end up in the local cop station with my wife in tow.
The Shias also come to the pier , to place Arzis in the water, Arzis are papers with prayers on which you write your requests, mix it in flour to be fed to the fishes., to ultimately reach the Imam of our Times , whom we call Imam E Zamana.
We returned home at 7 am, I missed my digital camera so I am posting this with an old picture. The negs will go for processing..
I was shooting pictures after a very long time, my photo stream I fear will look more like Dr Glenn Losacks than my own, but I am humbled that he allows me to post the pictures that he has shot with a true love for my country and its people. His beggar pictures have warmth, they do not insult or humiliate man, but society .We who have turned our backs on our own, the rich become richer the poor they live to die .I don’t think I can shoot pictures like Dr Glenn Losack, I do not have his vision, nor his eye I don’t even have a digital camera. Not having a digital camera is a blessing I am no more trigger happy…I shoot picture on the emulsion of my soul sans camera.
I kept being pounded by thoughts aligning me to words,
I could not resist getting up and putting these words into poetry of pain and Karbala…its about 4.30am
Not wanting unnecessary bloodshed in a holy enclave
The Imam said “I want go far from here to Hindustan..”
Words that on a weeping heart engrave
Hindustan a land of hospitality
Of Brahma Vishnu and Mahadev
People called Hindustanis and much behaved
He wanted peace, to avoid a holocaust, humanity save
Yes the Imam loved his people and his race
But Yazid had other thoughts much depraved
Hussain gave his head not his hand and humanity saved
The battle of Karbala a flag of Hussainiyat raised
Torture thirst the martyrdom
Of Kassim, Ouno Mohomed Ali Asghar Ali Akbar
Abbas Alamdar 72 souls all he braved
But a snatched rida,the manacles ,
Little Sakina who to sleep on he fathers chest craved
Through the eyes of the fourth Imam thus enslaved
The Islam of that time surely shock waved
The harshest treatment in Yazids conclave
Something..We the torch bearers of our Imam never forgave
We who shed tears cry and weep on humanity’s savior
Chanting Ya Hussain Ya Hussain on his grave
Surely
Shah ast Hussain,
Badshah ast Hussain,
Deen ast Hussain,
Deen e Panah ast Hussain,
Sar daad, na daad dast,
Dar dast e Yazid,
Haqa'a ke bina La'ilah ast Hussain
Words a part of our spiritual journey
On the road to salvation
Thus repaved
With each step of our conviction
Yazidiyat caved
#shiapoetry
#shiasm
#imamhussain
#beggarpoet
84,898 items / 500,035 views
shot by munna bhai photographer
Lately I have been wearing rubber slippers, though I prefer walking barefeet, the filth , the muck really does not bother me at all, I was completely barefeet at Ajmer and Ajmer Dargah streets are really really bad, more filthier than some of the filthy streets of Mumbai.
As my desicion to go to the Jashn of Wiladat Imam Hussain at Bandra Shia Khoja Masjid was quite spontaneous and out of the blue, I wore a turban, but wife found it to over imposing so I opted for this Sabri cap given to me by Peersaab Fakhru Miya of Hujra No 6 .Ajmer Sharif..
Peersaab a Sunni scholar of repute is a professed lover of Ahle Bayt , and promotes Hussainiyat , wherever he goes, he says quite clearly without Ahle Bayt Islam is incomplete.
He is a lover of Imam Hussain and a firm believer of Hazrat Abbas, so loving Hussain is beyond dogma, loving Hussain is not about Shiasm or Sunnism.
Loving Hussain is loving Humanity..and humanity is the river that flows into the Ocean of Godliness.
I wear saffron , a color that is the badge of my cultural inheritance, and as soon as Moharam begins I wear black and only black for the entire mourning period, 2 months eight days.
Navi or Idd e Zehra switches the black mode to color again for the remaining months.
Ramzan has its quintessential charm , but it is Moharam that the Shia is born for, the tears the matam, the majlis, drenched in blood..and a path of salvation called Ghame Hussain.
Moharam is is Azadari e Hussain within the heartbeat of a Majlis e Aza.
The House Imambada comes to life..resurgence of hope , piety and inner reflection..
I tone down on my jewelery too, I dont wear red , just a bit of turquoise and wooden beads .
Photography takes swirling turn it is shooting the ethos of my persecuted race within the drop of a tear, I say persecuted as much did our detractors try banning Azadari, calling us kafirs heretics, we survived and Moharam is nothing but a protest against everything that is Yazidiyat, a spiritual terrorism on the human soul backed by rabid clergy and the venom of the puritans.
The Shia child needs not learn he knows his birthright , yes Princess Fatima is the Source of our Heritage ..and Imam Hussain rekindles our spirituality...touching the unborn child in the mothers womb too..
The waters of Karbala are found in the human womb of sorrow and as tears in our eyes.. waters that will never dry from one generation to the next..
I start a new gallery, as I hate to let my pictures of the Moghul Masjid live on my website, without a permanent exclusive photo abode.
I love the Moghul Masjid, a Mosque that is the URL address of God on Earth.
He is here in his omnipresent supremacy.
Late Mohomed Hussain Shirazi the man who along with his Lucknow wife gave the Mumbaikars , Shias a place that is a spiritual oasis.
It is a Iranian Mosque no doubt, made for the Iranian migrants, bakery owners , restaurateurs , a place in the hustle bustle of a street life almost touching Bhendi Bazar on one end..
Aziz Bhai is the caretaker of this awesome Mosque, he takes care of the Mosque , sees the day to day welfare of this grand place.
Than there is Bangi saab, who with his fancy rings , has fingers that look like mine, it would be tough dressing up like me..
This is my pictorial tribute to Moghul Masjid a boast to the spirit of a Mumbaikar ethos..
This is a spiritual safe haven for all those who sit by the fountain on the benches watching the fishes cavort , mutually coexist in the water, romping , and thereby teaching us a lesson to live in Peace and Mutual Coexistence.,
I was telling a Mr Sami Sidikki , a producer, just this evening that Muslims love killing Muslims , will never come under a single banner of Islam.
They live sectarian lives and die sectarian deaths.
The only time they come together, is during riots where they are collectively butchered, or when they are bombed in trains than the blood of a Hindu and a Muslim finally gets united in an unforgettable color of Indianness.,
Allah ho Akbar and the Vande Matram….lying side by side .,
Yes sometimes Terrorism unites makes us strange bed partners, even with whom we had a difference of religious opinion.
Terrorism is a cancerous disease, I give it a simplistic name I call it Yazidiyat..it has a religion , a religion of sheer Hate for Man Mankind and the God who made us all.
On the other hand Hussainiyat is not just Shia property, Hussain belongs to all, he is a singular name for Humanity.
I think the most important agenda is not only Hijab, and other marital or post marital controversies that plague our Islamic community.
We have to unite this should be overtly done from the minarets..of all Muslim sects.
Let each one follow his sect but let us as Muslims be under a singe Umbrella.. of a singular God. A single banner..
I AM NOT AN ORATOR, ABSOLUTELY LACKING IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF RELIGIOUS DOGMAS; I SPEAK A SIMPLE LANGUAGE OF HUMAN LOVE…
LIVE AND LET OTHERS LIVE..TOO.
Yes the Times of India editorial calls us derogatorily an opinion Blog..
No problem, we don’t survive selling our souls for advertisement, we don’t peddle push Hate , yes you cant ignore our Voice , bad grammar, syntax hiccoughs, we are a Future , that cannot disappear at the click of a Mouse.
There will one day be a Sham Lal among Bloggers too, to show us a way, charter our course, .so take us with some seriousness please.,
You don’t have to go far to see India,
I am India and so is the color of all my photo galleries on my surviving website.,
a muslim woman
begs on the graveyard of a mound
around her mocking her despair
dead laughter surrounds
ghosts spirits her living death
astound
a few coins in her hand
deathly silence no sound
covering her beggary
her shame
born as a Muslim Woman
by other moving men and women
frowned
she in her hijab
her winding sheet
buried live above ground
we are building
masjids madarsaas
womens home childrens home
homlessness no home to be found
yes with thorns the underprivilged
Muslim Woman is thus crowned
bleeding kismet
male dominance
mullahs handbill like
fatwas to hound
yes they who are busy
bombarding trains , mosques
humanity misguided jehadi
terrorism abound
the heads of Islamic world
a cloth stuffed in the mouth
hand and cold feet bound
justifying actions
as a merry go round
yazidiyat that
enevitable power house
in the flowing blood
of hussainiyat got drowned
haqqa bina lahe laha illala
ast hussain
only a hussain can expound
at yazids court
bibi zainab
one hand on the holy koran
the other with
the najahul balagha
in her kutbas
propound
indomitable
womanhood of Islam
so profound
even the heads
on the spears
watched her spellbound
#muslimbeggars
#firozeshakir
#beggarpoet
Zuljana
Imam hussains
Valiant steed
Flying in the wind
indeed
With scriptured wings
Koranic verses
That we read
No power politics
No religious hypocrisy
Of the Ummayad
Fighting Namazis
Cowards who watched
This genocide but did not interceede
Venomously wanting to succeed
No long beard no skull cap
No janamaz no prayer bead
No impotency of a human code of conduct
That goes against the Islamic creed
Yes seeing Zuljana
Faithful Zuljana
Loyal Zuljana
A Four legged human Zuljana
Defending his Masters honor
On the sands of Karbala he bleeds
His blood purified by his Masters Blood
This is Hussainiyat of the Holy Prophets seed
From the front he leads
Shah ast Hussain the speed
Badshah ast Hussain the need
Deen Panah ast Hussain
A whispering reed
Haqqe Bina La Ilaha Ast Hussain
Yazidiyat to this eye opening couplet
Pay heed.
His head but not his hand
Did he conceede
Familiarity of a serpent seed
Contempt, disgust breed
Take the example
Of Zuljana
Imam Hussains valiant steed
They who killed Imam Hussain
Allah Ho Akbar
Today with false unconvincing rhetoric’s
The entire Ummah mislead
Allah knows who is right who is wrong
His omniscience you cannot supercede
Our Tears a Maksade Fatima
On the Soul of Shiasm decreed
#shiasm
#shias
#zuljana
#firozeshakir
#beggarpoet
Hussainiyat blood of a bleeding race in her blood stream
Ya Hussain Ya Hussain as it flows and screams
Karbala the land of Sorrow the land of our dreams
Fatima the mother a mother supreme
She who held her head high against fascist regimes
Allah is pleased with Marziya it seems
Through he little eyes as it sparkles and gleams
Ya Hussain
Ya Hussain
We salute thy name
Through unforgiving lanats
Through unforgettable curses
We your killers blame
For all the shame
The name of Islam
The name of a Holy Prophet
With their heinous crimes
Did they not defame?
The tents the ladies the children
The word of God in flame
The blunt dagger on your throat
From Shimrs hand as it came
It was not them but
A Jew who did this deed
They claim
No perhaps it was a nazran
Confusedly exclaim
It was Yazid
only Yazid the self same
Don’t disclaim
Terrorism
Yazidiyat
His surname
Hussainiyat
Only Hussainiyat
Will delete
This file name
A world
of mutual existence
of a global peace reclaim
Ya Hussain
Ya Hussain
On the soil of my fleshly existence
Bleeding to death for all to see
encrusted layers of my wordless poetry
Butchered carelessly
My body from my soul set free
My blogs running towards the gutters
Of an open sea
words clinging to pictures
of a compositional tragedy
the girl child impregnated
a child mother s depravity
the transgendered tears
of hijda their alternate sexuality
the naga sadhus ling kriya
shai snan their royal priority
the sufis cutting tongues
bulging eyeballs their
soulless sanctity
the shias
allah ho akbar
proclaiming hussainiyat
as their nativity
as for the enemies of shiasm
yazidiyat
misplaced martyrdom
within reach of their calamity
#firozeshakir
#beggarpoet
everyday is ashura
everyday is karbala
we always say
a pain every ashura day
we portray
child abuse
your word play
our children
as greetings
to you convey
its their blood
not yours anyway
their childrens children
will be doing this
till doomsday
verily it was Yazid
on display
Hussain nor
Hussainiyat
that he could slay
May 14th, 2007
I present this picture and poem to shiv malik and the new statesman.
We were born to cry
Our children unborn
Will follow us bye and bye
You kill our bodies
Our spirit embalmed
Hussainiyat
Will never die
Maksade Hussain
Your evil plan defies
However much
You terrorize
You distorted dogmas
Of hate emasculated lies
You faulty religiosity
An empty loaded dice
Called Yazidiyat
A burden to humanity
No surprise
With your misguided piety
You may disguise
Your product expired shelf life
No one buys
Your bombs
Your bullets
Your grenades
Weapons of mass deception
Your unspiritual supplies
Your mission
With which our Islam
You compromise
Your petro funded Titanic
That will one day capsize
Take my advice
Your turncoat mullahs
And your rabbis
You too will see you loved ones
On your demise..Lying
Lengthwise
If you and your evil ways don’t revise
Running against the tide anti clockwise
This poem is inspired by the picture on Jahane Rumi ‘s post
Shah Ast Hussain
Soulful recitation of Salam-i-Akhir nasir jahaan Video
Salam qaak nasheenoun pah soghwaroun ka
Ghareeb detey hain pursa tumhare pyaroun ka
Salam un pah jinhe sharm khaye jaati hae
Khule saroun pah aseeri ki qaak aati hae
Salam us pah joh zehmat kashe salasil hae
Museebatoun mein imaamat ki pehli manzil hae
Salam bhejtey hain apni shahzadi par
Ke jisko soump gaye marte waqt ghar Sarwar
Musafirat ne jise bebasi yeh dikhlaayi
Nisaar kar diye bachhe na bach saka bhayi
Aseer hoke jise shaamiyoun ke narghe mein
Hussainiyat hae sikhana Ali ke lehje mein
Sakina bibi tumhare ghulam haazir hain
Bujhe joh pyaas toh ashkoun ke jaam haazir hain
Pahaad raat badi der hae saverey mein
Kahan ho shaame ghareeban ke ghup andheray mein
Zameene garm yateemi ki saqtiyaan bibi
Woh seena jis pah ke so-ti thi ab kahan bibi
Yeh sin yeh hashr yeh sadmay naye naye bibi
Kahan pa baithi ho qaime toh jal gaye bibi
Janab maadarey besheer ko bhi sab ka salaam
Ajeeb waqt hae kya dein tassaliyoun ka payaam
Abhi kaleje mein ek aag si lagi hogi
Abhi toh goadh ki garmi na kam huvi hogi
Na is tarah koi kheti hari bhari ujdey
Tumhari maang bhi ujdi hae goadh bhi ujdi
Nahin andheray mein kuch soojhta kahaan dhoondein
Tumhara chand kahan chup gaya kahan dhoondein
Nahin layeenoun mein insaan koyi Quda hafiz
Darinde aur yeh bewaarisi Quda hafiz
Salam turn pah shaheedon ke bekafan laasho
Salam turn pah rasool-o-Batool ke pyaaro
Bachein toh aglay baras hum hain aur yeh gham phir hae
Jo chal basein toh yeh apna salaame aaqir hae
Salam e Akhir written By Aal'e Raza Marhoom.
Click for video Soulful recitation of Salam-i-Akhir nasir
------------------------------------------------------------
MOMINON GHAM KI YEH AKHIRI RAAT HAI,
DEEDAO GHAM KI YEH AKHIRI RAAT HAI,
SHEH K MATAM KI YEH AKHIRI RAAT HAI,
ALWIDA ALWIDA ALWIDA AEY HUSSAIN,
GAR JIYE SAAL BHAR PHIR KARAIN GEY YEH GHUM,
ROAEN GEY PHIR TEREY GHAM MEY MILKAR BAHAM,
AUR AGAR MARGAEY TU YEH HOGA ALM,
HAEY AFSOOS JI BHAR K ROEY NAA HUM,
ALWIDA ALWIDA ALWIDA AEY HUSSAIN,
S.M.MAsoom
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shot by munna bhai photographer
Lately I have been wearing rubber slippers, though I prefer walking barefeet, the filth , the muck really does not bother me at all, I was completely barefeet at Ajmer and Ajmer Dargah streets are really really bad, more filthier than some of the filthy streets of Mumbai.
As my desicion to go to the Jashn of Wiladat Imam Hussain at Bandra Shia Khoja Masjid was quite spontaneous and out of the blue, I wore a turban, but wife found it to over imposing so I opted for this Sabri cap given to me by Peersaab Fakhru Miya of Hujra No 6 .Ajmer Sharif..
Peersaab a Sunni scholar of repute is a professed lover of Ahle Bayt , and promotes Hussainiyat , wherever he goes, he says quite clearly without Ahle Bayt Islam is incomplete.
He is a lover of Imam Hussain and a firm believer of Hazrat Abbas, so loving Hussain is beyond dogma, loving Hussain is not about Shiasm or Sunnism.
Loving Hussain is loving Humanity..and humanity is the river that flows into the Ocean of Godliness.
I wear saffron , a color that is the badge of my cultural inheritance, and as soon as Moharam begins I wear black and only black for the entire mourning period, 2 months eight days.
Navi or Idd e Zehra switches the black mode to color again for the remaining months.
Ramzan has its quintessential charm , but it is Moharam that the Shia is born for, the tears the matam, the majlis, drenched in blood..and a path of salvation called Ghame Hussain.
Moharam is is Azadari e Hussain within the heartbeat of a Majlis e Aza.
The House Imambada comes to life..resurgence of hope , piety and inner reflection..
I tone down on my jewelery too, I dont wear red , just a bit of turquoise and wooden beads .
Photography takes swirling turn it is shooting the ethos of my persecuted race within the drop of a tear, I say persecuted as much did our detractors try banning Azadari, calling us kafirs heretics, we survived and Moharam is nothing but a protest against everything that is Yazidiyat, a spiritual terrorism on the human soul backed by rabid clergy and the venom of the puritans.
The Shia child needs not learn he knows his birthright , yes Princess Fatima is the Source of our Heritage ..and Imam Hussain rekindles our spirituality...touching the unborn child in the mothers womb too..
The waters of Karbala are found in the human womb of sorrow and as tears in our eyes.. waters that will never dry from one generation to the next..
The Hyderabadis are kind courteous people ,and I shot the blue blooded Nawabs and the man at grass root level and they had one thing in common besides their love of Hussain , hospitality , khulus and respect that we call Athithi Devo Bhava .. guest is god in Indian cultural terminology, the azadar respects the zaireen and that is the crux of Moharam for among those who come to the majlis or farshe aza are the ladies of the Imams house the ladies that stood against the might of mighty Yazid.. and they say if you see the silhouette of three ladies its possible a mother a daughter and a little grand daughter might be the reflection of our pain that we call Ghame Hussain.
Wherever I went I was treated with humility and humility is the essence of Hussainiyat and the Imam did not bully his enemies he did not do what they did to him an his family so it hurts me when I see one Shia unnecessarily finding faults with the matam of another Shia .. heckling him abusing him ..and so I have kept away from Mumbai azadari completely .. my photography does not make me a Shia .. but what makes me human is the essence of respect for others and their faith.. I am lucky I was bought up very differently .. I have lived among Hindus Christians Anglo Indians Parsis Buddhists Sikhs Jains even Jews .. but their association did not mar my humanity or my love of Hussain.
My children my grand children follow the path of peace as taught by my parents..
I came to Hyderabad not merely to shoot pictures but to emotionalize what I saw what I felt , people who gave me shelter , and though I took limited sum of money I had to spend nothing on food .It was free Niyaz e Hussain.
I bought a bunch of memory cards and I still returned home with a unused amount of Rs 2000.
I should have not traveled by bus I am a diabetic , kidney stones but I had to get back to Mumbai my work my commitments , my responsibilities.
And today I am happy at heart on seeing my grand daughters Marziya Shakir and Nerjis Asif Shakir return from Lucknow after 25 days.
And they love me a lot.. I took Nerjis to the bazar and I realized she knows everyone shaking hands waving out to all the shop keepers .. this young street photographer waiting in the wings.
So shooting pictures and blogging are two different ends of a spectrum..
Luckily I am my own boss so I am able to upload my pictures without a Seth breathing down my neck.. and after I finish this Moharam lot I will post the pictures of a Hindu feast Chath Puja that I kept on hold because of Moharam..
I am trying not to shoot pictures till I finish this backlog of Hyderabad spiritual experience ..I did not visit Charminar area to meet a few Malang friends there was no time ...at all.