Documenting The Soul of Shiasm

Documenting The Soul of Shiasm, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

I am a Shia I document the angst of the Shia community in India their pain , their austerity during Moharam which is a mourning period of 2 month 8 days.


The Shias mourn the Martyrdom of Imam Hussain the Grandson of the Holy Prophet son of Imam Ali and Princess Fatima whom we call Bibi Fatima.


The blood letting is a protest against Yazidiyat another name for Terrorism which prevailed under Caliph Yazid head of the Ummayad Dynasty.

I am not a religious scholar , I am a photographer who shoots these events and most of them you wont see as non Muslims are not allowed in some places.


See these pictures as an ethos of Shia heritage nothing more nothing less , you dont like it fine , by your adverse views or comments this ritual of blood letting wont stop.. even Yazid could not stop it.. so it shall continue.

I shoot other religiosity which are not part of my spiritual ideology but I respect the people I shoot I dont make fun of them or ridicule them their rituals are part of their ethnicity and mine are as precious to me as part of my Shia ancestry.

This is what separates and Indian Muslim from the rest , we give space , we live in peace with our Hindu or Christian neighbor and tolerance and mutual coexistence is part of our Indianness.

This picture post was blank I am writing this as a disclaimer to my Friends at Facebook..

If you feel uncomfortable move ahead I dont glorify the blood letting but it is part of the spiritual pledge of being a Shia though not necessary you are a Shia even if you don't cut yourself..the bloodletting comes with the territory I love shooting blood gore and pain..this is the genre of my photography and it mostly comes under the aegis of Street Photography or Social documentary...



I am reviving a few of the pictures in this set shot a few years back as photo album on Facebook

apni takdeer jagate hain tere matam se
khoon ki rah bichate hain tere matam se ...
apne izare aqiqat ke salike yeh hai
hum naya sal bhi manate hain tere matam se