The Muslim World of The Poor

The Muslim World of The Poor, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

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Muslims all over the world are not the same , religiosity wise they follow the same tenets and I speak of a universal Islam without sectarian strife...but economically there is difference of heaven and earth between the poor Muslim and the rich Muslim.


Who is a rich Muslim.

The rich Muslim is the affluent soul who sacrifices camels , dumbas goats not one but many at a a great price ,he is mentioned in the Urdu papers too for Bakra Idd.

He shops for a dozen or more making the compound of a cosmopolitan housing society into a war zone with blood and gore.

We cut our goats at the butchers and bring home the meat many others do too.



The poor Muslim like the one you see in my picture dont celebrate Idd at all, they beg from the rich this is the truth and my pictures shot of Idd Namaz at Bandra Railway Station dont lie.


There is a great divide between the rich Muslim and the poor Muslim , the poor Muslim once lived in a ghetto but now it has been taken away from him under one scheme or another.


I shoot Muslim beggars , I shoot them to awaken the somnolent soul of Muslim laid back society.

Poverty and the poor cant go by the swish of a wand ..understandable.


My mentor Dr Glenn Losack tells me I should sit down at eye level and shoot the beggar but I cant do it , I am a diabetic and my joints pain when I sit down , I have a diminishing eyesight , but I am not complaining I am able to shoot pictures ..because my pictures speak truth because my picture are shot in humility you see them as they are..

Yes simplicity is the essence of street photography, fast reflexes and speed.
Snatching fleeting moments from the jaws of speeding time is a tough task mind you.

So here I shot the surrender of a little child , a surrender to fate almost like the sacrificial lamb at Bakra Idd..the goat cant escape his death he has to appease the soul of man and this child will appease the soul of a sleeping Muslim society..

Honestly who really cares a flying fuck for Muslim beggar not the Muslim Man at least he is safely ensconced head bowed in prayer in the nearby House of God...