Sunday, January 2, 2011

Islam Zinda Hota Hai Har Karbala Ke Bad

Whatever the general Muslim thinks , or whatever the doctrine of his beliefs , one fact remains by standing up against Yazid , Hussain changed the course of Islamic history.

I am not am Islamic scholar or a historian, nor do I proselytize my faith as a Blogger, as a matter of fact the pictures and my documentary of Shiasm is purely a story board I began in 2005 at Buzznet for my foreigner friends , as they knew nothing about this integral and important sect.

My Buzznet site was hacked I went through great pain , and I came out, with a greater vigor and continue showcasing Shiasm as a message of Tolerance and Mutual co existence..
Many years back I was doing zanjir matam and a Hindu friend could not bear my pain , he removed his shirt grabbed my zanjir and without a single word began scourging his back, he is a follower of Lalbagh Chya Raja a devout Siddi Vinayak believer.

I was not shocked but I took a solemn pledge for that one act for my Imam I promised him I would shoot his Faith for his parents and the Hindu community as long as I lived call it Hope and Hindutva a Message of Universal Peace and Humanity , I am crying as I write this, this is Hope and this is Humanity , I could live without Hope but not without Humanity, every year I follow his deity barefeet from Lalbagh till the Visarjan, yes I am proud to be a Hindu Shia.. in the city of my Karma and my Dharma Mumbai.

I have no animosity with any person of any faith, and my best friend is an American Jew , Dr Glenn Losack MD from Manhattan New York, seeing my Moharam pictures on the net , he came down to Mumbai befriended me and shot the Kurla juloos of Papu Bhai , he shot the Mumbai Chehlum barefeet , dressed in black, clothes I made for hm , and I still remember the moment when he grabbed my dagger to cut his head , I told him his time had not come and we became family.

He is my grand daughter 3 year old Mariyas god father and Guru.

So what you are even as a Shia depends on your surroundings and your parentage too, I cant be like you and you cant be like me.. I cant lead your life or you lead mine but yes Hussain is Hope that binds us all fro one generation to the next.

Bakhuda Islam Zinda Hota hai Har Karbala Ke Bad.

By -

Majlis and Arti at the Municipal Garden Bandra East

As soon as the majlis ends at one end of the garden , the arti of Shri Sai Baba takes place at the other end where the temple is located ,each one does his thing , without hindrance and here you see the cosmopolitan nature of our beloved city Mumbai , its unique tolerance level and seamless mutual co existence of two different faiths at one single venue.

As I was shooting the Shia ethos I shot the activities of the Temple to, and and the devotees of the temple who know me very well, came up to me and thanked me and wished me well.

Bigotry is the greatest curse of Humanity , and even in Chennai I saw the Hindu Tamils waiting with their newly born children to have the kama performed on them , or ladies waiting with floral tributes for Zuljana , and this is what endears me to my country as a Hindu Shia born in India of Shia parentage.

Hinduism is the culture that I was born into and as a blogger I have paid ample tribute , to its essence and its message of Hope and Humanity.How can I ever forget this land of the Ganges was the land Imam Hussain wanted to come , in order to avoid blood shed among the Muslims.

So come what may, I try to shoot this juloos the Bandra Juloos of Our Fourth Imam Zainul Abedin, not only as a Shia occurrence of our Faith but as our religions amazing nature of giving respect to all faiths yes very Hussain is Humanity , Hussain is Hope fr the down trodden , the hopeless and the oppressed..

Bakhuda Har Kaum Pukaregi Hamare Hain Hussain.

By -

What Is Life Without Spice ...Think Twice

By -

Lifetime Just Hussain

By -

Gar Hind Main Ajate Hai.. Imam Hussain Loved Hindustan

By -

Makdhoom Shah Baba Urus and The Chancawalli Rafaees

159,143 items / 1,256,688 views

After I complete my backlog of Moharam pictures this will be next set at Flickr.com.

I have been shooting the Urus of Makdhoom Shah Baba Mahim for several years now my collection on Sufism at Flickr.

I do not adhere to Sufi beliefs but I do have a Sufiyana mijaz or temperament , my genre on Sufism is my documentary on the Rafaees body piercing mendicants followers of Imam Ali and Ghaus Pak, the Dhuni or the Holy Fire symbolizes Ahle Bayt and Imam Ali and the body piercings without bleeding are dedicated to the Mysticism of Ghaus Pak.

The other two subjects I shoot are Possession , or Hazri , exorcism and beggars in Sufiland.
Hijras of course are a subject in itself but connected to two dargahs Ajmer Sharif and Haji Malang.
I document the spiritual life of the Hijra bawas.

I also shoot the life of the Afro Indian tribe the Siddis who are performers of the Sufi circuit.

But at Mahim predominantly I shoot the Chancawalli Rafaees who are n charge of the Dhuni at the back of the Mahim dargah.

My good friend Pir Handi the Murshad died recently at Kota he was my patron, , his seat was taken over by Barsati Baba and Amanat Baba , for sometime , this year a new Murshad is in place , Sarkari Bawa from Hyderabad.

I met him for the first time when I visited the dargah with my friend Sakib the florist from Mahim. on 31 Dec 2010..

I missed Sakibs sandal and the Mahim Police sandal I shoot every year, things have changed drastically at the Dhuni and since it was the last day of the Mahim Urus I left Sakib and the rafaees shot the Kashmiri Muslim beggars , than I walked all the way to the Holy Shrine of Fakhruddin Shah Baba also known as Chote Sarkar, here I shot a few Sandals and some piercing stuff.


After the Urus of Makdhoom Shah Baba ends the Urus of Baba Fakhr begins it lasts for 3 days and the Chancawalli Rafaees move here at this Dhuni.

I have shot Baba Fakhrs Urus too for many years now.I dont know spiritually I feel more at home at this Dargah perhaps because it is not too crowded and I have some great experience here in the past.

Munna Bhai of Sangam Decorators is my very good friend so I am home at this Dargah during the Urus.

I shall post pictures in this set after I complete the Makdhoom Shah Baba set...

By -

Bandra East Juloos Of Fourth Imam Zainul Abedin 2011



159,139 items / 1,256,575 views

This evening I went to Bandra East to shoot the Bandra East Juloos that I try not to miss , this year I was in time , last year I was called to Salman Khans house for some urgent work , so I missed the earlier events , my wife and Marziya had both gone to his house and than reached Bandra East .

It seems like yesterday.

My wife arrived from Iran last night she was in Karbala and Damascus for Moharam.

So she did not accompany me to Bandra East besides we have our house majlis tomorrow so she has a lot of unfinished work to cope up with.

I shot the events at the Municipal Garden Bandra East from where after a majlis the Juloos begins and next to where the juloos begins is the Sai Baba Temple I shot this too, to show you the mutual co existence in Mumbai..

The Hindus of Bandra East and the Shias are compatible to each others faith .. each one giving space to the other,at the other end is the dais for majlis by Maulana Hasnain Karari , it was jam packed , and after the majlis Zuljana and taboot of the Fourth Imam and than hardcore zanjir kama and sword matam.

I shot all this than taking a dagger I did the Tandav on the Soul of Shimr here , the dagger was quite blunt so I was not to happy , I collapsed twice and on after shooting the busheri matam returned , this picture was shot by Marziyas mom..for record .

Marziya cleaned my dirty bare feet and this will be my next set at Flickr.com.

I shot the Urus of Makhdoom Shah Baba a day before which I keep on hold even the Chennai 7 Moharam juloos pictures I might keep on hold.

By -
Labels: , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

I am on Flickr Instagram You Tube