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Faith over Pain

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The ten-day Muharram mourning ceremony reaches its climax on the last day which is called Ashura. Ashura marks the Remembrance of Muharram when Shia Muslims commemorate the slaying of the Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein ibn Ali in 680 AD in the Battle of Karbala.




For the Shias, Hussein's death symbolizes confronting tyranny in the face of overwhelming odds. It is also a reminder of the rift with Sunnis (who do not revere Hussein as Shias do) over the Prophet Mohammad's succession.








During the ceremony, the Shias beat their heads and chests and make gashes across bodies with swords to show their grief and echo the suffering of Imam Hussein.



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Due to clashes between Sunnis and Shias over the ritual most of the big citites have banned the large procession.



This year, I went to Amroha, a small, sleepy town in Western Uttar Pradesh to shoot the real zeal of Ashura as Amroha has a large Shia population and there is no ban on the procession here.




© Danish Siddiqui Foundation. All Rights Reserved.

Comments

  1. Faisal AhmedDecember 28, 2009 at 2:12 PM

    like the red of the blood...nice..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Faisal AhmedDecember 28, 2009 at 5:33 PM

    blood on knife is gud...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amandeep SinghDecember 29, 2009 at 1:24 AM

    This is cruel..I mean on yourself..

    But profound pictures!

    A good shoot I blive?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pearl December 29, 2009 at 1:27 AM

    Danish i so wonder for these men and women what is the personal eg for such a tyranny as they seem to fight. there has be something deeply personal to do this to oneself. For this one time i want to go deeper than your pictures are taking me. How do women take this whole ceremony? I there bereavment diffrent and less bloody? I want the pre dialog and after dialog after ppl have indulged in this

    ReplyDelete
  5. chrmyersDecember 29, 2009 at 6:24 AM

    brother, i appreciate this blog, the others you have posted have made me think about peoples pain and how blessed i have been in life (undeservingly so) and what it is to have a family that loves me dearly, but this article has done so much more. as i see what these men have done to themselves in the name a faith, i cry inside as i wonder if they have ever understood what it is to worship a God as a loving father who cherishes them as the beings he has created them to be. It does not seem to me that God in creating man in his own image, would ever want them to do such a thing to their body. i cry inside for those who are doing this and i pray that they come to know God as the almighty creator and lover of people. thanks for making me think, no not think, FEEL.

    ReplyDelete
  6. crookedlinesDecember 29, 2009 at 12:05 PM

    We may denounce what some people do to themselves in the name of faith; in their quest for salvation....but on second thoughts, I cannot help but wonder that if there were to be a battle, my faith will not stand the test of time as theirs would ----- theirs, that is willing to inflict injury onto oneself; theirs, that punishes oneself for the sins committed on this Earth even before the day of 'Qayamat' beckons.

    This is no justification for the violent acts committed on the day of Ashura. I have only paused here to confess that I will not so much as even cause a slit on my little finger with a knife if asked to prove my 'faithfulness' .... but this very faith turns some otherwise very normal, everyday people into fanatics for a few hours. What is the drive their religion has that mine doesn't? Or am I coward?

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousJanuary 2, 2010 at 4:33 PM

    These images makes you think, what matters more....celebrating one's life in present or taking religion as the root of our existence.

    **These shots may look brilliant in B/W with a red filter.
    SA

    ReplyDelete
  8. Tanya BahugunaJanuary 10, 2010 at 3:12 PM

    Your pictures have left me spellbound Danish...and for you to have actually experienced such an intense act of faith at such close quarters, i can only imagine its effect.

    ReplyDelete
  9. dr liaqat jafriMay 9, 2010 at 8:59 PM

    DANISH BHAI............BRILLIENT CAMERA WORK...
    I M A SHIA MUSLIM TOO........BUT THIS DRAMABAAZI IS JUST JAHAALAT JAHAALAT AND JAHAALAT......

    EVEN WE HAVE A HISTIRIC FATWA BY HAZRAT KHOMAINI AGAINST THIS UN-ISLAMIC RITUAL......BUT A BIG CHUNK OF SHIA'SARE NOT IN FAVOUR OF IT.......DANISH BHAI,PLZ ALLWAYS AVOID THESE TYPES OF TAMAASHA'S.....

    DR LIAQAT JAFRI JAMMU

    ReplyDelete

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