Shah ast Hussain (as)

On the 8th Of Moharam , all roads from every corner of Lucknow lead to a place on the banks of the River Gomti,this is a Masjid called Dariyawali Masjid, or more famous as the Masjid of Djjins.
It is a very eerie place in terms of spirtuality, Thursdays devotees come here to light candles burn incense , but on 8th Moharam , it is jam packed, this day being celebrated as the Martyrdom of Hazrat Abbas the standard bearer valiant brother of Hazrat Imam Hussain.
If there is one person whose named is invoked in calamaties after Hazrat Ali , it is certainly Hazrat Abbas.Hazrat Ali was the cousin of the Holy Prophet ,he married Bibi Fatima the only daughter of the Holy Prophet.They had two sons Hassan and Hussain , Hazrat Ali married again on the passing away of Bibi Fatima.
As narrated below..

Hazrat Abbas
“Hazrat Abbas was the son of Hazrat Ali ibne Abi Talib. His mother’s name was Fatima Binte Hazam bin Khalid Ibn-e-Rabi’e Ibn-e-Amer Kalbi. She was also known as ‘Ummul Baneen’. She belonged to the clan of Banu Kilah, which was one the noblest families amongst the Hashimites and famous for the bravery and valour of its warriors.”

Some years after the martyrdom of Fatema Zehra (S.A.), Imam Ali (A.S.) asked his brother Aqil to offer the marriage proposal to a woman from a brave progeny. Being so knowledgeable in this regard, Aqil wooed Fatima Binte Hazam (Ummul Baneen) for Imam and they got married.

Fatima Binte Hazam was an accomplished and cultured lady, and bore Hazrat Ali’s four sons, Abbas, Abdulla, Ja’far and Usman. The meaning of ‘Ummul Baneen’ is ‘Mother of Sons’. All of her sons were martyred along with Imam Hussain. After their martyrdom, she requested people not to call her ‘Ummul Baneen’ ever again.

The day she entered the household of Hazrat Ali, she made it very plain to Imam Hasan and Imam Hussain that she considered herself their slave, and she hoped and prayed that they would accept her as one. Her respect and affection for there was soon reciprocated by the two brothers, and even after her children were born, Imam Hasan and Imam Hussain occupied a foremost place in her heart.

Fatima Binte Hazam had such sincerity toward the Holy Prophet’s progeny that she loved Imam Hussain (A.S.) more than her own children. A feeling which was from the bottom of her heart. It was to the extent that when she received the news stating the martyrdom of her four children, she said: “Tell me about Hussain (A.S.)” and when she received the news of Imam Hussain (A.S.)’s martyrdom she said: “All of the arteries of my heart are torn. May all of my children and what ever that exists under this azure heaven be sacrificed for the sake of Imam Hussain (A.S.).

One of the bravest of the Holy Prophet’s followers Ja’far Tayyar, the brother of Hazrat Ali. In the battle of Muta, Ja’far Tayyar carried the Banner of Islam and in that battle he was out-numbered by the enemies and killed. When the news reached the Holy Prophet he cried and prayed for Ja’far’s soul and the angel Gabriel came down and consoled (the Prophet), saying “Ja’far was a brave and loyal soldier. God has given him everlasting life, and in place of two arms which were cut off in the battle, the Lord has given him a pair of wings”.

Hazrat Ali, who was sitting near the Holy Prophet at that time, said, “Please pray to God that I should die fighting for the cause of Islam and become a martyr.” But the Holy Prophet said, “0 Ali, your death has already been decreed. You shall die in the mosque during your prayers, but the Almighty will give you a son who will die in the battle on Ashoora day”. From that time Ali eagerly awaited the birth of that son.

(This prophecy was made in the year 8 A.H. when Imam Hasan was 5 years old and Imam Hussain was 4.)

Na Zarurat Thi Talwaar Ki Na Aur Kisi Hathiyar Ki
Sirf Ek Dua Thi Karbala Main Alamdaar Ki
Fakat Mil Jaye Ijazat Aqa Hussain Sai
To Yaad DilaDunga Jung Haider-e-Karrar Ki

So Dariawali Masjid I came , realising that in my hurry I had left the flash at home, a journalist took me back to Nakhas , armed with my flash shot these pictures.
Most of the pictures got underexposed..but I am posting the few good ones.
This Dariyawala Alam , moves out from the Masjid towards Gufr Map Imambada it takes several hours, I believe it reaches in the wee hours of the morning before Fajr Namaz.
I did not shoot the climax, I am bare feet this is chilly winter.I was tired , sleepy, in bad shape.
Before the Alam moves out there was a Majlis by an Alim Maulana Effendi, after that Maulana Kalbe Jawad took the mimber , once he ends his Majlis the procession men women and children, under the most strict police bandobast takes to the roads..
There is no scourging or kama zani as in Mumbai at Kaser Bagh, just hand matam , each Anjuman reciting their Nohas..I Mumbai the Moghul Masjid guys do the circular Busheri Matam.

Maulana Effendi

Maulana Kalbe Jawad

May 26th, 2007

Posted by photographerno1 on 26 May 2007
Filed Under: dariyawala alam, dariyawali masjid, firoze shakir, hazrat imam hussain, maulana kalbe jawad, shiasm | No Comments »

This was a massive Juloos at Imambada Meeran Saab Muftigang a day before Ashura I think, I am bad with dates.Here it was a display of 18 Taboots of Hazrat Imam Hussains male family members and a few of his brave warriors, I was assisted here by the younger brother of Maulana Hassan Zaheer Saab who was in Iraq.He took me above his house I shot the entire sequence on Raw format, I had to abort this Juloos as the memory cards were all full, so I did not shoot the Zanjir Matam completely.
Here too there was a Majlis by Maulana Kalbe Jawad Saab, the Shia women were in great strength, with their little ones , asleep on the fooor, this is the bulwark of our Faith.Shia women are the main power of Shiasm, it is solely because of them that the covenant of Hazrat Imam Hussain is alive.Thess brave women undaunted by climatic conditions, or other womanly hardships, carry their kids to attend Majlis, despite the horrendously horrifying crowds.
This is the earliest school of learning of our kids,these women brave everything that comes their path, these women who are braver than the bravest Shia men, this is the true Fountain head of our Faith.The house stoves for 10 days are in mourning too, no cooking, its only the Niyaz that comes from the Majlis that becomes holy bread , honestly there is so much Niyaz that you dont need to cook at home.Call it a miracle of sorts.I am talking of Lucknow.
I shoot this spirit of the Shia women, this spiritual force that commands attention in my pictures too.
I remember a Khoja kid outside the Bandra Khoja Mosque who was quite offensive as I was shooting a child doing matam on a womans lap, this is the misguided myopic vision of the new custodians of Shiasm the Khojas.If only Qums was not the stumbling block…I completely stay away from Khoja Mosque , because of the extreme politicisation, the poverty of a thinking mind of a commercially gifted race.I have nothing against the Khojas, I have best friends , but its just a few who cut the branch of the tree they are sitting on.
Well I will shoot an aspect people should read the story within the image.
It is our Mothers , our sisters , our daughters , our daughter in laws , that keep the flame of our Faith burning , we all owe it to them.Even the Mullah owes his earliest upbringing in Faith to his Mother.
Yes our Faith is that unfortunate Mother , that noble Mother , who sat on the grinding stone to grind the wheat , to feed her beloved Hassan Hussain, yes this Mother , this primal force the daughter of the Holy Prophet , who worked on the Chakki, this was the stepping stone, this was Righteousness , the wealth of her Mother Lady Khadija still remains unaccountable, but utilised in propagating Islam they say.
It was Politics of Power that gave birth to an Axis of Evil, the birth of sectarian Hate .
Simply renamed Shia Sunnis.
This Mother was given a raw deal, by the Caliph of his time , on 31 May we will be commemorating her death…this is Motherhood…our parentage to True Islam.
Maksade Fatima.

Our Women Fountainhead of Faith

Majlis Maulana Kalbe Jawad Saab

Majlis in Progress

The Juloos Gettting Ready

The Standard Bearers,, Alamdars

May 18th, 2007
Categories: maulana kalbe jawad, Moharam in Lucknow, imambada meeran saab, bibi fatima, imam hussain, shias, firoze shakir, maksade fatima, islam .

Posted by photographerno1 on 24 May 2007
Filed Under: fourth imam, imambada meeransaab, maulana kalbe jawad, zainul abedeen | No Comments »

I was having a lot of problem with my flash, I lost a number of photos completely underexposed.

As there is a depression at the end of the fire walk sometimes your foot goes in, this is where your feet burn, so the guys keep moving the embers…

I walked up to Maulana Kalbe Jawad Saab, complaining about the bad management of this fire event, even a child had slipped accidentaly from the hands of a youngster, Azam Hussain of Hindustan Times shot the picture I did not, it was not deliberate , but youngsters should be stopped carrying kids , the chaos , the pushing crowds could even bring a normal man down.
I aborted the shooting of this event as it had left a bad taste in my mouth.
Nothing happened to the kid who had fallen in the fire.

I dont think I will ever shoot Lucknow Moharam ever , so in a way this was my first and last Ashura in Lucknow.

May 15th, 2007
Categories: bada imambada, maulana kalbe jawad, aag ka matam, lucknow

Posted by photographerno1 on 24 May 2007
Filed Under: bada imambara, maulana kalbe jawad | No Comments »

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maulana Syed Kalbe Jawad Naqvi (مولانا سيد كلب جواد نقوى) is a Shia scholar from Lucknow, India comes from a family of scholars known as “Khandaan-e-Ijtehad”, notably Syed Dildar Ali, also known as Ghufran Ma’ab. His father was Syed Kalbe Abid, his grandfather Syed Kalbe Hussain.

The word “Kalb” means “heart” so his name “Kalbe Jawad” means “Heart of Jawad”, “al-Jawad” being the title of the 9th Imam of Islam (Mohammad at-Taqi al-Jawad (a.s)), notably the Twelver Shia.

He has studied for 10 years in notable religious seminaries in Qum, Iran and now takes the task of claiming back lands of Shias in Lucknow from the time when they were conviscated by the East India Company.

He is famous for discovering the alleged anti-Islamic conspiracy in the Coca-Cola logo.

He leads the Juma (Friday) Prays at the grand Asafi Masjid in Lucknow.

Pasdarane Husain - Website of an organisation run by Maulana Syed Kalbe Jawwad

Posted by photographerno1 on 14 May 2007
Filed Under: maulana kalbe jawad | No Comments »