Capturing the Spirit of Ramadan

ramadan Islamic art can’t remain aloof from political concerns all around, as art comes to terms with the identity of Muslims constructed the world over. Ahmad Abull Hafeeth Mesleh’s camera clicked a rare moment in the occupied Qudus on 17th August this year. People stand in queue but they are invisible and blurred the symbol of a people who are being blurred and made invisible. To see the photo, Log in to Facebook and follow the link www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=334923996600362&set=a.322426157850146.72….

Mesleh wants to show the process of the Palestinian life during the occupation. And we see a boy with a gun atop his father’s shoulder who are walking in the street after Taraweeh Prayer
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www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=334923996600362&set=a.322426157850146.72…

We can see the delicate visualisation of the Quranic verse: ‘O you who have believed, when [the adhan] is called for the prayer on the day of Jumu’ah [Friday], then proceed to the remembrance of Allah and leave trade. That is better for you, if you only knew.’ Indeed, prayer is an occasion (Five occasions a day) for us to turn our back on the material world and to focus entirely on the inner world. We leave our life here behind and go back to a world which is beyond the eternity of sea. In the photo captured by Hoda Eissa, we see a fisherman taking a break for prayer, leaving the roaring sea behind.

Also we see the aerial view of the Holy Mecca and of prayer beneath 500 year old Ottoman Lunar Clock tower and find it difficult to mark out the spiritual ambience in both the visuals. Does this betoken the Unity of Ummah (Tawhid)
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=334923996600362&set=a.322426157850146.72…

There are also visuals which showcase the uniqueness in the Muslim world (like the giant Quran in Al-Ihsaniyah Islamic Boarding School, Palembang.
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=334923996600362&set=a.322426157850146.72…
The festive mood of Eid was profiled against an illuminated pages of the Quran, which are the two pages from Surat al Kahf detailing renuciation. Art, festivity, renunciation. The three mutually exclusive themes are neatly commingled in the visual. But the spiritual aura of the month best amplified by Louie Onofre Elias’ picture ‘Reading along with the Sea’ of a man reading Quran in searing heat on a beach
www.facebook.com/photo.phpfbid=334923996600362&set=a.322426157850146.729… is juxtaposed with a lad making kanafa
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=334923996600362&set=a.322426157850146.72…
or with Dates & Gawa
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=334923996600362&set=a.322426157850146.72…
or with Muslim teens doing somersaults attractions while waiting to be fast at Muara Beach interlacing, Padang, West Sumatra, on Tuesday www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=334923996600362&set=a.322426157850146.72…
There are visuals associated with tradition like a drumbeating farewell to Ramadan www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=334923996600362&set=a.322426157850146.72…
or an Egyptian waking people up for pre-dawn meals beating on a small drum www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=334923996600362&set=a.322426157850146.72….

The Cusine of Ramadan has been amplified in pictures like an Indian cooking Samoosa
www.facebook.com/photo.phpfbid=334923996600362&set=a.322426157850146.729…
or the picture ‘Preparing Iftar Food’ (www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=334923996600362&set=a.322426157850146.72…), which transfers an intense social and spiritual message.

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The Canvas for these brilliant photographic expositions of the Holy month of Ramadan was set by the Capture the Spirit of Ramdan as part of the The International Professional Ramadan Photography Competition 2012 which aims to showcase ‘the skills and imagination of talented photographers from around the world as they share their techniques and personal anecdotes about cultural and religious traditions during Ramadan.’ Studio Basel for Creative Solutions is the founder and the main sponsor of the competition. A selected 100 photographs published in the initiative’s Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/RamadanPhotography will be evaluated by the jury on October this year and a cash prize will be given to the selcted candidates. The top 100 photos will be published in the e-book format. And it would be a good piece of news for the budding photographers that the organisation aims to spnsor talents to increase their visibility within the international netwrok of the organisation.
Visit
http://www.capturethespiritoframadan.org

(While we recieved this feature the winner of the contest have not been declared. Visit www.capturethespiritoframadan.org to know the winners)