Reflections on the Muslim photographer Part I

Dear me,

Being a Muslim is not only when

1. you are on a prayer mat.
2. you go to the mosque.
3. you are with your religious teacher.
4. you are with your religious pals.
5. you read the quran and/or hadith
6. you are leading a jemaah in solat
7. you are in a tariqah
8. are in a position or location that people can see you...
9. and many other situations.

Being a Muslim is to submit our intellect, our ego, our pride, our beliefs, our values, our direction, our breath, our time, every heartbeat.... All to Allah swt and his Rasulullah saw in order to qualify to earn the everlasting Rahmat of Allah swt. Hopefully then we enter Jannah.

Hence, as Muslim Photographers we must be conscious that we are Muslims 24h a day with or without our photography gear. We must be conscious that whatever we do is not exempted from the Judgement of Allah swt. And Allah s.w.t never made mistakes in his Judgement on the Day of Judgement. We must therefore be very conscious and be meticuluous in what we photograph, who we photograph, what place we photograpgh, the messages in our photos and so on. Do we remember Allah swt when we are out photographing the world that Allah swt creates?

Do we maintain clear halal/haram boundaries when we are handling our assignments or when we go out for any of our outings. Do we spend more time in photography than with Allah swt and His Rasul saw. Do we use our equipment and expertise to bring ourselves and people to Allah or the direct opposite. Do we spend to much Rezki on our Photography and too litle on giving Sedeqah (donations). Do we not reflect on the creations that Allah made and we just photograph for fun. Are any of our composition breeds Fitnah and becomes part of Dajjal's tools to make people more distant from Allah swt.

O Allah forgive me and my friends. For we have sinned. Please make me and others like me a complete Muslim and make our hobby an ibadah for us and a benefit to us and the people around us. Make us bow to You in humility and loyalty for without You we are nothing. And without Your Mercy we will sure be among those who does evil upon ourselves. Ameen.