After the Eid Al-Fitr prayers which mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan Abed Siddiqi (left) embraces an older man from the Afghan community. The Blacktown Mosque is mostly comprised of Afghans from both the Pashtun and Tajik communities. Eid Al-Fitr is important as it celebrate Muslim's committment to their faith by fasting for a month and attending additional prayer sessions.
As a documentary photographer I have worked on stories with a range of communities in Australia and around the world. Since learning about Afghanistan in university I have had a keen interest in the country and recently I decided the best way to really learn about the country is through Australia’s Afghan community. In late 2014 I decided to crowd fund money to run a participatory visual storytelling workshop for young Afghans and South Sudanese. The project called Seeing Summer successfully raised over $17,000 you can see my blog about it here. This and the current project, Seeing Ramadan, was undertaken in partnership with the Community Migrant Resource Centre, an NGO whose staff provided access to the community and support throughout.
After working on assignment for most of Ramadan I have just returned to Australia for just the last 8 days and set about to photograph the Afghan community during the remaining time. Over the past week I have been up at all hours visiting as many of the Afghan mosques around Sydney, both Shia and Sunni and also covering the three major ethnic groups of the country Hazara, Tajik and Pashtun. In the second part of this photo series there will be photos from young Afghans who answered the call when asked ‘what did you see during Ramadan’.
On the 27th day of Ramadan members of the Afghan Sunni community gathered at a small Mosque in Auburn for Qiyam prayers. The prayers started at approximately midnight and went until 2:30am when they finished the recitation of the Koran, kwhich is known as a Khatm of the Koran. After finishing the group shared a pre-dawn meal known as paas shawi.
A group of young men and elders sit together talking as they pack small bags of sweets to be given out during Iftar meal at the Blacktown Mosque.
Afghan community development worker Bahram Mia and his wife Asmah perform their fajr or morning prayers at home. After praying they ate a pre dawn meal knonw as paas shawi their only meal of the day until Iftar in the evening when they break their fast.
Date or khorma in Dari are offered around at the Ershad Islamic Centre to makr Iftar the breaking of the day’s fast. While many ethnic groups in Afghanistan have their own langauges, Dari is most widely spoken language across different groups.
Men from the Blacktown Mosque perform their morning prayers together. The Blacktown Mosque is mostly comprised of Afghans from both the Pashtun and Tajik communities.
A young man prayers at the Shia Mosque Nabi Akram in Granville. Once difference between the two main schools of Islam when praying is that Shia Muslims are required to use a clay tablet or turbah during their prayers.
An empty bag of Afghan rice sits outside the community hall at the Blacktown Mosque as members help prepare the iftar meal which will be shared by the community to break the days fast.
Men wheel a box of meals over to the Blacktown Mosque in preparation for the iftar meal.
At the Ershad Islamic Centre in Lidcombe, the Hazara community share an iftar meal to break their fasting.
At a small Mosque in Auburn a white curtain gives privacy to Afghan women praying during the qiyam prayers.
Afghan community development worker Bahram Mia sits at home with his wife Asmah after morning prayers as they discuss the day approaching.
A young boy plays with friends after breaking their fast with an iftar meal at the Blacktown Mosque.
On the last night of Ramadan Afghan men pray at a small Mosque in Auburn.
At a small Mosque in Auburn an Afghan man prays by himself at the end of the Khatm of the Koran. A small group of Afghan men gathered at midnight and praid through the night until 3am.
Afghan community development worker Bahram Mia (left) sits with friends Ahmed and Din at a Uyghur restaurant in Auburn during Ramadan.
Members of the Afghan community brave the rain and cold morning to attend Eid Al-Fitr prayers at the Blacktown showground, organised by the Blacktown Mosque. Eid Al-Fitr is important as it celebrate Muslim’s committment to their faith by fasting for a month and attending additional prayer sessions.
After the Eid Al-Fitr prayers a large number of people wait to embrace and offer an ‘Eid Mubarak’ to Maulana Hadir an elder and scholar of the Afghan community. In Afghan culture grey hair implies someone is old and children are taught to give great respect put the needs of the before themselves.
After the Eid Al-Fitr prayers which mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan, members of Afghan community embrace each other. The Blacktown Mosque is mostly comprised of Afghans from both the Pashtun and Tajik communities. Eid Al-Fitr is important as it celebrate Muslim’s committment to their faith by fasting for a month and attending additional prayer sessions.
After the Eid Al-Fitr prayers which mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan Abed Siddiqi (left) embraces an older man from the Afghan community. The Blacktown Mosque is mostly comprised of Afghans from both the Pashtun and Tajik communities. Eid Al-Fitr is important as it celebrate Muslim’s committment to their faith by fasting for a month and attending additional prayer sessions.
