ceremonial coffin | >Re-PHOTO

Martyrdom of Ali, Save Fallujah – 2004

Martyrdom of Ali, Save Fallujah: I had a fairly long and busy day on Sunday 7th November 2004, beginning with the annual London celebration of the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Ali, the first Imam of Shi’ite Islam. From Park Lane I walked to Parliament Square where a protest demanded that the troops were withdrawn from Iraq.

This was the day when US and UK troops began the bloody offensive of the Second Battle of Fallujah, codenamed ‘Operation Phantom Fury’, fighting against Iraqis in militia of all stripes including both Sunni and Shia, united in opposition to the US-imposed Shia-dominated government.

Finally I went to Trafalgar Square and took a few pictures of the Diwali celebrations taking place there, although I didn’t post any of these at the time on My London Diary.

Diwali in Trafalgar Square, Martyrdom of Ali, Save Fallujah - 2004

In this post I’ll reproduce (with minor corrections) what I wrote in 2004, along with some of the pictures I took. These were made with the first digital DSLR camera I owned, the 6Mp Nikon D100, and most were made with a Nikon 24-85mm lens (36-127mm equivalent), though I had recently got a second lens, a Sigma 12-24mm (18-36 equivalent.) The Sigma wideangle was rather slow and working at f5.6 in low light was difficult as the D100 which did not have the high ISO capabilities of more modern cameras.

Muslims mourn in London

Hyde Park and Park Lane

Martyrdom of Ali, Save Fallujah - 2004 — *Talks and prayers before the procession started in Hyde Park*

Sunday saw Muslims on the street for a religious event, a Jaloos & Matam on the Martyrdom anniversary of Imam Ali, organised by Hub-e-Ali, making its way from Hyde Park down Park Lane carrying a taboot or ceremonial coffin.

The event started with prayers, addresses and a mourning ceremony.

The banners carried included texts from the ‘purified five‘ members of the prophet’s family, but particularly Hasan Bin Ali Bin Abu Talib, the cousin and first believer in the prophet.

There was some impressive chanting and much beating of breasts (matam or seena-zani) by the men, chanting and sticks of incense being burnt. The women followed quietly behind.

*The women followed, their black-clad quiet dignity contrasting with the frenzied chest-beating of the men*

More images start here on My London Diary

Withdraw the Troops from Iraq – Save Fallujah From Destruction

Parliament Square and Whitehall

I met Dave at the procession on Park Lane and walked with him to Parliament Square where a demonstration was to be held demanding the withdrawal of troops from the cities of Iraq. From the news that morning it seemed the Americans were about to storm Fallujah. [They did – see below *]

The large anti-war organisations seemed to be keeping strangely quiet, and there were only a hundred or two demonstrators here.

Among them of course was Brian Haw, now almost two and a half years into his permanent protest in the square, which seems likely to lead MPs to pass a bill specially to make such protests illegal.

I admire him for making such a stand, even if I don’t entirely share his views, and feel it will be a very sorry day for civil liberties in this country if such activities are banned.

There were a few placards and banners, and some people who had come with white flowers as requested.

There were few takers for the ‘open mike’ and nothing much was happening until a group of ‘Code Pink’ supporters intervened theatrically parading a black-dressed cortège around the square. The effect was literally dramatic.

There were a few more speeches, including a moving one by Iraqi exile Haifa Zangana.

It was getting dark (or rather darker, as it had been dull and overcast, with the odd spot of rain all day) as we moved off up Whitehall towards the Cenotaph, where the funeral wreath was laid on the monument.

Police tried (although it is impossible to see why) to restrict the number of those putting flowers on the monument to an arbitrary five, but those who had brought flowers were not to be so easily diverted.

*People wait for police to allow them to lay their flowers at the Cenotaph*

They ignored police orders and walked across the empty roadway to lay their flowers, and around 50 of the protesters staged a sit-down on the road.

Eventually the police warned them they would be removed forcibly if they did not get up, and then started to do so.

*Police drag demonstrator away as peace protestor Brian Haw holds a placard “War Kills the Innocent” in front of Cenotaph and Code Pink wreath, “How Many Will Die in Iraq Today?”.*

For the most part the police used minimum force, but there were one or two unnecessarily unpleasant incidents.

The protesters were then corralled for a few minutes on the pavement before being allowed to continue the demonstration in the pen opposite Downing Street.

Nothing much seemed to be happening, so I went home [via the Diwali celebrations in Trafalgar Square] when police refused to let me photograph from in front of the barriers.

It seemed an arbitrary and unnecessary decision, but this time I couldn’t be bothered to argue. I think they were just upset because I had taken pictures during the violence a few minutes earlier.

*More about Fallujah

The Second Battle of Fallujah lasted about six weeks and probably resulted in around 2,000 fighters dead and many wounded, mostly Iraqis, with just 107 of the coalition forces killed. Another roughly 1,500 Iraqis were captured.

US forces had stopped all men between 15 and 50 from leaving the city, and treated all those left inside as insurgents. Civilian deaths were later estimated at between 4,000 and 6,000. Civilians who were able to fled the city and around 200,000 became displaced across Iraq. Around a sixth of the city’s buildings were destroyed and roughly two thirds suffered significant damage.

The US forces were heavily criticised for their direct use of white phosphorus in the battle against both combatants and civilians. Highly radioactive epleted uranium shell were also used and a survey in 2009 reported “a high level of cancer, birth defects and infant mortality” in the city.”

More pictures from the protest on My London Diary.

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All photographs on this page are copyright © Peter Marshall.
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Arbaeen Procession in London – 2012

Arbaeen Procession in London: On Sunday 15 January 2012 around 5000 Shi’ite Muslims gathered at Marble Arch for London’s 31st annual Arbaeen procession.

Organised by the Hussaini Islamic Trust UK, the process with its colourful flags, large gold and silver replica shrines and men and women beating their breasts in a symbol of mourning for Imam Husain went along Park Avenue.

Imam Husain, the grandson of Mohammed, was killed with his family and companions at Kerbala in 680AD. Shi’ites celebrate his martydom with 40 days of mourning each year, beginning with Ashura and ending with Arbaeen.

Husain is seen by Shia Muslims as making a great stand against the oppression of a tyrant and representing the forces of good against evil. Although hugely outnumbered he and his companions chose to fight on to death rather than compromise their beliefs.

Their stand remains a symbol of freedom and dignity, and an aspiration to people and nations to strive for freedom, justice and equality. Among many who have admired Husain are Ghandi, Charles Dickens and historians Edward Gibbon and Thomas Carlyle.

Arbaeen also celebrates the return of the wives and families of the martyrs to Kerbala the following year from Damascus where the had been marched as captives.

Millions now attend the annual Arbaeen event in Kerbala although it was banned when Saddam Hussein was in power.

The London procession was first held in 1982 and is the oldest Arbaeen/Chelum Procession of Imam Husain in the west. It was the first annual Muslim procession to take place in Central London and is still one of the larger annual Muslim processions in the UK, attracting Muslims from across the UK.

I arrived at Marble Arch in time for the prayers, recitation, speeches and chanting at the start of the event and to admire the three large gold and silver replicas of the shrines of Karbala; known as Shabbih, over 10 feet high and the largest in Europe,the decorated and blood-stained white horse Zuljana, the cradle remembering his 6 month old child Hazrat Ali Asghar and a ceremonial coffin before the procession began.

Both men and women on the procession beat their breasts – the men with great energy and the women much more decorously as they moved slowly down Park Lane.

The event was continuing when I left hours later.

You can read more about the procession and follow it in my pictures on My London Diary at Arbaeen Procession in London.

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All photographs on this page are copyright © Peter Marshall.
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Martydom of Ali & Cut the Carbon

Martydom of Ali & Cut the Carbon: Two unconnected events in London on Sunday 30th September 2007. I photographed a Muslim festival in Park Lane before making my way to Battersea where a long march organised by Christian Aid around Britain was resting before its final push to the City of London calling for urgent action to cut our carbon emissions. Sixteen years ago it was already clear we needed to do this to avoid climate catastrophe – but our government has clearly not yet got the message with its recent decisions, including giving the go ahead to exploit the Rosebank field.

Mourning the Martrydom of Ali – Marble Arch

Ali Ibn Abi Talib grew up in the household of the prophet Muhammad and was the first male to profess his belief in his guardian’s divine revelation.

Later he married Muhammad’s daughter Fatimah and became a great warrior and leader and also one of the foremost Islamic scholars. He was made Caliph after the previous Calip was assassinated, and was then himself assassinated while praying in the mosque at Kufa, Iraq dying a few days later on the 21st of Ramadan in 661CE.

Revered by all Muslims, he is particularly celebrated by Shia, who regard him as second only in importance to Muhammad, and celebrate his martydom annually, including in a colourful march on the streets of London.

They gathered in front of Marble Arch for a lengthy period of mourning before a ceremonial coffin was carried out and men and women rushed to touch it. People began to beat their breasts, the men with extreme force and the women very much more decorously.

Eventually they formed into a procession and moved off down Park Lane, with much continued mourning and beating of breasts, led by a tall banner about Ali, then the men, followed by the ceremonial bier and finally the by the women with more banners.

Although the men were happy to be photographed, some were concerned that I also photographed the women taking part in this and other similar events. But after putting the photographs from events like this on-line I received e-mails from some of the women in them thanking me for having recorded their participation.

I left the marchers as they moved down Park Lane. The procession continues for some hours, moving slowly and then returning to Marble Arch but I had to go to Battersea.

Many more pictures beginning at on My London Diary.

Cut The Carbon March: Christian Aid – St Mary’s Battersea

The ‘Cut The Carbon March’ organised by Christian Aid called for the UK and the world to take urgent action to reduce the carbon emissions which are leading to a catastrophic global warming which was already threatening the lives and livelihoods of many around the world, particularly in the Global South.

Clearly all countries needed to take urgent action to avoid the growing catastrophe, and countries such as the UK with higher per capita carbon footprints need to take a lead in this as well as helping other less industrialised countries to do so. We have benefited from a couple of hundred years of carbon-dirty industrial growth which has brought to world to the brink.

The marchers, including a number of international participants, had begun in Northern Ireland in July, moving on to Scotland, England and Wales on a thousand mile route through major cities which were listed on the back of the t-shirts worn by the marchers. The march was intended to convince people of the necessity to cut carbon emissions from the UK and globally. As well as marching there were events at their stops on the route, including a visit to the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth where they had met with then Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Many others had joined the core marchers, walking with them for short sections of the route and providing hospitality at churches along the way. They were stopping in Battersea and taking part in an evening service in St Mary’s there before the final day of the march which was to end at St Paul’s Cathedral on October 1st.

I was late and the marchers had arrived at St Mary’s just I few minutes before me and were enjoying a rest in its riverside churchyard. Later some talked about the march and why they had given up their summer to take part in it as it was so vital that the UK and the world take serious action.

We were reminded that some of the world’s lower-lying countries were being threatened by the sea level rise from global warming, with ice-caps melting as a high Spring tide began to flood parts of the churchyard, but fortunately stopped with only a few large puddles at one side. But the sea-level will continue to rise and make some whole island countries uninhabitable as well as large areas of others already subject to flooding.

More recently we are also now seeing the effects of global heating and climate instability clearly in the UK, Europe and North America with record high temperatures, huge forest wild fires and odd weather patterns affecting crop yields. But the fossil fuel companies are still huge lobbyists and contributors to party funds and still our UK government, while paying lip-service to zero carbon in the rather distant future of 2050, continues to pump up the carbon with new coal, gas and oil exploitation. Total madness.

But this was a fine September evening and St Mary’s is a fine listed building and I was pleased yet again to take a tour inside and admire its architecture, fine monuments and modern stained glass windows for both William Blake and Joseph Mallord Turner who knew it well, as well as the riverside views.

More pictures on My London Diary

As well as the pictures you can see what I wrote about these events at the time near the bottom of the September 2007 page of My London Diary.