Collaborators: Lisa Niedermeyer, Fatima Zaidi

Human model: Fatima Zaidi

“Sujood,” Arabic for prostration, is a position that, across cultures and time, has represented submission to a higher power. The femme body captured here evokes her Muslim upbringing while in this pose. 

The Arabic word “Muslim” literally translates to “one who submits.” The inscription is Qu’ran verse 13:15:

 “To Allah bow down all those in the heavens and the earth—willingly or unwillingly—as do their shadows, morning and evening.”

Ar’Ra’d (The Thunder)

This is what I want to think of when I think about Islam. However, my religious trauma often prevents me from remembering this and connecting with the feelings this pose brings. Thinking about it now, I can recall:

I've cried in desperation and elation 

in this pose. 

I’ve felt small 

in this pose.

I’ve felt the universe within myself 

in this pose. 

It was just me and my creator

in this pose. 

I felt at ease 

in this pose 

This is Islam to me 

in this pose 

one who submits because it brings about 

a wholeness, 

a safety, 

and peace.

About the Arabic verse: This verse emphasizes the absolute power of Allah and that everything, living or non-living, must obey and submit to the laws Allah has created. No being, even those who reject faith, can escape the circumstances that surround them.

Yeah, heard.

 I agree with that. I am one who rejected faith. Faith that felt forced and coercive. However, I have reverence for the physical laws decreed. I submit to the nature of circumstances established by the creator of existence. Seeing patterns is a truth I cannot deny.