Dar ul-Islam: Landscapes of Faith (ongoing)

This photographic series explores how Islamic identity transforms the physical landscape of the Russian North Caucasus, particularly Dagestan — a region where religion, tradition, and modernity intersect. Drawing from the New Topographics tradition, the work documents human-altered landscapes where faith becomes topography. As a Muslim living in the region, I observe these transformations from within, focusing on the quiet interplay of devotion and terrain — whether in the deliberate geometry of a rural shrine or the accidental beauty of a prayer room tucked into a petrol station.

Inspired by classical Islamic jurisprudence’s division of territoriality (Dār al-Islām vs. Dār al-Ḥarb), the project questions how these concepts manifest today in a region often caught between local tradition, federal authority, and global religious currents.

This ongoing work aims to contribute to visual anthropology and contemporary debates on Islam in post-secular societies, offering a nuanced portrait of a region where faith is inseparable from the land itself.