Moulids in Egypt: A Part of the Egyptian Identity
By Nagat Hussein
Egypt is always known for its embracement to different religions and while certain religious festivals are celebrated by all Egyptians like Eid and Christmas, there are several celebrations that are restricted to a certain sector of Egyptians.
Moulids have been held in Egypt since the 1900s; a Moulid, which is an arabic term that means celebration, a day in which people come together and perform different rituals to celebrate the birth or death of a holy person.
There are different types of Moulids and each depends on the Islamic sect that celebrates it. The two most widely known sects for Moulids are the Shi’ite and the Sunni, but there are many others.
Ibrahim Kamel, official in the Ministry of Endowments, explained that while Moulids are supposed to be religious celebrations, they are organized and sometimes even funded by the state and the authorities.
There are more than 1000 Moulids throughout the year in Egypt according to Al Azhar Institute; the official body and the Supreme Entity for Islamic Studies and research in Egypt, ranging from Moulids that people come to from all over the world like Moulid Al Sayeda Nafesa which takes place in Cairo in the area of Al Sayeda Nafesa to Moulids that are only attended by several families in Upper Egypt.
All Moulids are related to either the day of birth or death of descendants of Prophet Muhammad family. While Al Azhar has issued several times that the celebration of birth and death days of any of the Prophets and their family members is not mentioned neither in the Quran nor in the Sunna, some Muslims still celebrate these days.
Kamel says that some Moulids require security permits for people to attend while others are restricted by the number of attendees for security restrictions by the government.
He goes on to say that some Moulids, while not important to people living in Egypt, would have visitors from Morocco coming to attend them and others from Lebanon.
Some consider Moulids a type of culture event that they come to enjoy while others have religious reasons for attending Moulids.
Rania Helal, a frequent attendee of Al Sayeda Nafesa Moulid explained that attending the Moulid each year is a sacred ritual she would never let go of, she added that regular attendees of Moulids are sometimes considered “blessed” by some people.
Al Sayeda Nafesa Moulid is held once each year and it is known to be one of the most popular for Sunni Muslims.
Helal also added “I have been accustomed to attending since I was 5, my mother would take me and we would take the train from Al Minya and come to stay at my aunt’s place before the week of the Moulid and then on the day we would wake up very early and go and wait until they open the Maqam ,inside the mosque where Al Sayeda Nafesa is said to be buried, then we would pray and ask for the blessings then give food to the poor.”
The perplexion is that if these Moulids are considered religious celebrations then what does the state have to do with it, it’s like the Friday prayers and going to the church on Sunday.
Kamel defends the government’s positions saying “Who said that we do not secure churches and mosques too during celebrations. A celebration means that a large number of people would be present and clashes for any reason could happen and it is government’s role to maintain order.”
Yamani El Dousy, a known Moulid singer said that he has witnessed several times where violence got out of control.
El Dousy explains,“It is normal for violence to take place, think of any place where there are a lot of people and we are talking about thousands and thousands of people.
He also adds, “some Moulids the number reaches a million so it is very likely that clashes for any reason would take place, the presence of the police is important of course but what is not needed is the state’s interference with the Moulid itself.”
El Dousy went on explaining that since Mubarak was in office he had the upper hand of whether certain Moulids would take place or not and in El Dousy’s opinion this was absurd.
“This is where things go wrong, when politics comes into religion. There are always things that the public do not know, those who are in the Moulid segment only know it. Moulids are sometimes used to promote a certain idea or let people know of a certain piece of information but that is delivered to them in a certain way. The state cannot ban Moulids; they would probably face unwanted rage from Moulid attendees, they need them but what they can do is they can tighten their grip around what happens in the Moulid and what is to be said and what isn’t.”
Burial of Muhammed Ali Pasha, Old Cairo. [Nagat Hussein]
Burial of Sultan Hassan, Old Cairo. [Nagat Hussein]