The Perils of Joy: Contesting Mulid Festivals in Contemporary Egypt

4. Against Ambivalence

81 4 Against Ambivalence Modernism and Reformism Many Egyptians do in fact consider mulids subversive, but they definitely do not view this subversion in a positive light. For them, mulids are an ensemble of erroneous, backward, profane, and ridiculous beliefs that threaten the order of religion, society, and the nation. Some among them see mulids as altogether wrong and detestable. Many are sympathetic to the basic idea of venerating and celebrating a saint but do not agree with the actual form of celebration. Others disagree with the religious foundations of mulids but appreciate their festive atmosphere. Different people also highlight a diversity of issues. Whereas some see mulids primarily as an issue of religion and ritual, others emphasize their social and political role. At first glance, the manifold criticisms of mulids may appear unrelated . Often enough, however, the different points of criticism toward mulids come together as elements of a wider discourse—not a coherent, rationalized ideology, but rather a field of interrelated statements that differ in their emphasis and intensity and yet share significant commonsense assumptions. This relationship can be seen, for example, in the account by ‘Abd al-Rahim, a schoolteacher I met at the mulid of al-Sayyida Nafisa, where, he claimed, he had found himself by coincidence while taking a shortcut to a bus stop. SCHIELKE: What do you, personally, think about the mulid? ‘ABD AL-RAHIM: It is absolutely un-Islamic. These people are not really religious. . . . The mulid is a bid‘a [illegitimate innovation]. In 82  The Perils of Joy the dhikr, men and women mix and everything. The dhikr sessions are undesirable; in general, the veneration of the sheikhs is opposed to the idea of monotheism [tawhid]. The dhikr sessions [of the kind held at mulids] are not proper for the religious, rational, civilized human. On the contrary, they will provoke the anger of the Prophet. SCHIELKE: Can you imagine how a legitimate [shar‘i] mulid festivity would look? ‘ABD AL-RAHIM: A legitimate mulid festivity really doesn’t exist at all. There is no reason to celebrate someone who has already passed away in order to gain something from him. The only legitimate mulid festivity is the mulid of the Prophet, God’s blessing be upon him. Unfortunately, the Sufi orders and much of the Egyptian people, up to 40 or 50 percent, celebrate it in an un-Islamic way. A correct way of celebrating the Prophet’s birthday would consist of reciting verses of the Qur’an. We should follow his example, revive his tradition. What is more right, that I recite the Qur’an or that I dance like that [points at Sufis participating in dhikr in a nearby khidma]? That is all just amusement and foolery [lahwun wa-‘abath]!1 SCHIELKE: Can’t amusement and religion coexist? ‘ABD AL-RAHIM: No, because God didn’t give us two hearts so that I could have amusement [lahw] in one and invocation of God [dhikr] in the other. Either it’s amusement and pastime, or it’s invocation and Sunna. These things go back to the Fatimids, who established a Shi‘ite state and set out to lead the Muslims astray. They are the origin of these practices, they and these districts of Fatimid Cairo. You must come to ‘Ayn Shams, Heliopolis, and al-Matariyya. There are no shrines in the mosques there and no mulids. . . . SCHIELKE: What about the religious feasts, such as ‘id al-fitr, when people in the countryside go on the second or third day of the feast to the banks of the Nile for picnics and walks—isn’t that an acceptable kind of amusement? ‘ABD AL-RAHIM: It’s reprehensible [makruh]. The amusement on the Nile promenades doesn’t belong to the correct ‘id, which should consist, as mandated by the Prophet, of prayer, visiting friends and relatives, and helping the orphans. Here in the mulid the people are rich! They don’t need all that food [offered in the khidmas]. One should give to the orphans, who really need it. The people should Against Ambivalence  83 follow the Sunna. Look at these people [pointing again at Sufis in an ecstatic state of dhikr]! Are these Muslims? Islam is a religion of dignity, work, and worship, not a religion of laziness, neglect, and begging. These charities here are of no value. One must work, that is what our religion teaches.2 ‘Abd al...