The Ultimatum

As I expected the followers of the Islamic and Christian saints across the country are more than angry in fact furious because of the government decision to ban all Moulid/Mawlid celebrations across the country.

Already in Delta and Upper Egypt the faithful followers of Islamic and also Christian saints have defied the orders of the government and the governors holding their celebrations in the villages and cities giving no damn to the authorities. The authorities are smart enough to know they won’t clash with those people , the simple people yet believers.

In Cairo everyone was anticipating , things are different than in the country side , the big battle was at El-Saida Zeinab Moulid / Mawlid where millions head to her shrine and Mosque annually  celebrating in parades and festivals for days , not for one day . Already the police removed all the tents around the shrine in the last couple of days yet the faithful followers swore that they would  come and they also had warned the government and the people

Last time the government had cancelled Um Hasham’s* Moulid was in 1967 before the war and in that year we had the greatest defeat ever

They were men of their words and some of them they did not come alone but with masks and dettol wipes but there were not parades or camps outside the shrine like the annual habits. It was less crowded than the previous years for sure.

The Sufi groups organized an international press conference attacking the government accusing it of being biased ; why to cancel the Mawlid where as the football matches are held weekly and the cinemas are opened daily for moviegoers , why picking on the annual Mawlid festivals across the country which are held annually only. This is a valid point honestly why not to cancel the football matches and close the Cinemas in the same way too !!!

I want to hint to something , the government took this decision despite its importance without any consideration to its economic impacts, for sure it won’t harm the national income , but it will harm thousands of incomes across the country , those simple professions that only wait for that time in the year , those small shops and sellers of simple stuff like drinks and food around the shrines are the most harmed in all that fuss. These shops and sellers are from the poor classes , I can’t imagine the economic damage they will suffer. For instance like in Tanta , there are certain businesses that only operate during the Mawlid !!

Now the government from two days ago leaked some strange information I have not understood up till now . The government canceled the Mawlids of Al-Sayada Zeinab because they fear terrorist attacks !!! what terrorist attacks the government is talking about at the Al-Sayada !!?? And if the danger is only in Al-Sayada ,why to cancel other festivals in the country !!??

Another rumor I heard was that the government canceled the Mawlids because it fears the spread of Shiism in Egypt !!!

Judging from all those reasons the government can’t find a reason to justify its Mawlids cancelation in the country for real , it is not about H1N1 now , people would buy the H1N1 reason if they cancel the football matches and close the cinemas !!!! 

Regarding the Ultimatum , well this government or rather regime does not need to cancel a Mawlid to head for a another defeat because it is heading towards big defeat already !!  Still I will say “ Show us something Ya Tahara for God sake”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*Al Sayada Zeinab is known in Egypt as Um Hasham

**These photos have been taken from couple days ago from the Mawlid celebration this year by Ahmed Abdel Fatah

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