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do we celebrate???


since it's almost time for christmas, i can see all the streets of Ramallah starting to get decorated with colorful balloons papa noel, chocolates..... it also reminds me of our also coming Adha eid. the difference is it's unfortunately not as colorful. it even lost its taste for many here in palestine. i feel that we lost many of our nice traditions that were related to the eid. and i wonder: is it a trend or it's just me.
what about it in egypt?
 

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Login to find out (December 18, 2005 at 1:02am)
i cannot give a judgement about sufism in egypt. nevertheless, i beleive that sufism is a way to see islam. i don't see contradiction between islam and sufism. i read some of the sufi readings like that of RUmi and it did nothing but increased my faith in islam. may be i might differ with sufis on minor issues but i the way they interpret things is interesting. about seeing god in oneself, i don't think this is kufr. i believe it is a way to get closer to god.
 
Login to find out (December 17, 2005 at 11:24pm)
Oh, i'm aware of that Ayman. Actually, it's surprising because when i was in Egypt for 5 months over the summer, I realized in the area I was staying that there were 15 Sufi mosques alone. Well, the names of several mosques throughout Cairo and Alex speak for themselves. Well, their population is rather large taking into consideration the population of the country.
 
Login to find out (December 17, 2005 at 11:12pm)
beconvinced, it depends on whom you met and whom you talked to. Generally speaking sufi tariqas in egypt are way off but there are very few and those whom you are referring to. When you meet with them you think they are many or that they are the majority but unfortunately they are not. In Egypt if you mix with the salafis you will think that Egypt is full of them when they are not and if you mix with Hasheesh heads you will feel that all Egyptians are like that. When you are in Cairo you are in a 20 million people city and you can meet all kind of people.
 
Login to find out (December 17, 2005 at 8:01am)
It's even well referenced in several books.
 
Login to find out (December 17, 2005 at 7:57am)
Lots of Sufis today in Egypt are educated & from the younger generation
 
Login to find out (December 17, 2005 at 7:00am)
Ayman,

You are right. Sufism as I understand it is a broad term identifying people who at the best end of it just tend to spend more time in worhsip, but then it also refers to those who think they have reached knowledge that they have become supermen - they do not need to do the regular worships anymore, and I would say this is probably the current definition of a sufi in Egypt. If you meet with one of them, this is their status quo.

It goes even further at the most extreme that one of them had believed that Allah (astighfur Allah) has become part of him, so he would worhip himself - read about Al Halaj so you know how he ended along that path.
 
Login to find out (December 17, 2005 at 6:41am)
May be, you guys need to define what each of you mean by sufi and sufism, right?
 
Login to find out (December 17, 2005 at 6:31am)
Beconvinced,

Sorry, I am not convinced ); You are true there are a lot of sufi mosques but they are not the majority. Also, people celebrate the Prophet's birthday and other such events not because they are sufis, but because this is the tradition they found as they as they grew up. I would say for people who are simple and do not seek learning, it is just what they found as they grew up, just simple traditions for them. Those who take the extra step to learn, rarely become Sufis. I found sufism more spread among the older folks though. The 60s generation I would say.
 
Login to find out (December 17, 2005 at 1:11am)
Rich in Sufi History ( STARTED & FLOURISHED IN EGYPT) such as the same with SHIASIM, DRUZISM etc.. Several thousand Sufi mosques throughout the country exist until today, and most Egyptians celebrate events and carry on traditions associated with Sufism such as the celebration of the prophets birthday etc..
 
Login to find out (December 16, 2005 at 5:32pm)
Hello Beconvinced,

How did you reach the conclusion that the vast amount of muslims in Egypt are Sufis ?
 
Login to find out (December 16, 2005 at 12:56am)
Oh, In Egypt, you see lots of color. Since the vast amount of Muslims there are Sufis, you tend to see lots of color and especially during the Prophets Birthday.