Public libraries… key to renaissance and modernization

While I was reading an article for ambassador and intellectual Mr. Abdel-Ra’ouf ar-Ridi in last Friday’s Al Ahram newspaper edition, I remembered what I read long time ago about the European renaissance and how one of the most important features at the beginning and set off of this renaissance was the efforts exerted by the Medici family that ruled Tuscany and Florence at the beginning of the modern era. This family believed and practiced the civilization and cultural role of wealth and responsibility of managing the society affairs. The princes of this family were famous for assuming such role, atop of them was prince Lorenzo the magnificent about whom it was said that he declared his intention to sell the furniture of Medici family houses to continue building the public libraries in Tuscany and Florence.

Ambassador ar-Ridi wrote about sources of terrorism and focused on the role of public libraries in building the civilization and cultural renaissance in Egypt… and of course the scientific and technical ones… he inaugurated the invitation to start building a thousand public libraries in Egypt… here I excerpt part of his article: “… since Egypt’s situation now is not only deteriorated in the public libraries’ field, but in the field of scientific research… as per the index of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Egypt lies almost at the last rank preceded by all other Arab countries except for Algeria and Yemen… as to the UAE, it occupies the first rank with Jordan following it in the second place”.

From this space of opinion pages of Al Ahram, I agree to this invitation and call upon everyone interested in the renaissance of this country to do the same thing so that this invitation sent by ambassador ar-Ridi can reach president Sisi to support the initiative of building a thousand public libraries in Egypt and issuing a law that makes reading a basic right for every citizen and having a public library a fundamental right for every human community… especially that there are many nations that precede us in such field… for example, there is a public library for every 28 thousand people in India… also, Iran has achieved better than this… and the Zionist state is even more and more advanced in such regard.

In my opinion, the hope in achieving the renaissance of our country in all fields starts by building the citizens’ awareness of their important role in achieving such hope… it is also known that building and increasing awareness is qualitatively and quantitatively connected to culture… we also know that means of reading have developed and that it is now available to have a flash memory, the one you can attach to your keys’ ring, which can hold hundreds of books in all fields… for this reason, I have already called more than once in my writings and TV interviews to start a campaign titled “a flash memory for every class”… this flash memory shall include well-chosen books regarding subjects and level to match the age range of those who shall read them.

I would like also to widen the scope of the invitation to include all the well-offs of Egypt and all civil communities; whether political parties, non-governmental organizations and all their likes in the countryside, desert and small towns to share in a collective work and go to the ministry of domestic development, that our good fortune happened to bring a great scientist and pioneering expert in the scientific and IT field on top of it, to start establishing the public libraries nationwide… next to reading and listening rooms, there shall be other halls for seminars and theatrical and artistic performances in general… and so, all who cannot find space to practice such activities in schools and universities shall go to these libraries… in doing so, the public libraries will turn into focal points of collective and creativity activities in all Egypt… side by side with youth clubs and residences of public culture… here I wonder about the current status of these two since we are about to fulfill our hope in building the renaissance of our country!

Ambassador ar-Ridi, that 80-years-old young man full of energy with his agile mind always wondering, has exerted a big and distinguished effort in the field of establishing and fostering public libraries so that they do not disappear with time… and he is still trying hard to fulfill the hope of working on building the first thousand public libraries so that we can have one for every hundred thousand Egyptian citizens… such thing might seem unachievable if we compared the percentage to other countries we mentioned above however we hope we can begin the journey of thousand miles with a single step… this step is the establishment of thousand libraries.

In such regard, the brave city of Suez is waiting to be the first one of the governorates’ capitals to have such public library as a first step… I knew that the land is already available… only the entity that will fund such project is left… as to the content of the library, ambassador ar-Ridi has promised to provide all support to have an international level of quality… and so I ask Mr. Hesham esh-Sherif; minister of domestic development to foster such project so that the efforts of providing the possibilities of building the public library of Suez are done under the auspices of the ministry.

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on April 20, 2017.

To see the original article, go to:

http://ahmadelgammal.blogspot.com.eg/2017/04/blog-post_20.html

#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #Egypt #culture #renaissance #1000_libraries_project

Sultan Al-Qasimi…”about Egypt and culture”

For many considerations that I believe are objective… with some of them have to do with the composition and stances of Shiekh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammed Al-Qasimi; ruler of Sharjah Emirate and member of the Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates’ rulers… and with some others to do with Egypt; its role, status and hope… also, these words of Shiekh Al-Qasimi, which I am going to excerpt, are inseparable of the current circumstances our country is going through… these circumstances which I think are very critical… so I ask your permission to excerpt some texts of Sheikh Al-Qasimi from an interview of him published in the UAE’s newspapers on October 24, 2016.

Shiekh Al-Qasimi talked about the role of the Arab Republic of Egypt and said: “Egypt’s nature is different to that of other nations… as the situation in Egypt now is like the body that is recovering from some issues it suffers… and this recovering requires a lot of efforts… because the population is not few… 90 million people is a big nation regarding the problems and challenges Egypt faces from abroad; from the east, south and north… the president of the Arab Republic of Egypt; Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi is a man of responsibility and he wants to find solutions… he is like the surgeon with a scalpel in his hand to cut the body open… not to cause pain; but to remedy… remedy here, amidst these circumstances and current events, needs patience… and so, I assure you that Egypt is coming back and strong… but after we are done with the calamity in Syria and Iraq… in Egypt, we have all the good… in Egypt, we have an army that can defend the Arab nation… Egypt can run ten million fighters with one military order… so, I tell you… in Egypt, we can find the supporting back and security…

We could see that in other countries, enemies were able to miss with their compositions and divide whole nations into Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen, and Yazidis… in doing so, they were able to dismantle them like Israel hopes… but they could and will not do this in Egypt… because the Egyptian composition has been always, throughout history, free of such rifts… despite what Egypt’s enemies did to hit its cohesive composition, they were and will not be able to do what they did to the other nations.

This shall tell us about the reason why our enemies succeeded in dismantling some countries… because there was no common factor gathering the peoples of these nations… and so, we should stick to the most important factor we have in common among us… that is the Arab Nationality… so that we can be able to protect each other… and so, again I say, Egypt is coming back”.

For many years, Dr. Sultan has assigned himself the task of reviving the Arab culture… and so, he speaks of his cultural project saying: “at the beginning of the Union of the Emirates, we had education, commerce, agriculture, fishing and many fields available in the state… but the culture was not there… because the role of culture is to add… it’s not a source itself… I have my project which I have been working on since 1982… and I am still going on developing it… Sharjah has something to add everyday in the cultural domain… I myself follow the smallest details of these events… I have my own program regarding this… this project is not only in the Emirate of Sharjah or the state of the UAE… my cultural project is the Arab culture… and so, if I want to achieve any renaissance in such domain, I have to initiate this renaissance in the backbone of this region… and Egypt is the backbone in many fields… any work faces problems… consequently, work requires stability… also, work shall be grasped through repetition… and so, I have been working very hard in this cultural project since tens of years until this moment… but I am telling you, I have not achieved what I want yet… we should not hasten making culture… because culture is about accumulations that have to be perceived by the human mind… and so, we have to train the human mind on such discipline”.

Another text I excerpt of Shiekh Dr. Sultan Al-Qasimi: “despite all the current events that have caused depression to many people, I do not feel depressed… because when we look at the life of nations, we realize very well that what is happening now is an emergency… and there have always been many emergencies through time; whether bad or good, as time is changing like the sea… we shall not fear these changes… despite they sometimes bring death to our sons and throw their bodies on the European shores, we should be patient and strong… as what we have been through during the time of Mongols and Turks was much painful than this”.

This was the vision of a man who sees the whole picture in Egypt and the Arab nation from a specific angle; that is the perspective of the man-in-charge who knows well what responsibility means …

Some may get surprised that this Arab ruler is optimistic despite all the gloomy depression looming over the region… but going through the context of his words about the secret of such optimism, we find ourselves before a vision that is based, first, second and last, on culture… culture here is about building the human and making balance between the enlightened mind and the alerted sensitive conscience… the corner stone of such culture is “Egypt is coming back” and “it is the base in any future plans”…

I have known Shiekh Dr. Sultan Al-Qasimi since 37 years exactly… and so, I am not about to narrate what he and Sharjah offered for culture; whether in literature, arts or history… by providing sources, references, and documents… also, what was offered for motherhood, childhood, women and youth in more than one country… moreover, what was offered in certain fields in our beloved Egypt and other Arab countries… since he utterly refuses to talk about this…

I remember his clear decisive answer regarding such thing when some tried to publish what was offered to Egypt during his visit… he gave the example of a noble man who was tied and then his enemies asked people to pelt him with stones… then those who love him came and throw him with flowers while crying, thinking they declare their love to him this way… but actually, this is not true because pelting is pelting… even if by flowers.

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on October 27, 2016.

To see the original article, go to:

http://ahmadelgammal.blogspot.com.eg/2016/10/blog-post_28.html

#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #sultan_alqasimi #Egypt #UAE #sharjah #culture #cultural_renaissance

Toward an Egyptian cultural renaissance

Before going into today’s issue; that is the necessity to have an initiative launched by intellectuals to establish a movement to revive the Egyptian culture and which goes in the same context with what I wrote two weeks ago… I find myself facing a real, yet funny, dilemma… as many of my village residents and others in nearby villages and also many of my acquaintances think that since I write regularly in important newspapers and I’m an almost regular guest at the Egyptian TV and some satellite channels’ talk shows… and since I adopt a political and cultural discourse that is pro-June 30 revolution and president Sis… and I always value and feel grateful for the role of the Egyptian army in our current critical time… they think that means I’m a very important public figure who has many powerful connections enabling him to appoint a young man or woman in a job or get someone treated in a certain hospital for free… in general, they believe I can solve whatever problem and that my requests to officials in charge will be responded to immediately since I adopt such a loyal supporting stance to the ruling regime.

People in general look for anyone who can help them find solutions for their personal or collective problems… but they cannot believe that I, and many others, are not even invited to the president’s meetings with intellectuals, journalists and others… we even don’t know who are being invited and on what basis those invited are chosen.

What I do know is that if this invitation is coming from an official entity like the ministry of culture and its minister, I will never ever be invited… and reasons are many… most importantly because the minister do not like many of those who used to know him closely in the past… however, such disregard have and will never dissuade us away from the uncompromising stances we had and still believe in… as it’s a matter of nation’s fate and coming generations’ future… I believe one shall always do his best until the last moment, otherwise, he deserves not to be human… I just wish that our folks can excuse us if we couldn’t help them.

As to today’s issue, it has to do with what I have already written about before in my article titled “Sisi and history”… as I called upon the president to open our country’s institutions for the Arab scientists and intellectuals coming from Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Libya and that this shall help us establish an Egyptian cultural renaissance.

As it was proved that awareness is raised by culture side by side with – if not prior to – the economic and social circumstances… we can establish mega projects in more than one field, however, all these projects are prone to failure if those working in such projects are not fully aware of the nations’ priorities and future necessities… moreover, we can say that any pretender – especially those who believe that religion is in contrast with science and progress – can destroy people’s awareness by spreading a false Fatwa claiming to have a religious reference from a sacred verse.

It was also proved that the employees – especially those working in the field of culture – however high positions they have including the minister himself, they cannot establish an Egyptian cultural renaissance with clear targets and that is scheduled on phases… this mission shall be assigned to national intellectuals of all groups, ideologies and specializations.

Now, those who have known and dealt with hundreds of intellectuals have the right to inquire: why have we failed in establishing a comprehensive cultural renaissance movement which we can distribute tasks and roles and bear responsibility toward renovating out-of-time cultural concepts and changing them if necessary?... why don’t we adopt the theory of quantitative accumulation in our cultural life?

What I want to say here is that Egypt have witnessed many attempts of comprehensive cultural renaissances since the end of the 18^th century… but those attempts looked like waves that soon crashed once they hit the shore of our social structure… meaning since the attempts of Hassan el-Attar, Rifa'a al-Tahtawi… and later came Muhammed Abdo and those who followed him… and reaching to that wave of the sixties when we had dreams of having statues overlooking water canals of the Nile River and of having a theater in every hamlet.

We still remember the strong campaign that stood in the face of the muslim brotherhood culture minster… and how such large gathering of resilient intellectuals and artists led to total change… but again, everything came back as if nothing happened, even with the current minister, who was known to belong to the progressive forces as he used to declare when he was a journalist… and maybe the reason is what my late friend and great satirist Mahmoud es-Sa’adani used to say in his writings: “but… everything later changed…”… that journalist, now a minister, changed after he experienced the high positions starting from journalistic editing management, to agencies management and finally made it to be a minister…

Back to our point, I believe we should start first by bridging the gaps between renaissance eras… to finally have a continuous graphical line with ups and down and not distant separated dwarfed lines representing our cultural movement.

Those groups claiming to have religious reference – like muslim brotherhood, salafists and their likes – are the only winners of our current alarming cultural tardiness and the chaotic situation of intellectuals… it’s the perfect environment for their twisted ideas to thrive and fill the space left.

We shall continue later.

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on September 15, 2016.

To see the original article, go to:

http://ahmadelgammal.blogspot.com.eg/2016/09/blog-post_53.html

#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #Egypt #culture #cultural_renaissance

About cultural discourse

I postpone to the next week what I started tackling regarding what I called the salafist serpent which produces the terrorists whom they call themselves Jihadis, the thing that appeared the most in the confessions of those accused of killing policemen in the massacre that took place in Helwan and who were arrested. Those accused said they started by adopting the salafist ideology and later they changed into what they called the Jihadi ideology.

I will publish some comments I received regarding that issue including some that I think they represent an important addition to what I wrote and also reveal a deep understanding and awareness of the subject. I will also point to the laws applied by the state of the United Arab Emirates regarding discrimination of all kinds and what has to do with accusing others of blasphemy. My friend Mr. Ghassan Tahboob, the journalist and Arab thinker has generously acquainted me of the Emirati law regarding this aspect.

As for today, we talk about the current debate regarding the cultural discourse and renovating it. This discourse which I think is the stem holding all other branch discourses whether Dawaa, political or sociological since culture, in the broad meaning of the word, exceeds literature and arts to all aspects of life. I here say and believe we shall not expect any renovation in the cultural discourse unless we settle the matter concerning those responsible for the cultural aspect here in our country!

It’s logical that we here mean those working in the ministry of culture and its agencies in the first place. However, they are not the only responsible; they represent a part of what we call the cultural domain and so there are other parties that can be added to the ministry along with its agencies to have a complete responsibility and at this point I mean all civil society institutions including political parties, communities, syndicates and clubs. Adding to all this are private gatherings where some people concerned in a specific matter meet to talk about the public interest like cultural saloons which have turned into a social style where elite people of the society seek to join and brag of those whom they host as periodic guests!

Now, someone may say: “you widened the circle, sir and so no one will claim responsibility”. I say what I really care for is comprehensive renaissance in the society; meaning to work hard to achieve what other nations and societies could achieve before through ages and we also tried to achieve in previous eras; I’m calling for the living social forces which proved to be still alive and capable of moving to move again, like what happened in the two revolutions of January 25^th, June 30^th, in between them and before them; at least since 1972; those living social forces which massed and took to the streets to achieve a deep-rooted comprehensive renaissance in the Egyptian reality from bottom up.

When we ask about those who orchestrate such perceivable comprehensive renaissance and coordinate between the entities I mentioned before, my answer is: definitely, not the ministry of culture which I claim I know a little bit about its head; meaning the minister whom I met and knew and may be knew him very well since he was an editor in a specialized magazine and seeking to move to another one more famous and wide spreading. I also claim I know some about its grassroots; meaning those professionals who can easily combine between intellectuals’ gibberish and nastiness of bureaucrats and profiteers! I wish someone have the courage to open the black box of that ministry in Egypt and who can also detect all its accomplishments, positive points, negative ones, and defaults in order to find the right way to participate in achieving the comprehensive renaissance we seek.

I also believe that the whole matter begins when the whole society and nation is willing to adopt such spirit seeking comprehensive renaissance, so that we can all know that we have one common target which we all seek to achieve despite our diversities, differences and ideologies. For example, in Israel, the society has one clear target; that is “Israel, the strong advanced and excelled state over all its neighboring countries”… everyone there works hard to achieve that goal even if they appeared to be disagreeing and clashing to the extent of hating each other in that society! But when it comes to the state and how strong and developed it is… they all unite in one.

Some of our elite intellectuals have already gathered all their experiences, mental power and knowledge they have with every one of them coming out with a written project depicting the prospected cultural renaissance; meaning they all could diagnose the illness and write prescriptions along with all the details associated and required for the culture well-being. However, it didn’t work out and I think the reason is very simple; no matter how clever and well-updated to the latest in his field the physician is, he will not be able to cure his patient unless the latter is ready for this and is situated in an environment that can help him recover.

In our national history, we had no specific “cultural prescription” that was adopted and followed by Tharwat Okasha for example when he was minister of culture. However, we had that spirit to achieve renaissance that prevailed in all elements and parts of the society when Fawa’aliya[1], technicians and engineers responded to the challenge and worked day and night in the construction of the High Dam. Others also worked in Iron and Steel industry… in Steam Boilers … and so on until we reach the grassroots’ level in public yards and cultural palaces ….

That spirit that made Salah Jahin write songs dreaming of marble statues overlooking small canals of the River Nile… with Kamal et-Tawil, Muhammed el-Mogi, Ali Ismail, Abdel-Halim Hafez composing and singing… whatever you think of what happened and whether it led to the catastrophic defeat in 1967 or whether this war was waged to put an end to such spirit… you can never but agree that the idea of the collective high spirit prevailing in the society was the main point, like what happened earlier after the 1919 revolution. It was not a written prescription that inspired Mahmoud Mukhtar and the rest of the pioneers in novel, poetry, scientific research, and even pushed in the way of renovating ideas whether liberal or Marxist and later the nationalist ideology… it was that spirit that also pushed in the way of discussing what was considered taken for granted heritage phenomena like the Caliphate and others… It was the spirit prevailing in the nation bottom up!

There have been a lot of examples and models that have proved once this renaissance spirit prevails, what I call the renaissance attitude is the first to be achieved… meaning all trivial side disputes disappear and desire to meet and integrate gets stronger… crime disappears… people watch each other’s back… people care about cleaning the streets and squares… people prefer each other in food, drink and smoking too!! It’s what we all have witnessed when this spirit was evident during the revolutions of Jan 25^th and June 30^th.

The question still persists: who is the one responsible for calling such spirit and how can we transfer and spread this in the whole society?!

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on June 16, 2016.

To see the original article, go to:

http://ahmadelgammal.blogspot.com.eg/2016/06/blog-post_16.html

#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #Egypt #culture

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[1] Fawa’aliya: (Arabic: الفواعلية) people working in simple construction tasks that needs no skills like smashing down a wall or lifting demolished buildings’ wreckage or rubbish. These people suffer very bad conditions in Egypt as they have no medical or social insurance. They have no syndicate to represent them or advocate their rights.

Our immunity system… killing injury

Painting depicting celebrating Mawaled in Egypt

We’re still talking about what I think major harms that hit our national Egyptian immunity system directly affecting it in a way that allowed terrorism cancer to spread through extremism, fanaticism, and religion-proclaimed ignorance. In previous articles, I stated four harms including one I called the greatest calamity for it hit the civilized and cultural aspects of the Egyptian mind in the core.

Today I repeat and say what has been always said and proved right; destroying is easier than building. What Egyptians have accumulated, in both mind and conscience, throughout centuries is a very cohesive combination where elements and prerequisites of Egyptian existence have mingled together and integrated in a way very similar to that when you place bricks next to one another layering them in courses over one another and attaching them together using a very strong mortar. Such cohesion can be found between the valley and Delta, and the desert; the River Nile and sea; and also between pre-dynasty ancient Egypt and Modern state in Dynastic-era ancient Egypt. Afterwards came digesting the newcomer by integrating him in Egypt’s cultural fabric, even if that newcomer was occupation.

In order not to complicate things anymore, I will give you examples I’m never bored of repeating; the Egyptian braids. In my opinion, it was not a coincidence those who excelled at braiding palm foliage into beautiful woven artistic pieces celebrating Easter and Sham el-Nessim[1] or even weaving them into baskets and robes producing a very distinguished Egyptian-flavored art, have outshined as well in braiding and weaving their own terms of religion, culture, folklore, and mythology. I believe those keen Mawaled[2] attendees – whom I belong to – whether Christian or Islamic Mawaled, enjoy very much the mystical mix between Sufi Inshad[3]; Islamic and Christian, to the extent they may day-dream over the beautiful rhythm and lyrics.

We have a lot of braids in our cultural heritage; the one woven among Isis, Om el-Noor[4] Mary the Virgin, and purified Om Hashem[5]; Khamsa w khemisa[6]; Mar Gergis[7] and al-Khidr;[8][9] Ahl al-Bayt[10], and four Qutbs[11] of Sufism[12] along with the twenty-four elders of revelation; in addition to other braids. Each braid has its own unique characteristics, some I experienced myself while others could be seen in our accumulated heritage. I apologize for what you may find obscure and incomprehensible here, however, I can say, these are the core of our Egyptian cultural heritage. Proverbs, popular pieces of wisdom, and even heritage of illusionists and folklore Inshad performers, all enjoyed a very specific Egyptian-style distinction; such distinction that is characterized by depth, tolerance, strength, and heroism as well. This heritage also did not miss exits to escape the deluge if needed!

Suddenly everything went darker as if an octopus-like demon landed on our mind and conscience prompting hundreds-of-centuries-accumulated ethics to vanish. Isis, Mary, and Om Hashem purity was replaced by woman’s impurity. Woman became nothing but Awra[13] due to be covered and dealt with as a source of seduction and evil! Braids woven in our civilization and culture started to unravel; war against our ancient Egyptian history raged; monuments, wisdom texts and Egyptian innovation became nothing but idols and atheism symbols. The battlefield even widened to include Christian Coptic Egypt. New raids targeting all that is rational or emotional in our heritage, all that does not comply with their twisted ideology, are conducted every day by those behaving as guardians of the society. Homeland and patriotism, Egypt itself, became meaningless in their dictionary, to the extent that one of them, Muhammed Akef, ex-head of muslim brotherhood -head of terrorism- once said: “let Egypt go to hell and those living on its land as well”. It’s an evil demon that wrecked Egypt and turned it upside down. A new set of beliefs replaced all what we used to know. I believe that was the most dangerous harm that hit our country immunity system in the core.

It could be easy or difficult – but eventually possible – to build factories and laboratories, to reclaim desert, to tame the river, to stand against the sea, to make up what we had left behind in production, invention, and discoveries. But it’s almost impossible to rebuild the civilization and culture accumulated through ages dating back to the pre-dynasty era in Egyptian history; meaning since more than 7000 years.

Other examples are the Jihadi muslim-brotherhood salafist war declared against Mawaled, holy shrines, and our entire popular heritage in this field. They succeeded to a great extent; they managed to drain hundreds-of-centuries-lasting resources that used to enrich our Inshad heritage, the one that dates back to pre-divine-religions Pharaonic deities like Amun[14], Ra[15], Aton[16], Geb[17], Nut[18], and others. War raged as well on other Christian and Islamic figures like Mary the Virgin, Mar Gergis, Mar Mina[19], Ahl el-Bayt, four Qutbs of Sufism; al-Jilani, ar-Rifa'i, al-Badawi, el-Desouki and other prominent Sufi figures who followed them like ash-Shadhili [20], al-Qenawi[21], Abu'l-'Abbas [22] and dozens others… After Inshad came reciting the Holy Bible including liturgies, and then came Quran reciting. The Egyptian school in Quran reciting has shined producing many who enriched our religious heritage like Muhammed Refaat, Muhammed El-Siyfi, Subh, al-Munged, Taha al-Fashni, Ali Mahmood, Abdel-Hakam, Mustafa Ismael, Abdel-Baset Abdel-Samad, Mahmood Ali el-Banna, Muhammed Seddiq Al-Menshawi, Muhammed Mahmood Al-Tablawi in addition to hundreds others[23]… All those eminent figures rose from Mawaled and religious celebrations. This beautiful spring that used to water and enrich our heritage was dried thanks to those tactless senseless poor-minded creatures with their rigid bloody interpretation of religion. Azan[24] is now echoing, shouting with ugly hoarse voices instead of the pleasant-sounding melodic one given by Sheikhs Ali Mahmood, Muhammed Refaat, or Taha el-Fashni.

Examples are many and exhausting to list… This harm was the worst to hit Egypt immunity system… May God save our beloved Egypt.

Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar

This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on February 25, 2016.

To see the original Arabic version, go to:

http://www.ahram.org.eg/News/131827/4/481664/%D9%82%D8%B6%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A1/%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%B2%D9%86%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B9%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A7%D

#alahram#ahmed_elgammal#Egypt#immunity_system#heritage#culture#extremeism#terrorism#muslim_brotherhood#Christianity#Islam#Pharaohs#religion#mawaled#Bible#Quran#Inshad#history#civilization#homeland#patriotism#braids#egyptian_braids#sufism#ahl_el_beyt#folklore#Easter#Sham_el_Nessim#river_Nile

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[1] Sham el-Nessim: (Egyptian Arabic: شم النسيم) is an Egyptian national holiday marking the beginning of spring. It always falls on the day after the Eastern Christian Easter (following the custom of the largest Christian denomination in the country, the Coptic Orthodox Church). Despite the Christian-related date, the holiday is celebrated by Egyptians regardless of religion. (Source: Wikipedia)

[2] Mawaled: (Arabic: موالد) plural of Mawled (مولد) or Meelad (ميلاد) is the observance of the birthday of an iconic figure in religious or cultural heritage which is celebrated once a year.

[3] Inshad: (Arabic: إنشاد) a kind of chanting that makes musical sound with the voice. It’s found in both Islamic and Christian heritage.

[4] Om el-Noor: (Arabic: أم النور) a title given to Mary the Virgin meaning mother of light depicting Jesus as light.

[5] Om Hashem: (Arabic: أم هاشم) a title given to Sayyieda Zainab bent Ali, grand-daughter of Prophet Muhammed, who came to Egypt after the killing of her brother Hussien ibn Ali in the battle of Karbala. In Egypt, it’s enough to say as-Sayyieda (Arabic: سيدة, meaning the dame) to mean Sayyieda Zainab.

[6] Khamsa w khemisa (Arabic: خمسة وخميسة) is a palm-shaped amulet popular throughout the Middle East and North Africa, and commonly used in jewelry and wall hangings. Depicting the open right hand, an image recognized and used as a sign of protection in many times throughout history, Khamsa w khemisa is believed to provide defense against the evil eye. Khamsa is an Arabic word that means "five", but also "the five fingers of the hand". It may also be taken as a reference to the primary number itself. (Source: Wikipedia)

[7] Mar Gergis: (Arabic: مار جرجس, Mar is a Syriac Aramaic word meaning Master while Gergis is the Arabic word for George) or Saint George, according to legend, was a soldier in the Roman army who later became venerated as a Christian martyr. His parents were Christians of Greek background, his father Gerontius was a Roman army official from Cappadocia and his mother Polychronia was a Christian from Lydda in the Roman province of Syria Palaestina (Palestine). Accounts differ regarding whether George was born in Cappadocia or Syria Palaestina, but agree that he was raised at least partly in Lydda. Saint George became an officer in the Roman army in the Guard of Diocletian, who ordered his death for failing to recant his Christian faith.

In hagiography, Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic Church (Latin and Eastern), Anglican, East Syrian, and Miaphysite Churches. He is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and is regarded as one of the most prominent military saints, immortalized in the myth of Saint George and the Dragon killing in Beirut, Lebanon. His memorial, Saint George's Day, is traditionally celebrated on the Julian date of 23 April (currently the 6th of May according to the Gregorian Calendar). Many countries, cities, professions and organisations claim Saint George as their patron. (source: Wikipedia)

[8] Al-Khidr: (Arabic: الخضر) is a mystical figure that some believe to be described in the Quran as a righteous servant of God possessing great wisdom or mystic knowledge. In various Islamic and non-Islamic traditions, Khidr is described as a messenger, prophet, wali or in some cases as a god of the material world. The figure of al-Khidr has been syncretized over time with various other figures like Saint George. (Source: Wikipedia)

[9] Some believe al-Khidr and Saint George are the same character while others argue it’s not since al-khidr lived during the life of Moses and Saint George came nearly 300 years after Jesus was born. However, the resemblance between the two figures along with their significance in both Christianity and Islam still represents a major source of syncretism between the two religions, and another braid added to many woven by Egyptians throughout their history.

[10] Ahl al-Bayt: (Arabic: أهل البيت) is a phrase meaning, literally, "People of the House" or "Family of the House". Within the Islamic tradition, the term refers to the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. (Source: Wikipedia)

[11] Qutb: (Arabic: قطب‎), means 'axis', 'pivot' or 'pole'. In Sufism, a Qutb is the perfect human being, al-insān al-kāmil (Arabic: الإنسان الكامل) (The Universal Man), who leads the saintly hierarchy. The Qutb is the Sufi spiritual leader that has a divine connection with God and passes knowledge on which makes him central to, or the axis of, Sufism, but he is unknown to the world. There is only one Qutb per era and he is an infallible and trusted spiritual leader. He is only revealed to a select group of mystics because there is a "human need for direct knowledge of God". (Source: Wikipedia)

[12] Four Qutbs of Sufism are Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (Arabic: (عبدالقادر الجيلاني; Ahmed ar-Rifa'i (Arabic: أحمد الرفاعي); Ahmad Al-Badawi (Arabic: أحمد البدوي); and Ibrahim El-Desouki (Arabic: إبراهيم الدسوقي).

[13] Awra: (Arabic: عورة) meaning it should not appear before anyone.

[14] Amun: (Arabic: آمون) was a major Egyptian deity.

[15] Ra: (Arabic: رع) is the ancient Egyptian sun god. By the Fifth Dynasty in the 25th and 24^th centuries bc, he had become a major god in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the noon sun. (Source: Wikipedia)

[16] Aton or Aten: (Arabic: آتون) is the disk of the sun in ancient Egyptian mythology. The religion of Atenism was established by Amenhotep IV, who later took the name Akhenaten in worship and recognition of Aten. In his poem "Great Hymn to the Aten", Akhenaten praises Aten as the creator, giver of life, and nurturing spirit of the world. Aten does not have a Creation Myth or family, but is mentioned in the Book of the Dead. The worship of Aten was eradicated by Horemheb. (Source: Wikipedia)

[17] Geb: (Arabic: جب) was the Egyptian god of the Earth and a member of the Ennead of Heliopolis. It was believed in ancient Egypt that Geb's laughter were earthquakes and that he allowed crops to grow. (Source: Wikipedia)

[18] Nut: (Arabic: نوت) is the goddess of the sky in the Ennead of ancient Egyptian religion. She was seen as a star-covered nude woman arching over the earth, or as a cow. (Source: Wikipedia)

[19] Mar Mina or Saint Mina: (Arabic: مار مينا) (285 – c. 309) the Martyr and Wonder-worker, is one of the most well-known Egyptian saints in the East and the West, due to the many miracles that are attributed to his intercession and prayers. Mina was an Egyptian soldier in the Roman army, martyred because he refused to recant his Christian faith. His feast day is celebrated every year on 15 Hathor (November 24) in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and on November 11 in the West and East. (Source: Wikipedia)

[20] Abu al-Hasan ash-Shadhili: (Arabic: أبو الحسن الشاذلي‎) is an influential North-African Islamic scholar and Sufi, founder of the Shadhili Sufi order. (Source: Wikipedia)

[21] Abdel-Reheem Al-Qenawi: (Arabic: عبد الرحيم القنائي) was a Moroccan Islamic scholar and cleric, founder of the Raheemieya Qenawiya Sufi order.

[22] Al-Mursi Abu'l-'Abbas: (Arabic: المرسي أبو العباس‎) is a Sufi saint from Al-Andalus who later in his life moved to Alexandria in Egypt. He is one of the four master saints of Egypt, the other three being Ahmad al-Badawi, al-Dessouqi and al-Haggag. (Source: Wikipedia)

[23] All those before mentioned were very prominent Egyptian Quran reciters.

[24] Azan: (Arabic: آذان) is the Islamic call to worship, recited by the muezzin (Arabic: مؤذن) at prescribed times of the day. (Source: Wikipedia)