The large town of Demira, in Egypt’s Dakhalia governorate north of Cairo, is well known for its many Sufi shrines. It’s one of the oldest towns in this area and reportedly has 99 shrines. And this is also why it has been the centre of controversy between some of Egypt’s Sufi and Salafist groups.

The large town of Demira, in Egypt’s Dakhalia governorate north of Cairo, is well known for its many Sufi shrines. It’s one of the oldest towns in this area and reportedly has 99 shrines. And this is also why it has been the centre of controversy between some of Egypt’s Sufi and Salafist groups.

Sufism is generally considered to be a more mystical or esoteric branch of the Muslim faith whereas Salafism offers a much more conservative version of Islam. Some Muslims disagree strongly with certain Sufi practices – such as dancing, music and what they consider the worship of idols; these go against what they consider “pure” Islamic practice. Among those opposed to Sufism are hard line Salafist Muslims and over the past few years there have been clashes between the two groups in Egypt, with Salafists attempting to destroy Sufi shrines around the country and Sufis massing to defend them.

In Demira, near the city of Talkha, this conflict has taken the form of conflict about a celebration held annually at one of the largest shrines in this town, populated by about 20,000 people, that’s dedicated to a holy Sufi man, Sidi Barham. The shrine was built for Sidi Barham, a follower of the Rifa’i order of Sufis, and then rebuilt around 80 years ago by a local leader. At the entrance to the shrine there is a small garden that has been planted by neighbours and a wide square, in which birthday celebrations for Sidi Barham are held every April.

A lot of the shrines in Demira have been abandoned and are now ruins because there is nobody willing to take care of them anymore. Older locals talk about yards that used to be crowded with worshippers, empty and abandoned now.

But this is not true of Sidi Barham’s shrine. Every year during the birthday celebrations, people from the surrounding areas come to the square to receive blessings and make vows. There is something of a carnival atmosphere to the annual event and it features other activities and entertainments, such as, for example, swings for children.

One of the older locals living near another Sufi shrine, who wanted to be known only as Sheikh Hussein, explained how the anniversary celebrations used to be organized. “The five families who look after the shrine used to get permits for the celebration from the Ministry of Interior,” Hussein says. “And members of the [former Egyptian leader] Mubarak’s party were responsible for issuing them. However after the revolution, the Muslim Brotherhood has become more dominant in politics here and the MP representing the Talkha area was a Muslim Brother.”

The political wing of the long-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, the Freedom and Justice Party, currently rules Egypt. And while the Muslim Brotherhood is more moderate in their vision of an Islamic state, on the whole they seem to have closer ties to Egypt’s Salafists.  

“Last year the villagers split into two groups,” Hussein continues. “One of the groups wanted to continue with the celebrations but the other felt that it encouraged bad habits like open social interaction between men and women. And eventually the former were forced to decrease the size of the birthday celebrations and to hold them in a different, smaller place.”  

Hussein says he doesn’t think the tradition will ever return to its former glory.

There was heresy during the Sufi birthday celebrations, says Jalal Imam, an Arabic teacher at the Azhar mosque in Demira, who lives near the Sidi Barham shrine; Imam is a Salafist. “And these heresies go against Islamic law. In the past, they used to offer sacrifices in front of the shrine. Offering sacrifices to anyone or anything other than God is forbidden,” Imam explains. “And during the celebrations there were always sins committed and bad habits were encouraged.”

“But,” he adds, “we never prevented it. Fears about avian flu saw the celebrations stopped three years ago and then recently we and some other people from the town decided that the celebration shouldn’t be held here. We only told the other party that it contradicted Sharia law. So they just held it somewhere else.”

Another local man, Mohammed Sherbini, who works in a mosque and who was an admirer of Sidi Barham’s work, disputed this; he argued that if bad things happened during the celebrations, it was not the fault of the party itself – rather it was the partygoers who were to blame.  

“Sidi Barham was a renowned scholar,” Sherbini says. “He did a lot of work in Islamic jurisprudence and when people came to his shrine they would read the Koran, perform Sufi rituals and pray. But some people – whose name we shall not mention – don’t want to believe that.”

Sherbini also had some other ideas as to why Sidi Barham’s birthday celebrations were no longer as popular: “changes to the town’s population and the immigration of the local young people has also made a difference,” he explained – while many here work in agriculture or trade, a lot of the local youth travel to find work. “New generations are not as interested in this kind of spiritual practice.”

Another local man, Mohammed Abu Sa’de, agrees. He works near a Sufi shrine near the entrance of Demira, the Sidi Kasseb shrine. Houses have been built all around this shrine now and it’s hard to even see the entrance way anymore. “Nobody has come here for a long time,” Sa’de says, “either because they are better educated and do not care. Or because they are influenced by the Salafists.”