A project by Habiba Abdel Kader

Lights everywhere, decorated mosque, sound of chanting , music, street vendors selling goods , children riding games , tents , food , worshipers and so much more, if you found yourself in a similar scene then you are definitely in a Sufi Mouled.

The word Mouled in Arabic literally means “anniversary” The Mouled is a celebration
that takes place on a fixed date every year to celebrate a certain Waly’s (Saint) death or birth. The Mouled is a global phenomenon that happens in a lot of places around the world it may have different names and various ways of being practiced but at the end they all have the same core concept. Mouleds are not restricted on a single religion for example in Egypt there are “mouleds” for Christian saint such as “Margerguis” and The Mouled of “abo Hassira” which is celebrated by Jews in the governorate of Damanhur in Egypt.

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This concept of spiritual and religious form of celebration dates back to Ancient Egypt but the recent form of the mouled was first introduced by the Fatemids .The Mouled is a phenomenon that has been a strong pillar in the Native Egyptian folklore, it evolved and changed along the years but it is still celebrated all over the country till this day. This Phenomenon has been studied from several aspects; social, economic, religious etc.
yet very limited numbers of studies have tackled the urban impact of the Mouled.

 

This booklet sheds light on Mouleds and how they affect the everyday life of the residents of Cairo , psychologically , economically , socially as well as from and urban point of view as well as discussing the historical background of Mouleds , principals, common traits, the 5 biggest and most important Mouleds in Cairo and analyzing several layers of impacts that they leave on their urban context.