Monday 16 April marks Sham El-Nasim, which Copts celebrate each year as
part of Easter. It is also one of the few days that Egyptians of all
religions celebrate together, since ancient times. Egyptians mark the
day spending time with their families and friends.
Salted fish is the main dish of the day and eggs are painted — a ritual
linked to ancient Egyptian feasts since 2700BC. However, in the wake of
January 25 Revolution, with Islamists dominating the political and
social scene, claims have been made by some Islamists that the feast is
unIslamic and ought to be prohibited.
A Salafist statement widely distributed last year prior to Sham
El-Nasim said the feast originated with the Pharoahs, described as
infidels. On ikhwanonline.com website, the official site of the Muslim
Brotherhood, an article by Al-Azhar scholar Sheikh Atteya Saqr put
forward the same idea. This despite statements to the contrary by the awqaf ministry (religious endowments) and Al-Azhar, the highest Sunni religious authority.
Adel Afifi, president of the Salafist Asala (Authenticity) Party, had
studied music and is a composer of music symphonies and received
international music awards. Even though Afifi says that he supports art
that serves society, especially opera (at the time when many Islamists,
especially Salafists, argue that music is not permitted under Islam) he
believes that celebrating Sham El-Nasim is wrong.
Afifi believes that only Islamic feasts should be celebrated.
Amna Nosseir, professor of Islamic doctrine and philosophy at Al-Azhar
University, believes that, "Celebration and fun for the Egyptian family
cannot be prohibited by a sane person." Festivals and feasts are not
against Sharia (Islamic law) and Islam, Nosseir added. Nosseir believes
that the Islamists who make the claim that Sham El-Nasim is haram (forbidden) are reading religious texts in a narrow and literal way to the expense of reason.
Some who oppose Sham El-Nasim quote the Prophet Mohammed's saying (hadith),
"We are a nation with two feasts." Normally the two feats refer to Eid
Al-Fitr that comes after Ramadan and Eid Al-Adha (the Feast of
Sacrifice) that follows later in the Islamic year. But the hadith does not establish that Muslims should refrain from celebrating anything else.
Nosseir added that there's a hadith by the Prophet Mohammad
that Islamists who claim Sham El-Nasim is prohibited never mention. It
says: "At the head of every 100 years, there would be someone to revive
the religion." It infers that times change and circumstances change.
"How can enjoying God's created nature be a wrong thing?" Nosseir asks,
explaining that this is part of observing and appreciating the beauty
created by God. She adds: "The Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him)
said, 'Allah is beautiful and loves beauty.' So those who make such
claims basically lack knowledge of what beauty and joy is."
Ahmed Shawky Al-Aqabawy, professor of educational psychology at
Al-Azhar University, believes that "Those who call themselves Salafists
are actually not Salafists." He explains that the term Salafist means
those that follow Al-Salaf Al-Salih, who are the four Imams of Islam,
who represent different schools of Islam.
Instead of this grounding in diversity, current Salafists follow the most strict fatwas
and interpretations. They also assert that the way Al-Salaf Al-Salih
lived fourteen centuries ago is the perfect way of living, without
taking into consideration current circumstances. "They want life to be
the way it was in the time of the Prophet, which is irrational,"
Al-Aqabawy said.
Al-Aqabawy explains that Imam Al-Shafii, for instance, changed certain fatwas
when he went to live in Egypt, "because he realised that the country's
circumstances and civilisation do not comply with them." He adds that
prominent Islamic scholars know these facts well.
Al-Aqabawy stated that the general climate in the Arab world for the
past 40 years has been Islamic, so it was no surprise that voters chose
Islamists over other political currents. 'The Islamist current offers
people the most amazing recipe: 'Vote for me, and go to heaven,' which
is using religion for a worldly purpose," Al-Aqabawy said.
"And most Islamists are very extreme and do not even focus on the
important issues that should be handled or discussed in Islam," he
added.
Psychologically, political Islam gives permission to people —
especially the youth — to stop using their minds since Islamist leaders
are deemed to have all the answers, Al-Aqabawy stated. Meanwhile, the
Islamic nation suffers from poverty and illiteracy. In this context,
says Al-Aqabawy, it is telling that "people who call themselves
spokesmen of religion and Islam argue on such lame matters as whether or
not Sham Al-Nasim is prohibited."
Mona Youssef, sociologist and member of the National Centre of Social
Studies, believes that no matter how dominant Islamists become, they
won't be able to take away from Egyptians the small joys and forms of
happiness they are used to, such as celebrating Sham Al-Nasim.
Youssef explains that celebrating feasts has become a habit in Egyptian
culture. "I don't think the majority will be convinced that it's not
right not to celebrate it." She added that Egyptians have their own
religious references (Al-Azhar for Muslims and the Coptic Church for
Christians), and she does not think that any other kind of religious
authority will be followed blindly.
The name Sham El-Nasim (inhaling the breeze) is derived from Coptic
language that in turn is derived from ancient Egyptian language. It was
originally pronounced Tshom Ni Sime, with tshom meaning “gardens” and ni
sime meaning “meadows.”
The Wednesday prior to Sham Al-Nasim (which always falls on a Monday)
is known as “Jacob’s Rara” after the Rara plant that the Prophet Jacob
bathed in, curing 18 years of illness. On that day, Egyptians
traditionally bathed with it, to rid themselves of the waste of the past
year. Some Egyptians, in Upper Egypt, continue the tradition to this
day.
Like most ancient Egyptian feasts, Sham El-Nasim was also linked with astronomy and nature.
It marks the beginning of the spring festival, which is the time when
the sun is in the Aries zodiac, marking the beginning of creation. The
exact date is confirmed annually by sighting the sun in relation to the
Great Pyramid. Ancient Egyptians named it the "Feast of Shmo" (the
revival of life) and have celebrated it since 2700BC.
