On the twelfth day of the month of Rabi 'al-Awwal of every Hijri year, the Islamic world is accustomed to celebrating the birth anniversary of the Master of Creation and the Seal of the Prophets and Messengers, our Master Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, in a manifestation that expresses the extent of love and loyalty to the good of the wealthy who stepped on his feet. The Noble Prophet up to the time of our Prophet Muhammad, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him. The Messenger of God used to fast on Monday, stating that this day was the day of his birth and the day of his resurrection, and attention to that memory remained even after his death until it became the point of religious ceremonies at all, so we find that all Muslims in various countries of the world celebrate this occasion in their own way according to the Noble Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet. Most of the celebrations are limited to holding special councils to deliver religious poems and speeches in praise of the noble creation, our master Muhammad, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him. However, our country, Egypt, as is its custom, is distinguished by it, so we find that Celebrating the Noble Prophet’s birthday with it is not limited to holding religious recitations in the largest mosques and shrines only, but also taking the garment of distinction in giving a special mark for this day and this appears in the habit of the Egyptian people since the beginning of the era The Fatimid state is full of markets with types of sweets that are specially made for this day, so we see the shops displaying different kinds of sweets, including sesame, chickpea, Sudanese, stuffed milk, and others, according to what the Sheikh of Egyptian historians, Taqi al-Din al-Maqrizi, said in his discussion of the Fatimid religious celebrations of the six births.
This and despite the fact that Egypt has been subjected to many invasions and war campaigns, the manifestations of its celebrations of religious holidays, especially this day, have never stopped. Rather, it affected the rulers of all races and became a goal in itself, so they were keen to pay attention to its performance as it wished to win over the hearts of the Egyptian people. Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti "in his book" Wonders of Archeology in Translations and News ", describing the period of the French campaign against Egypt, which lasted three years from 1798 AD until 1801 AD, that the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, the leader of the French campaign at the time, was keen in the first and second year of his campaign against Egypt to bear all expenses Celebrating the birth of the Prophet, in order to win the hearts of the Egyptians towards it and control them.
The memory was associated in the consciousness of all Egyptians with the born bride and the horse, which were made of sweets and sugar. It is likely that many historians believe that the choice of the shape of the bride and the horse was somewhat influenced by the ancient Egyptian heritage, so we find that the born bride with its colorful cornices is inspired by the colored wing of the goddess "Isis" Or an evolution of the ankh sign (the key to life), which evolved into the form of the cross and then the bride, just as we find that the birth horse is inspired by the statue of the god "Horus" while he was riding on his horse and holding a sword to kill the god "Set", the symbol of evil incarnate in the form of a crocodile.
Others believe that the origin of the idea of making the birth and horse bride goes back to the period of the Fatimid state’s rule in Egypt during the reign of the Caliph al-Hakim, God’s command. On various occasions and celebrations, and among those celebrations was the anniversary of the celebration of the Prophet’s birthday, so she appeared in the procession next to him, wearing the elegant white dress and above her head the jasmine crown in a scene that attracted the attention of the people in general and craftsmen and craftsmen in particular, so they took care to draw it in a cake of sweets as an expression of admiration By her appearance, as they depicted her husband, the Fatimid caliph, "Al-Hakim Bi-Amr Allah" as he rode his horse in glory and majesty
Another opinion mentioned that the Fatimid Caliph used to encourage his victorious soldiers over his enemies by marrying them into a beautiful bride, and it became a custom at the time of the victory celebrations every year for the Caliph’s court of sweets to make beautiful brides from sweets, to present them as gifts to the victorious leaders and to the common people and children after that the ruler's order By God’s command that all the joys of marriage and the marriage contract coincide with the birth of the Prophet, and this explains the secret of the bride who is made during the birth season in its mottled shape and colors
It was also said that it was a sectarian custom invented by the Fatimids during the period of the rule of Egypt when they saw that the Egyptians celebrated the birth of the Prophet and considered that the bride symbolizes Lady Fatima and the knight on the horse symbolizes our master Ali, and this is the closest analogy because the Fatimid state revered Ali Ibn Abi Talib and Lady Fatima al-Zahra.
The tradition followed in this way continued in the manufacture of the horse and the candy of the birth bride and decorate it with dyes and colored papers as if it were a real bride, and the Egyptian people have, to this day, been keen to buy them in memory of the celebration of the birth of the Master of Creation, our master and our Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace.
We believe that we should take advantage of this cultural heritage that characterizes our Egypt and the manifestations that accompany these popular celebrations in organizing and exploiting them in tourism and transforming them into tourist carnivals because of their music, dance, clothes and sweets, all of which are attractive aspects for tourism and create new tourism with them.
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