Egypt cancels Sayyida Zaynab mawlid because of Covid-19

Celebration commemorating birth of the Prophet Mohammed's granddaughter draws tens of thousands each year

People attend an annual Zaynab bint Ali mawlid celebration in Cairo in 2019. EPA

One of Cairo’s most important religious festivals, commemorating the birth of the Prophet Mohammed’s granddaughter Zaynab bint Ali, has been cancelled because of Covid-19 for the third year running.

A statement on Tuesday from the district of Sayyida Zaynab, a lower-class neighbourhood in central Cairo, said the main square of the area’s famed mosque, under which Zaynab is believed to have been buried, will allow visitors on the day of the mawlid.

The event takes place on the last Tuesday of the Islamic month of Rajab each year, which this year falls on March 1.

Sayyida Zaynab Mosque is one of the oldest and most revered Islamic landmarks in the world. It holds particular significance in Egypt, which was the birthplace of the Fatimid Empire. Zaynab was the daughter of Fatima, the Prophet Mohammed’s daughter.

Each year, thousands of Egypt’s Muslims arrive in the capital from all over the country to commemorate the event and visit the tomb of Zaynab, who is revered as one of the most prominent women in Islamic history.

She is believed to have been knowledgeable and to have contributed detailed interpretations of the Quran that are still relevant today.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020, the Egyptian government has explicitly banned mass religious celebrations, and despite easing most of the restrictions it imposed to curb the spread of the pandemic, indoor weddings and funerals remain banned.

However, despite the ban, thousands of Muslims visited the nearby Al Hussein mosque last November to celebrate the mawlid of Husain bin Ali, Zaynab’s brother and another monumental figure in Islamic history.

The district authorities also said that the possibility of holding a small-scale celebration to commemorate the occasion this year is currently being discussed, but until further notice, Zaynab's mawlid is banned.