ALGERIA: Annual seven-day festival celebrating the birthday of Prophet Mohammad takes place in Timimoun, Algeria

Record ID: 574034

  • Title: ALGERIA: Annual seven-day festival celebrating the birthday of Prophet Mohammad takes place in Timimoun, Algeria
  • Date: 1st April 2008
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING IN DESERT TOWARDS FESTIVAL GROUNDS
  • Embargoed: 16th April 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Algeria
  • Country: Algeria
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA52AV3UEASG3N9SC0TGXYIPN53
  • Story Text: Since ancient times, the region of Timimoun, also known as the Red Oasis in the Algerian desert, has held an annual joyful and colourful seven-day festival celebrating the birthday of Islam's Prophet Mohammed.
    In the region of Timimoun, located approximately 1,200 km (750 miles) southwest of the Algerian capital of Algiers, a traditional festival dating back to ancient times takes place every year to mark the birthday of Islam's cherished Prophet Mohammed.
    In most of the Muslim world, the occasion is solemnly marked with one day of prayers and religious songs. But this part of the Algerian desert, also known as the Red Oasis, transforms for seven days into a festival hub where thousands of desert dwellers draped in colourful robes converge on Timimoun and outlying villages for a weak of feasting, revelry and family gatherings.
    ''The celebration of the memory of the Holy Prophet's birthday is a celebration of a great memory because the Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, is our most loved being and he is more loved than any other human being. The Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, is the greatest of all creatures, therefore, we have to celebrate this great memory (Prophet Mohammed's birthday) because it is an eternal memory that will last forever. The Saints (talking about tradition) created this festival which is about gathering, love and reciting the Koran.
    It will last till the end of time,'' said Bouhab Ahmed, 41, Chief of the zaouia of Timimoun.
    On the first day of the festival which is little known to the outside world, members of a zaouia (Za-wee-yah - a north and West African term for an Islamic religious school or monastery, roughly corresponding to the Eastern term "madrassa'') called Debagh take the zaouia's flag and start walking towards the desert to visit other zaouias in the region, each one of which hosts them for one night.
    People from neighbouring villages join the zaouia's members on that night where all of the participants start reading the Quran and singing religious songs until the following morning. When morning falls, members of Debagh zaouia move to tour the remaining zaouias.
    During the final days of this year's event, which began on March 20, turbaned men shot and waved ceremonial muskets, rode camels and charged in a blur of flapping robes across dunes bearing flags of ornate standards.
    The final ceremony takes place on the seventh day at a Zaouia called Sid al hadj Belkaceme, the largest Zaouia, where members of all zaouias, including those of Debagh, carrying their flags, gather to dance and sing religious songs.
    Zaouia leaders say the festival has been taking place every year with the aim of boosting spiritual relationships between people and with hopes for a good future.
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