Somalis defy militants with processions to mark Prophet Muhammad’s birthday

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalis on Thursday marked the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday with a government-declared public holiday, reviving an old tradition of merriment once banned by extremist militants who reject such public spectacle.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs declared the public holiday for government and private-sector employees, citing Quranic verse on piety.

The prophet’s birthday, known as Mawlid, is marked across Somalia with Quran recitations, religious song, and processions led largely by Sufi communities. Similar celebrations took place in some other parts of the Muslim world.

In the capital, Mogadishu, the streets swelled with thousands of worshippers, many of them young people in white garments and waving bright green flags. Crowds spilled out of mosques and into open areas saturated with rhythmic chants and devotional song. Clerics recited Quranic verse via loudspeakers as people swayed in unison, clapping and ululating in joy.

Some young people filmed the processions on their phones, livestreaming chants to friends abroad, while others hoisted banners adorned with verses of praise. Security forces, rifles slung over their shoulders, stood at the edges of the crowds, scanning for threats but unable to suppress the festive mood.

“To those who oppose this celebration, I say, ‘fear God,’” said Sheikh Abati Abba Nur, a Sufi scholar. “This is the month in which our prophet was born, and celebrating it does not contradict Islamic teachings.”

Not all Somalis welcomed the government’s move to impose a public holiday.

Sheikh Abdurahman Diriye, a Wahhabi scholar, told The Associated Press that Muhammad’s birthday was not celebrated in the prophet’s lifetime.

But other ordinary Somalis said the holiday carries deep personal meaning. “People are beginning to recognize the importance of this day as they shed ignorance,” said Fadumo Abdulkadir.

Somalia faces sporadic attacks from the Islamic extremist rebels of al-Shabab, which has been fighting to impose a state governed according to Sharia law and opposes the foreign-backed government in place. Islamic militants consider Sufis heretics because of their less literal interpretations of the faith.

Mawlid celebrations in Somalia were once driven underground after al-Shabab banned them during the group’s rise, calling the practice a religious “innovation.” Sufi communities were forced to abandon public processions until the militants were pushed out of Mogadishu in 2011.

Since then the gatherings have returned, growing each year under heavy security.

While many Muslim-majority countries honor the prophet’s birthday as a public holiday, others do not. In Saudi Arabia, for example, the strict, puritanical interpretation of Islam known as Wahhabism doesn’t permit celebrations of Mawlid.