Less known destruction of Sufi shrines and the closure of the Abu Hasira shrine in Egypt

Submitted by dhimmi no more (United States), Jul 25, 2012 at 08:19

Dr. Pipes

Another less known destruction and in this case of Islamic monuments by salafists and it is the destruction of Sufi shrines in Egypt. http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2011/1042/eg9.htm

For the readers: The majority of Muslims in Egypt are Sunnis but there is a small minority of sufis and shi3a and in this case it is the destruction and vandalism of sufi shrines by the salafists

What is even more disturbing is the call for the closure of the Abu Hasira shrine (located in Damanhour just south of Alexnadria) after all it is very clear that Abu Hasira is not really a Muslim saint as Muslims used to claim but no other than a Jewish sage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaakov_Abuhatzeira and this is why the Egyptians are not sure about what to do with such shrine http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/no-visitors-abu-hasira-tomb-year and i would not be surprised if the next target for destruction by salafists would be this shrine

For those of you interested in reading more about Sheikh Abu Hasira I suggest the great book by Amitav Gosh "in an antique land" http://www.amazon.com/Antique-Land-Amitav-Ghosh/dp/817530040X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343218468&sr=1-1&keywords=in+an+antique+land+amitav+ghosh

So much for the religion of peace

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".