Two weeks prior to the beginning of Ramadan, the Moulid of Abu el-Haggag celebrates Luxor's patron sheikh with a two-day street festival. Horse races, music, dance and tahtib (stick fights) precede the parading of large boats in the crowded streets.
The parade resembles the solar barque processions of the Pharaonic era; in Islamic symbolism boats represent the quest for spiritual enlightenment.
Yussef Abu el-Haggag, the sheikh himself, was born in Damascus, then moved to Mecca and eventually settled in Luxor, where he founded a zawiyah (spiritual retreat).
Yussef Abu el-Haggag, the sheikh himself, was born in Damascus, then moved to Mecca and eventually settled in Luxor, where he founded a zawiyah (spiritual retreat).
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