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11-27-2017, 04:41 AM
CAIRO: Sufi Muslims in Egypt plan to proceed with a major annual celebration despite a Sinai mosque massacre that killed more than 300 people and appeared to have targeted them.
While no group has yet claimed Friday's horrific attack or said why the mosque was targeted, it is widely believed in Egypt that it happened because Sufis worshipped there. Despite mourning the jihadist attack thought to have been carried out by the Islamic State group, the Sufis say they will mark the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed as planned, a week to the day after the massacre.
The gun and bomb assault on the Rawda village mosque in restive North Sinai roughly 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of the provincial capital of El-Arish killed 305 people including 27 children. Another 128 people were wounded.
Authorities said up to 30 militants in camouflage flying the black banner of IS surrounded the mosque and massacred worshippers during weekly Friday prayers. In a defiant statement late Saturday, the Egyptian Supreme Council for Sufi Orders said the annual commemoration would still take place at Cairo´s Al-Hussein mosque, one of Islam's most prominent sites in Egypt, and also "across the country".
However, a procession that normally takes place has been cancelled "in mourning for the souls of the martyrs of the terrorist incident at the Rawda mosque, and to ease the security burden".
The procession from Cairo´s Salah al-Jaafari mosque to the Al-Hussein mosque, named after the prophet´s grandson, covers a distance that would normally be just a 15-minute walk. But "it takes hours for the procession to reach Al-Hussein because it is attended by thousands of people", council spokesman Ahmed Kandil told AFP.
Egypt´s North Sinai-based IS branch has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers, as well as civilians accused of working with the authorities, since the July 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
The jihadist group has also targeted Sufis and Christians since authorities cracked down on Morsi supporters, killing more than 700 in one August day in 2013 as they cleared a protest camp in the capital. IS is suspected of being behind Friday´s attack because the mosque is associated with followers of the mystical Sufi branch of Sunni Islam whom it has branded heretics for seeking the intercession of saints.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~4/QPYtvK4F9sA
أكثر... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~3/QPYtvK4F9sA/249268-egypt-s-sufis-reeling-but-defiant-after-mosque-massacre)
While no group has yet claimed Friday's horrific attack or said why the mosque was targeted, it is widely believed in Egypt that it happened because Sufis worshipped there. Despite mourning the jihadist attack thought to have been carried out by the Islamic State group, the Sufis say they will mark the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed as planned, a week to the day after the massacre.
The gun and bomb assault on the Rawda village mosque in restive North Sinai roughly 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of the provincial capital of El-Arish killed 305 people including 27 children. Another 128 people were wounded.
Authorities said up to 30 militants in camouflage flying the black banner of IS surrounded the mosque and massacred worshippers during weekly Friday prayers. In a defiant statement late Saturday, the Egyptian Supreme Council for Sufi Orders said the annual commemoration would still take place at Cairo´s Al-Hussein mosque, one of Islam's most prominent sites in Egypt, and also "across the country".
However, a procession that normally takes place has been cancelled "in mourning for the souls of the martyrs of the terrorist incident at the Rawda mosque, and to ease the security burden".
The procession from Cairo´s Salah al-Jaafari mosque to the Al-Hussein mosque, named after the prophet´s grandson, covers a distance that would normally be just a 15-minute walk. But "it takes hours for the procession to reach Al-Hussein because it is attended by thousands of people", council spokesman Ahmed Kandil told AFP.
Egypt´s North Sinai-based IS branch has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers, as well as civilians accused of working with the authorities, since the July 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
The jihadist group has also targeted Sufis and Christians since authorities cracked down on Morsi supporters, killing more than 700 in one August day in 2013 as they cleared a protest camp in the capital. IS is suspected of being behind Friday´s attack because the mosque is associated with followers of the mystical Sufi branch of Sunni Islam whom it has branded heretics for seeking the intercession of saints.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~4/QPYtvK4F9sA
أكثر... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~3/QPYtvK4F9sA/249268-egypt-s-sufis-reeling-but-defiant-after-mosque-massacre)