'Eid Festival' Divides Yemenis in Taiz; Is It a Permissible Joy or a Forbidden Sin?

Parallel to the battle that the governorate of Taiz, southwest of Yemen, is waging against the Houthi group; there was another battle, no less intense and fierce, between the people of the province themselves.

Although it is a battle on social media and without arms, it contributed to the mobilization of "Taiz’s" people, who were divided into two groups. The controversy expanded and many Yemenis residing in the diaspora join it.

 

Capital of Art and Culture

On the first day of Eid al-Adha, July 19, 2021, the "Culture Office" in Taiz organized an art festival at the Cairo Citadel in the city, which was revived by the well-known Yemeni artist Ammar Al-Azki, and attended by a large number of Taiz people.

However, the festival angered some, including the well-known religious figure Sheikh Abdullah Al-Adini and his supporters. They saw that the festival promotes immoral values and encourages mixing according to Al-Adini's expression.

Director of the Culture Office in Taiz Abdul Khaliq Saif, said in a media statement: The festival sends messages of hope, life and joy in Taiz, which has been suffering from war for six years.

He added: "Taiz confirms that it is the city of culture, art and creativity, and the festival carries a message expressing peace and hope."

He stressed that "half of the ticket price goes to cancer patients and the Al-Amal Cancer Treatment Center in the city."

Supporters of the festival saw that the people of Taiz need these festivals to get out of the atmosphere of war, and from the psychological distortions that affected its children in the past years.

Mohsen Muhammad, one of the organizers of the ceremony says: "Taiz has the right to practice art and hold art festivals, as a city of culture and art."

He explained to Al-Estiklal, "This is the fourth season of a festival that promotes people of Taiz’s culture, and every time we face difficulties because of a (extremist) current"

He continued, "The battle with the Houthi group is military and ideological, and art is part of the battle against a group that fights art and sects society, and only allows what is related to its sectarian literature," he said.

Mohsen calls for "confronting the Houthi ideology with art, theater, cinema and all areas of life, while confronting them with rifles and heavy weapons."

 

Corruption and Evil

On the other hand, Sheikh Al-Adini confirmed in a series of Facebook posts that the festival is sanctified and immoral, and calls for display of finery and mixing, and that it is a way for Taiz to embrace corruption and evil, according to him.

Al-Adini went on to say: Such mixed festivals are the cause of epidemics and deadly plagues, and the cause of death and every calamity.

In one of his publications, he asked: What is the reason for the spread of epidemics in recent years?” He cited words that he described as frightening to Ibn Al-Qayyim, who saw that he was telling the reality we live in.

He quoted Ibn Al-Qayyim’s saying: “There is no doubt that enabling women to mix with men is the root of every calamity and evil, and one of the greatest causes of public punishments, as it is one of the causes of corruption in public and private affairs, and one of the causes of public death and deadly plagues.”

He continued the transmission of the hadith of Ibn Al-Qayyim: “When the prostitutes mixed with the camp of Moses, peace be upon him, and immorality spread among them, God Almighty sent a plague on them, and in one day 70,000 died.”

The Yemeni Sheikh stressed that "one of the greatest causes of public death is the abundance of adultery, because women are able to mix with men, and walk among them in beautified appearances."

Dr. Nabil Al-Qadi, one of Sheikh Al-Adini’s supporters, went to the prohibition of going to the Eid festival and said on “Facebook”: “Going to the Cairo Citadel to participate in the Eid mixed singing festivals is forbidden by Sharia.”

He justified his fatwa for what is in festivals “of the evils of singing and forbidden mixing, exposing some of the charms of women and adorning them in their dress and goodness, wasting money and time in what does not please God Almighty”

He stressed that it is “cooperating in sin and aggression, and God Almighty says: (Cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression, and fear God.”

The fiercest battle emerged between the people of Taiz, and it took a personal turn, in which Al-Adini was accused of extremism, and in return he accused the other side of corruption, openness, liberalism and secularism.

It is noteworthy that the "Culture Office" in Taiz moved the venue of the closing ceremony of the fourth Cairo Eid Festival to Al-Taawun Park for security reasons.

The artist Ammar Al-Azzaki, who performed the concert in its early days, apologized for reviving the activities of the last day, which angered the attendees, and the opposing party considered it a victory for its position.

 

Counter-Attack

The campaign led by Al-Adini was met with a counterattack by his opponents, as he was accused of extremism and indirectly serving the Houthi group.

Yemeni journalist and writer Fahd Sultan, called for "the necessity of joy in the days of Eid", and wrote on "Facebook": "The worst stage an individual can reach is when he feels that he is the pole of the earth, the representative of heaven, and the only guardian of virtue."

He added: "if it wasn't for his sermons and instructions and his keenness to protect religion and belief, people would have clashed with each other like beasts, and they would perish in the crime and what would happen with unimaginable consequences."

Sultan, continued: "This miserable type of religious people do not struggle to stop hunger, nor torrents of blood, nor deadly tools of war that flee into the backs of the poor daily."

He pointed out that "as soon as society faces all this distress with unrelenting patience, in rare moment of joy, when people try to forget and resist the misery of reality, some in name of religion insist to destroy those short pleasurable moment."

He said: "People reject the dull sect that took the worst of Islamic history and presented it with a religion that competes with God's religion, and when society rejects these misconceptions and rejoices in its life, it rejects this rot and not the religion itself, which is the most sacred thing for the society"

Yemeni writer Muhammad Al-Mayahi said on Facebook: "Do not allow Al-Adini to involve you in an intellectual discussion that points out art and singing as the causes of the fall of cities instead of political corruption.”

He stressed that "Al-Adani has no other philosophical explanation than referring to sins. The problem with this preaching speech is that it is a religious cover for political corruption."