By Ashraf Abdul-Wahab.
Tripoli, 10 January 2014:
The government has announced that the Birthday of the Prophet, Mawlid Al-Nabi, which this year falls . . .[restrict]on Monday 13 January, will be a public holiday.
There have been no threats this year to disturb the celebrations, unlike last year when Salafist groups who disapprove of it, threatened to do so. In the event, they were unaffected.
As in many other Muslim countries, the Mawlid celebrations are very popular in Libya, particularly among Sufi groups. In Tripoli, particularly in the Old Town, various Sufi orders take part in processions during the day with chanting and music. Last year, threats against the processions and attempts to forbid had the effect of bringing more people out onto the streets than usual. [/restrict]
