ПАЛОМНИЧЕСТВО, ЦЕРЕМОНИЯ И КАРНАВАЛ: ГИБРИДИЗАЦИЯ ФЕСТИВАЛЯ ЛАМУ МАУЛУДИ

Олали Т.

PhD, Университет Найроби, приглашенный профессор, Колледж международных и региональных исследований, Университет Ханкук, Республика Корея

Статья опубликована при поддержки Университета Ханкук, Республика Корея

ПАЛОМНИЧЕСТВО, ЦЕРЕМОНИЯ И КАРНАВАЛ: ГИБРИДИЗАЦИЯ ФЕСТИВАЛЯ ЛАМУ МАУЛУДИ

Аннотация

Интерес к данному исследованию мотивирован моим опытом изучения фестиваля Ламу Малуди в течении последних 20 лет. Факт корновальной составляющей фестиваля, может показаться достаточно странным в контексте его религиозной составляющей. Гипотеза данного исследования состоит в том, что данный фестиваль стоит расценивать как гибридный фестиваль с элементами карнавала и мистических исламских церемоний. Не смотря на свою изначальную цель, главнейшим элементом фестиваля является почетание пророка - празднование появления Пророка Мухамеда. Праздник проходит на третий месяц Исламского календаря. Первая часть исследования описывает происхождение праздника и рассказывает об основоположнике Ламу Муалуди, Хабибе Свале Джамале аль-Лаяле. Вторая часть повествует о Маулуди. Финальная часть представляет собой выводы о гибридизации данного фестиваля.

Ключевые слова: Маулуди, гибридизация, хамзиа, мечеть Риадха, Дихотомия.

Olali T

PhD, University of Nairobi, and Visiting Professor in the Division of African Studies, College of International and Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Republic of Korea

tom.olali[at]gmail.com, tom.mboya[at]uonbi.ac.ke

This article has been funded by Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Research Fund of 2015

PILGRIMAGE, CEREMONY AND CARNIVAL: THE HYBRIDIZATION OF THE LAMU MAULIDI FESTIVAL

Abstract

The subject of this paper is motivated by my experience as a researcher in the Lamu Maulidi festival in the last twenty years (Olali, 2015, p.43). The aspect of its carnival side may sound rather an anticlimax of a genuinely religious festival. This paper is premised on a key presupposition that the Lamu Maulidi is a hybrid festival that is part pilgrimage, part carnival and part mystical Islamic ceremony. Whatever the purpose of such manifestations may be, the most important element is that it is for the purpose of the veneration of the Prophet—the anniversary of the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad and held during the third month of the Muslim calendar. The first part of this paper consists of a background sketch describing briefly the founder of the Lamu Maulidi, Habib Swaleh Jamal al-Layl. Next, I will analyse the ritual unfolding of the Maulidi, and then finally, I will attempt to examine the hybridization of the Lamu Maulidi, how it is juxtaposed with carnival aspects and general jollity in its celebration. 

Keywords: Maulidi, hybridization, Hamziyyah, Riyadha Mosque, Dichotomy.

1. Introduction

The Lamu Muslim brotherhood, the Alawiyya, lead in the celebration of the anniversary of the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. Maulidi is an expression of popular culture and piety. It emphasizes the different rituals which shape this annual celebration and analyze the meaning of the festival within the Swahili society. The Lamu Maulidi is a complex social phenomenon. It has many aspects which go beyond the simple expression of religious faith to the point of bringing into question the nature of the dichotomy between the sacred and the profane. No religious manifestation of this type can be understood in its deepest significance unless it is situated in the broadest possible social context.

The Lamu Maulidi is celebrated by the Swahili people of the Lamu archipelago and attracts visitors from all corners of the world. There is no record that shows when or how this celebration was introduced in Lamu (Olali, 2008a, p.34). This religious festival has its origins in Egypt in the 8thCentury, but the unique East African version is believed to have been developed in Lamu by Habib Swaleh Jamal al-Layl ( henceforth al-Habib Swaleh)—an Arab from the Comoros Island who came to Lamu in 1866 and whom I discuss later. Apart from the anniversary to mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, Maulidi is also about contemplation and the spiritual focus of the tomb where al-Habib Swaleh is buried.

Everywhere, the characteristics of such celebrations are more or less the same: Crowds gather for one or more days, a fair of varying size and importance accompanies the religious celebrations, dhikr and / or Quran reading sessions take place inside and /or outside the sanctuary of the saint concerned, one or more processions are held in which the keeper of the sanctuary (often the saint’s descendants) and (frequently) sufi orders participate and the cloth covering the Saint’s shrine is replaced by a new one in the course of the celebration (Olali, 2014, p.4) .

According to Kramers and Gibb, maulidi refers to the “time, place and celebration of the birth of anyone, particularly of the Prophet Muhammad, Mawlid al-nabi” (1961, p.365). Apart from the Maulidi depicting the birthday of the Prophet, Swahili people of the Lamu archipelago have in their possession poems that eulogize, and exalt the Prophet. For the masses of the Swahili people in the Lamu archipelago, Muhammad is the personage behind whose banner the faithful will enter paradise. Numerous popular tales and poems about him almost to a superhuman level of deification are to be found in East Africa, one of which, the Hamziyyah, is a perfect example.

The Encyclopaedia of Islam states that Maulidi “refers to the birth of a saint and a panegyric poem in honour of the Prophet” (1991, p.895). This view is shared by among others, Schimmel who says that maulidi written in modern Turkish mevlud appears, however, more frequently to denote poetry or literature in honour of the Prophet’s birth and even, more generally, of his life (1985, p.144).

In the Lamu archipelago, the mention of maulidi elicits an aura of happiness. During the Maulidi festival, a carnival-like atmosphere prevails on Lamu Island (Olali, 2008a, p.21). Everyone is in very high spirit. This seems probably to have conformed to the celebration in Mecca as observed by Hurgronje who describes molid as part of any “joyful occasion”. “Not all the guests know whether it is a circumcision, a marriage, a happy return from a journey, or something else that has occasioned the invitation. ‘It is a molid: that is enough” (1931, p.117).

Parkin writes on the way maulidi festival are important in re-affirming the unity of the coastal Sunni community, despite the complex sub-differentiations in ethnic and cultural aspects that are significant markers dividing a hierarchy of sub-group.

“We are obliged to think of the whole Sunni Muslim

community of the coast in terms of a single canvas:

there are festive occasions and there are courts and systems of patronage

which create enduring linkages, however much there may also be

internal sub-group exclusiveness” (1984, p.249)

Parkin qualifies Maulidi as a festive occasion whose one major key role is to unify the coastal Sunni Muslims. During the festival, the local people extend their hospitality by providing and sharing food with those who grace the occasion. This festival emphasizes the point of strengthening of social bonds in a community. It is a ceremony of perpetual creation and re-creation of embodied beliefs, dramatized and played all at once, producing and reproducing culture from one generation to the next. Thus, in addition to feasting and theatre, the festival is also an embodiment of tradition. In Africa, it is of deep socio-historical significance because a homogeneous group uses its framework to commemorate the past and celebrate the present. The festival can, thus, be seen as a way of recalling the myths, histories and origins of the community in a performance. Kavanagh sees the festival as a celebration of what has already been achieved (1997, p.175). Elsewhere as Lambek found out, maulidi festivals in the Comoros (Mayotte), “provided an occasion for the articulation of community membership and the reaffirmation and regeneration of community sentiment and solidarity” (2000, p.82). Thus, according to Lambek, to negate the performance of the maulidi festival in the Comoros effectively weakens social relations within the kin group and the community is severely weakened.

2. Al-Habib Swaleh Jamal al-Layl

In this paper and elsewhere (Olali 2004; 2008a; 2011a; 2011b; 2012b; 2014), I use the name al-Habib Swaleh, as he is referred to by the Lamuans, although, the name Salih has been used by a number of scholars (e.g. Boyd, 1980; Lienhardt, 1959; Khitammy, 1995; Pouwels, 1987 and Ahmed, 1995). Elsewhere, he is known as Saleh (Kresse, 2003, p.5). Ahmed holds the view that it was probably “Jamal al-Layl Habib Salih, whose contribution has been most significant” (1995, p.164). This is in so far as the Lamu Maulidi festival is concerned. The word Habib is a title used in the Hadhramaut as an alternative to Seyyid or Sharif to denote a descendant of the Prophet, particularly after his death (Lienhardt 1959, p.229).

Al-Habib Swaleh was from the famous Seyyid family, Jamal al-Layl, who were distinguished descendants of the family of the Prophet Muhammad (Lienhardt, 1959, p.229; Pouwels 1987, p.40; Olali 2008a, p.35). This branch had produced a number of famous scholars who had migrated to many parts of the world including the Comoro Islands and the South East Asia like Indonesia (Pouwels, 1987, p.53).

Khitamy says that after one year, the young Seyyid returned to his father in Comoro Islands. On his return, he immediately expressed a desire to continue his studies in Lamu. A fellow member of the clan convinced his father, Mwenye Ba-Hassan Jamal al-Layl to allow his son to settle in Lamu (1995, p.270) based on Ba-Hassan’s opinion that his son has a promising future and would become an important figure in the society. Kresse adds: “Habib Saleh was perhaps the most significant reformer. He introduced the form of maulidi al-Habshy to Lamu in the late nineteenth century…locally, Habib Saleh was a social reformer whose efforts of opening up Islam and Islamic education to the descendants of slaves and the underprivileged wagema (coconut-tappers) transformed local Islam from an exclusive religion for the privileged (Waungwana and Arabs) to an inclusive one, which integrated people from all ethnic and social backgrounds” (2003, p.5). It therefore meant that the Maulidi is a medium for social reform, a symbol of social change. If I can further rehearse Kresse’s observation, it is true that the Maulidi has brought forth a level field—at least during the festival—High court judges mix with manual labourers, doctors with peasant farmers, street performers with local officials, removing all the usual boundaries of class and wealth.

At the time of his death, al-Habib Swaleh is said to have been probably over eighty years. His age when he first arrived in Lamu is said to have been about thirty. This sets the date of his arrival very roughly at 1885, though the local assessment is that he arrived almost twenty years earlier (Lienhardt, 1959, p.231). A cloth covering al-Habib Swaleh’s tomb is usually replaced by a new one during each Maulidi festival. At his tomb, devotees take a quiet moment away from the frenzied activity outside to contemplate God, al-Habib Swaleh’s life, and their own spirituality.

Al-Habib Swaleh is without any doubt the outstanding figure in the history of Islam in the Lamu archipelago. During his lifetime, he was the symbol of an African cultural and religious identity. Today, more than ever before, he is venerated as a hero and as a saint whose radiant grace is all the more potent in that it is transmitted by the Alawiyya brotherhood whose dynamism is acknowledged by every observer of the Lamu Swahili society. Baraka of al-Habib Swaleh, necessitates hours of queuing. The stewards of these sites, almost all of whom are of the Badawy family, the descendants of al-Habib Swaleh have difficulty in restraining the pilgrims’ exuberance. For any Lamuan, simply to set foot in the holy places is itself to partake of the sanctity of al-Habib Swaleh, to receive blessings, to acquire a spiritual force which is of benefit for the present life as well as that which is to come.

Hence, one may understand the extraordinary pitch of emotion of the Lamuans when they gather in the heart of the capital of their brotherhood, considered by many of them to be the local equivalent of the Ka‘aba in Mecca. They call it haji toto (Mini pilgrimage). The Mausoleum where al-Habib Swaleh lies, the splendor is such that it drives the disciples into ecstasy. Many pilgrims complete their devotions by visiting the mausoleum of other important figures of the Alawiyya brotherhood, in particular those of the various marabouts who have succeeded al-Habib Swaleh. These, being sons of the founder, are all deemed to share some of his baraka. His sons include Sayyid Ahmad Badawy and Sayyid Aidarus.

3. Sufism and the Sufi during the Lamu Milad-un-Nabi

The sufi tradition of Islam, which forms the background to the current paper, is suffused with the notion of a geographical orientation. The word used to designate the various brotherhoods is turuq (sing. tariqa), meaning route, path, way, direction. The saint who is the founder or leader of a brotherhood is a source of spiritual power or grace—baraka—which suffuses the community of the faithful, even after his death. In view of this tradition, it is easy to understand the enormous importance which the Lamu faithful show for the pilgrimage to al-Habib Swaleh’s tomb. Religious journeys, called ziyara, are central to the mobilization of those who follow the way of the Alawiyya sufi and of popular piety.

Sufism plays an important part in the elaboration of the Maulidi festival in the Lamu archipelago and contributes to its colourful character. Trimingham discusses Maulidi in the context of sufism and holds the view that the various sufi movements are largely responsible for the growth of Muslim liturgy after the process of establishing accepted rituals had been completed in the first few years after the death of the Prophet. Trimingham points out that little description of sufi practice has survived in the literature, and that instead, most references either defend it or condemn it without elaboration (1971; p.207-217).

During the Lamu Maulidi, followers of the Alawiyya order perform dhikri chanting the name of God over and over again, at an ever increasing tempo to an extent that some sufis achieve a trance-like state. The sufis often use dhikri for further edification. Trimingham uses “recollection” as a translation for dhikri, saying that the practice of repeating the names of God “is solidly based on the Qur’anic injunction ‘Remember God with frequent remembrance and glorify Him morning and evening” (1971, p.194). Gellner states that the Sanusiya and Hamadiya brotherhoods use dhikri in connection with celebration of maulidi (1972, p.47). In both cases, the reference is not only to the celebration of the birth of the Prophet himself, but also to the celebration of the birthdays of the founding saints of the orders. The sufis in Lamu also facilitate the Qur’an memorization contests (musabaka) task often left for the youth.

In the Lamu archipelago, the participation of the sufis during the maulidi festival is almost seen as a duty. It is like the right path to follow. They know that they are performing what is required of them. It will be seen in the light of what Trimingham describes the ritual practices of sufism as “ a way, a rule of life” that enables the follower to purify his self and thus to attain closer union with God (1971, p.197). Shah, a leading authority on sufism, agrees with this description, although he believes that the way is not exclusively restricted to Muslims. He says:

The Sufi is an individual who believes that by practicing

alternate detachment and identification with life, he becomes free.

He is a mystic because he believes that he can

become attuned to the purpose of all life.

He is a practical man because he believes that this

process must take place with normal society.

And he must serve humanity because he is part of it. (1964, p.26)

The saints, both living and dead, play an important role in the lives of the sufis and of ordinary individuals. The tombs of dead saints are transformed into shrines; perhaps a humble whitewashed domed structure but often attached to a mosque. This observation is clearly manifested in the case of al-Habib Swaleh. Pouwels is explicit in the description of the Alawiyya brotherhood in which the Swahili people of the Lamu archipelago belong: “Most noteworthy was their affiliation with the Alawi tariqa, an especially austere brotherhood devoted to learning and the veneration of saints” (1987, p.40).

It is most probable that sufi movement in Lamu has close links with the Hadhramis. Pouwels states that a combination of opportunism and an extension of the religious contacts brought a number of Benadir, Hadhrami, and Yemeni clans to Pate and Lamu after the 1520s who were affiliated to the Alawi tariqa (1987, p.40) and that the Alawiyya tariqa was south Arabian in origin, having been founded by the Hadhramis primarily as an institution to maintain social ties among them (ibid, p.148). Knysh further explains:

When asked about the beginnings of the sufi movement in

Hadramawt, any educated Hadrami Muslim is likely

to point to the larger-than-life figure of the great saint

of Tarim Muhammad b. Ali al-Al-Alawi,

better known as al-Faqih al-Muqaddam (d.653/1256).

This answer reflects a standard view of this individual as the founding

father of the first Sufi tariqa in Hadramawt- a view t

hat is reiterated in most recent

studies of Hadhrami history. (1999, p.215)

The sufis in Lamu are occasionally supported by well to do members of the community to promote their activities. This is observed elsewhere as Katz (2007, p.103) opines: “Certain organized sufi groups could perform such a function by accepting money to support the performance of devotional activities, including maulidi celebrations”.

4. The Veneration of the Prophet via the Kasida

The first day of the Maulidi which is on Thursday soon after the fajr (morning) prayers, there is the raising of the flag ceremony first outside the mosque and thereafter inside the mosque. The ceremony is accompanied by melodious kasida (panegyrics) and the beating of matwari (tambourine). After breakfast, people gather inside the mosque for samai (recitation of kasida to the beats of matwari and flutes). Between kasida, there are very short sermons to highlight the messages in the lyrics of the kasida. In the afternoon after dhuhr (afternoon) prayers there is special lunch at the Twayyiba Hall which dignitaries and government officials are invited. This hall is named after Bibi Twayyiba the second daughter of Sayyid Ahmed Badawy, the son of al-Habib Swaleh.

More solemn are the prayer vigils held throughout the night, when the townspeople gather around the illuminated mosque and pray throughout the night, with sessions of group prayer and contemplation alternated with gentle song and chants that last throughout the night until dawn.

A visit to the central mosque, Riyadha in Lamu and to the tomb of al-Habib Swaleh is the main purpose of every Lamu Maulidi pilgrim. At night, thousands of families sleep inside the mosque and outside it in brightly coloured atmosphere in the surrounding alleyways.

In poetry readings, Olali (2008b, p.6) mentions several poems consisting of legendary accounts based on a modicum of historical facts dealing with the wars of the Prophet Muhammad after the Hijra. They include the epic book of the battle of Tabook (vita vya Tambuka) or simply Herekali dated 1728 and attributed to Bwana Mwengo who lived in Pate. Herekali has 4600 lines. The battle of Sassban (utenzi wa Katirifu) also known as Wadi Sesebani dated 1750 and attributed to Bwana Mwengo’s son Abu Bakari . Katirifu has 1800 lines. Others are the Epic of the Battle of Uhud (Utenzi wa vita vya Uhudi) and the epic on the wedding of Fatima (Utenzi wa Fatuma) daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, and Ali her cousin. According to Knappert, it probably dates from the late 18^th century (1999, p.3) and written by Binti Sayidi Amini ( ibid, p.45). There is also Utenzi wa Futuhu Li Maka and dates 1366/1947. It is a complete versified biography of the Prophet Muhammad and is the longest Swahili utenzi in existence and runs to 6,200 stanzas. Utenzi wa Habibu bin Maliki narrates the Prophet’s miracle of splitting of the moon, hence the Arabic title Inshiqaqu l Qamari (The Moon Splitting).

But of all the poems that venerate the Prophet Muhammad, the kasida ya Hamziyyah (henceforth the Hamziyyah) is a masterpiece that brings the eulogy of the Prophet and is performed verbatim during the Maulidi by mabingwa wa Pate (Experts of Pate).

4.1 The Hamziyyah

Afternoon is then that the Maulidi takes on more of a carnival aspect as the most accomplished orators, mabingwa wa Pate (Experts of Pate) recite poems (kasida) notably the Hamziyyah of al-Busiri. Its recitation moves pious spectators in body and spirit.

The performance of the Hamziyyah is viewed as religious by Lamuans by all definitions. During the Maulidi festival, each Island has a form of traditional dance/drum. Residents of Pate for instance perform the Hamziyyah. In the performance of the Hamziyyah, the tambourine is the principle ensemble used by the men from Pate. The instruments that are played to accompany secular events are never played in the mosque. The tambourine and the small drum (kigoma) have been accepted into the mosque of Lamu only recently (1980s), although a minority of men still oppose such usage.

Among the Swahili people of the Lamu archipelago, the only instrument frowned upon is the nzumari (pipe), which has a particularly close association with spirits. Lienhardt says, “In Lamu, the zumari is said to have been invented by the devil himself and first played by him to distract the people from the psalms sung by David” (1959, p. 239).

Before the emergence of sufism, it was only the Holy Quran cantillation and the adhan (call to prayer) that were allowed to be performed in a melodic manner. Sufism introduced music and dance into the Islamic religion. Blacking advances the thesis that music has no intrinsic meaning by itself but that meaning is assigned to it by the culture in which it is involved. Its creation can be described as “a sharing of inner feelings in social context through extensions of body movement, in which the social and cultural experience of the individuals play a great role” (1979, p.3-15). During the performance of the Hamziyyah, members of the audience are particularly keen on themes that are found in the Hamziyyah; The theme of sira ya mtume (Hagiography of the Prophet); The Physical appearance of the Prophet; Amina's honour; The Spiritual Qualities of the Prophet; The miracles (miujiza) of Prophet Muhammad; The Prophet’s Miraculous Birth and Childhood; The theme of the Holy Quran; Others are, The theme of Hijra; Israi (Night Journey) and Miiraji (Ascension); Muhammad the Intercessor; The theme of Hajj; and that of Jihad.

The themes in the Hamziyyah deal with moral precepts and instructions regarding ritual, praise of God and His Prophet, the horrors of Hell and the pleasure of Paradise. Where the moral rules are not given directly, they are given, by implication, in the form of historical sancta, the legendary history of the Prophet and his followers via kasidas such as the Hamziyyah. As such, these legendary stories are of great importance to the members of the traditional Swahili society. The eulogy of the Prophet through the performance of the Hamziyyah is not entertainment, but is elimu (knowledge) required for all who want to lead a righteous life.

To usher in the beginning of the performance, all the performers utter the essential Islamic phrase: bismi allahi al-rahmani al-rahim (in the name of God the Most Merciful the Most Compassionate), which the Muslims typically utter when starting any task. They begin the performance by beating the tambourine gently. The young men who play the tambourines beat them simultaneously with special techniques to produce different melodies. The tambourine is beaten aloud to proclaim the start of the Hamziyyah. The leading reciter starts with the first stanza of the Hamziyyah.

Hali wakwelaye kukwelakwe michume yote

Uwingu usiyo kulochewa ni muja sama?

The poet is asking a rhetorical question to the effect

that how can any of the Prophets climb to the seven

heavens during the isirai and

miiraji like the Prophet Muhammad did.

5. Some Aspects of Carnival during the Lamu Maulidi

In the section that follows, I discuss the Maulidi in Lamu in respect of a carnival. Even if so, it is a legitimate popular religious festival inasmuch as it has carnival and recreational elements in it. The nature of the dichotomy between the sacred and the profane is very thin indeed.

Like any festival, the Maulidi is both a ceremony (that is, a ritual event whose stages are rather precisely defined) and an entertainment, containing a certain measure of exuberance. In regard to my use of the word ‘carnival’, whose ambiguity is fairly evident, I use it here without any particularly nuanced purpose, but simply in order to convey the massive extent to which people take part in the pilgrimage, and also to suggest that the Maulidi is a demonstration of a particular religious sensibility which combines feelings of wonder and of emotion with a sociability deriving from an assembly of the entire Swahili community in the Lamu archipelago.

Like all religious festivals, the Lamu Maulidi is organized around a certain number of rites which give the celebration its meaning. For the present purposes, we may consider these rites in three categories. First, there are those which are strictly religious, that is to say, which are concerned with places and people which incarnate or illustrate the life and work of al-Habib Swaleh. We may distinguish these religious acts from those which are of a more political nature, meaning, in the latter case, that they attribute a role to certain persons who have come to Lamu in a capacity as representative of the state and public institutions. Finally, the Maulidi in the Lamu archipelago is also the opportunity for the crowds who gather there to enjoy activities which are quite clearly profane: simply enjoying themselves, buying goods in the market, and meeting old friends.

5.1 Traditional dances

In Lamu archipelago, every locality has its own favourite poem or dance, which is performed during the Maulidi festival (Olali, 2015, p.44).The traditional Swahili dances in the rectangular social space outside the Riyadha mosque draw larger crowds, and they are performed beside the Hamziyyah. As Maulidi festival grew in popularity, al-Habib Swaleh decided to have local dances performed to entertain the many guests according to Ahmed bin Sumeyt Shariff Abdurahaman Badaawy, himself a grandson to al-Habib Swaleh.

The dances performed outside the Riyadha Mosque during the maulidi festival are known as ngoma za Kienyeji, (traditional dances). These dances have become an important part of the festival. Areas of the courtyard are roped off for each group, and competition to attract the attention of the many onlookers by means of the style of the dance or playing of drum is keen.

One of the most popular traditional secular dances for men during the Maulidi festival is called kirumbizi, a stick dance in which two men move within a large circle, sometimes a rectangular space, threatening each other, using stylised motions with two large sticks ( Olali, 2008, p.256; 2008a, p.51). Another dance is the goma, a slow, stylised line dance, which is associated particularly with Siyu and Faza, and which consists of a ritualised sequence of movements with a cane held in the right hand (Olali, 2008, p.257; 2008a, p.52). Also, there is chama, a line dance that is the speciality of the men of the village of Matondoni, a small village just down the beach from Lamu town (Olali, 2008, p.257; 2008a, p.52). The men wear the traditional male garment, a long white kanzu, and kofia, but decorate them with necklaces of paper flowers and attach paper flowers to their hats. The right foot is always forward of the left as they progress with a left-right, quick-slow movement. Furthermore, there is mdurenge, a vigorous dance similar to kirumbizi, is seen less often, but is regaining popularity as a dance done in street processions. It is especially associated with the Bajuni from the islands north of Lamu. It is done for the weddings of Bajuni men. It is also done for dhow races and launchings, victory picnics, welcoming or any sort of happy occasion. It is performed at occasions of excitement such as victory celebration (Olali, 2008, p.257; 2008a, p.53) and a specialty of young men called barubaru (strong, vigorous youth).

In addition, there is the hanzua, a sword dance for men only (Olali, 2008, p.257; 2008a, p.53). Where swords are not available, dancers use sticks. They dance at the centre of the rectangular social space, moving from one corner to another, shoulder to shoulder and sometimes facing one another. When facing each other, they shake their swords as if in a motion to fight. The intensity of the movements of the quivering of the swords reach a high pitch. Holding themselves extremely erect, the dancers shake their swords so fast that when their hands stop, the swords continue to waver on their own. This dance is also referred to as ngoma ya panga (the sword dance).

The men’s ngoma called uta (bow) or mlala sometimes includes the hunter’s bow which is played by striking the string with a stick, but more commonly leg rattles (misewa or viwamba) provide the only musical accompaniment to the dancing (Olali, 2008, p.257; 2008a, p.53). No drums are played in uta. The performers attach to their anklets, triangular shaped pieces of palm fronds in which beads have been placed while they move around in a circle, vigorously shaking the rattles on the leg. Uta is the first dance to be introduced during the Lamu Maulidi festival and it is sometimes called the coconut climber dance (ngoma ya wapandaji mnazi). Al-Habib Swaleh is said to have been fond of it. Al-Habib Swaleh identified himself more with the low class people of which Uta dancers belonged and it was these people who supported him.

5.2 The donkey race

But the real highlight of every Maulidi involves the town’s most endearing symbol—the donkey race. This is the equivalent of a local Formula One race. Local donkey jockeys literally spend the entire year honing their riding skills for this event, and the winning rider wears his title with great pride. Being a winning donkey jockey requires a specific set of skills. As with most such races, small physical stature is helpful, but keeping a stubborn donkey moving and on course requires a definite talent. During the heats, some donkeys simply wait for the sound of the starter’s whistle and with a spectacular kick, send their riders airborne into the crowd. Being hit by the occasional flying jockey is no deterrent to the spectators, and a truly massive crowd fills the seafront, chanting and cheering on their favourites. Jockeys lean back at precarious angles to maximize their pace as they enter the home stretch. It starts at around 10 am and takes place along the sea front with the donkeys racing from the Lamu museum up to powerhouse and back, a distance of about one mile.

5.3 Bao game

In the large pen square in front of Lamu’s fort, under the shade of two spreading casuarina trees, many of the town’s men gather for a bao competition. The Bao games are is held at the Lamu Square outside the Lamu Fort Museum from around 4.30pm to 6.00 pm. Bao is probably the oldest game in human history. The game is based around a basic board of four lines of shallow holes. The game itself involves beads, seeds or stones being placed in the holes, and each player then redistributing these objects around the board by following a simple set of order—with the winner lacing theirs in a set pattern before the other can. Play is simple enough, with a few well defined rules, but the game is incredibly complex—with endless possibilities for elaborate strategies and techniques. Players need to think quickly, and be ready to enact aggressive strategies and to counteract moves by their opponent.

5.4 Dhow racing

Dhow racing is among the oldest sporting activity in Lamu and along the Coast. The museum through its programme on ‘Revival and Development of Swahili Culture’ began collecting information on dhow racing and made effort to revive the sport. Since 1990 Lamu museum has initiated a dhow race during Maulidi, which has now become a common feature in this annual event. It has further formalized the rules of the race to be followed by all participants. In 2015 Maulidi, the six finest dhows were selected to compete, and race under sail through a complicated series of buoys, combining speed with elaborate tacking and maneuvering skill. Spectators, both locals and visitors, watch from the town’s piers and jetties, or from the comfort of rooftop restaurants. There is always a chorus of cheers. Husna from Kizingitini won the 2015 dhow race competition.

5.5 Football    

In a white sand field among palm groves behind Lamu town, sports fans crowd to witness Maulidi football game. In 2015 festival, two local teams, Al Ahly and the Young Stars, contested the Mazingira cup. A carnival atmosphere pervaded the afternoon game, with the heat lightened by a strong sea breeze. In this tournament, play was occasionally stopped by players downed by flying sand or disruptive pitch invasions by donkeys. But the football match had the crowd worked into a genuine frenzy. While Al Ahly finally took the cup, they posed together with Young Stars in victory photography, a sign of Lamu’s great communal strength.

5.6 Swimming competition gala

After the donkey race, depending on how the programme has been scheduled, often people go to watch swimming competition. Female swimmers compete separately. Men swim on the seafront, usita wa mui while women have a special swimming pool at Shela. It is a time of ululation and excitement. The sea of humanity that walk along usita wa mui is amazing. It is a genuine carnival atmosphere during the swimming competition when the swimmers perform the freestyle stroke, the breaststroke, the backstroke and the butterfly stroke. The freestyle stroke (front crawl) is the preferred stroke amongst the competitors since it is fast and efficient. Swimmers avoid the butterfly stroke because it is quickly exhausting.

5.7 Henna painting competition

The Henna painting competition is exclusively for women inside the Lamu Fort. In the Lamu archipelago, and indeed the coast of East Africa, Henna is a decorative substance applied to both married women and unmarried women (wanawali). It is applied on their hands and feet during religious festivals such as Maulidi and more so, during wedding celebrations. The Henna is also applied before a woman travels and if one is expecting her husband from a long journey as a welcoming gesture. The mpambaji (the one who applies henna on a bride or girls of marriageable age) applies it with a fine twig from a saucer on her knees. The bottoms of the feet are dyed up to the toes nails. The borders can be decorated with different designs. Much more imagination is required to decorate the hands. The designs, different on each hand, can be geometrical or represent flowers and arabesques. They are to be drawn on the palm and on each finger. During the competition, special care is taken in the application of the henna and the choosing of designs and patterns.

5.8 Cross country and calligraphy competitions

There is also a cross country race along the waterfront, all the way to Shela village and back. This grueling race under the physically draining Lamu heat sees both local and International competitors weave through the crowds and donkeys at the seafront, and across the sands to Shela—with some racers stopping to plunge quickly into the ocean to cool off along the way.

In Calligraphy competition, competitors write Swarabi (Swahili-Arabic characters) with a brush. There is a prize for best brush character. Islamic calligraphy is highly venerated in Lamu. In antiquity, a pupil would copy a master’s work repeatedly until their handwriting is similar. A winner is held in great esteem in the Lamu archipelago

6. Frenzy shopping and sphere of profane

During the Maulidi, you will see a sea of humanity walking along the labyrinthine streets of Lamu that are never much more than eight feet wide, or do rides on donkeys. The donkey is a ubiquitous symbol of Lamu. People spend the night and day wandering among the narrow streets, or working on the seafront, ferrying cargo to and from arriving dhows. The atmosphere is carnival. It is ecstatic.

There are very many cheap goods that come to Lamu from neighbouring Somalia. The shops are well stocked. Every sort of product is to be found there, from audiovisual equipment to pharmaceutical products. This is the case with the almost obligatory visit to the shops of the Lamu town along the second street. The shops have nothing specifically religious about them. Such pious visits during the Maulidi are invariably accompanied by a visit to the shops and at Mkunguni; pilgrims return home from Lamu weighed down with goods which they have bought at low prices and which, moreover, have a special prestige because they were purchased in the holy city itself, Lamu. We also have many traders’ merchandizing small accessories like kofia (hat), makubadhi (sandals), henna, kanzu (white long robe), buibui (a piece of black cloth worn by Swahili women), and plastic toy guns to fake Nike shoes. The Kenyan government has since banned the selling of the toy guns. In fact, Maalim Dini a sufi from Pate island in his other life runs a shop on the island.

All of this brings to the Maulidi an atmosphere of a fair or a feast—a carnival. In addition to the religious pilgrimage itself, the festival is a time of gaiety and amusement. There is no feeling of austerity or moral rigour in the atmosphere, at least not outside the holy places themselves. Alongside those formalities which explicitly concerns religious matters, the Lamu Maulidi also contains a number of repeated, codified acts which clearly pertain to the sphere of the profane. Certain pilgrims—perhaps not the most pious ones—participate in the festivities by visiting the nearby town of Shela, where there is plenty of dancing, and women of loose virtue and alcohol are to be found. In this sense, the holy town of Lamu contains its own contradiction almost on its own outskirts. This is, to be sure, no more than an accompaniment of the religious festival, but it also part of its nature, as all festivals contain elements of uncontrolled excess of this sort. Lamuans have over the years blamed the wabara (non coastal people) with the proliferation of banned substances and decay in moral fabric of some areas in the Lamu archipelago, particularly in Shela.

7. Conclusion

This paper has examined the religious, ceremonial and carnival aspects of the Lamu Maulidi and drawn some observations. The first is that the future of Lamu Maulidi is going to depend heavily on the future of the Alawiyya order. As long as sufism is around, the sufi adepts and their organization will continue to celebrate the birthday of the Prophet and the saints. Lamuans and other pilgrims whatever their ethnic origin or social status, will continue mixing with one another in a collective enterprise, in the celebration and veneration of al-Habib Swaleh, a saint whose grace and charisma infuse the entire community with blessings for the duration of the festival.

Secondly, we can say that with globalization, the Lamu Maulidi is going to see more and more activities incorporated into the festival which are not necessarily religious. This will not be due to their acts of enlightened self-interest, rather it will be the result of their greater internalization of the live-and-let-live philosophy. Cultures are not static but dynamic. Festivals have undergone a complete transformation due to external influences. It is quite conceivable that critics of the incorporation of this carnival like aspects during Maulidi in the Lamu archipelago will eventually establish a modus vivendi. Any metamorphosis in the way Maulidi is celebrated occurs according to the demands of the social environment. It is a purely socio cultural matter.

Thirdly, it must be stated categorically that the Maulidi is more than ngoma dances, poetry reading, recitation of the Hamziyyah, calligraphy competition, football games, bao games, swimming galas, dhow race and so on. It is genuinely a spiritual and social occasion for the Swahili people of the Lamu archipelago who are so inclined to celebrate it. It is memorial day when the sira (the life sorry of the Prophet) is revisited and scholars and singers in the sufi tradition remind the members of Swahili in the Lamu archipelago about the teachings of the Prophet and the successes and challenges of the Swahili community in the Lamu archipelago.

Fourthly, while reflecting on the future of the Maulidi in the Lamu archipelago, we must not forget the transforming effects of secularism on Western forms of religious practices. In the name of modernity and practicality, both Catholics and Protestant have made accommodations with the forces of change in the West. The Lamu Maulidi could be sufficiently compromised too.

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