9 - The Sacred Text in Egypt’s Popular Culture: The Qur’ānic Sounds, the Meanings and Formation of Sakīna Sacred Space in Traditions of Poverty and Fear

Summary

This chapter deals with the presence and culture of the Qur’ān in Egyptian everyday life including its presence in media, mosques and homes. Based on my fieldwork in Nasr City, Cairo, I discuss the culture of the Qur’ān in the everyday experience of Egyptian Muslims through the behaviour which encloses them in a sacred space, sakīna. The effects of this sacred space form religious sentiments about the challenges of poverty and fear. Sakīna creates a centre of religiosity that is omnipresent in Egypt. The chapter also asks whether the technology of the recent period affects the religiosity of Egyptians and concludes that the technology merely provides new vehicles for thoughts and feelings that have not changed substantially since long ago.

Egypt is notable for its ancient history and the diversity of its peoples. Due to the fecundity of the Nile River, Egypt has always been densely populated. It has been a critical land for settlement by different empires and religious movements such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Before the introduction of Islam in Egypt, the country was part of the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire. Egyptians met with Islam when Caliph ‘Umar (579–644 AD) sent ‘Amr Ibn al-Āṣ (585–664 AD) to introduce it to Egypt. ‘Umar and ‘Amr Ibn al-Āṣ were the immediate companions (ṣaḥāba) of the Prophet Muḥammad. When the Prophet passed away, the expansion of Islam continued very rapidly through his immediate companions.

Over the years and centuries, as Islam was introduced to Egyptians, the dominant language became Arabic in colloquial and formal communication. There has been a long-standing discussion of the ethnic identity of Egyptians: are they originally Coptic, or Arabs, or Africans? The identity of Egyptians is rooted in the conceptualization of culture as something fluid and it is a contingent process. However, in the discourses of my interlocutors in Cairo or elsewhere in Egypt, the answer may not be as simple as predicted in our identity discussions.

This chapter discusses the role of the Qur’ān in the everyday experience of Egyptian Muslims through behaviour enclosing them in sacred space, sakīna. The phenomenological approach relates to the experience of reading or hearing the Qur’ān and the feeling that each person has in their sacred space. The effects of this sacred space form religious sentiments towards the challenges of poverty and fear. This creates a centre of religiosity that is omnipresent in Egypt.