CAIRO - Many humble Egyptians believe that extreme Islamists, who have been trying to smash the nation's shrines to bits since the revolution started in late January, will not succeed because the saints, who have been revered for generations, are able to protect themselves. "I am sure that holy Muslims can stop the attacks and defend their sites that have been revered by Egyptians for centuries," says Mohamed el-Sayyed, an attendant at el-Sayyeda Aisha Mosque in southern Cairo. “The Salafists (Muslim fanatics) say that shrines are forbidden in Islam, but what they are planning to do against them is wrong and against Islam,” el-Sayyed adds. "The saints will stop them and defend their shrines," he stresses, adding that the residents of this poor Cairo neighbourhood would badly beat anyone, who tried to harm the shrine of el-Sayyeda Aisha, or any other holy site in the capital. El-Saayed says that the armed residents, led by a large, heavily muscled young man known as Hazem, will defend el-Sayyeda Aisha Mosque and won't let anyone to damage the shrine. "The shrine is a blessing for all Egyptians, especially the neighbourhood's poor residents, particularly because it generates income for them. When visitors come to the mosque, they give money and food to the needy," el-Sayyed explains. Mahmoud, another mosque attendant, says the locals would not allow the fanatics to impose their ideas on others or let them tell them how Islam should be practised in this country. So far, the Salafists have damaged five shrines in Qaliub City in el-Qaliubiya Governorate, north of Cairo, since Hosni Mubarak stepped down on February 11. Saad Abdullah Ali, a resident of el-Mansoura City in the Delta Governorate of el-Daqahliya and a regular visitor to el-Sayyeda Aisha Mosque in Cairo, has urged the Government of Essam Sharaf to confront hardline doctrine and protect the nation's shrines, which constitute a key part of religious practice among ordinary Muslims. Ali goes to the mosques of el-Sayyeda Aisha, el-Sayyeda Nafissa, el-Sayyeda Zeinab and el-Hussein because they give him a spiritual blessing. "I am sure if the Government cannot stop these attacks, as the saints will stop anyone from harming their shrines," Ali continues, lamenting the attacks on the shrines in Qaliub and also in el-Menoufiya Governorate. He also laments the fact that the Government has done nothing about these attacks. Ali, who accuses the Salafists of fomenting strife in Egypt and of having a very narrow understanding of Islam, has called on young people to form groups to protect the shrines scattered around the country, according to local media reports. “The Salafists are misguided young men, who have gone astray due to the Mubarak-era policies, that prevented clerics from engaging and teaching young people the true essence of moderate Islam. "These misguided youngsters read books that promoted extremism and encourage them to take God's law into their own hands," adds Ali, who totally rejects the idea of removing shrines from mosques. Instead, he encourages ordinary people to form special groups to protect them. Sheikh Hamdi Salama of el-Sayyeda Nafissa Mosque says that this shrine is a magnet for pilgrims from Egypt and many Arab countries. "The Salafists, however, will not be allowed to damage el-Sayyeda Nafissa's shrine or any other shrine that is visited by tens of thousands of Egyptians each year," Sheikh Salama stresses. “The saints won't allow this to happen. It is God and these holy people who protect themselves, not us.”
