Maulidi First Few Days

DHOW RACE TOMORROW! The crew will sleep on boat to insure that no one sabotages

     Maulidi is a week long celebration in honor of the birth of the prophet Muhammad. The holiday is very controversial in the islamic community. Orthodox muslims like the Wahhabi considers the act "haram", which is a sin. They argue that the prophet never celebrated his birthday like this therefore it is not "Sunna". Sunna is anything that the prophet did that was not said by Allah but is considered good to mimic though if you don't you are not punished. It's used to enhance one's faith. They consider the Maulidi to be blasphemous and nearing idol worship. However on the very muslim island of Lamu they celebrate this week with Donkey Races, Dhow Races, Bow ( like mancala) Competitions, swimming competitions and of course soccer tournaments where there will be monetary prizes for first. Islamic schools known as madrasa's come from kilometers way to chant and represent in the festivals. 

     Lamu is well known for hosting the biggest festival in Eastern Africa today because a man known as Habib Swaleh or Swaleh ibn Alwy ibn Abdullah Jamal al-Lail. Habib Swaleh was a Shariff (a descendant of Prophet Mohamed) of Lamu in the 19th century but his origins are from Yemen. He brought this holiday and made it famous by interfacing the aspects of local culture into the celebrations i.e donkey races ( since lamu has no cars, donkeys are the best mode of transport).
To learn more about the history of Lamu Click here.

     On this day people ask the deceased like Muhammad and Habib to pray and talk to Allah on their behave which is a very African concept that elders and ancestors are the connects between man and the devine. Thinking about how Habib is treated after his death and how the prophet is treated informs that even though Africans were/are invaded, influenced and marginalized they retain there culture and traditions that can never be done away not through colonialism, imperialism or religion. 

Swimming Race! Some of these boys can swim in the Indian Ocean as if they were in the manicured pools we have. They dive off a dhow and swim about 100 meters. 

"Lamu, there is a four-day long festival, since 1990, the National Museums of Kenya, is the sponsor of the celebration. It organizes dancing demonstrations, donkey races, dhow races, Swahili poetry events, Islamic calligraphy competitions, Koranic recitals, henna competition, and other entertainments. Is estimated that at least 50,000 people attend this festival every year"