The attractiveness of Sufism is also due to the fact that it does not ban modern means of entertainment, unveiling or mixed dancing and chanting. Rather, the difference between virtues and vice is not determined by appearance but by intent and action. However, Sufism started to come under attack particularly with the rise of Salafism.

Yet Salafi views of politics and relations with the ruling authorities differ widely, ranging from a strict ‘quietist’ perspective to Salafi jihadism. Of course, many Salafi actors like the al-Nour Party in Egypt fall somewhere between these two extremes.

Not everybody in Egypt is fan of the moulids. Salafists and the Muslim Brotherhood consider it haram (forbidden) in Islam, as they reject venerating ‘saints’ and pilgrimages to any other place than Mecca. While Al-Sayed considers Ibrahim El Desouki to be something like a mediator who makes his prayers heard, other Muslims would say that in Islam the relation to God is a direct one, with no place for someone in between.

Today there are various Salafi movements across the world which have been inspired by Ibn Taymiyyah’s writing. In addition to purists and activist Salafis, Salafi jihadis have been referring to Ibn Taymiyyah for inspiration. For example, IS in many ways championed ideas and practices which were advocated by Ibn Taymiyyah. Many centuries after his death, his ideas, which were once considered unacceptable by many scholars of his time, have been translated into political action.

Like the Baathist ideology in its time, IS’s takfirist discourse, excommunicating Muslims on the basis of their supposed apostasy and promoted by Jordanian jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his Iraqi followers, is inseparable from the cycles of civil conflict that have plagued Iraq. It may re-erupt as IS has not been entirely defeated on the ground.

Although Sufis were marginalized for much of Qaddafi’s rule, circumstances have arguably worsened since he died. After the revolution, Sufis worried that new religious officials were inspired by Salafist ideologies, leading them to appoint extremist sheikhs in mosques that pro-Qaddafi preachers once occupied. Some of these new sheikhs quickly pressured authorities to replace other long-time Sufi imams with hardliners.