The Mulid of al-Sayyid al-Badawi of Tanta is simultaneously a history of the saint, Ahmad al-Badawi (d.1276), his mawlid (annual celebration of a saint's birth or death), and the mystical brotherhood (tariqa)— the Ahmadiyya—that draw their lineage back to him. Mayeur-Jaouen has chosen to write a study of the longue duree, and the book thus covers the centuries from the time of the saint in the 13th century CE to the present day. She has done this to identify “ruptures and evolution, while acknowledging any continuity” (p. 9). Preceding and succeeding her history, Mayeur-Jaouen uses her training as an anthropologist to provide a vivid description of contemporary practices at the mawlid: from 2002 in the introduction, and from 2012 in the final chapter. The Mulid of al-Sayyid al-Badawi of Tanta is thus divided into six chapters, where the first and last are ethnographical descriptions, and the middle four are histories of the mawlid, the saint, and his followers. The scope of the book is massive, covering everything from the development of the hagiographical literature surrounding the saint and his miracles (Chapter 2), the development of the Ahmadiyya tariqa (Chapter 3), and the emerging relationship between the mawlid and the state (Chapters 4 and 5).

Mayeur-Jaouen's primary goal is to stress the importance of Ahmad al-Badawi, his mawlid, and his tariqa—and taṣawwuf (Sufism) in general—to Egyptians throughout history, and to demonstrate that it is only in the 20th century that their prominence started to decline. Additionally, despite the constant importance of al-Badawi and his mawlid, Mayeur-Jaouen argues that the related thoughts and religious practices have not been static, but rather evolved over the centuries with the religious, political, and social context of the devotees. This evolution of religious thoughts is demonstrated in a discussion of the miracles attributed to al-Badawi by his followers: in the Mamluk era he freed prisoners, especially prisoners of the Franks; in the Ottoman period he protected people against Bedouins and highwaymen; and in the late 19th century he became an anticolonial warrior. Additionally, Badawi's reported celibacy and chastity made him the “the ideal saint for girls seeking marriage, barren women hoping for children, women suffering pain in childbirth, and impotent men looking for a cure” (p. 47).

The last two chapters highlight how changing political environments have affected the practices at the mawlid. Thus, Mayeur-Jaouen shows that as Egypt and the city of Tanta went through waves of modernization in the 19th century, the physical changes to the city in turn changed the “atmosphere of the mausoleum” (p. 138). Mayeur-Jaouen argues that the increased presence of Europeans in Egypt in the 19th century and their disdain for the mawlid influenced state policies towards it. Having been both the site of a major revolt during the French expedition in 1798 and during the ʿUrabi uprising in 1882, Tanta “acquired a reputation for fanaticism in the eyes of the Europeans” (p. 131). Thus, by the end of the 19th century the celebration of the mawlid was seen as “a hindrance to the efficient administration of an orderly town” and “denunciations grew and were backed up by all the weight of a state that saw itself as modern and efficient, and by the disdain of a Westernized elite embarrassed by a traditional system.” (pp. 139 –40)

One of the narratives that Mayeur-Jaouen rejects throughout her book is the idea that “religious science (ʿilm) and mystical understanding (maʿrifa)” are in opposition (p. 4). As she later puts it, “the history of the cult of Muslim saints has for too long been written as a confrontation between Sufis and doctors of the law, between mystics and the censorious, between popular Islam and the Islam of the educated. This viewpoint is historically false, particularly for the nineteenth century” (p. 112). Mayeur-Jaouen's clear rejection of this narrative throughout her book is important, as it is one accepted widely by scholars in Islamic studies—especially those who work on other time-periods—yet, is clearly incorrect to those of us who study taṣawwuf in 17th–19^th century Egypt. She further rejects the idea that the ʿulamaʾ were only connected to “the urban brotherhoods of the better educated who are more attentive to the Sunna (Shadhiliya, Khalwatiya)” whereas the rural and uneducated Egyptians belonged to popular brotherhoods “(Rifaʿiya, Ahmadiya, Burhamiya) of barely controlled excess” (p. 61). As she points out, many of the Egyptian ʿulamaʾ who were connected to the Shadhiliyya or Khalwatiyya were also formally a part of the Ahmadiyya or at least devotees of Badawi (p. 62).

Mayeur-Jaouen herself identifies the importance of her book by highlighting how, despite having been one of the most important annual celebrations in Egypt for centuries, maybe only surpassed by the two Eids, English speaking academics have largely overlooked the importance of the mawlid of Ahmad al-Badawi. Thus, she says: “Instead of setting the mulid of Tanta as a marginal event in Egyptian history, I have given it its rightful place, in the center” (p. 10). Reclaiming the role of the mawlid in Egyptian history is crucial. However, the importance of her book goes beyond this. It is not only the history of the mawlid of Badawi that is frequently overlooked in academic coverage of modern Egyptian history, but also the religious lives of Egyptians more generally.

Mayeur-Jaouen is one of a number of French scholars who have been doing important work on the role of taṣawwuf in Egyptian history for years. However, for the most part, academics in the English-speaking world have not been engaging with this scholarship. As a result, Mayeur-Jaouen decided to get this work, Histoire d'un pélerinage légendaire en Islam: Le Mouled de Tantâ du XIIIe siècle à nos jours, originally published in French in 2004, translated to English.Footnote ¹ It is thus not an entirely new publication, though it does include an added final chapter on the mawlid in 2012, which shows how the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood impacted the celebration of the mawlid in Tanta.

Overall, I think this book an important contribution to the literature on taṣawwuf in Egypt, and it goes without saying that the work is relevant for scholars working in that field. Mayeur-Jaouen is also clearly in conversation with scholars in other disciplines of Islamic Studies and Egyptian history, and I would recommend the book to anyone who needs more convincing that taṣawwuf has existed within the scope of orthodoxy in Egypt. Additionally, because of its large scope, approachable language, and clear style, it is a book that can easily be taught in a college classroom.