CAIRO, 29 May 2007 — Egyptian singer Angham has recently been hounded by controversies. The latest of them is the outcry over Angham’s reported violation of the sanctity of an ancient mosque when a portion of her latest music video was shot there.
Ahmad Mahdi, director of the controversial music video, has denied the charge that Angham violated the mosque’s sanctity.
The Egyptian Ministry of Culture has, however, ordered an inquiry into the matter, though Sources at the ministry said the clip was shot at the precincts of the Ottoman Sabeel Silahdar Mosque with the permission of the Higher Council for Archaeology. On the other hand, the imam of the mosque charged the team with trespassing and interfering with the call for prayer.
The Sabeel Sulayman Agha Al-Silahdar mosque, built in 1839, is a Cairene neighborhood mosque with decorative features that combine both Ottoman and Egyptian culture. The mosque has a courtyard surrounded by arcades and a sanctuary with four marble columns that support a central lantern.
“We never went inside the sacred praying area in the mosque but worked in the outer structure about 25 meters away from the mosque. Angham performed without any music playing and it was not during prayer time,” the director said.