CAIRO, 29 March 2005 — Women and girls are putting on the veil; there’s an increase in the number of people going to mosques and religious broadcasts. These are things you often hear about in Egypt, but perhaps the biggest recent phenomenon is the increasing number of celebrities appearing on TV and radio shows to announce their decision to leave fame behind and devote themselves to God.
The most famous of these announcements came almost 25 years ago. After a successful film career in 1970s and 1980s, one of Egypt’s most glamorous actresses decided to adopt the veil, ending a promising acting career. Shams Al-Baroudi — whose 1973 film, “Hammam Al-Malatili” (Al-Malitili Bath), was deemed too provocative by censors of the time — was one of the first Egyptian celebrities to denounce acting as sinful and turn to religion. Her husband, veteran actor Hassan Youssef, also decided to change his life and became increasingly devoted to religion.
Al-Baroudi’s battle was one of two extremes — an endless internal struggle that resulted in a complete moral and physical transformation. Now, the only screen appearances she makes are on religious shows on satellite channels.
Al-Baroudi and Youssef are not the only stars to have shunned the limelight and decided to live quiet, peaceful lives as “reverts to God.” In the 1980s, a religious wave hit as several actresses dropped out of the movie business and became born-again Muslims. “La Tazlemu Al-Nesaa” (Don’t Blame Women) star Hanaa Tharwat, popular belly dancer Zizi Moustafa along with dancers Hala Al-Safi and Sahar Hamdi were among them.
The decision of this generation of celebrities to abandon artistic circles and devote their lives to serving Islam was in part due to the influence of Egypt’s most famous sheikh, Muhammad Metwalli Al-Shaarawi. Although not explicitly claiming that acting, dancing and singing are haram (forbidden by Islam), Al-Shaarawi urged them to quit their careers and focus more on worshipping God. But this phenomenon didn’t end in the 1980s, thanks to two popular young preachers: Amr Khaled from Egypt and Sheikh Al-Habib Bin Ali from Yemen. Being modern and accessible certainly didn’t harm these two religious men when it came to getting their message across effectively, and it seems that many actresses were listening. The list of stars who left the entertainment industry for a more pious life includes Hamdi Hafez, Magdi Imam, Suhair Al-Babli as well as Afaf Shoueib and Shahira.
The unassuming 30-something Amr Khaled, in particular, who now resides in the United Kingdom, is often described as an innovative religious figure who brought salvation and a moderate version of Islam to a spiritually starved generation.
In 2002, actress Abeer Sabri who co-starred in one of the most successful commercial plays of the summer, “Do Re Mi Fasouliya” (Do Re Me Beans), with Samir Ghanem and Shaaban Abdel Rehim, suddenly decided to put an end to her promising career, taking on the veil and devoting both her money and life to Islam, after attending classes by Khaled.
Sabri, who disappointed many of her fans, said that the move was not just about covering her hair or dressing in a conservative manner. She deserted fame and a lucrative career because she wanted to become a devout Muslim after she decided that life is too short to play around.
“Listening to a religious lesson given by Al-Habib Bin Ali and then being invited by some friends to attend a religious lesson given by a retired actress was the turning point in my life,” she said two years ago on the “Ala Waraq” (On Paper) program. “Immediately after the lesson, I decided to wear the Islamic dress.”
Movie producers were frustrated again by another actress quitting the film world. This time it was Mona Liza, the co-star of another Heneidi film “Hammam Fi Amsterdam” (Hammam in Amsterdam). Mona Liza said a strange incident was a wake-up call for her to quit her career and return to God. While on the beach one day, she was putting on headphones to listen to music, and it stopped; seconds later she heard Qur’anic verses. When replaying the tape again, Mona Liza found out that Qur’anic recitation was not recorded over the music. She never knew its source. A few weeks after the incident, Mona Liza went to Makkah for Umrah after she felt it was a warning from God. She never returned to the film industry.
Gihan Babikir, who was Egypt’s top model in the 1990s, also ended her successful seven-year career in the fashion business for the sake of Islam. Babikir, who had a glamorous portfolio of international shows including Pierre Cardin and Dino Valiano, gave up everything to please God. “I always felt that there was something missing, and I was not happy despite everything I had at the time,” she said. “In one of the Ramadans, I started reading about Islam and the vague feeling of insecurity and restlessness faded away, so I decided to leave everything and look for my happiness,” she told Arab News. Despite being ridiculed for quitting her career, she is now happy with her decision and attends a religion class four times a week.
Many of the celebrities who became religious never made any more public appearances and now stay out of the spotlight, instead dedicating their time to learning and teaching others about Islam. However, some still appear in public, acting and singing in order to serve Islam, present the right image of their faith and defend it from being associations with terrorism.
Veteran singer Yasmine Al-Khayyam (who actually preceded Al-Baroudi in her decision) participated in concerts to support the Kuwaiti and Palestinian children back in the 1990s. Mona Abdel Ghani, another retired singer, took part in recent concerts and fund-raising campaigns also to aid the Palestinians.
This phenomenon of celebrities turning away from their careers for religion is particular to Egypt and most visible for women; this radical lifestyle change is barely noticeable among male celebrities. Male Egyptian stars, whether singers or actors, continue doing work that has a religious nature. Some experts are not surprised by the phenomenon of stars turning religious.
But whether observers like celebrities shunning their careers to become religious or not, they all agree on one thing: The conservative Islamic resurgence that is sweeping across Egypt’s cultural scene is happening uniquely in Egypt because of the religious revival that has been quietly transforming the nation’s culture and society for the past 30 years. Consequently, Cairo, the Middle East’s cosmopolitan Hollywood, is changing. But how long can this trend last?
