Al-Rawda, North Sinai

Al-Rawda (Arabic: الروضة) is a village in the markaz of Bir al-Abed, in the North Sinai Governorate of Egypt. It is a center of the Jaririya Sufi order, with the majority of the population following it (though that might have changed with recent migration),[1][2][3] and of the Sawarka tribe. The Al-Rawda mosque and its zawiya was established in the winter of 1953-1954 by Eid Abu Jarir,[4][5] and it was expanded and a minaret added in about 1990.[6]

In 2016, it had a population of 2,111, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics. However, the village has been heavily affected by the Sinai insurgency, first taking in displaced persons fleeing Sheikh Zuweid and Rafah, and then losing 22% of its male population in the 2017 Sinai mosque attack.[7]

The major local industries are a salt factory processing materials from nearby coastal salt works in Zaranik Protectorate on a sabkha of Lake Bardawil, and also agriculture.[8][9][10][11]

  1. ^ Tantawi, Ghada (2017-11-28). "Who are Egypt's Sufi Muslims?". BBC News. Retrieved 2017-12-02.
  2. ^ "'I was in Rawda'". مدى مصر. Retrieved 2017-12-02.
  3. ^ "Sufis well-rooted in al-Rawda, but is there an all-out war on them?". english.alarabiya.net. Retrieved 2017-12-02.
  4. ^ Alexandrani, Ismail (23 September 2014). "Généalogie du djihadisme au Sinaï - Du soufisme aux actions armées". Orient XXI. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  5. ^ "Egyptian Sufi community a target for extremists". The National. Retrieved 2017-12-02.
  6. ^ lil-Istiʻlāmāt, Egypt Hayʾah al-ʻĀmmah (1990). Sinai: history and development for the future. Arab Republic of Egypt, Ministry of Information, State Information Service. p. 93.
  7. ^ "Sinai's Al-Rawdah loses 22% of its male residents in Friday attack - Egypt Today". www.egypttoday.com. Retrieved 2017-12-02.
  8. ^ "<< Saad Eldin Group >>". spgas-group.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-05. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
  9. ^ "nasrsalines-Sebika Salines". www.nasrsalines.com. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
  10. ^ "Protectorates not Protected: Zaranik - Egypt Independent". Egypt Independent. 2010-11-04. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
  11. ^ Jobbins, Jenny; Megalli, Mary (1993). The Egyptian Mediterranean: a traveler's guide. American University in Cairo Press. p. 153. ISBN 9789774243042.