About: Nayrouz

Nayrouz is a feast when martyrs and confessors are commemorated within the Coptic Orthodox Church. Celebrated on September 11, the day is both the start of the Coptic new year and its first month, Thout. Nayrouz is also commemorated by Ethiopian Christians who also call it Enkutatash. Children wear new clothes and give bouquets of flowers to people. Despite having religious connotations and being mainly celebrated by the Coptic Christian community today, the festival used to be much more widespread and celebrated by both Christian and Muslim Egyptians. However, due to repressions by the central government, it lost much of its significance as a popular festival. When it was popular, Muslim scholars such as Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn al-Ḥajj urged Muslim laity to not participate in Coptic festivals, especially this one. Ibn Taymiyya laid out a discussion of rituals, time, and place and stated none should be imitated.