participated. They listened to sermons, distributed sweets, particularly honey, the Prophet's favourite and the poor received alms. This Shia origin is frequently noted by those Sunnis who oppose Mawlid. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, however, what the Fatimids did was simply a procession of court officials, which did not involve the public but was restricted to the court of the Fatimid caliph. Therefore, it has been concluded that the first Mawlid celebration which was a public festival was started by Sunnis in 1207 by Muẓaffar al-Dīn Gökburi. It has been suggested that the celebration was introduced into the city Ceuta by Abu al-Abbas al-Azafi as a way of strengthening the Muslim community and to counteract Christian festivals. Start of a public holiday In 1207, Muẓaffar al-Dīn Gökburi started the first annual public festival of the Mawlid in Erbil (modern day Iraq). Gökböri was the brother-in-law of Saladin and soon the festival began to spread across the Muslim world. Since Saladin and Gokburi were both Sufis the festival became increasingly popular among Sufi devotees which remains so till this day. Observances Mawlid is celebrated in almost all Islamic countries, and in other countries that have a significant Muslim population, such as Ethiopia, India, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Nigeria,cote dlvore, Sri Lanka, France, Germany, Italy, Iraq, Iran, Maldives, Morocco, Jordan, Libya, Russia and Canada. The only exceptions are Qatar and Saudi Arabia where it is not an official public holiday and is forbidden. Hari Maulaud Nabi is a public holiday in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. However, In the last decades of the late 20th century there has been a trend to "forbid or discredit" Mawlid in the Sunni Muslim world. In Turkey, Mawlid is widely celebrated. It is referred to as Mevlid Kandili in Turkish, which means "the candle feast for the Prophet's birthday". Traditional poems regarding Muhammad's life are recited both in public mosques and at home in the evening. The most celebrated of these is the Mawlid of Süleyman Çelebi. Plenty of other mawlids were written in Ottoman times. Often organized in some countries by the Sufi orders, Mawlid is celebrated in a carnival manner, large street processions are held and homes or mosques are decorated. Charity and food is distributed, and stories about the life of Muhammad are narrated with recitation of poetry by children. Scholars and poets celebrate by reciting Qaṣīda al-Burda Sharif, the famous poem by 13th-century Arabic