Nothing said Cairo quite like the ever-present water pipe — until Egypt banned them to fight covid

CAIRO — Maybe Yasser el-Fahl should person known better. But the accent was getting to beryllium excessively much: the pandemic, his household cafe’s struggling finances, his 7-year-old son’s failing health.

So erstwhile helium sat down successful his ahwa, oregon cafe, to look different stack of mounting bills, helium turned to what has ever helped him relax: his shisha. This benignant of bubbling baccy h2o tube was erstwhile ubiquitous successful Cairo’s countless cafes. But since past year, shishas person been banned successful nationalist to stem the dispersed of the coronavirus.

Just his luck: Shortly aft helium took his archetypal puffs, a constabulary serviceman passed by the cafe door. Fahl spent the nighttime successful jailhouse and was slapped with a good of 4,000 Egyptian pounds — astir $255.

Egypt is 1 of respective countries successful the Middle East, including Lebanon, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, wherever shisha bans person been enforced during the pandemic. The fashionable pipes, besides known arsenic hookahs and narghiles, are often passed betwixt friends, perchance transmitting the virus.

But portion immoderate different countries person gradually lifted restrictions, Egyptian authorities person maintained their crackdown. Photos published successful state-run media picture the aftermath of raids, the pipes lined up successful rows similar criminals. This month, photos showed a beforehand loader running implicit 76 shishas laid connected a thoroughfare successful a metropolis northbound of Cairo.

The moratorium has upset patrons who bask the historical pastime and cafe owners who trust connected shisha for their income. Still, Cairenes successful privation of a fume cognize determination are inactive plentifulness of establishments flouting the prohibition and serving up the pipes.

When a talk-show big precocious raised this connected Egyptian television, Ministry of Local Development spokesperson Khaled Kassem told him that campaigns against shisha “are ongoing” and said citizens tin pass the authorities of violations via WhatsApp, Facebook oregon a hotline. “If you person a representation of shisha being operated successful a definite place, stock it with america and our forces volition caput retired to woody with them immediately,” Kassem said.

For Fahl, 47, the hefty good added to the fiscal load helium and his brother, Mohamed, accidental they already carnivore due to the fact that they haven’t been capable to service shisha astatine their ahwa. This has mislaid the concern astir $130 a week for much than a year, they said, and taken a toll connected the cafe’s accepted role.

“It’s a taste salon,” said Mohamed, 58. “There’s the doctor, there’s the engineer, each types of antithetic people. And they’re each benefiting from each other, having discussions and talking to 1 another.”

An ahwa without shisha, helium added, “doesn’t mean thing astatine all.”

On a December greeting astatine an ahwa successful a Cairo neighborhood, fractional a twelve men sat puffing distant arsenic a waiter hustled to propulsion coals from the occurrence with a brace of metallic tongs, rapidly refilling shisha trays earlier they went cold.

The spot had been raided by constabulary astir 7 months earlier, the waiter said, but the concern retrieved the shishas unharmed and paid constabulary to look the different way. The rescued pipes present beryllium connected show inside, awaiting anxious customers who dole retired a fewer pounds per round.

“I don’t fume cigarettes, but erstwhile I travel to beryllium successful an ahwa, I automatically bid shisha,” said Fareed, 73, whose past sanction has been withheld due to the fact that his pastime is illegal. He sat alone, dressed successful a brownish suit, matching sweater, bluish striped necktie and golden aviator eyeglasses. A sugary Turkish java was propped connected a stool beside him.

Like respective different men sitting nearby, Fareed is vaccinated against the coronavirus and wholly unconcerned astir partaking successful shisha contempt the ban. Each shisha is served with a caller mouthpiece wrapped successful plastic, helping to allay immoderate concerns astir catching the microorganism this way, helium said.

Sitting conscionable wrong was Mohamed, 52, who works astatine a mill that makes and exports shishas. He bookends his days smoking astatine the cafe.

“I’m not the owner, truthful I don’t care. It’s not the client’s issue,” helium said, referring to the ban. Police shouldn’t blasted customers “just due to the fact that they came and were offered something.”

That immoderate different cafes person managed to find ways astir the prohibition frustrates the Fahl brothers — some arsenic avid shisha connoisseurs and arsenic businessmen.

“What upsets maine is that determination are truthful galore places utilizing it,” Yasser said, speculating that “they wage to get distant with it.”

Their ahwa, called Rouma el-Fahl, dates to 1880, erstwhile their great-grandmother Aziza ran it retired of a adjacent villa nether the sanction el-Fahl el-Fallaheen, oregon el-Fahl the Peasants. In the 1950s, it moved crossed the thoroughfare and yet took connected its caller sanction aft their father, Rouma.

The brothers grew up astatine the ahwa, relishing stories of their celebrated household matriarch, a vicinity fable who — arsenic lore has it — lived to 110 years old. She oversaw regular operations astatine the ahwa, resisted the British concern of Egypt and adjacent trained vicinity boys successful weightlifting, the brothers said. Old black-and-white photos amusement her successful aged age, grinning beside blessed patrons puffing connected shisha.

The brothers had dreams that stretched beyond their vicinity successful el-Darb el-Ahmar, a maze of winding streets. But erstwhile their begetter died of a stroke, helium near the ahwa successful their hands. They expanded successful 2006, taking implicit the archetypal level of an aged building. Their waiters learned to equilibrium shisha and trays of mint beverage and java portion dodging stray cats and dogs successful the alley that separates the 2 rooms.

Back then, they raked successful astir $20 a time connected shisha alone. But aboriginal this year, aft months without serving the pipes, the brothers fell down connected their bills. Mohamed was jailed for 2 nights successful May for precocious payments, helium said, and had to surrender his motorcycle arsenic collateral for a loan.

“I could ne'er ideate this would hap to me,” Mohamed said.

As Mohamed lamented his fate, 2 men sat successful rickety chairs astatine a adjacent butcher’s shop, cups of beverage acceptable up betwixt them. One, named Waleed, was puffing connected his shisha, its agelong hose draped crossed his arm.

He was good alert of the prohibition connected smoking. He excessively had already been stopped erstwhile earlier — successful the nonstop aforesaid spot wherever helium was smoking now, helium said — and charged the aforesaid hefty good arsenic Yasser for violating the rules.

But the butcher concern is dilatory these days. He said helium needs to bash thing to walk the time. Besides, helium present knows to support a amended ticker — and rushes to fell his tube if helium sees the constabulary coming.

“I emotion shisha,” Waleed said. “I can’t springiness it up.”