Servants of Allah by Diouf Sylviane A

Author:Diouf, Sylviane A.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: NYU Press
Published: 2013-08-10T16:00:00+00:00

Occult Protection and Rebellion Planning

Religious writings were only one part of the Muslims’ production. Another, substantial element was the making of talismans. One early description of the object and its function was made by Richard Jobson, the British trader who traveled in the Gambia in 1623:

The Gregories bee things of great esteeme amongst them, for the most part they are made of leather of severall fashions, wounderous neatly, they are hollow, and within them is placed, and sowed up close, certaine writings, or spels which they receive from their Mary-buckes, whereof they conceive such a religious respect, that they do confidently beleeve no hurt can betide them, whilst these Gregories are about them.74

Though seen by some commentators as kufr (an act of unbelieving), the making of amulets is common practice in popular Islam and has been defended by such major scholars as Ibn Abu Zayd al Qairawani. It is part of the occult sciences, which include astrology, divination, geomancy, oneiromancy, theurgy, and other categories of magic. Talismans are based on the relationships that exist between Qur’anic texts, letters, stars, and numbers; therefore, the marabout who produces them must have a knowledge not only of the texts but also of numerology, astrology, mathematics, and astronomy. Most Islamic amulets consist of a folded, written piece of paper sewn in leather for preservation. The paper is sometimes sewn in cotton of a particular color, according to the marabout’s prescription. Elements besides the written paper may be put inside the amulet. In Africa, amulets are worn around the neck, arm, waist, ankle, knee; under women’s headdresses; and in pockets. They are put over doors, under beds, and around a favorite animal’s neck. Some are invisible: a common Muslim talisman, for instance, consists of a written piece of paper that the client puts into water and, after the ink has dissolved, washes with. The mixture can also be drunk. Sometimes the writing is done on a wooden slate—the type used in Qur’anic schools—and the water that washes away the letters is absorbed, as described by a marabout in nineteenth-century Bahia: “The clean [slate] had already been washed of its letters …, so that the water could be drunk as a mandinga, but after it had been written on twenty times.”75

Muslims and non-Muslims use Islamic amulets. It is a tradition in West Africa for non-Muslim rulers, such as the asantehene in Ghana, to have a profusion of Islamic talismans attached to the symbols of their authority and to their clothes. An Asante king in the 1820s wore “a large white cotton cloth which partly covered his left shoulder, [and] was studded all over with Arabic writing in various coloured inks.”76 This practice is still customary for the Asante leaders. Through the power of the written word, thought to confer a unique efficiency to the amulet, Muslim clerics often exercised a strong influence on the non-Muslim rulers. They also got rich, as an amulet-covered coat of the type used by the Asante chiefs of Ghana could cost as much as thirty slaves.

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