Jinn Eviction as a Discourse of Power (Islam in Africa)

354 Pages·2007·4.82 MB·English

by  Maarouf

Jinn Eviction as a Discourse of Power
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Islam in Africa
Brill’s Islam in Africa is designed to present the results of
scholarly research into the many aspects of the history and
present-day features of Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The series will take up issues of religious and intellectual
traditions, social signi(cid:2) cance and organization, and other
aspects of the Islamic presence in Africa.
It includes monographs, collaborative volumes and reference
works by researchers from all relevant disciplines.
Editors
John Hunwick
Rüdiger Seesemann
Knut Vikør
VOLUME 8
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Jinn Eviction as a
Discourse of Power
A Multidisciplinary Approach to Moroccan
Magical Beliefs and Practices
By
Mohammed Maarouf
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2007
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This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A C.I.P. record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISSN 1570-3754
ISBN 978 90 04 16099 6
Copyright 2007 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishers,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission
from the publisher.
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Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to
The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910,
Danvers, MA 01923, USA.
Fees are subject to change.
printed in the netherlands
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To the memory of my parents,
al-(cid:2)aj Mbarek and Shrifa Lalla Rqiya
To my daughter,
Chaimae
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CONTENTS
Note on Transliteration .............................................................. ix
Transliteration of Arabic Letters ............................................... xi
Acknowledgements ..................................................................... xv
Foreword ..................................................................................... xiii
Introduction ................................................................................ 1
Chapter One: Local Histories: Shari(cid:2) anism and Power .............. 19
A. Historical Origins .............................................................. 19
B. The Maraboutic Institution and its Means of Survival ... 23
C. The Location of the Saint ................................................ 32
D. The Saint’s Lineage .......................................................... 34
E. The Founding Legends ..................................................... 48
F. Royal Donations (in(cid:3)am) ..................................................... 71
G. Organization ..................................................................... 76
H. Shrine Income ................................................................... 81
Chapter Two: The Buf(cid:2) Representation of the World of Jinn 83
A. Jinn Attributes ................................................................... 83
B. Types of Jinn .................................................................... 94
C. Self vs. Other .................................................................... 110
1. Magic (si(cid:4)r) ................................................................... 113
2. The Evil Eye (al-(cid:3)ain) .................................................... 127
3. The Female Pursuer (tab(cid:3)a) .......................................... 134
4. Harming Jinns unknowingly (al-aghl(cid:5)(cid:6) m(cid:3)a al-jenn) ....... 138
Chapter Three: Jinn Eviction and Other Rituals
as Discourses of Power ........................................................... 143
A. The Ritual of Pilgrimage (zyara) ...................................... 143
B. The Ritual of Cursing ...................................................... 153
C. The Ritual of Jinn Eviction ((cid:7)ri(cid:3)) ..................................... 159
D. Formulas for Jinn Eviction ............................................... 179
E. The Ritual of Call for Rain ............................................. 196
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viii contents
Chapter Four: The Paradigm of Authority: the Mythic Court
of Jinn ..................................................................................... 203
A. Court Design ..................................................................... 203
B. Court Institution ............................................................... 208
C. Invisible Jinn Eviction ....................................................... 221
D. The Paradigm of Servitude (khidma) ................................ 225
Conclusion .................................................................................. 247
Appendices .................................................................................. 253
Glossary ....................................................................................... 305
Bibliography ................................................................................ 309
Figures ......................................................................................... 317
Index ........................................................................................... 331
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NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION
The transliteration of Arabic terms in this book generally follows the
IJMES system. Place names with accepted English spellings and per-
sonal names of prominent political or cultural (cid:2) gures are spelled in
accordance with English norms. Technical terms, even those that occur
in written, classical Arabic, are transliterated as they are pronounced
in the spoken Arabic of the region in which I worked. The text would
have been unnecessarily complicated had I followed separate conven-
tions for the spoken and written variants. For example, the word for jinn
eviction is (cid:7)ri(cid:3) in Moroccan Arabic, (cid:7)(cid:7)ar(cid:3) in classical Arabic. Specialists
will easily be able to reconstitute the classical forms. Words are spelled
in the singular, with plurals indicated by ‘s.’ Commonly known plurals
in western languages are kept intact (e.g., (cid:3)ulama).
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