Jinn Eviction As a Discourse of Power
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Jinn Eviction as a Discourse of Power MAAROUF_Prelims_i-iv.indd i 9/19/2007 1:14:59 PM 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 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 MAAROUF_Prelims_i-iv.indd ii 9/19/2007 1:15:00 PM Jinn Eviction as a Discourse of Power A Multidisciplinary Approach to Moroccan Magical Beliefs and Practices By Mohammed Maarouf LEIDEN • BOSTON 2007 MAAROUF_Prelims_i-iv.indd iii 9/19/2007 1:15:00 PM 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. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by 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 MAAROUF_Prelims_i-iv.indd iv 9/19/2007 1:15:01 PM To the memory of my parents, al-baj Mbarek and Shrifa Lalla Rqiya To my daughter, Chaimae MAAROUF_F1_v-xvi.indd v 9/24/2007 1:53:23 PM MAAROUF_F1_v-xvi.indd vi 9/24/2007 1:53:24 PM CONTENTS Note on Transliteration .............................................................. ix Transliteration of Arabic Letters ............................................... xi Acknowledgements ..................................................................... xv Foreword ..................................................................................... xiii Introduction ................................................................................ 1 Chapter One: Local Histories: Shari 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 (inam) ..................................................... 71 G. Organization ..................................................................... 76 H. Shrine Income ................................................................... 81 Chapter Two: The Buf\ Representation of the World of Jinn 83 A. Jinn Attributes ................................................................... 83 B. Types of Jinn .................................................................... 94 C. Self vs. Other .................................................................... 110 1. Magic (si4r) ................................................................... 113 2. The Evil Eye (al-ain) .................................................... 127 3. The Female Pursuer (taba) .......................................... 134 4. Harming Jinns unknowingly (al-aghl> ma 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 (ri ) ..................................... 159 D. Formulas for Jinn Eviction ............................................... 179 E. The Ritual of Call for Rain ............................................. 196 MAAROUF_F1_v-xvi.indd vii 9/24/2007 1:53:24 PM 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 MAAROUF_F1_v-xvi.indd viii 9/24/2007 1:53:25 PM 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 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 ri in Moroccan Arabic, ar 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., ulama). MAAROUF_F1_v-xvi.indd ix 9/24/2007 1:53:25 PM MAAROUF_F1_v-xvi.indd x 9/24/2007 1:53:25 PM Table 1. Transliteration of Arabic Letters Arabic Letter Transliteration \ b ^ t _ th ` j a 4 b kh c d dh r z s sh C F > I gh f q k g l m n h w y T : pronounced as ‘g’ in ‘grand.’ : prounounced as ‘k’ in ‘kook.’ : when used as consonant = w, pronounced as ‘w’ in ‘will.’ : when used as consonant = y, pronounced as ‘y’ in ‘yoke.’ T : (hamza) = , indicating that there is a slight interruption in the pronuncia- tion of the two letters between which it is placed. MAAROUF_F1_v-xvi.indd xi 9/24/2007 1:53:25 PM xii transliteration of arabic letters tt : double consonants indicate gemination. - links verbs and pronouns, prepositions and pronouns, nouns and pronouns, prepositions and nouns. The vowels in the transliterated texts represent, at least approximately, the following sounds: a / u / i / e / aw / ay or ai The sign over a vowel indicates that it is long. The sign over a vowel indicates that it is short. The sign / indicates a meaningful utterance. MAAROUF_F1_v-xvi.indd xii 9/24/2007 1:53:25 PM ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book is a revised version of a doctorat d’état thesis defended at the university of El Jadida, Morocco in 2004. Many researchers contributed with their assistance in the achievement of this project. I wish to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor Philip Hermans for his enthusiasm for the project and continual support throughout the occasionally dif- \ cult gestation of the work. His expertise in anthropology has been of valuable worth to me. My acknowledgment is also due to Mohammed Ezroura, and Mohammed Jouay for editing and offering wise counsel. I also express my gratitude to my colleagues. My special thanks go to Mohammed Ben Zidan, Ahmadu Boulmani and Yahya Ben Khedda for their con- structive comments. I would also thank my colleague Ahmed El Ouaret for presenting me with useful references on historical research in Morocco. I am also grateful to my wife Naima El Ouajidi for proofreading the folk poems collected from the eld. I also wish to thank Hasan El-Abassi for work- ing on the maps concerning the region under study. I am also much obliged to the 4uf an and patients at Ben Yeffu and the rest of the shurfa, who have contributed to this research with their opinions and spontaneous accounts. I also thank my research assis- tants—students and friends—who helped me with data collection. Finally, I wish to express my thanks to the local authorities who were patient and cooperative throughout the eldwork. MAAROUF_F1_v-xvi.indd xiii 9/24/2007 1:53:25 PM MAAROUF_F1_v-xvi.indd xiv 9/24/2007 1:53:25 PM FOREWORD Over the course of several years, I collaborated with Mohammed Maarouf on a research project on traditional healers in Morocco. While I was interested in the therapeutic aspects of the encounter between healer and patient, Maarouf ’s attention was directed to the power relations that characterise that encounter. In Jinn Eviction as a Discourse of Power, Maarouf focuses on a pilgrim- age centre in the Moroccan Province of El Jadida.