3 0 Regional issues I S I M NEWSLETTER 3 / 9 9

West Africa GEERT MOMMERSTEEG Qur’anic Teachers

‘May God give him a long life. May God give force to his mother’s milk. May God make him strong so he will join our ranks. May God let him lead the live of a Muslim. May God give him a good life when he will and Magico- stay in our town and may He give him a good life when he will settle elsewhere.’ When seven days old, a baby is blessed by a Qur’anic teacher. After he has first announced the name of the newborn child, the marabout asks God to give it a long life, health and Religious Specialists strength.

The town in which an infant is welcomed in this way is the ancient town of Djenné, situated in the Inner Niger Delta in the re- in Djenné public of Mali. Djenné was once an impor- tant commercial centre. Although the town m ô d i b o (from the Arabic m u ’ a d d i b) in Ful- slightly hesitating, translated the French Regarding the practice of divination, whose was never as famous as its ‘sister’, the leg- fulde. Young children are entrusted to an p r i e r with the Songhay d y i n g a r; the verb status is comparable to that of amulets in endary city of Timbuctoo, during its heyday a l f a for instruction in reciting the Qur’an. which stands for performing the s a l â t. At terms of ambivalence, the following may be in the 15t h and 16t h centuries Djenné played Older students seek his guidance in their that moment the m a r a b o u t burst out laugh- noted. When a marabout examines the ‘situ- a important role in the trans-Saharan trade. pursuit of Islamic knowledge. In French, the ing and said: ‘D y i n g a r? G a r a I suppose he ation’ of a client, the outcome of the divina- It was here that the salt merchants from the language of the former colonizer, the teach- means!’ tion frequently includes instructions for the desert in the North met the gold traders ers are known as m a r a b o u t, a term which is Gara is the Songhay term for what is called client to give away a specific present in from the South. Islam was part of urban life employed throughout Muslim West Africa. in Arabic d ucâ ’: a ‘prayer of request’ or ‘per- order to favour the outcome of his or her af- in Djenné from an early date. When at the Marabouts, as my research assistant Bou- sonal invocation’. The difference between fair. In this sense, the act of charity, which is beginning of the 13t h century, the 26t h c h i e f bakar Kouroumanse once told me, ‘teach d y i n g a r and g a r a is essential. As a follow-up in and of itself religious and meritorious, is how to follow God and marabouts know to the incident in which the marabout juxta- of an unequivocal purposive character. ‘Giv- how to ask God’. In this concise way, he re- posed the two terms, Boubakar and I (first ing’ goes explicitly together with ‘asking’. ferred to the two kinds of knowledge mara- together and later on with some marabouts) Not only the receiver of the gift will bless bouts possess. A distinction is made be- elaborately discussed the issue. In these dis- the generous giver so that God may recom- tween so-called ‘public’ knowledge and ‘se- cussions, more than once reference was pense him or her, but also the marabout cret’ knowledge. Public knowledge is asso- made to the Qur’anic verse ‘Call upon Me will, subsequent to the divination, write an ciated with the praxis of education at the and I will answer’ (40:62) or to the h a d î t h amulet to ask God to approve the specific Qur’anic schools and secret knowledge is ‘Petitions are the weapons of the believer’. request of his client. applied in ‘maraboutage’ – the complex of Given these sayings, so my interlocutors ar- In Djenné, the marabouts’ knowledge magico-religious practices of which amulet gued, it is possible to attain certain things covers the entire realm of well-being. The production and divination are the most sig- by asking God for them. various features of the human plight, from n i f i c a n t .1 existential problems to the uncertainties of Blessings, amulets and daily life, are dealt with. Their knowledge Marabouts and the individual’s d i v i n a t i o n concerns as much the religious rules the be- w e l l - b e i n g Blessings pervade social life in Djenné. liever has to follow in order to be rewarded Marabouts play an important role in the Unremittingly, God is asked to take care of in the afterlife as it does the ways in which life of the individual in Djenné. This be- His servants. ‘May God save us.’ ‘May God prosperity can be obtained in the here and comes especially clear at the critical stages protect you during your trip.’ ‘May God ap- n o w . ♦ of life – birth, circumcision, marriage and prove it.’ ‘May God give you strength.’ ‘May death. At an infant’s naming ceremony a God protect our town.’ These and numerous marabout announces the child’s name and other benedictions can be heard during blesses it. At the time of their circumcision, special occasions as well as in everyday life. young boys are provided with amulets to Everyone can call upon God and everyone’s protect themselves against evil and dan- request may be granted by Him. gers. When the boys return to their families, God, however, has many names by which after a fortnight of seclusion, a marabout He can be invoked and some of these are pronounces benedictions for them. A mar- more powerful than others. Making a partic- riage is contracted by a marabout and, final- ular request to God using a powerful name ly, it is a marabout who leads the last will bring about a quick and certain result. prayers over a corps and directs the reading Moreover, everywhere in His Holy Qur’an, of the Qur’an or the Dala’il al Khairat – a pan- God has spoken powerful words. If em- egyric in honour of Muhammad – at the ployed properly, the inherent powers of condolence gatherings to facilitate the af- these words can be used for all kinds of pur- terlife of the deceased. poses. Dissolved in a potion of ‘holy water’ The individual’s well-being, however, is or written in an amulet, the powers ascribed not only taken care of at the critical stages to Qur’anic words can be applied for differ- of life. In everyday existence, marabouts ent curative, protective or causative purpos- of Djenné proclaimed his conversion to also render a variety of services to ensure a es. Yet, neither the special names and the Islam, 4200 u l a m a were present, as written person’s health, to offer security and to specific Qur’anic passages, nor the often in- by the West African historian es-Sa’di in ap- guarantee spiritual and material welfare. By tricate techniques to apply them are com- proximately 1650. Although the writer, him- means of divination, supererogatory pray- mon knowledge. These are the secrets in self once imam of the town, may have exag- ers and amulet production they may con- which the marabouts are specialized. This gerated, clearly Islam was significant in the tact and employ the hidden powers of the knowledge enables them to ask God to ren- city at that time, and it remains so today. supernatural world for the benefit of their der a trader successful in his business, to Djenné is now a small town with about c l i e n t s . provide a woman with a long desired child, Geert Mommersteeg is assistant professor at the 13,000 inhabitants of ethnically diverse ori- The following fieldwork experience was a to cure someone from a disease or to let a Department of Cultural Anthropology, Utrecht gin – mostly Marka/Sonray, Fulani and Bozo. revelatory incident in this context. During woman fall in love with a man who has his University, Utrecht, the Netherlands. It is of only minor economic importance to one of our weekly visits to a marabout, I was eye on her. E-mail: [email protected] the region. But Djenné’s famous mosque asked to read a letter for him. He handed me In West Africa, the legitimacy of amulets (placed on UNESCO’s world heritage list) the letter, which he had received that day, is a matter of debate, as elsewhere in the N o t e s and its many Qur’anic schools still reflect and I began to read the short French text. Islamic world. According to orthodox opin- 1 . In the second half of the eighties and the early the glorious days of the past. Each time when I had read a couple of ions – in particular the Wahhabiyya – mag- nineties I conducted anthropological fieldwork The town has some 35 schools for elemen- words I took a short pause to allow ical practices corrupt the Islamic religion. among the marabouts of Djenné. See my PhD tary Qur’anic education as well as a dozen Boubakar to translate into Songhay. The let- The true believer has to refrain from them. thesis Het domein van de marabout. Koranleraren schools for ‘secondary’ education where ter was sent by a man from Bamako (the However, when amulets are defined as ‘re- en magisch-religieuze specialisten in Djenné, Mali law, Arabic grammar, rhetoric and literature, capital of Mali) and contained a request for quests to God’, justification for them can (Proefschrift Universiteit Utrecht) Thesis theology, the traditions of the Prophet and the marabout’s help in obtaining a job at a be found in the Qur’an and in the sayings Publishers, Amsterdam 1996. A popular version Qur’anic exegesis are taught. Teachers at certain company. The man literally asked of the Prophet. Thus the activities of the appeared as In de stad van de marabouts, these schools are known as a l f a ( d e r i v e d the marabout to ‘pray’ for him to get the marabouts in this field acquire a religious Prometheus, Amsterdam 1998. A French from the Arabic al faqîh) in Songhay, or job. When I read this aloud, Boubakar, b a s i s . translation of the latter is anticipated.