Brunei Malay Traditional Medicine: Persistence in the Face of Western

BRUNEI MALAY TRADITIONAL MEDICINE: PERSISTENCE IN THE FACE OF WESTERN

MEDICINE AND ISLAMIC ORTHODOXY

Virginie Roseberg

Master of Anthropology from the University of Paris 1, Pantheon-Sorbonne, France.

This thesis is presented for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy of

The University of Western Australia

School of Social Sciences

Anthropology and Sociology

2017

THESIS DECLARATION

I, Virginie Roseberg, certify that: This thesis has been substantially accomplished during enrolment in the degree. This thesis does not contain material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in my name, in any university or other tertiary institution. No part of this work will, in the future, be used in a submission in my name, for any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution without the prior approval of The University of Western Australia and where applicable, any partner institution responsible for the joint-award of this degree. This thesis does not contain any material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. The work(s) are not in any way a violation or infringement of any copyright, trademark, patent, or other rights whatsoever of any person. The research involving human data reported in this thesis was assessed and approved by The University of Western Australia Human Research Ethics Committee. Approval no. RA/4/1/5585. The work described in this thesis was funded by an Australian Postgraduate Award and UWA Safety Net Top-up Scholarship. This thesis does not contain work that I have published, nor work under review for publication.

Signature:

Date: 25 June 2017

i Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the continuity and transformation of Brunei Malay traditional medicine in the face of assaults by representatives of Western medicine and Islamic reformists, who both regard traditional healing knowledge as “irrational, inefficient and superstitious”. Practitioners of traditional medicine are still very much in demand amongst some Brunei Malays for the treatment of certain chronic diseases or psychosomatic disorders, and for illnesses believed to be caused by supernatural agents that are excluded from the scope of Western medicine. Western medical knowledge is regarded by some Brunei Malays as valuable only for symptomatic treatment, while traditional treatment is believed to address the real underlying cause of suffering. The different traditional Brunei Malay theories of illness causation, including consideration of biological, dietetic, humoral, emotional, social, and spiritual factors, often overlap. Consequently, distinctive therapeutic approaches, encompassing Western medication and magical incantations to chase away evil spirits, are all perceived as equally appropriate treatments, for they effectively deal with different links on the causal chain of sickness. My ethnographic study of traditional medicine in contemporary Brunei reveals that the multi-dimensional approach to illness etiology and treatment has survived the encroachment of Western medicine, which has come to represent only one additional therapeutic resource amongst others.

This thesis shows that Brunei Malay traditional illness concepts and healing practices are characterized by an admixture of animistic, Indic, Persian and Islamic elements. Since the coming of Islam into the Malay world, pre-Islamic beliefs and practices have fused with Islamic ones and there was, for more than five centuries, a degree of tolerance for the practices which did not strictly comply with the Islamic ideals. Since the development of a State ideology called “the Malay, Islamic and Monarchical state” (Melayu Islam Beraja, MIB) at the time of independence, the process of Islamization has accelerated and syncretic ideas and practices have been increasingly criticized by Islamic reformists, who are trying to “rationalize” healing by replacing all ceremonial performances acknowledging the presence of spiritual beings other than Allah by “proper”, solely scriptural forms of Islamic prayer. Traditional healers, who are perceived as spiritual cornerstones of animist belief systems, represent a threat to the authority of a ruling elite dependent on religious orthodoxy, and are severely dealt with if they are found to contravene Islamic teachings. ii This study reveals that the recent campaigns conducted in Brunei by the State-backed reformist movement against “superstitious beliefs” and “heretical practices” may have been successful in eradicating all shamanistic healing rituals involving trance (menurun), as well as the recourse to spirit helpers (gimbaran), which violate the tenet of strict monotheism. The recent creation of the Islamic Medicine and Welfare Association (Darussyifa Warrafahah) to respond to the demand of the public for a complementary healthcare system, as a result of the widely perceived limitations of Western medicine, is meant to deter Muslims from turning to bomoh and their “heretical” practices to combat illnesses thought to be due to supernatural agency and encourage them to resort instead to proper Islamic medical treatment. However, this research also demonstrates that the relentless efforts of the religious authorities to persuade the public against resorting to unorthodox practices have only had a limited success. Even when non-ustaz healers affirm that they only recite Quranic verses and appear on the surface to be orthodox Muslim medical practitioners, they combine their recitations with practices that are deeply rooted in pre-Islamic times and have been depicted by the religious authorities as manifestations of paganism, such as the prescription of amulets, gilir, bertangas, and medicinal plants which are believed to have intrinsic magical powers. Similarly, the practice of sorcery, which is strictly condemned by Islam, is still prevalent in Brunei today, according to all my informants and some government officials. The process of eradication of many magical practices, which are under increasingly heavy fire from Islamic reformists, is far from being completed, because these practices have been responding to the social, personal and psychological problems of the Brunei Malays for centuries, and neither Western medicine nor Islamic medicine can fulfill these needs in quite the same way.

iii

Table of Contents

Abstract ...... i Table of Contents ...... iii List of Appendices ...... vii List of Figures ...... viii Glossary of Malay Terms ...... x List of Abbreviations ...... xiv Notes on the Brunei dialects of Malay ...... xv Acknowledgements ...... xvi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...... 1 The resilience of Brunei Malay Traditional Medicine ...... 1 The pressure of Western medicine ...... 1 The pressure of Muslim orthodoxy ...... 3 Central argument ...... 5 Scope of the Research ...... 5 People and place ...... 5 Brunei Darussalam ...... 5 The study population ...... 10 Traditional medicine ...... 13 Problematic definition of traditional knowledge ...... 13 Traditional medicine versus Western medicine: The biomedical model at the heart of theoretical debates in medical anthropology ...... 16 Methodology ...... 24 Ethnographic literature……………………………………………………...... 24 Local newspapers as a source of data………………………………….…...... 25 A sensitive subject ...... 26 Informants ...... 27 Participant observation…………………………………………………………………30 Unstructured and semi-structured interviews...... 30 Definition of health and illness from the point of view of informants………………....31 Ethnobotanical data………………………………………………………...……….… 31 Chapter Treatment of the Objectives of the Research ...... 32

CHAPTER 2: BRUNEI DARUSSALAM: A MALAY ISLAMIC MONARCHY .37 Introduction ...... 37 The Brunei Absolute Monarchy ...... 38 Malayness in Brunei as an Instrument to Preserve the Social, Cultural and Political Hegemony of the Ethnic Bruneis ...... 42 The concept of Malayness (Melayu) ...... 42 The constitutional sense of Melayu ...... 43 Religious and linguistic heterogeneity of the seven “Malay” ethnic groups ...... 46 Increasing pressure towards assimilation of all ethnic groups ...... 47 Discrimination against the non-ethnic Bruneis ...... 49 The Increasing Islamization of Brunei ...... 51 Conclusion ...... 53

CHAPTER 3: SYNCRETIC WORLDVIEW OF THE MUSLIM MALAYS OF BRUNEI ...... 55 Introduction ...... 55 iv

An Admixture of Animistic, Hindu, and Islamic Influences ...... 56 Animism ...... 56 Hinduism ...... 56 Islam ...... 57 Sufism ...... 58 Spirits ...... 59 Structure of the universe ...... 59 Origin of spirits ...... 60 Birth and death of spirits……………………………………………………………….61 Internal and external spirits……………………………………………………….……61 Muslim and non-Muslim spirits ...... 61 Categories of Spirits ...... 62 Nature spirits ...... 63 Familiars ...... 64 Ghosts (Hantu) ...... 67 Angels and prophets ...... 68 Spirits’ relations with humanity ...... 69 Semangat ...... 70 Soul and souls ...... 70 Semangat and spirits ...... 71 Variation in the concentration of Semangat (Soul substance) ...... 72 Fragility of the human semangat ...... 73 The different aspects of the human soul: semangat, nyawa, badi and roh ...... 75 Nyawa ...... 76 Badi ...... 76 Roh ...... 76 Conclusion: Conflicting Cosmological Explanations? ...... 77

CHAPTER 4: BRUNEI MALAY ILLNESS CONCEPTS ...... 80 Introduction ...... 80 Predisposing Conditions ...... 81 Semangat loss (ilang semangat) and depletion (lamah semangat) ...... 81 Uri ...... 83 Incorrect behavior ...... 83 Usual or “Natural” Causes ...... 85 Physical trauma ...... 85 Foods ...... 85 Kuman ...... 87 Humoralism ...... 88 Wind (angin) ...... 91 Unusual or “Invisible” Causes ...... 94 God ...... 94 Spirits ...... 95 Spirit attacks (Tekana) ...... 97 Spirit possession (kasarungan) ...... 99 Sorcery (sihir) ...... 104 Sunti ...... 106 Contagious and Imitative Magic ...... 108 Pukau ...... 110 Conclusion: A Complex Etiological System ...... 111 v CHAPTER 5: TRADITIONAL HEALERS AND TRADITIONAL HEALING PRACTICES ...... 114 Introduction ...... 114 The Terminology of Malay Traditional Healing: A Complex and Sensitive Question ...... 114 Bomoh, pawang, dukun, bidan kampong, and keramat hidup ...... 114 Orang pandai ...... 115 Ustaz and non-ustaz healers ...... 118 Traditional Healing Knowledge ...... 119 Learning medicine ...... 119 Acquisition of naturalistic medicinal knowledge ...... 119 Acquisition of esoteric medicinal knowledge (ilmu) ...... 121 Inheriting ilmu ...... 121 Learning ilmu with a guru ...... 122 Obtaining ilmu with the help of a spirit ...... 125 Ilmu, an equivocal power ...... 125 Traditional healers’ specializations ...... 128 Traditional Healing Practices ...... 130 Preventative measures ...... 130 Diagnosis ...... 139 Medicinal plants ...... 140 Blood cupping, massage and postpartum treatment ...... 158 Blood cupping (bekam) ...... 158 Massage (urut Melayu) ...... 160 Postpartum care ...... 162 Incantations ...... 165 Content ...... 166 Form ...... 167 Treating spirit-caused illnesses ...... 172 Protection ...... 172 Ketaguran ...... 173 Black magic ...... 175 Main puteri ...... 176 Modern exorcism ...... 177 Conclusion ...... 179

CHAPTER 6: RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TRADITIONAL MEDICINE AND WESTERN MEDICINE ...... 181 Introduction ...... 181 Fundamentally Different Premises of Indigenous and Western Medicines ...... 182 Perception of Traditional Medicine ...... 186 Perception of Western Medicine by Traditional Healers and their Patients ...... 195 Multi-causal Malay therapeutic approach ...... 196 Interpretation of Western medical knowledge in Malay terms ...... 197 Fear of surgery and hospital ...... 199 Patient’s faith in the healer’s power ...... 202 Impersonal practitioner-patient relationships ...... 204 Patients’ loss of autonomy ...... 207 Lack of understanding of the underlying cause of sickness ...... 208 Complementary Roles of Traditional and Western Medicines ...... 210 Personal problems ...... 212 Chronic and psychosomatic disorders ...... 214 vi

Exorcism as a culture-specific form of psychotherapy ...... 215 Conclusion ...... 217

CHAPTER 7: INTERACTIONS BETWEEN MALAY TRADITIONAL MEDICINE AND ISLAM ...... 220 Introduction ...... 220 Two Realms of Supernatural Beliefs: Agama and Kepercayaan Orang Tua-Tua . 220 Reinterpretation of Old Beliefs and Practices in Islamic Terms ...... 227 Giving new interpretations to an old institution ...... 227 Giving new interpretations to old beliefs ...... 228 Semangat ...... 228 Spirits ...... 229 Giving new interpretations to old practices ...... 230 Popular Islam ...... 233 Sufism ...... 234 Popular Muslim magic ...... 236 Conclusion ...... 240

CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION ...... 244 Persistence of the Demand for Traditional Healing despite the Pressures of Western Medicine and Islamic Orthodoxy ...... 244 Intensifying Conflicts between Religion and Brunei Malay Traditional Healing Beliefs and Practices ...... 250 Reinterpretation of many elements of Brunei Malay traditional healing in Islamic terms ...... 250 Brunei’s increasing Islamization and Arabicization ...... 252 Perceptions of Brunei Malay traditional healing practices by Islamic reformists ...... 254

A New Form of Traditional Healing ...... 261 A “proper” form of traditional healing ...... 261 A “rational and scientific” form of healing ...... 262 Rationalization but not secularization ...... 263 Limited Success of the State-Supported Efforts to Rationalize Healing ...... 264

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 269

APPENDICES ...... 285

vii

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix I Participants’ socio-economic background ………...... 285

Appendix II Interviews…………………………………………………….…….308

Appendix III Ethnobotanical data…………………………………………………311

Appendix IV Common Brunei Malay medicinal plants………………………...... 312

Appendix V Brunei Syariah Penal Code Order 2013………………………….....319

viii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Map of Brunei Darussalam………………………………………………...... 7 Figure 2: Aerial view of Bandar Seri Begawan………………………………………....7 Figure 3: Minyak bulu perindu (“Love potion”)………………………………………127 Figure 4: Rings to attract the opposite sex (“Love magic”)…………………………..127 Figure 5: Guris performed in a local school in October 2014………………………..133 Figure 6: Keris (Malay dagger)…………………………………………………….....135 Figure 7: Written amulets……………………………………………………………..135 Figure 8: Jarangau merah and Jarangau putih amulets…………………………...... 136 Figure 9: Duit Cina amulet…………………………………………………………....136 Figure 10: Bear claw amulet…………………………………………………………..137 Figure 11: Pieces of bidara and merungai in yellow pieces of cloth (amulets)………..137 Figure 12: Merungai and bidara bracelet (amulet)……………………………………138 Figure 13: Sarang tuma (Termites’ nest) against black magic……………………….138 Figure 14: Tongkat Ali………………………………………………………………...141 Figure 15: Penawar Sunti (Antidote for black magic)………………………………..142 Figure 16: Sirih leaves………………………………………………………………...143 Figure 17: Soursop fruit to treat cancer, hypertension, and diabetes…………………143 Figure 18: Ketumbar seeds…………………………………………………………....144 Figure 19: Manjakani………………………………………………………………....145 Figure 20: Bidara fruits to chase away evil spirits…………………………………....145 Figure 21: Pangku anak fruits to increase female fertility……………………………146 Figure 22: The heart of the mengala palm tree is eaten raw to treat tuberculosis……146 Figure 23: Minyak taguli, to treat spirit attack and black magic………………………148 Figure 24: Minyak siampis, to treat spirit attack……………………………………...148 Figure 25: Simpur bini, to treat cancer, itchiness, and to improve libido…………….149 Figure 26: Medicinal plant preparation……………………………………………….149 Figure 27: Medicinal plant decoction (minyak tepalit)……………………………….150 Figure 28: Marjum……………………………………………………………………150 Figure 29: Irupan panas……………………………………………………………....151 Figure 30: Daun mandi untuk orang beranak ………………………………………..151 ix

Figure 31: Kudok-kudok leaves to treat wounds and cuts……………………………152 Figure 32: Jamu…………………………………………………………………….....153 Figure 33: Merungai, a protection against evil spirits and sorcery……………………156 Figure 34: Bidara, a protection against evil spirits and sorcery…….……...... 156 Figure 35: Kayu uri…………………………………………………………………...157 Figure 36: Kayu sicancang to treat uri, dugal and black magic……………………...157 Figure 37: Islamic blood cupping (bekam)…………………………………………...159 Figure 38: Bertajul…………………………………………………………………....164 Figure 39: Bertangas………………………………………………………………….164 Figure 40: Bengkung………………………………………………………………….165 Figure 41: Performing gilir with the healer’s ring……………………………………169 Figure 42: Rings to remove angin…………………………………………………….170 Figure 43: Gilir with a piece of metal………………………………………………...170 Figure 44: Gilir with a long piece of wood……………………………………………171 Figure 45: Oil to remove black magic (Minyak Penawar Sunti)……………………..176 Figure 46: Keratau leaves to eliminate kidney stones………………………………...201 Figure 47: Batang suspan to treat male impotence…………………………………...213 Figure 48: Batang pelupa to get rid of addictions…………………………………….213

x

Glossary of Brunei Malay Terms

All Brunei Malay (as well as Kedayan, Arabic, and other) words are translated or explained in the text where they appear for the first time in the thesis. Frequently used Brunei Malay terms are defined in this glossary.

Adat: customary law Ahl al-bidah: heretical Air bertawari: water upon which incantations have been recited Angin: wind (or spirit) Ayat: verse from the Quran Baca-baca: incantations Bahasa Melayu: Malay language Bekam: Islamic blood cupping Berdiang: resting next to a fire after giving birth Bertajul: medicinal sauna/body steaming Bertangas: body fumigation Bertarak: asceticism Biasa: ordinary Bisa: harmful Bidan kampong: traditional midwife Bomoh: traditional healer (Malaysia) Da’wah: religious proselytizing Doa: Muslim prayer Dukun: traditional healer (Indonesia) Gangguan: disturbance Gatal: itchy Ghaib: invisible xi Gilir: rolling an object that has previously been blown on with incantations on the extremities of the patient’s fingers to remove the “wind” (angin) from the patient’s body Gimbaran: familiar spirit Guris: a practice which consists in scattering salt and pepper around a building while Quranic verses are recited to create a mystical barrier against spirits’ invasion Hadith: a report describing the words, actions or habits of the Prophet Muhammad Halal: permissible according to Muslim laws Hantu (or Antu): ghost Haram: forbidden by Muslim laws Ilang semangat: lost soul Ilmu: knowledge Ilmu batin: esoteric knowledge Ilmu hitam (or ilmu panas): black magic Imam: Muslim leader of prayer Jampi: magical incantations Jamu: liquid medicinal plant decoction mainly used in post-partum care Jinn: spirit Kafir: infidel Kalimah tawhid or Syahada an Islamic creed declaring belief in the oneness of God – Ashadu an la ilaha illa-llah, wa ashadu anna muḥammadan wa rasullah, “I believe that there is no God except Allah and Muhammad is His messenger”. Kampong: village Kasi mandi: ritual bathing xii

Kesarungan (or kasarungan): spirit possession Ketaguran (or katagoran): touched by a spirit Kuman: germs Lamah semangat: weakened vital force Luar biasa: unusual Marjum: traditional medicinal plant paste used in post-partum care Masuk Islam: convert to Islam Masuk Melayu: become Malay Menurun: spirit-raising séance MIB (Melayu Islam Beraja): Malay Islamic Monarchy Mufti: Islamic scholar who is empowered to give rulings on religious matters Orang: person Orang makhluk-makhluk halus: invisible beings/spirits Orang pandai: skilled person/traditional healer in Brunei Panas : hot Pantang: behavioral prohibition Pengasih love magic Pontianak: vampire ghost Puak jati: “authentic indigenous” groups Pukau: spell chanted by a sorcerer to hurt or influence a person Pulong: a flying egg used in sorcery Roh: Arabic word for “soul” Sakit: ill Sejuk (or sajuk): cold Selamat: healthy Semangat: soul/vital principle xiii

Sihir: sorcery Surah: chapter from the Quran Sunti (or santau) a form of sorcery that is transmitted through food Syaitan: Satan Syariah: Islamic law Syirik: polytheist Tangkal (or azimat): amulet Tapal: poultice Tawari: incantations blown on water or oil Tawhid the oneness of God Tekana: spirit attack Ubat kampong: traditional Malay medicine Ulama: Islamic religious teacher Uri: severe mental stress Urut: massage Ustaz: Islamic religious teacher (of lesser rank than ulama)/orthodox Islamic healer in Brunei Zikir (dhikr): chanting the greatness of Allah xiv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

BSB: Bandar Seri Begawan

GDP: Gross Domestic Product

IRK: Islamic Religious Knowledge

MIB: Melayu Islam Beraja (Malay Islamic Monarchy)

NGO: Non-Governmental Organization

NKKU: Negara Kesatuan Kalimantan Utara (United North Borneo Federation)

PRB: Partai Rakyat Brunei (Brunei People’s Party)

RIPAS: Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha

TNKU: Tentera Nasional Kalimantan Utara (National Army of Northern Borneo)

UBD: Universiti Brunei Darussalam xv Notes on the Brunei dialects of Malay

Various Malay dialects are used in Brunei: Kedayan, Kampung Air and Brunei Malay. The Kedayan dialect is used mainly in the western parts of Brunei Muara district, in the easternmost areas of Tutong district, as well as in northwest Temburong. Kampung Air is used mainly in the water villages along the Brunei River in and north of Bandar Seri Begawan. (Nothofer 1991, p. 153). Brunei Malay (Dialek Melayu Brunei) is the dominant vernacular variety of Malay in the country (Clynes & Deterding 2011, p. 259). It is the dialect of Bandar Seri Begawan and its surroundings, as well as certain towns in Tutong, Belait and Temburong. It is also used as a lingua franca among most young and educated Bruneians (living in coastal areas) who have another Malay dialect or another language as their native language (Nothofer 1991, p. 153). While Standard Malay (SM) dominates in the domains of education and administration, in informal contexts Brunei Malay (BM) is strongly preferred, often with a considerable amount of code-mixing (Clynes & Deterding 2011, p. 260). Thus, Kedayan and Kampung Air are regional dialects, while Brunei Malay and Peninsular Standard Malay are the Malay dialects which have a supra-regional function, Brunei Malay being the informal and Peninsular Standard Malay the formal medium (Nothofer 1991, p. 154).

Brunei Malay differs markedly from Standard Malay in its phonology, grammar, and lexicons, to the extent that some might regard it as a separate language (Martin 1996), even though it has a cognate percentage of 84 per cent with Peninsular Standard Malay (Nothofer 1991, p. 153). One major difference in the phonology involves the vowels: Brunei Malay has only three vowels, /i/, /a/ and /u/, rather than the six vowels of Standard Malay. So, for example perang /pǝraŋ/ ‘war’ in Standard Malay is parang /paraŋ/ in Brunei Malay; and orang /oraŋ/ ‘person’ in Standard Malay is urang /uraŋ/ in Brunei Malay (Clynes & Deterding 2011, p. 260). Similarly, lemah/lǝmah/ in Standard Malay is lamah/lamah/ in Brunei Malay; Melayu-/mǝlaju/ in SM is Malayu-/malaju/ in BM. I have attempted throughout this thesis to follow standardized conventions of the uniform spelling system for Malay and Indonesian. However, the transcriptions of some of my informants’ comments and some authors’ quotations follow Brunei conventions. xvi

Acknowledgements

My PhD journey was both a very enriching and challenging experience. I am thankful to the University of Western Australia for accepting me as a postgraduate student and for sponsoring my research for three and a half years with an Australian Postgraduate Award. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my principal supervisor, Assistant Professor Gregory Acciaioli, firstly for supporting my application, and also for his thorough comments on all my chapter drafts and his invaluable guidance and support throughout my course of study. I am also very thankful to my second supervisor, Assistant Professor Debbie McDougall, for her constructive criticism on my first thesis draft and for her suggestions and words of encouragement. I am also hugely indebted to the staff of the UWA Library, who provided me with exceptional services, scanning and emailing me promptly all the articles and book chapters I requested. These remarkable services were particularly appreciated as I was enrolled externally, living in Brunei for most of the duration of my candidature. I would never have completed this project without their help.

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to all my informants for willingly participating in my investigation and generously giving of their time to answer my numerous questions. I am particularly grateful to one of my informants, Damit, a Kedayan orang pandai who accepted me as his “apprentice”, although he could not transmit all of his knowledge to me because I was not Muslim. I also really appreciated Hamid’s interest and investment in my research project. He provided me with valuable data and introduced me to other informants and traditional healers. My sincere appreciation also goes to the University Research Ethics Committee (UREC) of Universiti Brunei Darussalam which granted me permission to conduct research in Brunei.

Finally, I would like to thank my husband, Alan, and my son, Soltan, for their continuous support and affection during the ups and downs of this PhD journey. They both significantly helped me to overcome the moments of discouragement or saturation I faced at various stages of my study.

1

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

THE RESILIENCE OF BRUNEI MALAY TRADITIONAL MEDICINE.

In some parts of the world the destruction of the environment through deforestation is commonly claimed to play an important role in the extinction of indigenous1 medicinal knowledge (Anyinam 1995; Caniago & Siebert 1998; Shanley & Luz 2003). In Brunei Darussalam, a small Islamic sultanate situated in the north of the island of Borneo, where the tropical rainforests are well preserved, thanks to high revenues generated by oil and gas, as well as effective planning (Ellen & Bernstein 1994), it appears that the rapid social, cultural and economic change among indigenous communities, rather than environmental degradation, represents the most pressing threat to traditional medical knowledge. Migration to urban areas, the introduction of Western medicine and its associated cultural values, increasing wealth, enhanced access to formal education, language decay, intermarriage with neighboring groups, and a growing lack of interest among younger members of traditional communities to assimilate and pass on this knowledge are all usually linked to declining indigenous medical knowledge (Voeks and Leony 2004). The desire for modernity is often accompanied by disdain for tradition; many younger people have a sense of shame in regard to their culture and ethnicity and prefer to use Western pharmaceuticals instead of plants to alleviate illness (Gold & Clapp 2011, pp. 103-104). Another important factor in the erosion of traditional medical knowledge in Brunei is the pressure exerted by the Muslim orthodoxy, which views many of the traditional beliefs underlying this knowledge as heretical.

The pressure of Western medicine: Everywhere, Western biomedicine has occupied spaces that were once the domains of local specialists (Wright 2014, p. 1). Contemporary dukun (traditional healers) in Malaysia have seen their traditional services restricted and are viewed with far more skepticism and ambivalence than at any point in times past (Peletz 1993, p. 153). Colonial domination has been accompanied by devaluation, if not outright destruction of native practitioners, considered as “frauds” or “quacks”, associated only with the negative side of “magic” (Wright 2014, p. 1). For most postcolonial states, biomedicine (also commonly referred to as Western, modern,

1 The term “indigenous” and the vexed concept of indigeneity will be discussed below (see pp. 13-14).

2 scientific, allopathic or cosmopolitan medicine2) has become “a metonym for modernity in the domain of healing” (Connor 2001, p. 7). Many governments in developing countries have put in place biomedical systems not only because of their therapeutic worth, but also in the name of social advancement and development (Gold & Clapp 2011, p. 93). When Western medical policies and initiatives are introduced into places that have pre-existing, culturally embedded medical systems, they are inevitably accompanied by hegemonic cultural ideas. Because Western medicine is mostly regarded as superior to alternative forms of medical care, indigenous knowledge is often treated as irrational, inefficient, and an obstacle to modernization. Health workers in developing countries may undermine traditional medical knowledge by claiming that its treatments are ineffective, by denying that they are used, or by underestimating their use (Gold & Clapp 2011, p. 98).

Traditional medicine in many countries can become one element of “rejected knowledge” to be ridiculed by the larger society, downgraded by the school system, attacked in the religious propaganda of established churches, and sometimes outlawed by the State (Laguerre 1987, p. 11). The status of rejected knowledge “relies more on questions of power than on standards of truth and effectiveness” (Laguerre 1987, p.11). Healing practices that are not based on formal literate knowledge applied by high-status members of the politically dominant cultural group, but rely for their efficacy on embodied dispositions and orientations, on “habitus” in Bourdieu’s terms, may be antithetical to the State projects of normalization of citizens through techniques of hygiene, hospitalization, and pharmaceutical treatments, and are likely to be defined as dangerous relics of the past, clung to by “backward” populations out of ignorance and superstition (Connor 2001, p. 9). There is a variety of ways in which the universalizing knowledge claims of biomedicine as a discursive construction create a “growth of

2 Leslie (1976, pp. 6-8) rejects using the term “Western” to identify the dominant medical tradition of industrial societies, because this medical system, which arose in the West, is a transplant in most parts of the world. The term “scientific medicine” is also rejected because it implies that all aspects of cosmopolitan medicine are somehow derived from science, although many elements in this system are not scientific. It also implies that all medicine other than cosmopolitan medicine is unscientific, although Chinese, Ayurvedic, and Arabic medicine are scientific in substantial degrees. Leslie also challenges the dualism between “traditional” and “modern” medicine, because it “opposes the changing and creative nature of modernity to an assumed stagnant and unchanging traditionalism”. In their place, Leslie proposes “cosmopolitan medicine” (first coined by Dunn in 1976), because modern science and professionalization processes are intrinsically cosmopolitan. The term “biomedicine” serves the same purpose, but the term “cosmopolitan medicine” has the connotation that the ideology and institutional forms of biomedicine are part of the capitalist world system. Many medical anthropologists, following the lead of Hahn & Kleinman (1983, p.306), favor the term “biomedicine”, because in diagnosing and treating sickness, this form of medicine “focuses primarily upon human biology”. I will use all these terms throughout this thesis. The choice of the term will be based on the particular connotation of each term, as is appropriate in each context. 3 ignorance” whereby local knowledge is lost because it is regarded as of marginal or negative utility. However, the value of indigenous healing modalities for local people may not depend on their identification with highly systematized and discursively elaborated bodies of formal knowledge (Connor 2001, p. 10).

The pressure of Muslim orthodoxy: In Brunei, as will be discussed in the second chapter, the adoption of orthodox versions of Islam has played an important role in the consolidation of the power of the ruling elite. The religious landscape of the small Islamic sultanate of Brunei has long been an amalgam of Islamic and pre-Islamic beliefs and ritual practices that anthropologists usually subsume under the notion of syncretism. As elsewhere in the Islamized regions of Southeast Asia, Brunei Malays have been engaged in a form of “practical Islam3” in trying to live up to the “five pillars” (Ellen 1983) and emphasizing the importance of worshipping Allah as the one and supreme God, while also believing in the existence of various spiritual entities that are all rooted in pre- Islamic beliefs and are believed to be responsible for a variety of human misfortunes and ailments. Like other “ordinary” Muslims, Brunei Malays did not see such ideas as conflicting with the overall tenets of Islam until told so by modernist-oriented Islamic scholars. Over the past thirty years, a strong reformist movement backed by orthodox Islamic scholars (ultimately connected to contemporary Middle Eastern political movements) has been trying to separate the pre-Islamic animistic and Indic elements in the Brunei Malay belief system from its own more purist interpretation of Islam. Reformist scholars have pronounced a ban on all the local practices relating to “idolatry”, “polytheism”, and trafficking with spirits; many traditional healing beliefs and practices, such as the use of jampi (magical incantations) and the resort to spirit-helpers, are now regarded as “heretical” and “superstitious” because they encourage worship of, and dependence on, supernatural entities other than Allah, and endanger the purity of the Brunei Malay Islamic religious tradition. Over the same period, the terms bomoh and dukun, used among other Malay communities in Southeast Asia to refer to traditional healers, have been associated with animistic and Indic ideas and practices that the State wishes to expunge from its citizens’ religious culture and have been replaced by the term orang pandai (literally “skilled people”). These traditional healers must be careful not to be seen as contravening orthodox Islamic teachings.

3 The term “practical religion” was introduced by Leach (1968), who distinguished between philosophical theology and practical religion, and between “pure” doctrines and debased secular accretions containing survivals from earlier times (Ellen 1983, p. 54). 4

Education, through the compulsory study of Islamic Religious Knowledge at school, is instrumental in the consolidation of Islam in the country. By being instructed daily on the proper forms of worship and belief and the superiority of the Islamic scriptures, as well as by being urged never to repeat the pagan mistakes of the older generation, young students slowly turn into prospective religious reformers who will promote the obliteration of local syncretic forms of belief and practice. The increasing number of pilgrims to Mecca who on their return from the holy land frequently tend to attack local beliefs and practices that do not correspond to the tenets of “pure” Islam also helps reformist Islam gain ground in all parts of Brunei. A crucial role in this process of change can be also be attributed to the Friday sermons that are broadcast in the local media and frequently focus on the meaning of “pure Islam” and urge the locals to stay away from all practices condemned as ahl al-bid’ah (heresy) and syirik (polytheism).

Traditional medicine is increasingly portrayed in Brunei as a field that can lead to deviation in aqidah (faith). Thus, the Director of Syariah Affairs at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Ustaz Hj. Abdul Aziz, declared that “reading mantras whose origin is unknown, using symbols or specific inscriptions believed to be capable of curing certain illnesses, using incense, soliciting help from jinn and syaitan (Satan), or possession by the spirit of a dead person, as a means of treating patients, are all syirik practices, a sin that cannot be pardoned by Allah the Almighty” (The Brunei Times, 28 June 2011). In the Islamic medical tradition, the only acceptable metaphysical medications, in addition to physical medication, such as honey, Zamzam water, and different types of modern medication, are recitation of the Quranic verses, supplications (doa) and zikir (words uttered in remembrance of Allah) (The Brunei Times, 4 October 2014). During a Syariah Penal Code Order briefing at Universiti Brunei Darussalam, the Head of Istiadat at the State Mufti’s Office, Dr Hj. Japar Hj. Mat Dain, said that the practice of certain traditional local customs and beliefs may be considered an offence under Syariah law. He declared that the belief that certain plants traditionally used for healing purposes possess powers that go beyond their natural medicinal properties to that of the supernatural was a sin (dosa). He added that the belief in the power of a tangkal (amulet), a material object that is worn as a protection against misfortune, was also a sin. Under Section 216 of the Syariah Penal Code, any Muslim found guilty of worshipping, or believing in the power of any person, object, or animal, will be liable to a fine not exceeding BND 8,000, and imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both. The person may also be ordered to attend counselling (The Brunei Times, 17 April 2014). 5

Central argument: I argue that although the praxis of Brunei Malay indigenous healing has been transformed by the development of biomedicine and by the new discourse on national identity and the intensification of Islamic themes in modern Brunei, most traditional illness concepts and healing practices have so far survived, albeit sometimes in modified form, the twin challenges of Western medicine and Islamic orthodoxy, and traditional healers are still practitioners of choice among some constituencies in modern Brunei. The recent official prohibition of many syncretic beliefs and practices signals that they are obviously still flourishing in many parts of Brunei. My exploration of traditional medicine in contemporary Brunei reveals that the encroachment of modernity and orthodoxy does not lead to the extinction of the indigenous healing system, but rather its evolution. Many of the underlying assumptions of tradition are maintained, even if the forms have changed. Brunei Malay traditional healing has undergone some changes with the inclusion of elements from Muslim civilization, but the underlying supernatural dimension of the institution, the belief that sickness and its cure stem from a supernatural intervention in human life, has remained unchanged. To respond to the demands of Islamic orthodoxy many ancestral beliefs and practices have been reinterpreted in “Islamic” terms, and healers combine traditional Malay medical theory with elements of Islamic doctrine, although this indigenization of Islamic elements does not always meet the ideals of the Islamic code. Similarly, certain elements of Western medicine have been incorporated into the conglomeration of existing practices and beliefs regarding illness, without incurring any radical transformation in the Brunei Malay explanatory model of illness. Etiological concepts continue to share the indigenous mode of thought. The multi-dimensional approach to illness etiology and treatment has survived, and biomedicine has come to represent only one additional therapeutic resource amongst others.

SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH:

People and place.

Brunei Darussalam.

Geography: Brunei Darussalam is an Islamic sultanate situated in the northwest of Borneo, the third largest island in the world. Borneo’s territory is divided between three nation-states. In the northwest, the independent sultanate of Brunei Darussalam is considerably smaller in area than its Malaysian and Indonesian neighbors, encompassing less than six thousand square kilometers, and representing only 1% of Borneo’s land area. Brunei itself is divided in half by the largest state of Malaysia, Sarawak, which is located 6 along the northwest coast of the island. Sabah covers the north-eastern region of Borneo. The largest part of Borneo, covering approximately 73% of the island, is Indonesian territory and is called Kalimantan (Persoon & Osseweijer 2008). Borneo is home to some of the oldest rainforests in the world, as well as to an incredible diversity of plant and animal species.

Most of Brunei Darussalam is a flat coastal plain with mountains in the east and hilly lowland in the west. The inland world of jungle and unnavigable streams used to be home to the Penan and Iban, who traditionally hunted and gathered food from the jungle nearby. Rice farmers, such as the Kedayan and Dusun, inhabited the coastal river floodplain areas. Much of the coastal area is swamp and is uninhabited. On the mudflats at the river mouths dwell the ethnic Bruneis, who traditionally traded or fished, obtaining plant food through mercantile activities. Large multi-family wooden houses are built here on stilts above the Brunei River and form the distinctive large Water Village, Kampong Ayer, of Bandar Seri Begawan. The Water Village, which consists of homes, mosques, restaurants, shops, schools, a police station, a marine fire station and a hospital, is really made up of small villages linked together by foot-bridges. Dubbed as the “Venice of the East” by Pigafetta when the fleet of Ferdinand Magellan visited in 1521, Kampong Ayer was historically the very core of Brunei and one of the most important centers of trade in Borneo. The present-day land-based capital of Brunei, Bandar Seri Begawan, built in the twentieth century, has paved roads and modern buildings designed to embody traditional architectural ideas in a contemporary setting, but many people still live by choice in the Water Village, which the modern capital encompasses. On some of the sandy ocean beaches grow numerous coconut palms whose fruit provided a source of food and income for the offshore fishermen who had to obtain their rice by purchase and trade, for it did not grow in sandy soil. Offshore and riverine fishing, trading, and rice growing remained the fundamental economic activities in Brunei until the discovery of oil at the beginning the twentieth century (Kimball 1979, p. 9). 7

Figure 1: Map of Brunei Darussalam. (Source: Downloaded in 2012 from http://www.ezilon.com/maps/asia/brunei-physical-maps.html)

Figure 2: Aerial view of Bandar Seri Begawan (Source: Downloaded in 2012 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/brunei-photos/6266181214)

8

Economy: The discovery of oil in 1929 in the Belait district brought about a dramatic change in the economic situation of the country. Today, the Brunei economy is almost totally sustained by exports of crude oil and natural gas, with the petroleum industry accounting for ninety-nine per cent of all exports, and revenues from the petroleum sector accounting for over half of GDP (Loo 2009, p. 147). Per capita GDP is high, and substantial income from overseas investment supplements income from domestic production. Brunei’s wealth of natural resources has enabled the government to provide free medical services and education and to subsidize food and housing. It has also financed a thoroughgoing expansion of the civil service. Nowadays, the increased educational and employment opportunities near the major towns and increasing communication facilities in Brunei are creating greater opportunities for social and geographical mobility. The movement from the interior toward the coast has resulted in a certain amount of cultural reorientation for many of the minority groups, a shift toward the Malay culture associated with the coast (Martin 1995, p. 36). Given the finite nature of the present source of wealth, the diversification of the economy, to decrease economic dependence on oil and gas, has been propagated for years as the paramount task of Brunei policy makers. However, it has proven to be a difficult goal to achieve, as it may unleash forces that could make it difficult to preserve the status quo, as is outlined in the official State ideology of Melayu Islam Beraja (see below), by alienating the indigenous Malays, whose support is crucial for upholding the traditional monarchy, from traditional cultural and indigenous values (Blomqvist 1997, p. 19).

History: Brunei was once a great thalassocracy commanding the sea-ways for hundreds of miles around Borneo Island and into the Philippine archipelago. However, because of internal rebellion and piracy, and with the growing disruption of traditional archipelagic trade patterns under the European impact by the end of the eighteenth century, and the direct interventions of Western “political entrepreneurs” in northern Borneo in the nineteenth century, Brunei became a mere shadow of its former self. It was only narrowly rescued from extinction at the hands of expansionist Sarawak (the kingdom of the “White Rajahs”) and British North Borneo (Chartered Company territory, today’s Sabah) by the British Government intervention of 1905-06, which established a Residency. With the promulgation of a constitution in 1959, Brunei attained internal self-government, with Britain retaining responsibility for security, defense, and international affairs. On 1 January 1984, Brunei resumed full independence and became the only Commonwealth country to gain independence as an absolute monarchy. The Sultanate began to define 9 and prescribe the national identity in terms of an ideology called Melayu, Islam, Beraja (MIB, “the Malay, Islamic and Monarchical State”) which left no room for pluralism, whether political (democratic organization), religious (multiple faiths), or racial (ethnic identification other than “Malay”) (Kershaw 2010, p. 250).

Population: The estimate for the total population of Brunei at the end of 2014 was 423,205 people (http://countryeconomy.com/demography/population/brunei). Ethnically speaking, Brunei society is characterized by considerable diversity, despite significant processes of assimilation in recent times. Only members of the seven ethnic groups (Bruneis, Kedayan, Tutong, Belait, Dusun, Bisaya, and Murut) defined by the 1959 Constitution as “authentic indigenous groups” (puak jati; equivalent to Malaysian bumiputera) have citizenship rights by operation of law in the Nationality Enactment of 1961. The absorption of these seven indigenous groups into the category of “Malay” strongly implies that all the indigenous of Brunei share a single ethnicity. These indigenous groups are thus seen as part of the pan- Malay community. To call all native Bruneians “Malay” gives them the tacit status of “Muslims-in-waiting”, given that it is a matter of almost universal definition in the Malay world that being a Malay also means being a Muslim (Kershaw 2010, p. 254).

Religion: A significant feature of modern Brunei has been the adoption of the Islamic faith by large numbers of individuals from the minority groups. This process continues today, and it is quite common to hear in the local news that a Dusun or Iban family has converted to Islam. Although the legal definition of the Malay identity category in Brunei does not technically involve religious connotations, conversion to Islam is, in fact, accepted as an avenue for becoming Malay (Trigger & Norkhalbi Haji Wahsalfelah 2011, p. 81). The integration of MIB (Melayu Islam Beraja) and IRK (Islamic Religious Knowledge) into the national school curriculum as core compulsory subjects certainly exercises significant pressure towards assimilation among all ethnic groups (Loo 2009, p. 153). Also, non-Muslim Bruneians are offered material incentives to embrace Islam, as this move is expected to entail a shift towards Malay identity, which is inextricably bound up with Islam (Sercombe 1999, p. 612). The complexity of the question of ethnic identity in Brunei will be further explored in the second chapter. I will examine the socio- political context in which the notion of Malayness was enunciated and the impact of the intense focus on Malayness and Islam in Brunei.

10

The study population:

I initially intended to conduct research about traditional medical knowledge among the Iban of Brunei. Based on the literature I had reviewed (particularly Harris’s work and Christensen’s study in Sarawak), I assumed that members of this ethnic group would still hold considerable traditional medical knowledge (of both medicinal plants and spiritual healing). Their peripheral position in Brunei, both geographically (located in remote rural areas) and socially (being excluded from the core Indigenous groups of Brunei, who are allowed citizenship by operation of law), further reinforced this assumption that Iban would have retained more traditional knowledge than the other ethnic groups in Brunei. In addition, Ellen and Bernstein claim (1994, p. 18) that when indigenous peoples “become Malay” (masuk Melayu), a world view considering the forest as marginal is progressively reinforced, given that “forest is culturally peripheral for the Malays, who are a seaward oriented people, and view the forest as the antithesis of culture, merely ulu, a dangerous though resource-full void”, which implies that Iban would hold more knowledge about nature and medicinal plants than other groups.

However, after two months of fieldwork among the Iban, I had to come to the conclusion that the Iban in Brunei do not use medicinal plants as home remedies, contrary to my expectations. This absence of lay medicinal plant knowledge was evident both in Temburong and in Belait and is in sharp contrast to other researchers’ findings in Sarawak that report the use of over 100 medicinal plants among some Iban communities. On the basis of the information I collected, it seems that the Iban in Brunei first consult a medical doctor when they fall ill. Only subsequently, if they are not satisfied with the outcome of the treatment provided by biomedicine, do they resort to the services of a shaman, although many informants mentioned that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a manang or a lemambang, especially in Temburong. I had the privilege of attending two healing ceremonies (one led by a lemambang in Belait, and one led by a manang in Temburong), but despite my efforts, I was not able to find any Iban who could show me medicinal plants. Almost all of my Iban informants mentioned that they were no longer using traditional medicinal plants because the knowledge had vanished after the death of the older generation, but that the orang Melayu, Dusun and Kedayan still retained a significant amount of knowledge in this field. The few informants in Temburong (only three), who told me that they could take me for “a walk in the woods” to show me some medicinal plants kept postponing our meetings. The few days I spent in Teraja longhouse, on Labi road, in the Belait district, which gave me the opportunity 11 to really enter the private domain of people’s bilik, definitely convinced me that Iban people were not actually being secretive about medicinal plants, but simply did not know about them, as they asserted. The elderly couple with whom I was staying had an impressive collection of Western pharmaceuticals to treat their diabetes, hypertension, and other ailments, but there was no trace of medicinal plants, despite the proximity of the forest and their extensive use of its produce, mainly for food purposes. I therefore decided to further widen the scope of my investigation, and to include Brunei Malay ethnic groups in my research4.

Although, as noted above, seven indigenous groups (Bruneis, Kedayan, Tutong, Belait, Dusun, Bisaya, and Murut) are considered as the “authentic indigenous” (puak jati) groups of Brunei and have been classified as “Malay” in the presentation of Census statistics since 1971, the data presented in this study have been collected from ethnic Bruneis and Kedayan healers only. Thus, for the purpose of this thesis, the term “Brunei Malays” encompasses the Barunay (ethnic Bruneis) and the Kedayan, but not the other constitutionally defined constituents of the “Malay race”. “Orang Brunei” is commonly used in the literature to refer to the members of the socio-politically dominant ethnic group who originated from present-day Kampong Ayer. They are also called the “Bruneis”5 (or bangsa Brunei), the “Brunei Malays”, the “ethnic Bruneis” (Brown 1969), and “Barunay” (Maxwell 1980, p. 8). I will use all these terms interchangeably in this study, except for the term “orang Brunei” because of its polysemous nature (today “orang Brunei” is also commonly used in the sense of “Brunei citizen” and is equivalent to the English usage “Bruneian”). The predominance of informants from these two ethnic

4 It is important to note that Iban have not abandoned traditional medicine, as they still commonly resort to specialists to perform spiritual healing sessions; it is only the use of medicinal plants which seems to have fallen into disuse. The spirit-raising séances of the non-Muslim Iban continue to be carried out in remote areas of Brunei as Iban are not subjected to the same level of control by the religious authorities as the Malays. Traditional Malay spirit-raising séances, on the other hand, have been strictly prohibited for almost half a century. The use of medicinal plants is one of the few aspects of the Brunei Malay traditional healing system to which religious authorities have not objected. This might explain why Malays seem to be more attached to the preservation of this important aspect of their traditional healing system than the Iban. Through the use of traditional medicinal plants, which has not been vilified by the authorities, Brunei Malays can still observe their ancestral beliefs in the power of the spiritual world to cause illness, and in the notion of high concentration of semangat, as many plants are believed to possess intrinsic magical power against malevolent spirits.

5 The ethnic name “Bruneis” is pluralized with –s throughout this thesis, unlike other ethnic names, such as the Barunay, Kedayan, Tutong, Belait, Dusun, Murut, Bisaya, Iban, and Penan. “The Bruneis” stands for “the ethnic Bruneis”, which, like “the Malays”, is an English term that is pluralized by adding –s, while all other ethnic names are Bahasa Melayu terms which are never pluralized with –s. 12 groups over the other five ethnic groups classified as “Malay” is not coincidental. As mentioned above, while I investigated traditional medical knowledge among the Iban during the first two months of my fieldwork, all my Iban informants mentioned that the orang Melayu (ethnic Bruneis) and Kedayan were the most knowledgeable ethnic groups in the field of traditional medicinal plants. After I had decided to widen the scope of my research and include Malay ethnic groups in my study, all the healers I met, mostly by word of mouth, were indeed either ethnic Bruneis or Kedayan, which corroborated the claims of my Iban informants.

However, this apparent dominance of ethnic Bruneis and Kedayan in healing might be accounted for by the now strong tendency in Brunei for most local Muslim people to identify themselves as Malays (orang Melayu) rather than specifically Brunei, Kedayan, Tutong, Belait, or Bisaya. For example, one of my informants identifies herself as Melayu, although her mother was half-Chinese and half-Dusun; another informant also identifies herself as Melayu, although her mother was Iban and her father Chinese, but she converted to Islam when she married an ethnic Brunei man from Kampong Ayer. According to Martin (1995, p. 33), members of the indigenous groups, such as the Belait, Dusun, Tutong, or Bisaya, who have adopted the Islamic faith have assumed Malay identity and are undeniably “Malay” in orientation. The non-Muslim members of some indigenous groups, on the other hand, retain links with their original ethnic identity. Unlike the other minority groups in Brunei, the Murut are predominantly Christian, and the shift towards Malay identity seems less pronounced in this group. None of my informants suggested that the Murut were particularly well-known for their knowledge of traditional healing, and I never had the opportunity to meet any Murut traditional healer. This fact might be linked to the peripheral position they occupy among the indigenous Malays of Brunei. Among the Kedayan, a totally Muslim and Malay- speaking group, some people do not necessarily easily acknowledge their distinctive ethnic origin, due to the negative connotation attached to the term “Kedayan”. King (1994, p. 189) notes that the Kedayan were traditionally agriculturalists and the suppliers of rice and other food crops in the Brunei polity and were therefore low-status farmers on dry land (Urang Darat), while the Bruneis were higher status non agriculturalists mainly dwelling in the famous “Water Village” (Kampong Ayer). Similarly, Maxwell (2001, p. 189) mentions that “while the public use of the term “Kedayan” is a sensitive issue in modern Brunei, where Kedayan are more politely referred to by a euphemistic synonym, urang darat (lit. “land people”), or anak kampung darat (“land villagers”), the 13

Kedayan routinely use this term to refer to themselves without pejorative connotation, in intimate or informal socio-linguistic settings”. Given the sensitivity of this question, I never used the term Kedayan in conversation until the informant had used it first; in certain cases, the true ethnic origin of my Kedayan informants was revealed to me by a third party.

Although Pudarno Binchin (2009, p. 336) maintains that change of habitat, with or without religious conversion, has seriously undermined a great many of the traditional Dusun beliefs and ritual practices, ritual activities involving the propitiation of deities and spirits, especially in connection with health and sickness, are still performed today. I had the privilege of attending a temarok (a spiritual healing ceremony6) myself in 2010. However, these curing rituals are practiced exclusively among the Dusun since they are based on specifically Dusun supernatural premises, which are not shared by members of the other “Malay” indigenous groups, even though, interestingly, Dusun healers often utter Muslim invocations (e.g. Bismillah-iRahman-i-Rahim, “In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful”), which have been borrowed from their Muslim Malay neighbors (Pudarno Binchin 2009, p. 348). For this reason, I chose not to include traditional Dusun healers in my study. Furthermore, there has been a marked decline in knowledge of traditional herbal medicine among Dusun. When I asked Samhan bin Nyawa in 2012 if he could introduce me to Dusun herbalists, he confirmed that ethnobotanical knowledge among his community was now relegated to a few knowledgeable elders and that even his former key informant, the late Kilat bin Kilah of Kampong Sungai Damit in Tutong District, who was one of the last remaining Dusun herbalists, had ceased practicing many years before he and Voeks interviewed him in 2006 (Voeks & Nyawa 2006).

Traditional medicine: Problematic definition of traditional knowledge.

The definition of traditional knowledge remains problematic, and the variety of terminologies is symptomatic of the confusion. A tremendous diversity of terms is found in the literature to refer to this field of research: among them, traditional knowledge, indigenous knowledge, local knowledge, folk knowledge, tribal or aboriginal knowledge, and rural people’s knowledge. It is difficult to draw lines between those terms. Sillitoe (1998, p. 223) uses “indigenous knowledge” as the term of widest currency, although he

6 For a detailed account of the temarok, see Pudarno Binchin (2009).

14 acknowledges that the word “indigenous” itself is fraught with ambiguity, and is difficult to use in a morally neutral or apolitical way. Similarly, Ellen and Harris (2000, p. 3) point out that the terminological difficulties we confront uncover a veritable semantic, legal, political and cultural minefield. In the broadest sense, “indigenous” pertains to the first known inhabitants of an area, in contrast to more recent migrants (including Western colonists); in a more restrictive sense, this term denotes minority groups subject to the power of other dominant groups. Peoples identify themselves as indigenous to establish rights and to protect their interests (Kalland 2000, p. 318). This term has therefore strong contentious political connotations. “Native” and “aboriginal” have similar connotations. In Brunei, the government uses the term “indigenous” as a gloss for puak jati (the equivalent of the Malaysian bumiputera), which refers to the peoples that the state recognizes as those who historically belong to Brunei. Thus, the term “indigenous” officially encompasses all seven ethnic groups, including the culturally and politically dominant group of the ethnic Bruneis. The existence of minority groups subject to the power of one dominant group (the ethnic Bruneis) is denied. Throughout this thesis, the term “indigenous”, despite its strong political and moral load, will mostly be used in its broadest sense, as a synonym for “traditional” and “folk”, to refer to non-Western beliefs and practices. In some parts of Chapter 2, it will be used in its more restrictive sense to refer to more peripheral, dominated peoples (the Dusun, Murut, Iban, and others), whether or not they are included among the national peoples (puak jati) of Brunei.

“Folk” and “traditional” are less morally or politically loaded than “indigenous”. Ellen and Harris (2000, p. 3) argue that, despite its implications of anachronism and long-term cultural stasis, the term “traditional” seems to have more credibility and is among the most common ways of describing a particular kind of anthropological other. Leslie (1976, pp. 6-7) points out that the distinction between traditional and modern implies that practitioners of traditional medicine are “uniformly conservative” and reject opportunities to acquire new knowledge, even though “traditional” health care systems themselves are a product of long-term influence by culture change, contact, and history (Stoner 1986, p. 45). For example, the present day range of ubat kampong (traditional Malay medicine) in Brunei is the result of many centuries of borrowing, incorporation and transformation from a wide variety of peoples. Brunei Malay medical knowledge has experienced the impact of the succession of the cultural traditions of Hinduism, Islam, and Western civilization. Besides, it has been influenced from groups as disparate as the seven ethnic groups that are classified as Malay in Brunei, as well as the Iban and 15

Chinese, who have coexisted, mingled, and traded ideas and treatment modalities for long periods of time.

Ellen and Harris (2000, pp. 4-5) propose a definition of traditional knowledge, which is formulated in contrast to a dominant Western scientific knowledge. They suggest that it is “local rather than global, orally transmitted rather than written down, a consequence of practical engagement reinforced by experience, empirical rather than theoretical, repetitive, fluid and negotiable, shared but asymmetrically distributed within a population, largely functional, and embedded in a more encompassing cultural matrix”. Sillitoe (2002, p. 111) claims that the stark polar discrimination between the scientific and indigenous that characterizes current development literature is not only inadequate, but even pernicious as to the relationship and distinction between them. He suggests that we should be talking about a spectrum of relations, rather than two tenuously connected knowledge traditions separated by a cultural–epistemological gulf. The continuum idea characterizes indigenous knowledge as a blend of customary and locally generated knowledge (informed possibly by a wider historico-cultural tradition, such as the Hindu, Muslim, Christian, or Buddhist worldview) mixed with other knowledge, much of it scientific, increasingly incorporated through formal education (Sillitoe 2002, p. 114). Waldram (2000, p. 609) mentions that the biomedicalization of traditional medicine, involving the incorporation and use of biomedical language and technology by traditional medical practitioners, is not a surprise in a postcolonial era of globalization, where healers no doubt have implicitly acknowledged the power and reach of biomedicine in their own practices. Press (1978, p. 71) also characterizes traditional medical systems as relatively “open”, that is, more accepting of new, alternative, or foreign ideas, in comparison to the relatively “closed” nature of biomedicine. It is a distortion, says Sillitoe (1998, p. 246), to counterpose global scientific knowledge with indigenous knowledge, when in many communities today “persons have both at once and when the content and context of indigenous knowledge are subject to change with globalization”. Sillitoe (1998, p. 246), nevertheless, recognizes that despite globalization, different cultures continue to inculcate their members with different understandings of the world, so that the “us-and-them” dichotomy is inescapable in some measure, but it does not inevitably imply superiority or inferiority. This thesis will demonstrate that although a stark polarization between Western medicine and traditional medicine can be misleading, fundamental differences in the premises and practices of biomedicine and Malay traditional medicine are undeniable. 16

Traditional medicine versus Western medicine: The biomedical model at the heart of theoretical debates in medical anthropology.

Many of the arguments and propositions on which the present thesis is based started to be debated and developed in the 1970s, when the validity of the biomedical model and its application in ethnomedical research was the subject of intense debates within medical anthropology. At stake in these debates was not only the question of the place of biology in the program of medical anthropology, but also a critique of biomedicine. In the 1950s and 1960s, most anthropologists who worked in the health sector focused their activities on the “circumventing of cultural and social barriers which prevented the eventual assimilation of biomedical concepts, resources or personnel” into non-Western communities (Nichter 1978, p. 32). In the 1970s, anthropologists, after they had looked at illness through Western eyes and served “the Westerner's compulsion to spread abroad his own ideas”, started to look at illness and medicine in a new way (Firth 1978, p. 241). It all started when Jaspan, in an inaugural lecture in 1964, attacked the research programs of the World Health Organization and most of the assumptions on which much medical anthropological research had been based up to that point. He declared that traditional medicine was considered throughout the literature as an “impediment” to cosmopolitan medicine, and that the chief concern of the WHO was to “supplant traditional beliefs and customs”. Even medical anthropologists, he said, had shown little real concern with indigenous medical theory as such (Jaspan 1969, pp. 6-8). Leslie (1978, p. 65) concurred with Jaspan when he declared that the work of these early medical anthropologists was strongly “marked (and often marred) by the biomedical model-the borrowed professional point of view of medical practitioners”, and that the development of theory concerning the nature of medical systems was largely peripheral to this discipline. This view of medical anthropology was narrowly empiricist. It was “ahistorical, blind to its own apriority, and preoccupied with bits and pieces of belief rather than systems of knowledge”, say Leslie & Young (1992, p. 7).

Limitations of the biomedical model:

Engel (1977) has shown that the biomedical model typically employed in clinical practice and research assumes that illnesses result from somatic lesions or dysfunctions, which produce “signs” or physiological abnormalities that can be measured by clinical and laboratory tests, as well as “symptoms” or expressions of the experience of distress, communicated as an ordered set of complaints. The primary interpretive task of the clinician is to “decode patients’ symbolic expressions in terms of their underlying 17 somatic referents” (Good and Good 1981, p. 170) A person’s complaint is meaningful only if it reflects a physiological condition; if no such empirical referent can be found, the complaint is considered to reflect patients’ beliefs or psychological states, that is, subjective opinions and experiences which may have no grounds in disordered physiology and thus in objective reality. Hence, this model encourages “bypassing the patient's verbal account of his or her illness experience by placing greater reliance on technical procedures and laboratory measurements” (Engel 1977, p. 132). It assumes illness to be fully accounted for by deviations from the norm of measurable biological (somatic) variables, and “leaves no room within its framework for the social, psychological, and behavioral dimensions of illness” (Engel 1977, p. 130). In this paradigm, medical knowledge is constituted through its depiction of empirical biological reality. Illnesses are viewed as biological, universal, and ultimately “transcend social and cultural context” (Good 1994, p. 8).

Cosmopolitan medicine’s “preeminence is not merely that of prestige but also that of expert authority…Medicine’s position today is akin to that of state religion yesterday. It has an officially approved monopoly of the right to define health and illness and to treat illness” (Freidson 1970, cited in Leslie 1976, p. 5). Leslie (1980, p. 191) points out that, although the preeminence of biomedicine has led to the marginalization of all other forms of medicine, in reality, cosmopolitan medicine is only “one component in competitive and complementary relationships to numerous alternative therapies”. Many studies of healing systems in traditional societies in the 1970s have emphasized the limitations and inadequacies of “Western” medical ideologies and health care institutions. Jaspan (1969, p. 5) argues that we display “intellectual arrogance and self-deception” when we consider traditional medicine “a priori as either quackery or mumbo-jumbo” in contrast to our theory and practice of medicine, which is “scientific” and therefore right. It implies that cosmopolitan medicine can successfully treat all illness solely with our present scientific knowledge, although the efficacy of treatment is often limited and still depends on an “intuitive approach” for a variety of illnesses, especially chronic diseases and mental illnesses (Jaspan 1976a, p. 232). Despite the remarkable progress of biomedicine in making disease more controllable and predictable (especially with inoculations, miracle drugs, and scientific surgery), claims Landy (1974, p. 121), many illnesses are still “essentially unpredictable and uncontrollable”. Traditional curers’ resort to magic, “a technique used to try to achieve empirical ends when empirical techniques provide 18 inadequate prediction and control” (Aberle 1966, cited in Landy 1974, p. 121) contributes to the preservation of their role in acculturation situations.

Landy (1977) and Leslie (1980) note that patients see nothing inconsistent about liberally combining different forms of therapy in their quest for restored health, and tend to make choices on the basis of what Gould terms “folk pragmatism”. Folk medicine is used primarily to treat “chronic non-incapacitating dysfunctions”. Western medicine is solicited mainly for “critical incapacitating dysfunctions” (“ailments ... involving sudden and often violent onset, and rather complete debilitation with reference to some aspects of the individual’s routine”) (Gould 1957, p. 508). However, the acceptance of modern medical help for critical incapacitating dysfunctions involves “no concomitant conversion to scientific thought ways concerning the causation and etiology of diseases” (Gould 1965, p. 202), and no doubt regarding the legitimacy and efficacy of people’s own corpus of medical theory and practice. New forms of medical treatment have often been relegated to the function of treating the symptoms of an illness and not their causes as they are conceived culturally (Nichter 1978, p. 40). Western medicine does not offer satisfactory explanations, apart from inherited immunity, about why some people are afflicted with sickness, whilst others are “unscathed” (Jaspan 1969, p. 15), but folk medicine provides metaphysical interpretations to explain the “singularity of misfortune” (Loudon 1957, p. 93). “Where well-being, social harmony and moral rectitude are seen to be interdependent, the occurrence of illness is often seen as a signal of tension in social relationships”, or of “breach of codes of interpersonal conduct” (Comaroff 1978, p. 251). Illness may be caused by other human beings who are angry or envious, or by ancestors who are offended by moral transgressions of their descendants. The logic of treatment demands the “prior allocation of responsibility for the affliction and subsequent repair of the disrupted relationship that it signals” (Comaroff 1978, pp. 250-251). This view of illness implies a clear separation of symptomatic and underlying treatment. Thus, “different levels of explanation coexist” and give rise to the “apparently contradictory behavior of those who utilize Western and non-Western healing techniques simultaneously” (Comaroff 1978, p. 251). Modern medicines have supplemented rather than replaced folk treatment. Western medicine, as a form of technology, is attractive for its convenience, but it is “often blamed for side effects and subsequent ailments due to either the medicine’s direct effect or due to the belief that it has suppressed symptoms without treating their essential causes” (Nichter 1978, p. 40). 19

Kleinman et al. (2006 [1978], pp. 141-142) have argued that biomedicine is primarily interested in diagnosing and treating diseases (“abnormalities in the structure and function of body organs and systems”), whereas patients and traditional healing are primarily concerned with illnesses (“experiences of disvalued changes in states of being and in social function; the human experience of sickness”). Illness is shaped by “cultural factors governing perception, labeling, explanation, and valuation of the discomforting experience, processes embedded in a complex family, social, and cultural nexus” (Kleinman et al. 2006 [1978], p. 141). Biomedicine has increasingly “banished the illness experience as a legitimate object of clinical concern”, while traditional healers seek to “provide a meaningful explanation for illness” and to respond to the personal, family, and community issues surrounding illness (Kleinman et al. 2006 [1978], p. 142).

The biomedical view of clinical reality, held by modern health professionals in developing as well as developed countries, assumes that biologic concerns are more basic, “real”, clinically significant, and interesting than psychologic and sociocultural issues. Disease, not illness, is the chief concern: curing, not healing, is the chief objective7. Treatment oriented within this view emphasizes a technical “fix” rather than psychosocial management (…). It deals with the patient as a machine (Kleinman et al. 2006 [1978], p. 146).

This distinction, established by Kleinman et al. (2006 [1978]), between disease as a biological reality and illness as an experience and social role helps to understand why people continue to use alternative medicine despite the increasing accessibility of biomedicine. People may have diseases without being ill or assuming sick roles and they may experience illness and take sick roles when they do not have diseases. It is the experience of illness, not the biological reality of disease, which induces people to consult others about their health (Leslie 1980, p. 193). Traditional medicine does not differentiate as sharply as does Western medicine “between clinically detectable and ‘subjective’ states of illness reported by patients” (Jaspan 1976b, p. 268). Nor does it make “a sharp distinction between soma and psyche”, body and mind, and between the

7 Waldram (2000) argues that, although the distinction between curing and healing remains useful because it is at the center of controversies over the efficacy of traditional medicine, whose primary objective is not necessarily the removal of symptoms, it is erroneous to assume that biomedicine only “cures disease” or that traditional medicine only “heals illness”, or that they are completely distinct phenomena. Even though the curing potential of traditional medicine seems to be of less anthropological interest than the ceremonial and symbolic aspects of the treatment itself, traditional medicine can often also “cure” and alleviate bodily symptoms (Waldram 2000, pp. 604-605). Baer et al. (2003) have criticized the disease/illness distinction, emphasizing it as “nothing other than a replication of the biomedical separation of ‘signs’ and ‘symptoms’ ” that allows medical anthropology to eschew studies of disease as outside its parameters.

20 ability to treat effectively the one without concomitant treatment of the other (Jaspan 1976b, p. 268). In contrast, biomedicine conceives the body as an entity separate from mind, (a concept which is grounded in Cartesian dualism), and the body itself is seen in parts, not as a whole. The body is viewed as a complex biological machine and illness as a specific entity independent of the patient’s social circumstances and personal characteristics. Although “some disciplines, such as public health, family medicine, and psychiatry, have always explicitly taken into account social and psychological, as well as physical, variables in disease etiology”, biomedicine, in general, has usually replaced “multicausal awareness” by a model that emphasizes a single etiological cause of illness (Hepburn 1988, p. 61).

Jaspan (1969, p. 6) argues that “we have a lot to learn from traditional medicine, not only from the folk doctor's materia medica, but from his practice of psychotherapy, from his approach to sickness and patient management, and from the probity and humility with which he considers his role in society”. Besides cultural notions of etiology, physiology, and health, social interactions certainly also play a decisive role in the health care-seeking behavior. Fabrega and Silver (1973, pp. 218-223) claim that “our treatments are mechanical and impersonal, our healers distant and formal, while their curing makes use of emotionally charged symbols, and the treatment relationship is characterized by closeness, shared meaning, warmth, informality, and everyday language”. Laymen, mentions Leslie (1980, p. 194), consult practitioners of the “alternative therapies”, because they are often socially and physically more accessible to them, and they understand and deal with the patient’s and family’s experience of illness “in a comprehensible manner”. Unlike most biomedical practitioners, who ignore villagers’ ideas about how their illnesses are caused and how they should be cured (Nichter 1978, p. 47), folk doctors listen “with patience and empathy” to relatives’ own diagnosis and suggestions for treatment (Jaspan 1976a, p. 233). Biomedical practitioners are “unaware, or insensitive, to the cultural significance of illness as a sign of social imbalance as well as a symptom of biological imbalance”; because of “time limitations” and their inability to communicate with patients in alien concepts, they ignore the social and psychological problems, and concentrate their efforts on the treatment of symptoms (Nichter 1978, p. 47). When illness is “an idiom through which social as well as physical imbalance is articulated”, the effective treatment of the multiple aspects of illness (“a schism in the patient’s social group, the patient's individual anxieties, and a set of physical symptoms”) requires the combined efforts of complementary therapy systems (Nichter 1978, p. 45). 21

The biomedical model in ethnomedical research:

Whether or not bioscientific concepts of illness causation and cure can further our understanding of folk illnesses has been sharply debated by medical anthropologists, who take positions that “range from extreme cultural relativism in their assumption that each society constructs its own unique illness entities to the view that most folk illnesses have direct bioscientific equivalents” (Browner et al. 1988, p. 684). Hahn and Kleinman (1983, p. 323) argue that “the biomedical framework has ... significantly obstructed the wide anthropological and comparative study of disease/illness, healing, and ethnomedicine, because it has ethnocentrically devalued, if not excluded, the knowledge of other ethnomedicines, including lay beliefs and practice”. Bioscientific categories and measures are neither objective nor culture-free. Although diseases have biological correlates, mentions Kleinman (1973, p. 208), the way they are recognized, expressed as illness, classified, understood, valued, and treated varies greatly from culture to culture and is dependent on the symbolic medical system, which is embedded in and derives its signification from a “wider cultural context”. Baer et al. (2003, p. 8) argue that although biomedical practitioners claim that the form of medicine they practice is distinct from religion and politics, in reality their endeavors are “intricately intertwined” with these spheres of social life. Biomedicine, like all other medical systems, reflects the dominant characteristics of the culture of which it is a part (Hepburn 1988, p. 59). “Modern medicine” emerged in Europe in the 18th century during the Enlightenment, an intellectual movement which celebrated “reason” and rationality over superstition, including the belief that “the natural world was to be understood as an amoral realm that is subject to laws, rather than the caprice of gods and mysterious forces” (Hepburn 1988, p. 60). Positivism or empiricism, which considered reason, based on “facts” attained through observation or measurement, rather than other forms of reason and imagination, became the source of authoritative knowledge (Foucault 1966). In the empiricist paradigm, illness is considered as “external to culture”, “an object in the natural world about which peoples have more or less correct representations, ‘beliefs’ that contrast with empirical knowledge” (Good 1994, p. 28). Claims that biomedicine provides straightforward, objective depictions of the natural order, an empirical order of biological universals, external to culture, no longer seem tenable. The superior technologies of biomedicine do not logically entail “privileged ontologies (correspondences to external reality)”, argue Leslie & Young (1992, p. 4). 22

The history of medicine is no longer seen as a straightforward recording of the continuous discovery of the facts of nature. Since accepted bases for clinical judgment are subject to continuous critical examination, “the history of scientific medicine is strewn with crumbling shibboleths” (Loudon 1976, p. 41). Besides, formal and supposedly scientific clinical medicine is itself shot through with informal and non-scientific elements (Barnes 1973). Foucault (1973), in his exploration of the frontiers of thought and knowledge in biomedicine, finds that the basic concepts of clinical medicine are too dubious and imprecise ever to be truly scientific. Given the rapidity of change of scientific knowledge, as well as widespread critiques of science and its authority, “the role of science as arbiter between knowledge and belief has been placed into question” (Good 1994, p. 22). Thus, Leslie (1980) questions the entrenched habit of judging medical practices everywhere in terms of measures of efficacy based on proscribed scientific (biomedical) standards. Critical medical anthropologists8 question the alleged neutrality of such standards and recognize them as “an instrument of governmentality” (Foucault 1979, cited in Nichter & Lock 2002, p. 4), which is exercised through codification – the professional accreditation of medical practitioners that legitimizes practice, or an “evidence-based approach” to evaluating the efficacy of healing modalities.

There is a persisting debate, in social anthropology, about whether attempts to understand a culture solely in terms of the concepts, beliefs and categories of its members does not make it difficult, if not impossible, to gain understanding in any other terms (Loudon 1976, p. 38). Browner et al. (1988, p. 681) argue that medical anthropology still follows “a particularistic, fragmented, disjointed, and largely conventional course”, because most medical anthropologists (specifically Young, Good, and Kleinman) are mainly interested in “issues of meaning and in the symbolic and epistemological dimensions of sickness, healing, and health”. “A supposedly empirical discipline which gets unduly concerned about epistemological worries”, claims Loudon (1976, p. 38), “is in danger of losing its way”. He maintains that there are some aspects of social anthropology where “external categories of more or less universal reference” are available which, if used with reasonable caution, make possible comparative analysis over time and space. “The conceptual grid of scientific medicine” is useful for research in ethnomedicine, just as the scientific identification of plants is useful in ethnobotany, “however convinced

8 Medical anthropologists who work within the theoretical framework of "critical medical anthropology" (CMA) argue that social inequality and power are primary determinants of health and health care. They view health issues within the context of encompassing political and economic forces (Baer et al. 2003, p. 3). 23 ethnobotanists may be of the primarily subjective nature of experience and of the undoubted necessity of examining indigenous cognitive modes unsullied, as far as possible, by the observer's own categories” (Loudon 1976, pp. 38-39). Others, in line with the interpretive tradition, maintain that illness realities are never reflections of biology, as they are socially and culturally constituted. Thus, Barnes (1973) shows that some clinical syndromes biologically definable as diseases are not necessarily regarded as illnesses in all societies; and there are some conditions, culturally defined as illness, which do not easily fit any category of disease established in external biological terms. Such illnesses, whose clustering of signs and symptoms do not conform to bioscientific diagnostic categories, are considered to be “folk” illnesses (Fabrega 1970). Barlett and Low (1980, cited in Browner et al. 1988, p. 684) also reject the assumption that all or most folk illnesses have direct biomedical equivalents and call for an approach that “examines the interactions between biological, psychological, and cultural factors rather than one that seeks to squeeze folk illnesses into the taxonomy of bioscience”.

While some argue that “people’s beliefs and practices about prophylaxis, diagnosis, and therapy …must be the indispensable materia prima of the anthropologist who wants to study sickness” (Young 1976, p. 6), Loudon (1976, pp. 14-15) declares that “seemingly straightforward symptoms… are the basic stuff, the ground upon which the social anthropologist must keep his feet”, when analyzing the central features of illness in any culture. Many, however, claim that the assumption associated with the perspective of the biomedical model that all cultures classify and treat illnesses by attending to symptoms is misleading. Thus, Foster (1976, p. 773-775) argues that disease etiology is the key to cross-cultural comparison of non-Western medical systems, because beliefs about illness causality are often more closely linked to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment than are symptoms. Geertz (1977, p. 148) mentions that the analysis of symptoms, along with numerology and intuitive insight through meditation, constitutes only one of the three methods used in diagnosis. “Diagnosticians” in many societies seldom inquire about symptoms, and the sufferer is often not even present when diagnostic inquiries are made. Instead, “the social field or the spiritual world is often the subject of ‘diagnostic’ inquiry”, says Good (1994, p. 23). The biomedical discourse, which internalizes illness in the individual, contrasts with a widespread “externalizing” discourse, in which the body is almost disregarded and attention is centered instead on the social and symbolic aspects of sickness (Young 1982, p. 259). Thus, grounding cross-cultural analysis on 24 categories and practices current in contemporary biomedicine is misleading (Good 1994, p. 23).

METHODOLOGY.

This thesis relies on the ethnographic data I collected specifically among Brunei Malays while I conducted fieldwork in Brunei in 2013, declarations by Bruneian religious leaders in local newspapers over the last decade, as well as data I found in the existing literature on Malay traditional medicine.

Ethnographic Literature: The ethnographic literature on Brunei Darussalam is unfortunately very limited.

Since the three early pioneers (i.e. Brown, Maxwell, and Kimball9), few foreign researchers have been allowed into the country and those who are in Brunei and do have access to the “field” are often in a vulnerable position when it comes to official sensitivities — of which there are many, particularly when it comes to issues related to ethnic identity, religion, and the monarchy (i.e. MIB) (Fanselow 2014, p. 106).

Anthropological research was initially carried out by foreign researchers, but subsequently research was also conducted by Bruneian social scientists who were trained abroad. For example, Bantong bin Antaran (1993) and Pudarno Binchin (2002) carried out ethnographic research on the Dusun in Brunei (Fanselow 2014, p. 108). Since the establishment of the Anthropology and Sociology programs at UBD in 1997, some quality research projects have been produced by local students (Walker 2010). Of all seventy-five anthropology and sociology research reports by UBD undergraduates between 2000 and 2010, only three deal with the question of Brunei Malay or Kedayan traditional medicine. Regrettably, the standard of the presentation and quality of English of two of these reports is so low that they are incomprehensible. The investigation of traditional medical practices among Brunei Malays, with particular attention to spirit beliefs, by Khairunnisa Yakub (2009), on the other hand, is remarkable and is extensively referred to in this thesis. Hajah Jainah Haji Musa’s Unpublished Master’s Thesis on Reproductive Health Issues Among Kedayan Women in Brunei (2009) is also a valuable source of information. Similarly, Khadizah Haji Abdul

9 In contrast to Brown, whose fieldwork took him right into the social and political center of the sultanate from 1967-1968, the other two anthropologists conducted fieldwork in the outlying district of Temburong. Maxwell worked among the Kedayan of Piasau-Piasau from 1968–1971 and Kimball among Brunei Malays in Batu Apoi from 1971–1974. 25

Mumin’s study of the practices of village midwives (bidan kampong) in Brunei, written more recently (2015), represents a rich source of data on local traditional healing.

Given the dearth of literature on the subject of Brunei Malay worldview, illness concepts and traditional healing practices, I also relied on data from previous studies conducted in other parts of the Malay world to characterize Brunei Malay beliefs and practices, because Malayness is a transnational ethnic category with significant continuities in outlook and practices across all Malay populations, whether in Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei or Indonesia. Brunei is certainly distinctive within the “Malay world” through its pluralistic Borneo populations. However, as I clearly specify above, the present study only looks at the traditional medicinal beliefs and practices of the ethnic Bruneis (Barunay) and the Kedayan (who are linguistically and culturally closely related to the Barunay, although they occupy a lower socio-political position in Brunei society), but not at those of other ethnic groups constitutionally considered as “Malay” in Brunei (Tutong, Belait, Dusun, Murut and Bisaya), of which several are not Muslim and whose members do not speak Malay as their first language. The ethnic Brunei Malays, the population that lived in and around Kampung Ayer (the “Water Village”), which was the nucleus of the Brunei kingdom, can be considered an extension of the Malays of the Malay world. They share a common language (Bahasa Melayu), religion (Islam), and a number of cultural beliefs and practices with the Malays from the rest of the Malay world. For example, the concept of semangat, “a notion usually associated with potency, soul-stuff and spirit”, appears widely throughout Indonesia and Malaysia, “though, of course, particular meanings and usages are local” (Errington 1983, p. 545). Earlier studies of traditional healing in the Malay world dating back to the 1920s (Winstedt) and the 1960s (Skeat) are referred to in this thesis to illuminate the Brunei Malays’ worldview and illness concepts. Although the cultural context in which these researchers collected their data is significantly different from today’s context, many of their findings still find an echo in contemporary Brunei, either in the comments of my informants or in the more recent literature on this topic.

Local newspapers as a source of data: I refer to articles I read in the two daily English- language local newspapers, Borneo Bulletin and The Brunei Times10, throughout the thesis.

10 The Brunei Times, Brunei’s second-largest daily newspaper, is no longer available online, as it shut down abruptly on the 8th November 2016. Although the newspaper announced that it would cease operations on the 8th November due to “issues relating to business sustainability, especially in the face of considerable challenges from the alternative media”, this abrupt closure triggered online speculation about the reason. Posts on social media claimed that the closure was rooted in complaints from the Saudi Arabian embassy to the sultan of Brunei upon a news report regarding a hike in visa fees for Bruneian hajj pilgrims to Mecca.

26

Borneo Bulletin and The Brunei Times are strictly controlled by the government, and they reflect the views of the ruling elite. These newspapers play a crucial role in the religious instruction of Bruneians by the State’s Ministry of Religious Affairs through the weekly publishing of Friday sermons which clearly define which practices are considered as ahl al- bid’ah (heresy) and syirik (polytheism). The titah (decrees) of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam are also published in these two newspapers. The review of these newspapers over the last decade was essential to determine the position of government officials and religious leaders in Brunei (State mufti and Director of Syariah Affairs at the Ministry of Religious Affairs) on the various traditional healing beliefs and practices.

An ethnographic study:

A sensitive subject:

Bernstein (1997, p. 32) notes that traditional medicine and pharmacological knowledge in the interior of Indonesian Borneo are commonly subjects about which many people are uncomfortable, with the exception of the knowledge about common medicinal plants that are used in treating illnesses caused by an organic condition. The reason for this secrecy is that knowledge of an antidote (penawar) implies knowledge of the manufacture of poisons (racun) that are commonly used in sorcery. Besides, a person who is known to possess medicine may feel an onerous obligation to cure others, even though he/she might not want to get involved, particularly in cases of illnesses thought to be due to sorcery (which is often the expression of tensions between different members of the community). In Brunei, this penchant for secrecy on the subject of traditional medicine is reinforced by the description of traditional healers’ practices by the State’s Ministry of Religious Affairs as more closely related to animism than to orthodox Islam. In a context where resorting to traditional medicine implies retaining some indigenous animistic beliefs and practices, and where any Muslim who believes in the supernatural power of a person or object can be fined or even imprisoned, many of my interlocutors were reluctant to speak overtly about the sensitive subject of traditional medicine.

The initial reaction of many informants, both healers and patients, to being interviewed by a foreign researcher was one of suspicion, as it is an unusual occurrence. Given the extreme sensitivity of my research subject in Brunei, a number of people refused to be interviewed due to fears about the intentions of the research. A number of informants agreed to talk about 27

“naturalistic”11 therapeutic techniques, such as the use of herbal medicines, massage, or cupping, but they changed the subject when questioned about the spiritual aspect of traditional medicine, probably for fear of publicly revealing beliefs that may contradict Islam. Therefore, I only managed to collect data from a relatively small sample of informants, and I could not follow up in great detail with many of the patients whom I witnessed being treated. Since my findings are based on a limited number of informants, we cannot generalize these results to all Brunei Malays, although they may mirror wider tendencies.

Informants: My informants included both specialists (orang pandai) and non-specialists, male and female, Barunay and Kedayan, rural and urban people.

Although the polar discrimination between scientific and indigenous knowledge tends to represent the indigenous and scientific as two monolithic knowledge traditions, they are, in fact, comprised of many strands (Sillitoe 2002, p. 121). A strictly dichotomous view of health care systems presents a falsely restricted view of the multiplicity of therapies within a society (Stoner 1986, p. 45). In Brunei, falling within the category of traditional Malay medicine (ubat kampong) is a wide range of therapies and practitioners. People, in their attempts to heal, call upon the lay knowledge of village residents, which is not uniform, being structured according to gender, age, occupation, socio-economic background, etc., and the specialized knowledge of orang pandai. Different specialties can be distinguished among the traditional healers themselves: the herbalists, blood- cupping specialists, masseurs, fertility and post-partum care specialists, and the “supernaturalists” (who hold spirits and/or sorcerers to be at the root of most serious physical or mental suffering). Nevertheless, few traditional healers can be classified as belonging exclusively to one of these specialties; most orang pandai belong to more than one category. This thesis will endeavor to provide insights into the many different forms of traditional medicine which exist within the Brunei Malay community. However, due to space constraints, it will not give the full attention it deserves to lay medical knowledge, although it is widely accepted that healing knowledge and healing responsibility are not monopolized by specialized healers, but are also collectively borne and owned by the community at large, as there exists a certain measure of overlap in the types of ubat used by lay people and specialist healers. It is therefore hoped that the pivotal role of women, as well as other members of the community, as carers most

11 Foster (1976, p. 775) makes a distinction between “personalistic” medical systems, which view disease as resulting from the action of a supernatural agent, and “naturalistic” medical systems, which view disease as emanating from the imbalance of certain inanimate elements in the body. Personalistic and naturalistic explanations are rarely, if ever, mutually exclusive. 28 intimately associated with the physical, emotional and mental suffering of the afflicted individual will be the subject of future research.

I interviewed12 seven traditional plant sellers at Tamu Kianggeh, the local market in the heart of Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB). I only met two medicinal plant sellers at the Tutong market – the range of medicinal plants they sold was much more limited than those sold at Tamu Kianggeh – and none at the Temburong market, which is always very quiet, as most Temburong residents get their food supplies and other products from Limbang or Lawas in Sarawak13. I also interviewed eight Malay (Kedayan and Barunay) traditional healers. I met one of my specialist informants, Damit14, a Kedayan healer, among the people (mainly Barunay and Kedayan) who sell medicinal plants at Tamu Kianggeh. I met a Malay female healer specializing in post-partum care, Hjh Mariam, at the Health and Beauty Care Center (Pusat Rawatan Kesihatan dan Kecantikan) she commercially operates in Bandar Seri Begawan. Hj. Nayan, a Kedayan from Tutong, the “official” traditional healer in Brunei, who is frequently interviewed by journalists and UBD researchers and was recommended to me by UBD staff, showed me a great number of medicinal plants from his home garden, but was particularly reticent to talk about spiritual healing. Hj. Jamhur, a Malay traditional healer, and Hj. Mejin, a Kedayan orang pandai, from Temburong, were recommended to me by some Iban people I met in Temburong. I met Hj. Majid, a former Barunay imam at the Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque in Bandar Seri Begawan who lives on Pulau Berambang, and the Barunay orang pandai from Kampong Mata by word of mouth. I was introduced to Zukrina, a young healer trained by the Darussyifa Warrafahah (the Islamic Medicine and Welfare Association in Brunei) who specializes in Islamic blood cupping, by a young Barunay friend who shows great interest in traditional healing. I also interviewed twelve patients (from various ethnic groups, Barunay, Kedayan, Dusun, Iban and Chinese) of traditional healers, and had informal conversations about traditional healing with a number of Bruneians of diverse ethnic origins, whom I met on various occasions during my ten-year stay in Brunei. I interviewed Chinese and Indian traditional practitioners about their practices and clientele, in order to shed more light on the behavior of Malays when seeking a cure. I also interviewed local practitioners of Western biomedicine, from

12 Only a few of my informants spoke English, so that most interviews had to be conducted in Brunei Malay. My linguistic competence in Brunei Malay was sometimes insufficient to grasp the subtle nuances of my informants’ explanations. I recorded all interviews and heavily relied on the help of Norain, my Brunei Malay language assistant, to translate and clarify my interview transcriptions. 13 Some informants mention that they also go to Limbang and Lawas to consult traditional healers. 14 I use pseudonyms throughout this thesis to protect the privacy of my informants. 29 three different ethnic groups (Malay, Indian and Chinese), to elicit their views of traditional medicine.

I established deeper trust relationships with one of my informants, Damit, the Kedayan healer (or doktor angin, as he liked to call himself), who also sells a wide array of medicinal products at Tamu Kianggeh, and who, after a certain time, accepted me as his “apprentice”, although he often mentioned that I could only really learn ubat kampung if I converted to Islam, because the efficacy of the plants he used closely depended on the simultaneous recitation of prayers. From September to December 2013, I hung out with him every morning at Tamu Kianggeh, to observe his activities as a folk healer and seller of traditional remedies, and to interview some of his customers. I also had the privilege to participate in his excursions in the forest, or in his home garden, to collect medicinal plants, take part in the preparation of medicinal plant decoctions, attend some of his consultations with patients, and observe his diagnostic and therapeutic practices. He gave me the opportunity to attend some of the healing rituals he performed both in his patients’ homes and in the privacy of his own house. He patiently and enthusiastically answered my questions about his healing art. Another informant, Hamid, with a notably different profile (a younger, non-specialist Barunay, of a much higher socio-economic status and level of education, with a profound interest in my subject of study) also contributed significantly to my research.

I collected detailed information about my informants’ socio-economic background through the use of questionnaires15. I recorded for most informants16 their age, gender, religion, ethnic affiliation, level of formal education, usual place of residence, main language spoken within the domestic sphere, economic status measured by the usual occupation, and degree of contact with the wider world, through the mass media (cable TV, internet, press), and/or previous overseas travels. My informants represented a wide range of ages (with a majority of older people among the specialists), gender (with a majority of males among the specialists), ethnic affiliation (with a majority of Barunay and Kedayan), education level (with a majority of people with a lower education level), and socio-economic status (with a majority of lower income people). Except for ethnicity, there seems to be no significant way in which those making use of the services of traditional healers can be distinguished from the rest of the population. Both Brunei

15 See Appendix I. 16 I did not fill out questionnaires with those interlocutors who were the most reluctant to speak about this sensitive subject, as I felt that asking these people questions about their personal background would exacerbate their reticence to discuss traditional medicine. 30

Malay informants with a high level of education (some attended overseas universities) and those with a lower level of education (many of those I interviewed were illiterate) recognized the existence of traditional beliefs and practices in healing. However, over the course of my fieldwork, I also met a few informants, especially among those from a higher socio-economic status (government officials, such as ketua kampong, village chiefs), who tended to deny that they had ever resorted to traditional medicine, while those with a significantly lower socio-economic status (especially among my rural Kedayan informants, who are not members of the dominant ethnic group, although they are Muslim and speak Malay) tended to talk more overtly about traditional medicine. Of course, any firm conclusions regarding the decisive role of socio-economic marginality in the persistence of belief in indigenous illness concepts and healing practices and in the tendency to contest the labelling of pre-Islamic animistic elements in Brunei Malay belief systems as heretical would require a larger sample of informants.

Participant observation: I observed the sale of traditional medicinal plants at Tamu Kianggeh in BSB, as well as traditional healers’ consultations with patients. The different methods of treatment employed by traditional healers included the prescription of medicinal plants, various types of incantations or prayers, the giving of holy water17 (air bertawari), giving a special bath (kasi mandi, bathing in water upon which the healer has blown Quranic verses), Islamic blood cupping (bekam), massage (urut), medicinal sauna (bertajul), body fumigation (bertangas) and removing the “wind” (angin) from the patient’s body by gilir (which consists in rolling a pepper seed, or any object upon which the healer has previously blown a Quranic verse or another form of incantation, on the extremities of the patient’s fingers or toes to drive out the illness). Combinations of these procedures were common. I also participated in medicinal plant collection and in the preparation of medicinal plant decoctions by traditional healers. I personally experienced the healing practices of gilir, urut, bertangas, and bertajul and tried some of the medicinal plant decoctions. Participant observation allowed witnessing medical knowledge in action and process and helped generate insights into the local medical knowledge that could not be extracted only from interviews and conversations.

Unstructured and semi-structured interviews with both specialist and non-specialist informants were conducted to reveal the reasons for the persistent use of the local pharmacopeia and other aspects of traditional medicine, in lieu of or as a complement to

17 Water upon which incantations have been recited.

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Western medicine. Semi-structured interviews18 with traditional healers and their patients, as well as with medicinal plants buyers, helped to elicit Brunei Malay illness concepts, healing practices, medical knowledge transmission strategies, as well as perception of Western and other medical systems. Unstructured interviews occurred as part of the ongoing participant observation fieldwork and relied on the spontaneous generation of questions in the natural flow of the interactions. Although there were no predefined questions and minimal researcher’s control over such conversations, the interviewees were encouraged to keep the conversations focused on the researcher’s concerns and interests. Special care was taken to safeguard confidentiality of all information received. Interviews with informants were preferably audio-recorded by digital recorder, because note-taking disrupts the natural flow of the conversation. No audio recording was made without the prior consent of participants19.

Definition of health and illness from the point of view of informants: I have approached this subject from the point of view of the people concerned, the Brunei Malays. My task was to record the data I observed, not to evaluate it in the light of Western medicine. Thus, I have considered as “illnesses” all the states or events described with the vernacular term sakit (ill) by the people to whom I spoke and considered in my analysis all those states which seem pathological to my informants, even those that are not necessarily considered to be so by most Western observers. Conversely, I have omitted those states which seem pathological to us, but which are not considered to be so by my informants. This study presents Brunei Malay symptomatology and illness associations as they are perceived by indigenous informants, assessing postulated correlations to biomedical concepts. The extent of overlap between indigenous and biomedical illness conditions is often difficult to discern. Thus, translations of Malay illness conditions are provided as glosses for reference only and do not necessarily imply complete equivalence between Malay and biomedical illness concepts.

Ethnobotanical data:

Some informants helped me to identify, during field trips in the forest or home gardens, the most commonly used Malay medicinal plants. In recording medicinal plant knowledge, I gave primacy to specialized information possessed by healers and not

18 See Appendix II. 19 I did not record conversations with informants who seemed to be uncomfortable talking about this highly sensitive subject, as I believed that audio-recording would compromise their spontaneity.

32 necessarily shared by other members of the community, on the grounds that only a specialist knows the best plants to treat serious or uncommon illnesses, and because his/her knowledge is more likely to vanish, while medicinal insights that are widely held are likely to be accessible longer (Cox & Balick 1994). Non-specialist informants were found to be more knowledgeable about plants with medicinal properties than about plants with ritual and magical uses; specialist healers were a better source of information about both types of plants. These medicinal plants’ vernacular names, habitats (primary forest, secondary forest, home garden), expected therapeutic effects, harvesting methods (whole plant or selective cutting), as well as parts used (root, leave, stem, bark, seed, sap, flower or fruit), preparation processes (whether the plant part is used unprocessed or grated, macerated, boiled, infused, dried, smoked, or simmered), administration methods (directly applied to the affected area, chewed, ingested, or inhaled) and dosages were recorded20. Informants were also asked to distinguish, when possible, between plants that are used purely for their medicinal properties and those which are believed to have spiritual/magical curative powers. Photographs of all medicinal plants identified by the informants were taken. Medicinal plant voucher specimens, collected during field trips with informants, have been pressed, mounted, labelled and identified.

CHAPTER TREATMENTS OF THE OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH:

This study will evaluate the impact of the definition of the Brunei national identity in terms of an ideology called “the Malay, Islamic and Monarchical State” (Melayu Islam Beraja, MIB). Chapter 2 will demonstrate that the institutionalization of Islam as the official religion, Malay as the official language, and the Sultan as the official head of State has been a key factor in maintaining the socio-political dominance of the Brunei Malay monarchical family. The development of active strategies since independence to incorporate the non-Malay sub-groups into the dominant Malay society and culture has significantly speeded up the historical process of cultural redefinition from one ethnic group to another by conversion to Islam. This chapter will examine the accelerating process of Islamization in Brunei and help to identify the factors contributing to the upsurge of reformist Islam in this country.

20 See Appendix III

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This study will examine the animistic, Indic and Islamic elements of the Brunei Malay cosmology which form the basis for traditional illness concepts and healing practices. In addition to believing and practicing Islamic religious traditions, some modern Brunei Malays still retain, despite the increasing denunciation by the Bruneian religious authorities, many indigenous animistic beliefs and practices, along with those acquired in the region during the long period of Indian influence prior to their conversion to Islam around the fifteenth century. Considering these beliefs and practices is fundamental to understand the different elements of the Brunei Malay syncretic worldview to better grasp traditional Brunei Malays’ explanatory patterns for illnesses. Chapter 3 will therefore look at the various categories of supernatural beings (nature spirits, familiar spirits, ghosts, vampires, and angels) which are believed by some Brunei Malays to inhabit alam ghaib (“the invisible realm”), and their relationships with human beings. It will also explore the notion of semangat (“spirit of life” or “vital principle”), which is believed to maintain the health and integrity of its dwelling place, whether the human body or certain animals and plants, and is also central to the conceptualization of health and illness among some Brunei Malays.

This study will analyze Brunei Malay indigenous illness concepts. The reasons for the persistence of traditional healing among some Brunei Malays, despite the hostility from representatives of Western medicine and Islamic Orthodoxy, are closely linked to their cognitive representations of illnesses. Chapter 4 will demonstrate that the etiology of health problems among some Brunei Malays often encompasses more than one causal link, in contrast to the Western medical model which understands illness as deriving simply from biochemical abnormalities or disease-causing organisms or substances. The traditional Brunei Malay medical system recognizes multiple etiologies, including accidents and falls, biological factors, diet, humoral imbalance, angin (wind), the loss or depletion of semangat, severe mental stress (uri) and incorrect behavior, as well as attacks from disembodied spirits sent by enemies or acting on their own volition. It also sees emotions as being an important potential cause of illness and emphasizes the role of spiritual and religious factors. “Natural” causes, such as accidents, humoral imbalance, or even the effects of germs, can arise directly or they may rise from the working of supernatural agents. Spirit-caused sickness (referred to as gangguan, meaning “disturbance”, by some Brunei Malays) can only be treated by traditional healers (orang pandai). 34

This study will ascertain when and how traditional healers are transmitting their knowledge about traditional medicine in Brunei. Chapter 5 will examine the different ways of acquiring phytotherapeutic and esoteric healing knowledge (ilmu), as well as the relative importance of intergenerational knowledge transmission and acquisition of knowledge with a guru. The impact of the rising influence of Muslim orthodoxy in the country on the strategies of acquisition of traditional medical knowledge in Brunei will be assessed. The power of Islamic purism in Brunei, illustrated by the recent terminological change to designate folk healers, will also be discussed. The terms bomoh and dukun, which are now invested with negative connotations, have recently been replaced by the term orang pandai (literally “skilled people”)21, which suggests that practitioners depend largely on Islamic, rather than animistic and Indic, ideas for their curing ministrations.

This study will investigate the broad range of Brunei Malay traditional healing practices. Chapter 5 will present the various preventative measures taken by family members themselves or by specialist healers to avoid depletion of semangat and contact with those spirits and physical agents that cause illness. It will also examine the diagnostic techniques and the repertoire of therapies of indigenous healers in Brunei, including the prescription of medicinal plants22, the use of cupping, massage, post-natal treatments, as well as the many ritualistic incantations aimed at re-enforcing the effectiveness of “naturalistic” treatment methods and at removing the underlying cause of illnesses. This chapter will highlight the prevalence of the esoteric supernatural basis of all folk healers’ therapeutic techniques and the entanglement of techniques that seem to be “medical” with “magical” practices. The impact of the increasing influence of Islam in Brunei on certain traditional healing practices, especially the contents of the incantations used by folk healers to influence the welfare of their patients, will also be considered.

This study will analyze the interactions between biomedicine and traditional medicine in Brunei. Both Western medicine and traditional medicine aim at restoring health and well- being for their patients, but each has its own way of achieving results, as each is based on its own premises and concepts. Relationships among medical systems can range from

21 Some of my informants, however, glossed it in English as “wise people”. 22 An inventory of the most commonly used medicinal plants in Brunei will be provided in Appendix IV. This inventory clearly illustrates the persistence of the use of a local pharmacopeia despite the wide availability of Western pharmaceuticals in Brunei, and raises questions regarding the reasons for this continued use. Besides, it is hoped that this inventory will contribute to the preservation of Brunei Malay traditional medicinal plant knowledge before it vanishes.

35 antagonism or competitive rivalry, through complementarity or co-existence, to various structured forms of selective integration of their components (Pedersen & Baruffati 1989, p. 487). Chapter 6 will demonstrate that while traditional medicine has long been regarded with disdain by many representatives of official Western medicine, most traditional healers in Brunei perceive their services as complementary, rather than contradictory, to the therapeutic efforts of Western doctors. This chapter will present the multiple factors that possibly contribute to the persistent popularity of traditional healers among some Brunei Malays both for illnesses whose etiology is perceived as being “supernatural”, and for “usual” or “ordinary” (biasa) ailments, despite the indisputable achievements of the biomedical model: the difficulty in accepting the idea of single causality in health and illness; the concentration on categories of folk illness that are excluded from the scope of scientific medicine; patients’ faith in traditional healers’ power; the attention to the affective aspects of healing; the congruity of traditional diagnosis with Malay patients’ belief system; and the prescription of the appropriate ritual to remove the real underlying cause.

This study will explore the interactions between traditional medicine and Islam in Brunei. For more than five hundred years, since Malays have become Muslims, following centuries of Hindu-Buddhist influence, there appears to have been a large measure of tolerance for the practices of traditional healers whose theories and concepts regarding illnesses and their cure are originally based on animistic premises. Many traditional local beliefs and rites have continued to live on as an “informal” belief system fulfilling the pragmatic and immediate needs of day-to-day living side by side with the “formal” religion which has served the more transcendental needs. Chapter 7 will examine the various means by which conflicts between the institution of the traditional Brunei Malay healers and the Islamic code of belief and practice have been resolved. Certain local healing practices have been prohibited in the name of Islam and have had to be abandoned; other indigenous healing beliefs and practices have been reinterpreted so as to make them consonant with the teachings of Islam. Sufism, which was introduced to the Malay world concomitantly with the spread of Islam itself, helped to fuse Sunni “orthodox” Islam with the Malay “indigenous” culture to form a “Malay Islam” that has been labelled by reformist religious scholars as a “syncretic Islam” and classified as the “folk conception of Islam” (or “popular Islam”). With the enunciation of a new discourse on Bruneian identity and the acceleration of Islamization in Brunei in recent years, conflicts between “pure Islam” and “popular Islam” have intensified, and an increasing 36 number of Malay traditional healing practices have been declared superstitious and heretical by religious leaders who wish to promote a more Islamic form of healing.

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CHAPTER 2: BRUNEI DARUSSALAM: A MALAY ISLAMIC MONARCHY.

INTRODUCTION: The relatively recent definition of the Brunei national identity in terms of an ideology called “the Malay, Islamic and Monarchical State” (Melayu Islam Beraja, MIB) has indubitably had an impact on the praxis of traditional medicine in Brunei. The intense focus on Islam in particular, as well as the recent Arabicization of Bruneian Islam to respond to the demands of the reformist movement, has effected significant changes towards “purer” forms and implies the rejection of many aspects of Malay custom and Brunei Malay traditional healing. Official government publications depict MIB and the ethno-religious loyalties it commands as timeless, stretching back into an ancient and glorious Malay-Muslim past. According to Aziz (1992, cited in Loo 2009, p. 153), “the ancestry of MIB coincides with the dawn of Islam itself in Brunei”, when the Brunei king, Sang Aji Awang Alak Betatar, who reigned from 1363 to 1402, converted to Islam and adopted the name of Sultan Muhammad Shah. In fact, the national philosophy first emerged with the ratification of the Constitution of 1959, when Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III (r. 1950-1967), the father of modern Brunei, institutionalized Malay as the official language, Islam as the official religion, and the Sultan as the official head of State (Wellen 2006, p. 229). The concept re-surfaced in 1984, when during his proclamation address, the Sultan announced that Brunei would be known as Negara Melayu Islam Beraja (Naimah Talib 2002, p. 142). MIB was officially declared Brunei's national philosophy in 1990 for the first time on the occasion of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah’s 44th birthday. It has since been placed “at the core of the official discourse on nation-building”, and has begun being codified by the government (particularly through the highly influential ministries of Religious Affairs and of Education) (Schottmann 2006, p. 119).

Braighlinn23 (1992, p. 28) interprets the claim that the roots of MIB are deeply embedded in Bruneian history as an attempt to legitimize the Islamic monarchy of Brunei by attaching it to “some kind of origin myth”. By launching MIB, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah successfully reified myth into truth and legitimized himself as Allah’s vicegerent in

23 Roger Kershaw (1992) used the pseudonym G. Braighlinn when he published a highly critical monograph Ideological innovation under monarchy: Aspects of legitimation activity in contemporary Brunei (Fanselow 2014, p. 108).

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Brunei by creating a “unifying ideology which would bolster his power, blunt the appeal of those calling for a stricter observance of Islam, and develop a sense of purpose in the young” (Saunders 1994, p. 187). MIB is also seen as a means to “counter threats, both imaginary and genuine”, against Bruneian sovereignty and culture, such as Westernization and secularization (Wellen 2006, p. 230). Schottmann (2006, p. 113) argues that the key aim of Brunei’s national philosophy was to preserve the socio- political dominance of the Brunei Malay monarchical family.

THE BRUNEI ABSOLUTE MONARCHY. Brunei was once the seat of a powerful Malay Sultanate extending over Sabah, Sarawak and the southern part of the Philippines from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries. It received rents from the nearer territories and tribute from numerous other Malay coastal kingdoms of lesser power. However, by the nineteenth century, the territory of the Brunei Sultanate had been whittled down because of internal rebellion and piracy as well as the colonial and commercial aggression of the British. In 1842 the Regent of Brunei ceded a large part of Sarawak to James Brooke and gave him the title of “Rajah” for helping to suppress a rebellion against the Sultanate. From 1842 to 1890, the Brookes consolidated their power and extended their control over the rest of Sarawak and inched towards the Brunei River, the seat of the Bruneian Sultanate. Over in the north-east of Borneo, the 24th Sultan of Brunei was forced to cede large tracts of territory in Sabah to Baron von Overbeck and Alfred Dent, who later formed the British North Borneo Company in 1881. Like the Brookes, the British North Borneo Company acquired and exerted sovereignty over more Bruneian territory between 1881 and 1898. To thwart the encroaching advances on both the western and eastern borders of Brunei, the 25th Sultan, Sultan Hashim, signed a treaty with the British to make Brunei a British protectorate in 1888. It did not deter Charles Brooke (the successor of James Brooke) from seizing the territory of Limbang by force in 1890 (Loo 2009, p. 147).

After the British established de facto colonial rule through the British Residents in 1906 through their capacity to “advise” the Sultan in all matters (except Malay customs, traditions and the Islamic religion), Brunei suffered no further territorial loss and was saved from annihilation. Unlike Malaysia, where the political power of the hereditary Malay rulers was vastly eroded during colonial rule, in Brunei the Sultan maintained absolute sovereignty over traditional matters. After the Brunei Residency came to an end with the 1959 Constitution, the British continued to control defense and foreign affairs 39 until Brunei gained full independence in 1984. The 1959 Constitution of Brunei marked the beginning of “an era of monarchical power at a level unknown in the pre-colonial feudal past” (Kershaw 1998, p. 88).

The 1959 Constitution provided for the establishment of a partially elected legislative body to assist and advise the Sultan (Loo 2009, p. 148). At the time, in the context of a dynamic nationalist movement, much inspired by forerunners in Indonesia and Malaya, the anti-British, pro-Indonesian Brunei People’s Party (Partai Rakyat Brunei or PRB) proposed the formation of the United North Borneo Federation (Negara Kesatuan Kalimantan Utara or NKKU) made up of the territories formerly part of Brunei. Its constitutional head of State would have been the Sultan, but its government was to be democratically elected. Although Brunei would have been reunited with its former territories, it would have been at the expense of the hegemony of Brunei Malay culture, because within such a pluralistic, multi-ethnic North Borneo Federation, Brunei Malays would have been in a minority. Support for the PRB was particularly strong among the non-Barunay ethnic groups. The PRB won the 1962 district council elections overwhelmingly, which would have allowed it to occupy all the 16 elected seats in the 33-seat Legislative Council (the other 17 seats being filled ex officio or by appointment). In the first session of the Council, the Speaker refused to allow discussion of the motion demanding that the British Government return Sarawak and North Borneo to the sovereignty of the Sultan and that the three territories be federated. This triggered a rebellion which was put down with the help of the British, who were “worried about growing Indonesian influence in Borneo” (Fanselow 2014, p. 110). The revolt of 1962 was a small armed uprising, led by Sheikh Azahari bin Sheikh Ahmad, the PRB leader, in support of a Borneo Federation consisting of Brunei, Sarawak and North Borneo. It opposed the Malaysian Federation, seen as “a buttress of British and Western imperial interest” (Majid 2007). On 8 December 1962, the PRB’s armed wing, which was called Tentera Nasional Kalimantan Utara (TNKU, National Army of Northern Borneo), seized police stations, government facilities and oil installations and took hostages in Brunei and neighboring Sarawak. Despite some initial success, the rebels were suppressed within a few days by Gurkha and British troops brought in from Singapore, and the hostages were released. The rule of the British-backed Sultan was quickly restored (Chanin 2013, p. 385)24. Immediately after that, the Sultan declared emergency rule and

24 For a detailed study of the 1962 rebellion, see Majid 2007. 40 dissolved the legislative assembly. Under emergency rule, civil law was suspended and the Sultan ruled by decree (Loo 2009, p. 148).

Several factors explain the Sultan's decision against joining Malaysia in July 1963. Besides the issues of oil revenue sharing and of the Sultan's precedence among the other Malay rulers, the citizenship legislation of the Federation of Malaya was a determining factor. This legislation, which was bound to be exported to Borneo in some form, under the constitutional arrangements of the new Federation, was anathema to the Brunei elite because it was so liberal towards ethnic minorities. First of all, the Chinese of the mainland had been granted citizenship by operation of law on the basis of local birth stipulating that only one parent need be locally born, as early as 1952. This was followed, at Independence in 1957, by jus soli for children born after Independence Day. However in Brunei, the Chinese were omitted from the preliminary definition of national status in the 1959 Constitution and admitted to citizenship in 1961 only by naturalization, or registration for the locally born. Moreover, the terms for naturalization itself were much more demanding than in the Federation of Malaya. At the time, the fear of “Communist subversion” through the overseas Chinese was pervasive. Secondly, the Constitution of Malaysia granted Malaysian citizenship by operation of law to Iban as one of the native groups of Sarawak. In Brunei, by the time of the 1961 Nationality Enactment, Iban were given automatic right of citizenship only on the basis of local birth to two locally-born parents. The Brunei Malay nobility feared the political dynamism of Iban even within Brunei as an enclave, let alone in a revived, multi-ethnic “Brunei empire”, where monarchical rule as well as the authority of Islam would have been “drastically diluted” (Kershaw 1998, p. 93).

The Sultan therefore opted for a different scenario: a sovereign Brunei Malay nation- state in which he could reassume his “traditional” role as ruler and in which he could retain control over the oil revenues on which the reinvented monarchy depended. In reality, far from simply reverting to the “traditional” system of government, the concentration of powers that the Sultan inherited from the British Resident was much greater than the powers the Sultan had ever held “traditionally” (Fanselow 2014, p. 111). In 1906, the British Resident in Brunei absorbed the combined powers and responsibilities of the Sultan, as well as the various traditional offices held by his relatives (Leake 1989, cited in Schottmann 2006, p. 119). When the residency period ended and the powers passed to the Sultan in 1959, he thus obtained unprecedented and highly centralized powers. Even at its height, the Brunei Empire had been a decentralized 41 feudalistic state over much of which the Sultan only had a tenuous grip. His authority over peoples and territories beyond the immediate environment of the capital was “more symbolic than real” (Fanselow 2014, p.111). Brunei’s current absolutism is, therefore, not rooted in the timeless image of a Malay monarchy, but is rather a product of the colonial period itself. Royal powers were further strengthened with the “complete suspension of the 1959 constitution” when Brunei attained its full independence in 1984 (Schottmann 2006, p. 120). Thus, in 1984, Brunei became the only Commonwealth country to gain independence as an absolute monarchy. Until today, the emergency declaration has not been rescinded. The legislative assembly of Brunei was finally restored in 2004, but unlike in 1959, when some members of the legislative council were elected, all members of the legislative council are now appointed by the Sultan (Loo 2009, p. 148).

Since independence, the royal family has been formally institutionalized. The Sultan himself fills the positions of Head of State, Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, Minister of Finance, Chancellor of UBD, and the head of both Islamic law and adat. The monarchical aristocratic group has been essentially uncontested since the Brunei rebellion of 1962 (Singh 1984, cited in Wellen 2006, p. 234). The cultural prohibition on challenging or resisting the monarch is an offshoot of the residency treaty signed in 1906 by the British and Sultan Hashim, who nurtured the image of a ruling family, the “House of Hashim”, in order to eliminate endemic strife over succession (Schottmann 2006, p. 124). It is also the result of the national philosophy of MIB (Melayu Islam Beraja) which the Bruneian monarchy developed to inculcate new forms of civic loyalty, when other potential loyalties were developing. These other potential loyalties included the pan-Bornean nationalist aspirations that underlay the uprising of 1962, the appeal of a constitutional monarchy as found in neighboring Malaya/Malaysia, Soekarno’s “NASAKOM”, the Communist agitation across the South China Sea, and even pure Westminster-style multi-party democracy. MIB has been quite useful in rechanneling the clearly existent “proto-nationalist” sentiment, as manifested in the pan-Bornean uprising of 1962, into state-oriented patriotism that would remain more amenable to the monarchical principle. “MIB teaches Bruneians that respecting the Sultan is related to the teachings of Islam” (Hashim 1992, cited in Wellen 2006, p. 235).

Another explanation for the country’s peaceful and orderly transition into modernity is the fortuitous discovery of vast amounts of natural oil and gas in 1929, which has allowed the aristocratic establishment to distribute largesse to the population before serious 42 dissent can form. The State is the largest employer, providing jobs for up to a third of all working adults, and adequate career prospects in the burgeoning bureaucracy have contributed to “smothering even the slightest potential for opposition” (Schottman 2006, p. 116). The high living standards enjoyed by most ordinary Bruneians (free schooling up to the tertiary level, no income tax and a whole range of free government services, including medical care), or “performance legitimization”, are certainly another key factor explaining the small country’s stability. These factors, combined with the government’s near complete monopoly of the historical discourse through curriculum setting and the media, have been able to produce the widely-held perception that the current system is “the sole valid historical template” (Schottmann 2006, p. 116).

MALAYNESS IN BRUNEI AS AN INSTRUMENT TO PRESERVE THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND POLITICAL HEGEMONY OF THE ETHNIC BRUNEIS.

The concept of Malayness (Melayu).

Shamsul (2001, p. 357) contends that the modern concept of Malayness is largely “an Orientalist-colonial construction”. Since Brunei's declaration of independence in 1984 as “forever a Malay Islamic monarchy”, Malayness has been a more prominent feature of that country than is true for either of its neighbors, “despite appearing to have relatively shallow roots there” (Reid 2001, p. 312). In Brunei, in the pre-colonial period, communities were usually known by their locations near significant geographical features, particularly the rivers that constituted the main transportation arteries, including the Brunei, Tutong, and Belait, each of which gave its name to an ethnic group. The term “Bruneian” therefore refers to the nationality of the citizens of the modern nation–state, not to the ethnic identity of the orang Brunei who originated from present-day Kampong Ayer. The term “Malay” or “Melayu” may not have been part of pre-colonial identity discourse in Borneo and was possibly introduced by James Brooke from Malaya (Fanselow 2014, p. 106). It is not clear when the Islamic elite of Brunei began to see themselves as “Melayu”, but the nineteenth-century British habit of wanting to classify peoples by race or nation rather than place seems likely to have had something to do with it. James Brooke used the phrase “Brunei Malays” to distinguish the Muslim population of the capital and the court from other peoples of the interior. 43

In the published literature on Southeast Asia, the ethnonym “Malay” has been used in such inconsistent fashion that it is often very difficult to determine exactly what it means. The category “Malay” is a composite of various definitional criteria, linguistic, religious, cultural, historical, legal, which may or may not, in given circumstances, overlap. Maxwell (2001, p. 173) points out that the polysemous nature of the ethnonym Malayu (Melayu) in Brunei prevents an understanding of ethnicity based on any “one-word-one- meaning” approach to local reality. The confusion about the meaning of “Malay” in English results from the fact that the lexeme urang (orang) Malayu has five different semantically related, but contrasting, senses of meaning in Brunei. The first and most general sense of meaning simply means “Muslims”, which contrasts with urang kapir, “infidels, or non-Muslims”. Any Muslim, anywhere in the world could be a “Malay” in this first sense of the term. The second sense refers to native speakers of the Malay language, and contrasts with Muslims who are not native speakers of Malay; it is the one with the widest application in Southeast Asia. The third sense refers to the two native Malay-speaking ethnic groups of Brunei Darussalam, the Barunay and the Kedayan, and contrasts with native speakers of the Malay language who live outside Brunei. The fourth sense refers only to the members of the Barunay ethnic group, but not the Kedayan. All four of these senses of meaning of the phrase urang Malayu are in conversational use in Brunei. Which sense of the term will be selected depends on the intention(s) of a speaker and the context in which the speaker finds himself or herself. For example, the Kedayan routinely refer to themselves as urang Kadayan without pejorative connotation in intimate or informal socio-linguistic settings, and as urang Malayu in situations that are formal and public, such as meetings and other gatherings that occasionally take place involving the village headman, as well as government officials (Maxwell 2001, p. 201). There is yet a fifth sense, which is a purely legal or constitutional sense of meaning and is probably not in common usage, but exists as a category in the Brunei constitution.

The constitutional sense of Melayu.

The concept of “being Malay” has a unique significance in Brunei Darussalam, which sets it apart from its Malaysian neighbors. The new State could only be invented as a Brunei Malay nation within the Brunei Malay heartland. Thus, the 1959 Constitution defined as “authentic indigenous groups” (puak jati; more or less equivalent to Malaysian bumiputera) the seven ethnic groups (Bruneis, Kedayan, Tutong, Belait, Dusun, Bisaya, and Murut) considered indigenous to that small fraction of former Brunei territory that had remained under the Sultan’s control and in which Brunei Malays 44 constituted the majority. It also regarded all these seven “authentic indigenous groups” as historically “Malay”, irrespective of their religious or linguistic affiliations, thus denying, surely not unintentionally in an era of nation building, the existence of ethnic heterogeneity in Brunei. Only members of these seven groups were granted citizenship by operation of law in the 1961 Nationality Enactment (Kershaw, 1998, p. 94). The Iban (and Penan) were regarded as immigrants in fairly recent times from outside the four districts of modern Brunei (i.e. indigenous to Borneo rather than Brunei), and were excluded from that core in 1961; citizenship by operation of law was granted in principle only to individuals locally born whose parents were both born in the State (Trigger & Norkhalbi Haji Wahsalfelah 2011, p. 80)., The exclusion of the Iban and Penan reflected Brunei elite thinking, opposed by the British authorities as well as PRB (Kershaw 2010, p. 259). The Brunei elite feared being swamped by immigrating Iban just as much as they would have been overwhelmed by Iban/Kadazan majorities in a notional Federation of North Borneo; more immediately, they could have been discomfited by the voting preferences of the Iban in the 1962 elections, for which the Nationality Enactment was the prelude and precondition. The Iban were certainly not unwelcome as workers: to some extent, the survival of Brunei through oil wealth depended on their labor. But this very dependence could be viewed as politically threatening in the long run, not much less so than the economic power of the Chinese, who have been granted even less ease of access to citizenship than the Iban (Kershaw 1998, p. 99).

The orang Brunei sub-group or puak of the 1961 Nationality Act saw their culture, religion and language (at least a semi-standard bahasa Melayu Brunei) spread out among the population, as a result of the government promotion of an inclusive puak Brunei- convergent national identity (Kershaw 2010, p. 254). Since 1984, unity has been engendered more coercively, and the Sultan asserts, through official historiography, that the structure described or prescribed by MIB has lasted since time immemorial, and that the “Malay” ethnicity of the people is not (and never was) internally differentiated, let alone challenged, by any rival or alternative native identity outside it (Kershaw 2010, p. 258). MIB portrays Malays as the rightful inhabitants of Brunei and sometimes goes so far as to virtually deny the existence of indigenous and other minority groups (Wellen 2006, p. 230). “Although at first glance it appears that MIB emphasizes just one social group (Malay Muslims) alone”, writes Hashim (1992, cited in Wellen 2006, pp. 238- 239), “it needs to be considered that the racial problem did not emerge because in fact this country belongs to the Malay Muslim people”. “Melayu” in MIB emphasizes not 45

Brunei’s national uniqueness or its Bornean heritage, but its membership in a supranational culture whose center might appear to be elsewhere. “Melayu” means the consolidation of inherited Malay values, and establishes some aspects of Malay high culture at the expense of local tradition (Reid 2001, p. 313).

Although MIB’s emphasis on Malayness rather than Bruneianness seems clearly motivated by a desire to maintain and even reinforce the pre-eminent position Brunei Malays (Barunay) assumed within Bruneian society, some authors argue that the selection of Malay as Brunei’s high culture and eventually official language may also have been a matter of convenience. The Bruneian leaders had no alternative but to use Malay because it was not only their own language, but also the region’s lingua franca. Being part of the larger Malay tradition also might have been seen as a way of preventing marginalization, of giving their culture a larger place in the world than would be possible by emphasizing Brunei alone. Bruneians are thus encouraged to see themselves as a special type of Malay. References to the Dusun and Murut populations as “Melayu Dusun” and “Melayu Murut” (Moehammad Nazir 1992, cited in Wellen 2006, p. 232) “encourage even non-Muslims to tap into the transnational element of Malay society”.

The Malays, in the legal sense, are “the dominant population of Brunei Darussalam”, comprising, in 1986, 155,533 people (68.72%); as against 11,486 (5.07%) “Other Indigenous” (Iban and Penan, the ethnic groups who are indigenous to Borneo but are not considered “native” in Brunei); 41,401 (18.29%) Chinese (the dominant non- indigenous ethnic group whose members migrated to Brunei during the British protectorate period); and a residual category of expatriate workers (Asian and Caucasian) referred to as “Others”, totaling 17,909 (7.92%) persons (King 1994, p. 178). Because citizenship in Brunei is based on the principle of jus sanguinis, rather than jus solis, people who are born in Brunei, but who belong to ethnic groups not gazetted in the Brunei Nationality Enactment, as one of the authentic ethnic groups (puak jati) of the “Malay race” (such as the Iban and the Chinese) are not citizens, and are thus stateless (Maxwell 2001, p. 173). The criteria for naturalization, whereby a person who is not a citizen can, in principle, attain the status of being a citizen of Brunei, are difficult to fulfil. Firstly, an applicant for naturalized citizenship must have been in residence in Brunei (twenty years of residence over the last twenty five years - Government of Brunei Darussalam 2002). Secondly, an applicant must pass a very difficult Malay language test. “The language test was made so strict that candidates were asked to identify in the 46

Malay language unusual jungle plants that would be known to few of the indigenous residents” (SarDesai 2009, p. 311).

Religious and linguistic heterogeneity of the seven “Malay” ethnic groups.

“The monolithic interpretation of Bruneian culture jars with the long-standing ethnic diversity of northwestern Borneo” (Wellen 2006, p. 231). A remarkable linguistic and religious diversity characterizes the ethnic groups that have been lumped together into the category “Malay” in Brunei. The first group, the ethnic Bruneis, are similar to their Malay counterparts in West Malaysia, in the sense that all Brunei Malays practice Malay customs and are Muslims. The Kedayan and Tutong had already been Muslims long before independence, and the Belait are almost completely Islamized today. But a significant number of “Malays” in Brunei are either Christians or animists. About half of the 20,000 Dusun, who reside mainly in Tutong and Belait, are not Muslims (and practice their ancient Bornean religion, officiated by female belian). Although Dusun and Bisaya are linguistically and culturally so closely related that some writers use the terms Dusun and Bisaya interchangeably, they are constitutionally recognized in Brunei as two separate ethnic categories, and the Bisaya still consider themselves as separate from the Dusun (Walker 2010, p. 29). The small group of Bisaya, which is settled near the border with the Limbang area of Sarawak, remains predominantly non-Muslim (Fanselow 2014). The term “Murut”, an externally imposed term used by coastal Malays to refer to interior pagan populations, is written into the State's Constitution, and is still currently used in Brunei to refer to an ethnic group which is now called “Lun Bawang” (meaning “people of this place”) in Sarawak, and “Lun Dayeh” (meaning “people of the interior”) in western Sabah and parts of North Kalimantan. The term “Murut” is also used for culturally very different communities in interior Sabah, which are sometimes referred to as “Northern Murut” to differentiate them from other Murut (King 1994, p. 190). The Murut in Brunei are overwhelmingly, if not exclusively, Christian. Many Murut have been absorbed into Kedayan communities through intermarriage and conversion to Islam, and there are now only small numbers of Murut, estimated at about 500, in Temburong (King 1994, p. 190). The dominant ethnic Bruneis and the Kedayan are Malay-speaking groups, but the other five groups have languages distinct from Malay. The languages of the puak jati, the Tutong, Dusun, Bisaya, Belait and Murut, are regarded within Brunei as “Malay dialects”, but linguistically five of them are clearly not dialects of Malay, “all having less than 40 per cent cognates with standard Malay” (Martin 1992, cited in King 1994, p. 179). 47

Increasing pressure towards assimilation of all ethnic groups:

The growth of the ethnically Malay population has been gradual over the centuries, but it has been significantly stimulated in recent years, by MIB, in that non-Malays are subject to enormous cultural pressures (Wellen 2006). While Bruneian minorities have certainly been subject to the Sultanate for centuries, Brunei power had not penetrated on anything like the scale of the twentieth-century bureaucratic model. Most of these non- Brunei groups came historically within the purview of the Brunei Sultanate; they were relatively close neighbors of the Brunei Malays, they entered into economic exchange with the ethnic Bruneis, supplying rice for example, and they were, to varying degrees, incorporated into a Brunei socio-political system. At the top of the ranked hierarchy were Brunei Malay nobles who comprised “a sort of vast patrilineal descent group” (Brown 1969, p. 85) focused in the court and in the “water-village” (Kampong Ayer); at the bottom were various non-Muslim ethnic groupings, such as the Dusun and Murut, arranged into basic corporate social units of villages and longhouses. These non-Muslim, non-Malay pagan populations were linked to the Brunei Sultanate by a number of local non-Brunei leaders, who were designated menteri darat (lit. “Land chiefs”) in the Brunei administrative system. One means used by the Bruneis to control the dependent pagan groups was by selecting indigenous leaders, presenting them with titles and offices, and incorporating them into the Brunei political and administrative system. Linked to this process was often conversion to Islam and over time a reclassification of the converted as “Malay” (King 1994, p. 185). King (1994) argues that the process of expansion of a Brunei form of Malay culture, by assimilation and conversion of selected local leaders, dates back to “the establishment of a Sultanate by native Borneans on the Brunei River”. This historical process, however, is now being speeded up “under a concerted thrust for assimilation by the Malay Muslim Monarchy” of independent Brunei Darussalam (King 1994, pp. 178-179). The ideology of MIB is equipped with a more intolerant mode, which does translate into more active strategies to incorporate the non-Malay sub-groups into the dominant society and culture (King 1994, p. 186). Kershaw also argues that although modern “nation building” could in a sense be said to be aiming for the same result, the methods and pace are quite revolutionary and cannot properly be called a continuation or extension of an historical tendency (Kershaw 2010, p. 267).

In the new national order non-Muslim indigenous groups find themselves in the anomalous position of being Malay in so far as they are recognized as indigenous (puak jati), yet as non-Muslims they lack the usual defining characteristic of Malayness. More 48 than being just an anomaly in the dominant ideological scheme, their ambiguous status is potentially subversive, insofar as it can be construed to contest Malay claims to being the original inhabitants of the land. The main purpose of the Islamic Propagation Centre (Pusat Dakwah Islamiah), established immediately after independence, is to “resolve this anomaly by converting non-Muslim indigenous ethnic groups” (Fanselow 2014, p. 107). While the suggested racial-religious conjunction in the ethnic category of “Malay” is fictitious (there are numerous examples of non-Muslim Malays in Brunei), it reflects the official project to “convince Brunei’s Malays that their ‘full cultural recognition as the local equivalent of Bumiputera’ depends on the adoption of Islam” (Schottmann 2006, p. 123). The terms masuk Melayu “become Malay” (lit., enter Malay culture) and its largely referential synonym, masuk Islam “become Muslim”, refer to individuals born and enculturated in non-Malay ethnic groups converting to Islam and becoming members of the Malay ethnic group (Maxwell 1980, p. 160). Although the legal definition of the Malay identity category in Brunei does not technically involve religious connotations, conversion to Islam is, in fact, accepted as an avenue for becoming Malay (Trigger & Norkhalbi Haji Wahsalfelah 2011, p. 81). Converting to Islam is not only seen as a change of religious status, but also as an integration process of becoming Malay, a way of losing one’s previous identity and embracing Malay ethnicity. Intermarriage between different ethnic and social groups has come to be widely accepted and is another avenue for becoming Malay. When a Muslim wants to marry a non- Muslim, the non-Muslim must convert to Islam.

Education is probably the most powerful instrument of cultural integration. Socialization of young people in a school environment dominated by Malay culture exercises considerable pressure towards assimilation. Besides Malay language being a significant subject of study at school, MIB (Melayu Islam Beraja) and IRK (Islamic Religious Knowledge) are the twin pillars of ethnicity education in Brunei. They are core compulsory subjects at both primary and secondary school levels, for all pupils, irrespective of whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims, and certainly also exercise significant pressure towards assimilation among all ethnic groups (Loo 2009, p. 153). Furthermore, in Brunei, “special privileges” are accorded to native Malays, such as easier access to higher education scholarships, as well as better job and promotion opportunities in the civil service (Loo 2009, p. 150). Also, there are material incentives to adopt a Malay identity (mainly through conversion to Islam) for the “Other Indigenous”: the government generously provides land and houses to poor Malays (for a token payment) 49 under the Landless Indigenous Citizen Scheme Policy (Skim Tanah Kurnia Rakyat Jati - STKRJ), but not as generously to poor non-Malay citizens (who are still eligible to apply, but will have to wait longer than the converts to get a free house) (Loo 2009, p. 151).

Whatever pressures they may experience, subtly or blatantly, to embrace Islam today, the people who are from one of the basic seven groups of core indigenous Malays are indubitably citizens, and they do not have to convert in order to join the Army, in contrast to the Iban. So “the Iban have turned out to be more vulnerable, in one way, to state- inspired cultural pressures for conversion, than groups which were admitted to automatic citizenship in 1961” (Kershaw 2010, p. 260). On the other hand, Sercombe (1999, p. 599) claims that even when Iban embrace Islam, many continue to perform their traditional rituals and celebrate their annual harvest festival (gawai). Also, unlike other indigenous groups in Brunei, such as the Belait, Dusun and Tutong, the Iban, maintains Sercombe (1999, pp. 611-612), continue to maintain their language, despite conversion to Islam and the low prestige of Iban in Brunei. Thus, Sercombe argues that the Iban, because they are not considered indigenous to Brunei, remain unassimilated and are able to “keep both a cultural and linguistic distance from the dominant Brunei Malays”, while at the same time still feeling Bruneian; and there has so far been “little shedding of culture among Iban migrants, but rather the incorporation of elements of another culture” (Sercombe 1999, p. 613).

Discrimination against the non-ethnic Bruneis:

Despite the denial of ethnic heterogeneity in Brunei (with the lumping of all indigenous ethnic groups into the category ‘Malay”), the dominant ethnic Bruneis are still clearly distinguished from the other “Malay” groups. Although Murut and Dusun, unlike the Iban and Penan, are recognized as part of the indigenous core of Brunei’s citizens today, they remain culturally and politically peripheral. A reluctance to admit Dusun to eligibility to senior posts in the government is seen in the general practice of marking Dusun converts as Dusun Mualap (“Dusun convert”), not Melayu, on their new identity cards, in spite of their “supreme cultural sacrifice”, while Tutong have been “Malay” on identity cards since 1961 (Kershaw 1998, p. 98).

Likewise, the constitutional differentiation of the Kedayan, the Muslim Malay-speaking agriculturalists who were traditional suppliers of food to the capital, was maintained vis- à-vis the Malays of the Water Village (with their internal social hierarchy reaching up through tiers of aristocracy and nobility to the Sultan), “possibly in order to pre-empt 50 any pretension to equality of corporate ranking with the Bruneis of the riverine capital” (Kershaw 2010, p. 250). “Economic symbiosis, propinquity, common language and common religion made the ethnic Bruneis and Kedayan look like two halves of a common society” (Brown 1969, pp. 14-15). Nevertheless, in terms of Brunei Malay concepts, the Kedayan are commonly categorically excluded from any identification with Bruneis. By such exclusion, the Barunay are stating their claims to socio-political dominance and higher prestige (King 1994). Although the Kedayan constitute between a third and a half of all the Malays in Brunei (Maxwell 1996, p. 164), they constitute a minority population in the sense that they “do not exercise political power at the national level in Brunei”. They are excluded from any of the major positions in the traditional Brunei system of ritual offices. All members of the royal family are Barunay. Likewise, only Barunay nobles and aristocrats may receive sacred titles from the Sultan of Brunei, while the Kedayan receive from the Sultan of Brunei only the lowest ranking and non- sacred awards (menteri darat, which Brown translates as “land chiefs”). Thus, the Kedayan have long occupied a very low position of social prestige within the society at large. In contemporary Brunei these relationships are maintained, and Kedayan hold few positions in the modern state bureaucracy (Maxwell 1980, p. 186). Kedayan are also largely egalitarian among themselves in contrast to the stratified ethnic Bruneis.

Kedayan, though different from Bruneis, identify themselves with them in the broader category “Malay”. The importance to the Kedayan of Malay identity, particularly on formal, public occasions, and the process of intermarriage with Bruneis have also resulted in the tendency for the gradual assimilation of members of the Kedayan community by the socio-politically dominant Brunei Malays (Brown 1980, cited in King 1994, p. 189). Kedayan have two foci of ethnicity, the more specific “being Kedayan” and the more general “being Malay”. A Kedayan gains a considerable amount of esteem from the identification as Malay, because the Kedayan group traditionally occupies a position of low prestige in the societal structure of Brunei. Any Kedayan will object to being excluded from the category “Malay”. First, such a contention could be interpreted to imply that the Kedayan were not Muslim, given the logical relationships derivable from the polysemous senses of the term Melayu. Such a claim would contradict the symbolic and psychological importance that all Kedayan attach to being members of the religion and world community of Islam. Second, a suggestion that the Kedayan “were not Malay” could have a symbolic political interpretation that they would not be fully members of present-day Brunei society (Maxwell 1980, pp. 200-201). 51

THE INCREASING ISLAMIZATION OF BRUNEI: Islam has long had a unifying effect on Bruneian society. Already during the mid-nineteenth century, Islam linked many ethnically diverse and geographically separated peoples to “a common spiritual overlord in Brunei” (Brown 1976, p. 193). However, the process of conversion to Islam of various communities in northwestern Borneo, which has occurred historically, as mentioned above, is occurring today at an unprecedented pace. Although Brunei has been ruled by a Muslin Sultan for at least six hundred years, orthodox versions of Islam only began extending beyond the core Brunei-Muara district in modern times. This underscores the somewhat questionable historicity and relatively recent emergence of the national philosophy’s second pillar of legitimization as well (Schottmann 2006, pp. 127-128). The increasing prominence of Islamic political theory, adopted “wholesale and untempered to the legitimization of the Brunei ruler” is not revivalism per se, but “Islamization de novo” (Braighlinn 1992, p. 42).

The institutionalization of Islam as the State religion has further helped to consolidate the Barunay (ethnic Bruneis) and their position within Bruneian society. Ethno-cultural loyalty may be the first basis of legitimacy in present-day Brunei, but orthodox Sunni Islam also now supplies important support for dynastic rule and absolutism. The prime advantage of religiously-derived legitimization is its divine origin and formulation in a realm beyond the human capacity, “questionable only at the pains of eternal damnation” (Schottmann 2006, p. 127). Because of MIB’s incorporation of Islam, contesting MIB approaches heresy. MIB literature implies that anyone who does not agree with this national ideal is “under the influence of evil powers that seek to destroy Brunei’s political stability” (Wellen 2006, p. 233).

Since independence there has been a consistent effort to Islamize Brunei. Numerous changes have been made in the legal system as part of an effort to bring existing laws “in line”, to quote the Sultan, with Islamic teachings (Doshi 1991, p. 76) These include bans on the sale of alcohol and the keeping of pigs. The state also proclaims Muslim holidays, encourages Muslim economics and banking, promotes Islamic values in education, and forbids un-Islamic activities. MIB essentially grafts Islamic values onto Bruneian Malay culture and portrays religion as the paramount component of Malay values, more important than adat and tradition. It does not make an allowance for any uniquely Bruneian values or characteristics that do not support it and allows no place for secularism. The recent promotion of conservative Islamic values has had a dividing effect on the Brunei State in that it has alienated many of the non-Muslims and even 52 moderate Muslims. The government’s project to make Brunei 100% Muslim (The Economist Intelligence Unit 1994-95, in Wellen 2006, p. 234) poses an obvious threat to the cultures and identities of the currently still-existent minorities.

In the wake of global religious revivalism, organizational matrices from states beyond the region have had to be imported to respond to the increased piety and “Syariah mindedness” of many Bruneians. Arabicization of Bruneian Islam has effected significant changes towards “purer forms”, and, through the adoption of Arabic neologisms, has allowed the Bruneian elite to remain “a step ahead of potential Islamist critics, who view these gestures very favorably” (Schottman 2006, p. 129). Arabicization implies the rejection at least of some aspects of Malay custom and, as Braighlinn (1992) points out, the main sacrifice to Islam in contemporary Brunei must be adat. Today, “the clerical demands for compatibility with Islam” have further eroded the “meagre objective residue” of the various ethno-cultural identities now lumped together under the category Malay (Schottmann 2006, p. 131). This Arabicization of Brunei has recently culminated with the official implementation of the first stage of the Syariah penal code on the first of May 2014, which was previously restricted to matters of inheritance, marriage and divorce, despite widespread international, as well as national (in the social media), criticism25. Two further stages have been phased in over the next two years. The new laws apply to all residents of Brunei, irrespective of their religion and ethnic group, and the announcement of this decision has triggered alarm among both Muslim and non- Muslim communities in Brunei. The Sultan claims that the Syariah law is not new to Brunei; the Sultanate had been implementing the Islamic Law since the seventeenth century, but with the intervention of foreign powers, the country was forced to abandon it. The ruler also points out that the absence of Islamic criminal law would result in chaos in the society, as many acts that are considered crimes under Islamic teachings would go unpunished, inviting the wrath of Allah. The Islamic Criminal Law is presented as being based on the guidelines provided by Allah through Al-Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad and thus as ensuring a crime-free and pious society (The Brunei Times, 18 March 2011).

25 See Appendix V (Summary of BRUNEI SYARIAH PENAL CODE ORDER, 2013).

53

CONCLUSION

The Constitution of 1959 that returned self-government to the Sultan aimed at maintaining the status quo and the socio-political dominance of the Brunei Malay monarchical family. It insisted that the seven groups held to be indigenous (Bruneis, Kedayan, Bisaya, Dusun, Tutong, Belait, and Murut) were all “Malay” in a legal sense, implying that there was no ethnic heterogeneity in Brunei. The Brunei Nationality Enactment of 1961 lumped non-native Malay speakers and non-Muslim indigenous groups into the category of “Malay”, and granted them formal constitutional equality in the context of citizenship, despite their linguistic and religious divergence, probably in the hope of assimilating them in the long run, or at least of mobilizing them as allies of the dominant ethnic Bruneis. The elite elaborated a new system of Malay dominance, based on the prospect of equality of status for any who would embrace Malay culture and identity, and “swell the indigenous Islamic interest” (Kershaw 1998, p. 93). Nevertheless, the maintenance of the constitutional differentiation of the ethnic Bruneis vis-à-vis the “other Malays” attests to the determination of the ruling elite to preserve their higher prestige and pre-eminent position in Brunei society.

While professing continuity with purer, unadulterated and authentic Bruneian models of governance, the purportedly ancient national philosophy reflects in fact very modern thinking and realistic assumptions about nation-building processes. The cultural pressures towards assimilation have significantly increased. Active strategies have been developed to incorporate the non-Malay sub-groups into the dominant society. MIB reduces Bruneian culture to those aspects directly related to that of the Malay majority, the national religion and the monarchy. Thus, it allows little cultural space for other indigenous ethnic groups, especially those that are not Muslim. Brunei Malay cultural hegemony casts the nation firmly in “a Malay and Muslim mold” and discourages any attempt to contextualize Brunei in a Bornean sociocultural framework, because it would draw attention to the indigenous dimension, “reopen the as yet not fully resolved issue of ethnicity and nationality in Borneo”, and thereby touch on sensitive issues concerning the position of the dominant Brunei Malay majority vis-à-vis non-Malay minorities that can lay claim to greater indigeneity than the Malays (Fanselow 2014, p. 109).

The socio-political and socio-cultural processes described above have led to identity shifting and thus have complicated the problems of ethnic boundary definition in Brunei. The transition from one ethnic category to another has occurred historically, but it is occurring today at an unprecedented pace, with the Brunei government’s classification 54 of the minority Bruneis together with all other constitutionally recognized indigenes as “Malay”, the increasing conversions to Islam, the intermarriage between Bruneis and non-Bruneis, and broader cultural emulation of Brunei Malays through education and the media. There is a recent strong tendency in Brunei for all native Muslim elements to identify themselves as Malays rather than specifically Bruneis and Kedayan for example, and over time to become incorporated into the dominant ethnic group (King 1994, p. 179). However, indigenous non-Muslim ethnic groups do not think of themselves as “Malay”. Also, individuals of the older generation are more likely to identify themselves with the name of their local group than younger members of the minority groups, who have moved towards adopting a Malay identity. Some predict the disappearance of all minority ethnic groups within the next few decades and their assimilation into Malay society as a result of the government’s “cultural modification policies” (Fanselow 2014, p. 109). Kershaw claims that a species of “ethnic cleansing” is being carried out under the aegis of revivalist Islam. The minority groups’ extinction is more comfortably justified as “God’s will” than as the ambition of a large ethnic group which happens to be “allied to absolute political power” (Kershaw 2010, p. 269).

55

CHAPTER 3: SYNCRETIC WORLDVIEW OF THE MUSLIM MALAYS OF BRUNEI.

INTRODUCTION

Researchers have long been puzzled by the apparent contradictory and overlapping beliefs of the Malays in Peninsular Malaysia. The vestiges of Hinduism, states Skeat (1965, p. 84), “underlie the external forms of Islam”, long established in all Malay kingdoms, and the powerful influences of the still earlier indigenous faith still remain. A Malay traditional healer would “summon spirits from the animist past, chant a Hindu mantra, wrap up the incantation in a Muslim doa (prayer) and prescribe a plant preparation”, notes Longuet (2008, p. 854). Winstedt (1925) has generalized the situation by calling the pawang a shaman, a Shaiva and a Sufi. As mentioned in the introduction, Malayness and its associated beliefs and practices transcend national borders. Kimball’s earlier study (1979) of indigenous Brunei Malay medicine in Temburong, as well as Khairunnisa Yakub’s analysis (2009) of traditional medical practices of Brunei Malays, demonstrate significant convergences with the depictions of beliefs and practices from other parts of the Malay world. Therefore, in addition to the specifically Brunei Malay data drawn from my informants, from the literature on the subject of Brunei Malay worldview, and from declarations by religious leaders in local newspapers, data from studies of the Malay worldview in peninsular Malaysia, Southern Thailand and Indonesia will help to illuminate the worldview of Brunei Malays.

The traditional worldview of the Muslim Malays of Brunei is syncretic because it mixes many indigenous animistic beliefs, Islamic beliefs and Indic elements, which they acquired during the long period of Indian influence (since the Third Century), prior to their conversion to Islam in the fourteenth century. All these elements, although they are now strictly condemned by the religious authorities, are integral components of the cosmology of a number of the Muslim Malays of Brunei and are the basis for their interpretation of sickness and for the details of their healing practices. The belief in various categories of supernatural beings which inhabit “the invisible realm” and interact with human beings, as well as the concept of semangat (“vital principle”), which is believed to maintain the health and integrity of its dwelling place, are central to the conceptualization of health and illness among some Brunei Malays.

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AN ADMIXTURE OF ANIMISTIC, HINDU, AND ISLAMIC INFLUENCES.

Animism: Before the Malays adopted Hindu deities as the objects of their worship in the past, they seem to have peopled the world with “myriad spirits” (Skeat 1965). Central to the belief system inherited from the Malay pre-Islamic and pre-Indic civilization is the idea that people’s well-being and the success of their ventures are dependent on the disposition of the spirits which inhabit their environment. The belief in spirits, argues Mohamed Taib Osman (1989, p. 76), manifests itself within a definite framework, even though it may “lack the consistency and concreteness of religious systems, particularly those of codified and scriptural religions”. The rules consist of ritual acts and incantations, while the pantheon is made up of beings who are addressed by name and conceived with “specific functions, powers, and abodes assigned to them” (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 76). Malay healers were first shamans, whose familiar spirit came to them “by inheritance or in a dream” (Winstedt 1925, p. 21). The spirit-raising séances (called berhantu and berjinn in the western states of Malaysia, main peteri in Kelantan, and menurun in Brunei), which were the most visible traces of pre-Islamic shamanism, are no longer performed in Brunei today. Nevertheless, as we will see below, the belief in pre-Islamic entities is still deeply rooted in the minds and daily life of some Brunei’s Muslim Malays. Also, the animistic and animatistic concept of semangat has survived into the present among certain of the Brunei’s Muslim Malays. The concept of animatism, the idea concerning a life-force that has not yet been differentiated into the notion of independent spirits or individual souls, will be further discussed in the third section of this chapter (Semangat).

Hinduism: When Shaivite Hinduism succeeded the original spirit worship in Malaya, as in Java, Malay shamans added gods of the Hindu pantheon to their spirit corpus and made invocations and offerings to Siva, or Batara Guru as the Hindu god is better known among the Malays, the Divine Teacher who held an important place in the religious and magical scheme of the Brahmins in the Hindu-Indonesian society of the past. A number of nature powers of the old religion, “the white spirit of the sun and the black spirit of the moon were identified with manifestations of Siva” (Winstedt 1925, p. 8). When the Malays converted to Hinduism, they “merely transferred their beliefs in spirits and in nature to the various Hindu gods”, says Longuet (2008, p. 854). Longuet (2008, p. 854) suggests that the belief in Siva, a Hindu creator God, introduced “the concept of a unique force behind nature, separate and above it, perhaps preparing for the Muslim concept tawhid: the oneness of God”. Mohamed Taib Osman (1989, p. 76) maintains that even 57 in the period of Hindu influence there was little direct impact of the Brahmins on the peasant culture and that in Malaya today the rural Malays have no knowledge of the Hindu deities. However, the names of the Hindu gods continue to survive mainly in the charms and invocations of the bomoh. Also, long before the introduction of Islamic mysticism, Hinduism had encouraged Malay healers to fortify their powers and “command the wonder of the credulous by ascetic practices” (Winstedt 1925, p. 21; Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 119).

Islam: With the introduction of Islam in Peninsular Malaysia by Indian Muslim traders in the fifteenth century, Malay culture was indelibly transformed. As with all Muslims, the observance of Islam among the Malays centers around the five “pillars” or foundations of Islam. Of the five “pillars” of Islam, the first, which is called the Syahada, is doctrinal, while the rest are a matter of observance. The Syahada is the testimony to be pronounced by every Muslim, “There is but one God, Allah, and Muhammad is His chosen messenger”. It is, therefore, the central creed of Islam. Faith in Allah is indisputable, and questioning the veracity of the Quran, which is often taken as the literal word of Allah, is heresy. The other “pillars” are the five daily prayers (sembahyang), fasting during the month of Ramadan (puasa), paying the annual tithe or tax (zakat), and the pilgrimage to Mecca (naik hajj), if it is financially feasible. In every Malay village there is a mosque which serves as the center of community life. Islamic festivals have special significance to Malay village life, especially Aidilfitri (Hari Raya Puasa) or the Festival of Breaking the Fast (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, pp. 48-49). Malays are guided by the teachings and requirements of their religion from the cradle to the grave. When they are born, the azan or kamat (call to prayer), which embodies the Syahada, is whispered into their ears. When they are on their deathbeds, close relatives will literally try to force out of their throats the testimony of their belief in Allah and His Apostle, the essence of the Islamic faith. Between the two points of their life span they “may not observe or practice all the teachings of their religion, but the ultimate spiritual goal is always present, and that is to die a Muslim and to escape the Fire on the Day of Judgement” (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 51). Stressing that right belief means right conduct, Islamic law as applied to Muslims is part of the Islamic theology. Violation of such law would amount to renouncing the faith itself. Muslims must practice what is prescribed (fardu, wajib or halal) and avoid what is forbidden (haram). Hence, religion to the Malays is more than just an act of piety, it is a guide to conduct in life, and 58 underlying it all is “a concern for salvation in the afterworld where Allah is the sole judge” (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 52).

When Islam came, “Malay magicians” added the names of angels and devils and spirits of the youngest of Malaya’s religions to their repertory of incantations. Before their old incantations they “set the names of Allah and Muhammad, often in impious contexts” (Winstedt 1925, p. 21). They detected their latest avatars in the living saints of Islam, and therefore, secluded themselves for a period, kept celibate, fasted to enable themselves to have visions and acquired their esoteric knowledge through several initiatory stages. Thus, they became “disciples of a form of mystic Sufism which came from India to the Malay Peninsula more than four centuries ago” (Winstedt 1925, p. 21).

Sufism: Sufism, which began in Persia as a form of asceticism, was probably introduced to Malaya from India around the middle of the fifteenth century, almost simultaneously with the introduction of the more orthodox forms of Islam. This Indian Sufism had developed some distinctive features, undoubtedly under the influence of Hinduism and Buddhism, at least in its external form. Among these were the practices of fasting and performing various austerities in order to acquire invulnerability and other magical arts. These Indian features facilitated the entry of Sufism into what was then largely Hindu Malaya (Endicott 1970, p. 44). Endicott (1970, p. 28) claims that Sufism, the doctrine of a Muslim current described by Winstedt as a “mystic pantheism”, is merely a branch of Muslim belief whose flourishing in Malaya suggests “a basic sympathy with pre-Muslim Malay ideas”. Bruinessen (2009, p. 145) supports this claim when he declares that Sufism has always been relatively “tolerant of local customs and traditions”, and Sufi orders have incorporated “popular” beliefs and practices. Sufism, mentions Endicott (1970, p. 43), developed the notion that beneath the apparent diversity of things was “a cosmic unity which was God”. Humanity could realize its essential unity with God by casting off the vestiges of individuality and losing self-identity, through love and ecstatic self- abandonment. People who have merged themselves with the universe and have become one with God achieve a state of sacredness and are regarded as saints having supernatural powers. However, orthodox Muslims find the identification of Allah with the universe and humankind objectionable. Not only does the belief in pantheism abuse the doctrine of the oneness of God as creator, but the abandonment of self in pursuit of religious fulfilment involves a disregard for heaven and hell, and many other sacred tenets of orthodox Islam (Endicott 1970, p. 43). 59

Mohamed Taib Osman (1989, p. 68), nevertheless, argues that although many Islamic elements are identifiable as originating from the thoughts and writings of the Sufis brought with Islam from Persia and Muslim India, Malay bomoh must be distinguished from practicing Malay mystics, as they may invoke and make mention of “the jargon usually found in Sufi speculations” as part of their magical incantations, but they do not seek communion with Allah as Sufis do. The Malay bomoh is never identified as a Sufi. “Miracles and wonder-workings of the ascetics among the Malays are identified as the power of keramat, which has its roots in saint worship among the Muslims” (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 70). Mohamed Taib Osman (1989, p. 119) argues that the conception of saints, the notion that the power to perform wonders is attainable through pious and ascetic practices, resembles that of the “heterodox cults among the Hindus” and is an element of popular Islam. In the orthodox religious sense, the miracles performed by a wali, the saint in the Quranic tradition, are a gift from God, not from any miraculous power inherent in or acquired by the person. This special gift is known as karama, from which the term keramat is derived. But what has grown out of the Quranic tradition of wali is the cult of saints – persons to whom is attributed the charismatic power of performing miracles. It is usual among the Malays to refer to deeply religious ascetics as keramat and to make offerings in hopes of influencing the power of the keramat to their own ends (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 119).

SPIRITS

Structure of the universe: According to Muslim Brunei Malays, Allah, the supreme deity who controls both natural and supernatural phenomena present in the universe, has created two distinct realms: dunia (this world) and akhirat (the afterworld). Dunia is set between the underworld, bumi, and the sky, langit. The underworld and sky each have seven layers called pitala, a special cosmological term. Every layer of the sky and underworld has a door which allows entrance and egress to that layer. All the “contents of the world”, including people and animals, originally came out from a door in the underworld that leads into the world (Kimball 1979, p. 19). In addition, Brunei Malay cosmology talks of two kinds of dunia: alam nyata, “the visible world”, and alam ghaib, “the invisible realm” (or “the other dimension”) (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 3)26. Alam nyata is the dwelling place of human beings and other living creatures. Alam ghaib is

26 Mas Irun (2005, p. 10) mentions that Brunei Malays refer to the visible world as Alam kasar and to the invisible world as Alam halus. 60 inhabited by various categories of supernatural beings. Somewhere in alam ghaib is the World of the Dead, alam mati (also known as alam kubur), where the souls of dead people enter after they have left their bodies, and lingered for a while in alam nyata (usually for a maximum of forty days following death). In alam mati, the souls of religious people are believed to rest in peace, while the souls of sinners are tortured until Judgment Day, when Allah makes his final decision, awarding the righteous with Heaven and dispatching sinners to Hell. It is also said that alam ghaib is so vast that it comprises millions of jinn kingdoms and cannot be comprehended by the human mind (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 4). Spirits, or jinn, are the forces which pervade the universe and with which people have to come to terms, for good or for evil, in their daily lives.

Origin of spirits: There are many versions of the origins of evil spirits and jinn, but they are all characterized by an admixture of indigenous, Hindu, and Islamic notions. According to Arabian fable, the Arabic djin, which corresponds to the Malay word jinn, were created from “smokeless fire” 2,000 years before Adam was made of earth. They are generally, but not necessarily, supposed to be evil spirits (Gimlette 1971, p. 26). Another version of the origin of all jinn, hantu, and other spirits is mentioned by Sir Frank Swettenham (1921, cited in Gimlette 1971, p. 26):

The Creator determined to make Man, and for that purpose He took some clay from the earth and fashioned it into the figure of a man. Then He took the spirit of Life to endow this body with vitality and placed the spirit on the head of the figure. But the spirit was strong, and the body, being only clay, could not hold it and was broken in pieces and scattered into the air. These fragments of the first great Failure are the spirits of earth and Sea and air. The Creator then formed another clay figure, but into this one He wrought some iron, so that when it received the vital spark it withstood the strain and became Man.

All my informants insist that the existence of jinn is clearly mentioned in the Quran, but they do not provide more details. Brunei Muslim scholars (Dato Ismail in The Brunei Times, 26 July 2007) declare:

Jinn means ‘invisible’ and comes from jan, the father of all jinn. Jinn are like humans, they marry, they come from different religions and they procreate, but instead of being created from earth, they were born from fire on a Thursday, and they eat anything that originates from fire, like smoke; they live deep in the jungle, in the air, river banks and mountains, or in abandoned buildings which have been left vacant for a long time. Jinn can see humans but are invisible to humans, except those gifted by Allah, and those who are suffering from a particular illness. There are three types of jinn and 61

they can assume different forms: most commonly snakes or dogs when in the form of animals, as the wind or even a human being.

Birth and death of spirits: Some spirits are said to reproduce like (and sometimes with) human beings, and some are continuously being generated, as, for example, the hantu mati di bunoh (or spirits of murdered people). Endicott (1970, p. 55) states that the notion that any spirit is liable to death is very rarely held, and that illness-causing spirits are not reported to be destroyed, but simply induced to leave the body of a sick person and enter a raft of offerings. Similarly, Woodward (1985, p. 1015), mentions that, in Java, even if the sorcerer and his or her spiritual agents are vanquished, few dukun believe that they have the power to destroy evil. Most feel that their task is simply to remove it from the geographical and social domains occupied by humans. In Brunei, by contrast, most of my informants declare that the spirits that have invaded a body are actually “burnt to death” by the recitation of Quranic verses when they are exorcised. Also, the Brunei religious authorities mention that “Ayat Al-Kursi can be recited when healing a possessed individual even if it leads to the death of the spirits (jinn) in the patient’s body. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) himself healed patients with verses, including Ayat Al-Kursi. Not once did it arise that the prophet felt sorry for the being, not once did it arise that he was worried of the being’s revenge” (Brunei State mufti, cited in The Brunei Times, March 15, 2014).

Internal and external spirits: Gimlette (1971) distinguishes between two classes of spirits, the external jinn and the internal jinn. The external jinn are created by God from the wind, and they can be seen by people who have faith and who are learned in spirit lore. “The external jinn are not able to afflict us except in co-ordination with the jinn who live in our internal organs (‘internal jinn’)” (Gimlette 1971, p. 28). Winstedt (1925, p. 18) also reports that, in Kelantan, when the genie, whose host a person’s body is, has weakened him or her by loss of blood, coughing, dyspepsia, then only can jinn from outside enter and cause him or her hurt. This “internal jinn” alluded to by Gimlette and Winstedt might well be, in fact, the human semangat, which, when weakened, can lead to spirit (“external jinn”) invasion, as we will see below.

Muslim and non-Muslim spirits: Islam acknowledges the existence of both Muslim and non-Muslim jinn or spirits. Skeat (1965, p. 96) notes a very curious subdivision of Jinn into Faithful (Jinn Islam) and Infidel (Jinn Kafir) in Peninsular Malaysia:

The good jinn are perfectly formed in the fashion of a man, but are, of course, impalpable as air, though they have a voice like mortals. They live in a mosque of their 62

own. The Jinn Kafir, or infidel jinn, are invariably deformed, their heads being always out of their proper position. Their numbers are continually increasing, as they are suffered by God to beget children after their kind. They are imps of mischief, and their whole time is spent in works of malice.

In Brunei, Kimball (1979) observes that just as some people are Islamic and some not, so too are “other-beings” divided. Muslim jinn may be benevolent or malevolent. Non- Muslim jinn, on the other hand, are inevitably malicious (Kimball 1979, p. 23). Brunei’s Malays designate such malicious jinn as syaitan, iblis, or hantu. All the “other-beings” in the descent line from the devil are actually slaves of Allah and followers of the Prophet Muhammad, but they do not acknowledge their subservience and so “go about molesting people” (Kimball 1979, p. 86). Today, Brunei Muslim scholars explain that when Allah created Adam and breathed into him his spirit, He commanded the angels to prostrate themselves before him. Syaitan, who was not an angel but from the jinn, was in their company, and had been worshipping Allah along with them. Syaitan refused and was cursed and banished from Allah’s mercy (Surah al-Baqarah: 34). “That is how Syaitan swore he would lead Allah’s servants from the progeny of Adam off the path of truth and salvation and cause them to abandon the worship of Allah or bring them to polytheism” (The Brunei Times, 18 July 2008).

Categories of Spirits: Malay shamans, notes Laderman, differ in their beliefs regarding the origin and nature of hantu27. One school of thought maintains that only one hantu was created. This spirit “gave birth to names” rather than proliferating. It is addressed by one name when it appears in the village, by another when out at sea, by a third in the jungle, and so on. Another school of thought claims that “the Breath of Life sent out many sparks, creating untold numbers of spirits” (Laderman 1991a, p. 18). Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 8) claims that “Brunei Malays believe that there are many different groups of jin, and they refer to different categories of jin by different names”, such as orang bunian, orang halus, penjaga rumah, gimbaran, pengasuh and orang jagau. These names are all rooted in pre-Islamic belief but have been fused with the term jinn, which was brought there with Islam and came to be used to “justify pre-Islamic Brunei beliefs within an overall Islamic context” (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 21). Many of my informants commonly allude to the different kinds of spirits as jinn and are generally reluctant to mention their specific local names. Some of them might have been simply

27 The term hantu, which normally designates ghosts in general, may also be used to refer to spirits. 63 trying to avoid inadvertently summoning the evil spirits, as it is believed that uttering the name of a spirit will attract its attention. A few informants flatly refuse to elaborate on the different kinds of jinn, and declare that “whatever the name used for those supernatural beings, iblis, pontianak laut, angin ahmar or others, they were all the same thing, syaitan or Satan” (Nama-nama macam iblis, pontianak laut, angin ahmar dan nama-nama lain atu adalah syaitan). Besides, some informants point out that the names of the spirits not only differ between Brunei and Malaysia, but also within Brunei itself between the different kampong (villages). It is therefore virtually impossible to draw an accurate picture of the various Brunei local supernatural beings. We can nevertheless distinguish four main categories of invisible beings: the nature (or free) spirits, the familiar spirits, the ghosts and vampires, and the angels.

Nature spirits: People’s well-being and success in their ventures are commonly believed to be dependent on the disposition of nature spirits. As mentioned above, nature spirits, or jinn, according to Brunei Muslim scholars, are similar to humans in the sense that they eat, talk, sleep, marry and reproduce. They also come from different religions. They inhabit the jungle, river banks, mountains, or abandoned buildings. Jinn can see humans, but they are often invisible to humans, except those gifted by Allah and those who are suffering from a particular illness. Informants declare:

Spirits can only be seen by human beings with ilmu batin [spiritual knowledge] who can even communicate with them. However, they can be heard, smelled, or even felt by ordinary people.

(Makhluk halus ani dapat diliat oleh orang-orang yang ada ilmu batin saja. Durang ani boleh bercakap sama makhluk halus ani.Tapi orang biasa dapat mendengar, mencium bau atau merasa adanya makhluk halus ani).

Frequently they do take a visible form, and, while many types have a characteristic appearance, their form can usually be varied at will. In Brunei, orang makhluk-makhluk halus (literally “invisible beings”) is the most commonly used term to refer to these nature spirits. This term is elastic enough to accommodate all kinds of supernatural entities. Orang bunian are conceived as anthropomorphic females, physically beautiful and elegant, who like to bathe in lakes and waterfalls, and to play beside rainbows.

One informant, Damit, explains:

A person who manages to see an orang bunian with his or her own eyes will be gifted with powerful physical strength. Orang bunian are prepared to marry the human males with whom they fall in love. Orang kebenaran are Islamic spirits, usually dressed in 64

white, who, like all other orang makhluk-makhluk halus, can only be seen by those who have ilmu batin. Orang tinggi, like bauta, orang jagau or mandau, is an evil kind of spirit, a bad giant that lives in large wooded areas and often makes people sick. These names should not be pronounced, especially when the day is yellowish28, because the spirits might think that the person is calling them. The same thing happens if a person whistles at night; spirits might come and try to befriend the person who whistles.

(Orang yang dapat meliat orang bunian dengan mata kasar akan dibari kekuatan, badan kuat. Orang bunian kalau sudah jatuh cinta arah manusia, laki-laki, ia kan sedia kawin dengan orang atu. Orang kebenaran atu beragama Islam, pakaiannya putih dan dapat diliat oleh orang yang ada ilmu batin saja. Orang tinggi atau orang jagau atau mandau adalah makhluk jahat yang menyababkan orang sakit. Ia makhluk tinggi yang tinggal di hutan basar. Namanya inda dapat disabut kalau hari kuning. Kalau namanya disabut, ia datang pasal macam ketani memanggil kedia. Sama jua kalau bersiul di malam hari, macam memanggil kedia. Ia datang dan kan bekawan dengan orang bersiul atu).

Familiars: Apart from the spirits that are free agents and whose disposition toward humanity can be influenced by correct rituals and incantations, there are those that are owned and controlled by human beings. The familiars, as they are termed by scholars, are employed by their masters either for good or evil purposes, and have to be given regular offerings to keep them healthy and obedient. Familiars can be acquired by magical means or inherited from those persons possessing them (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 85). In Brunei, gimbaran are jinn who attach themselves to a particular human host, becoming his or her familiar spirit, and protecting him or her as well as his or her family. An individual may acquire a protective gimbaran by obtaining special ilmu (knowledge), or by marrying the spirit, by making friends with it, or else inheriting it from a deceased family member (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 10).

My informant Damit declares:

Both orang bunian and orang kebenaran can be used as gimbaran. In preparation for meeting a jinn, an individual should fast forty days, abstain from salt, and recite special verses over and over. Then, on the fortieth day, during the Isha prayer period, the jinn will come out. If the person wanting to meet the jinn is not scared by the loud voice or by the sight of the jinn, the jinn becomes the seeker’s friend. Unlike pagan jinn, the Islamic jinn will not tolerate requests to do bad. A person must speak the truth, fulfil

28 Hari kuning is a day of mingled rain and sunshine, when the supernatural beings are believed to go out and into human territory. 65

the agreements, not do what is forbidden, not deceive, be pure. Lying will break off the friendship.

(Orang bunian dan orang kebenaran boleh dibuat gimbaran. Kalau orang kan merjumpa jin, orang atu mesti berpuasa 40 hari, inda makan garam dan berzikir banyak- banyak. Masa hari yang ke-40, dalam waktu Isyak, jin akan keluar. Kalau orang yang kan berjumpa jin atu inda takut dengan suara yang basar sama usul jin atu, jin atu kan berkawan dengannya. Jin Islam inda sama jin kafir. Kalau jin Islam inda mahu membuat jahat kalau disuruh. Orang yang berkawan dengan jin mesti bercakap banar, inda menipu, inda melakukan perkara yang ditegah, mesti menepati janji dan mesti bersifat suci kalau kan tarus berkawan dengan jin. Menipu boleh membuat hubungan dengan jin atu putus).

Gimbaran are thought to live besides their human host until he or she dies, as Damit notes:

After the death of its owner, if his or her living descendants do not wish to keep it anymore, a gimbaran might become malicious and possess those descendants until they accept it back into the family or else have a ritual specialist return it to alam ghaib.

(Gimbaran kan cari tuan baru selapas tuannya mati. Kalau keturunan atu inda mau memelihara gimbaran atu, ia akan berbuat jahat dan merasuk keturunan atu sampai keturunan atu mau memelihara kedia atau sampai orang pandai menghantar ia balik ke alam ghaib).

Today, fewer people have gimbaran, claims Damit:

In the past, many villagers, in particular those who could heal people, were friends with jinn, especially the orang bunian or orang kebenaran; but now, because of the stronger influence of Islam, fewer people have a gimbaran. A pious Muslim cannot befriend any supernatural beings because help should only be sought from Allah; seeking help from others than Allah is like saying that there are other beings which are more powerful than Allah.

(Dulu, banyak orang kampung, selalunya orang yang pandai mengubati berkawan dengan jin, samada orang bunian atau orang kebenaran. Masa ani, orang berkawan dengan jin atau bergimbaran inda ramai pasal Islam sudah kuat pengaruhnya. Orang kuat berugama atau orang alim inda mau berkawan dengan makhluk-makhluk halus sebab kalau minta tolong hanya kepada Allah. Kalau minta tolong kepada benda lain selain Allah sama macam menganggap ada yang lebih berkuasa dari Allah).

Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 15) reports that among the Brunei Malays, the term gimbaran is used to refer to familiars kept for good purposes, while pengasuh describes 66 the malicious spirit-helpers of sorcerers, whose supernatural aid may be obtained through the recitation of special prayers and by presenting offerings in the form of nasi kuning (yellow rice), human or chicken blood, and cooked meat. However, none of my informants mention the existence of pengasuh, except for Hj. Mejin, who claims that “pengasuh are the same as gimbaran – helping people to do black magic” (“Pengasuh sama gimbaran. Untuk tolong orang buat ilmu hitam »). Kimball (1979, p. 83), who conducted her research among the Malays of Temburong in the 1970s, reports that people who sought to acquire spirit helpers went to an orang bemambu, a man or woman who had a spirit helper, mambu. The donor then called down a spirit and gave it to the seeker. Occasionally individuals recited chants seeking to acquire a gift-giving jinn, like the orang kebenaran, or to acquire some other spirit to give them things (Kimball 1979, p. 82).

The most feared spirits in Peninsular Malaysia, mentions Mohamed Taib Osman (1989, p. 85), are those familiars that are created from the dead. This class of spirits created from the dead, by being conjured at night from the newly-dug grave of a still-born child (bajang), or by pouring the blood of a murdered person into a bottle and reciting the appropriate charm (polong) (Winstedt 1925, p. 12) should not be confused with the inherited “familiar spirits” of many bomoh. In the latter case, what is inherited, or sometimes acquired, is a special relationship with an independent spirit, an agreement that the spirit will help in expelling other spirits from the sick, not exclusive possession of a particular spirit. Familiars that are created from the dead, on the other hand, have an owner for whom they work and with whom they share a body. They must be regularly fed on blood from their owner’s finger. They are actually created by their human “parents”, by the performance of magical operations, while inherited familiars, like the gimbaran, are really free spirits (Endicott 1970, p. 58).

In Brunei, the only familiar spirit created from the dead I heard of is the tuyul29. Hj. Jamhur mentions that “the tuyul is used by sorcerers to steal money from other people”. (“Orang ada ilmu sihir mengunakan tuyul untuk mencuri duit dari orang ramai”). Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 11) explains:

Brunei’s Malays believe that a sorcerer acquires this kind of spirit by stealing the body of a dead child, digging up the grave at night. During the mummification of the child’s

29 Kimball (1979, p. 157) declares that the most diabolical of all familiars are the siranggau, familiars that want human blood and will kill their owner if they are not given the number of victims agreed upon when they become a person’s familiar, but none of my informants mentioned this type of spirit.

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body, the sorcerer chants incantations over the body to attract a malicious jinn to enter it and to make it move. When this happens, the mummy is transformed into a tuyul, which, it is said, subsequently becomes the sorcerer’s slave.

Although the Bruneian tuyul is similar to the Malaysian bajang in its creation, the main function of a tuyul is to steal precious belongings and money from other people without being traced, while the bajang is used to cause illness. Like other familiars, tuyul will obey their master as long as the sorcerers provide them with frequent blood offerings, but they will attack them in revenge if the sorcerers do not make such offerings (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 11). Ong (1988) mentions that in Peninsular Malaysia, accusations of breeding toyol, the familiar spirits used to steal money, provide the occasion for expressing resentment against economically successful villagers. Thus, spirit beliefs reflect everyday anxieties about the management of social relations in Malay society (Ong 1988, p. 30).

Ghosts/Hantu: In addition to the various forms of spirit beings, there is a multiplicity of ghosts in the realm of Malay folk beliefs. The general term for ghosts is hantu although the term hantu can also encompass at a higher level of contrast the various forms of spirits. The Malays normally do not make a clear-cut distinction between ghosts and spirits, but a distinction is observed in the people’s attitudes and behavior toward ghosts and spirits: they do not hold propitiatory rites for the hantu, as they do for the spirits, notes Mohamed Taib Osman (1989, p. 89). Besides, unlike the spirits, the hantu are usually of human origin; they are the souls of the dead. It seems that only the people who die from a violent or unusual death may become ghosts, and take up an existence as independent spirits, because there is no time for the body and the whole of its soul to make a complete and permanent transition from the living to the dead state. The ghosts of murdered people (hantu orang mati di bunoh) are believed to be particularly powerful and malicious (Endicott 1970, p. 73). Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 12) states that the souls of humans who die from bloody, unnatural deaths (including those who die in accidents or who are murdered, as well as women who die in childbirth) “remain on alam nyata, where they enjoy no rest, but instead become the malicious spirits known as hantu”. According to one of my informants, “hantu [antu in Brunei Malay] originate from people who practiced black magic. When these people die, their soul cannot leave the earth and therefore fly around, disturbing humankind” (“Antu asalnya dari orang yang salah pakai ilmu hitam. Kalau durang ani mati, roh durang ani inda dapat meninggalkan bumi, melayang-layang dan mengacau manusia”). This new conception 68 of antu most probably results from the increasing influence of orthodox Islam in the country.

Especially baneful are the homeless ghosts of women who die in childbirth. To them no honor is paid. They are driven away by magical charms and amulets, by prickly thorns, ashes, and the stench of burnt herbs. According to orthodox Islam, those who die in childbirth are entitled to the rank of martyrs with whom God is well pleased. Malays have found it hard to accept this “comfortable doctrine”, says (Winstedt 1925, p. 11). The “horror of their untimely end” led their ancestors to think that such women generate malevolent spirits (Winstedt 1925, p. 11). This class of spirits includes “terrifying demons” that specialize in attacking women and children at childbirth (Endicott 1970, p. 61). In Brunei, the pontianak is conceived as “the ghost of a woman who died during labor and has since then been wandering with the corpse of her baby and feeding on the blood of pregnant women and infants, causing illness and death, in order to take revenge” (“Pontianak adalah antu orang mati beranak. Pontianak membalas dendam dengan mengisap darah perempuan hamil dan bayi. Ani boleh menyebabkan orang mati dan berpenyakit”), explains one of my informants. The pontianak has a strong sense of smell and can detect a woman in labor from the sweet smell of her blood. It will appear visible to a woman who has a weak semangat, “frighten her and delay her baby’s birth, which will cause her to bleed severely and possibly lead to her death”, reports Hajah Jainah Haji Musa (2009, p. 299). The barbalan (penanggalan in Peninsular Malaysia) is a bodiless woman’s head with trailing entrails which flies about at night, glowing in the dark, and sucking the blood of those in childbed. These spirits’ need to ingest blood accounts for their frequently being characterized as vampires. They are primarily free of human ownership, although they incorporate all or part of their dead original body into their being, which explains why elaborate precautions are taken to demobilize the corpses of women and infants who die in childbirth (Endicott 1970, p. 62). Although Endicott 1970, p. 63) maintains that birth demons kill by sucking the blood of their victims, but do not often cause illness by invading the body, as do familiars and free spirits, some of my informants, as well as Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 36) state that these spirits can “sometimes invade a person’s body and need to be exorcised” (“Pontianak boleh masuk ke dalam badan manusia dan mesti halau”).

Angels and prophets: Very different from the varieties of supernatural beings discussed above are malaikat, or angels. Malaikat are said to live in langit (the sky), but this langit is not the sky that we perceive in alam nyata; rather it is the sky that exists 69 somewhere near to syurga or Heaven. All malaikat are believed to be always loyal to Allah and extremely religious (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 11). People believe them to be benevolent towards humankind, and “their help can be requested because God asked them to help humans” (“Malaikat bagus. Pesuruh Allah. Boleh pakai. Tuhan suruh dia tolong kita”), asserts Hj. Mejin. Of the angels, unquestionably the most important are the four archangels with individual names, who are concerned with the welfare of human beings: Azrael (“Azrail” or “Ijrail”), Michael (“Mikail”), Israfel (“Israfil”, “Ijrafil”, or “Serafil”), and Gabriel (“Jibrail” or “Jabrail”, -often corrupted into Raja Brahil) (Skeat 1965, p. 98). Skeat (1965, p. 99) reports that, in addition to the four archangels, there are forty-four subordinate angels.

Prophets (Nabi) are the other important members of the Malay hierarchy who owe their introduction to Islamic influences. There are an indefinite number of prophets, the title being applied to many of the more prominent characters who figure in the Old and New Testament, as well as in the Quran. Among the more famous of these (after Muhammad and his immediate compeers) are the prophet Solomon (sometimes considered, owing to his unrivalled reputation for magical skill, as the king of the jinn), the prophet Jesus (Nabi Isa), the prophet David, and the prophet Joseph. Besides these, there is a group of Minor Prophets whose assistance is continually invoked in charms (Skeat 1965, p. 99).

Spirits’ relations with humanity: Because God did not grant spirits the power of reason (akal) that makes us truly human, they behave like “simpletons or children, easily flattered, cowed by threats, and their emotional reactions are simple and basic”, notes (Laderman 1991b, p. 91). While the spirits are easily tricked and thereby controlled, they are equally easily insulted. Thus, spirits are generally regarded as inferior to people, but are “still afforded a respect born of fear” (Endicott 1970, p. 55). To neglect or offend free spirits may prove fatal, but they can usually be kept from interfering in human affairs by appropriate offerings and ritual (Endicott 1970, p. 53). However, since they are invisible, one runs the risk of inadvertently disturbing and offending them, thus arousing their wrath. Their attacks, which will be further discussed in the next chapter, can range in virulence from merely greeting victims and startling them, “blowing on their backs and making them sick by upsetting their humoral balance with their airy, fiery elements” (Laderman 1991a, p. 44), to striking them, causing them to become seriously ill or even die, or entering the victim’s body and causing illness, or even death.

Malay ghosts, hantu, are not normally conceived as malevolent. Their adverse effect on people does not go much beyond causing one’s semangat to flee (hilang semangat) when 70 confronted by their hideous appearance. According to Malay beliefs, “the most effective defense against ghosts is to read passages from the Quran or cry out the name of Allah”, says Mohamed Taib Osman (1989, p. 87). On the other hand, the ghosts of those who perish by a violent death, of murdered men, and of women who die in childbirth, such as the pontianak or barbalan, are always malevolent and greatly feared. People who lose blood, such as the victims of accidents, menstruating women or women after childbirth, are particularly vulnerable to the attacks of these “blood-loving” spirits, and must be protected.

The familiar spirits harbored by bomoh can be either benevolent or malevolent depending on the intentions of their owners. Occasionally, as we have seen, they may turn feral if their human “master” has abrogated an agreement without their consent, or if he or she has neglected them, or died, leaving them unfed and uncared for.

SEMANGAT Soul and souls: The concept of Semangat (an Austronesian term derived from Proto- Malayo-Polynesian *sumaŋed, Blust, personal communication, cited in Waterson 2003, p. 37), a soul-substance or vital force similar to the soul or spirit in the ancestral Indonesian or Melanesian sense of mana is an important survival of the ancient animatistic30 beliefs of the Malays. The idea that a cosmic energy suffuses and animates the world is an extremely common one in island Southeast Asia. “Sumange, the invisible animating energy that makes items effective and potent, is in everything, though to different degrees”, states Errington (1983, p. 554) of the Luwu Bugis notion. The root idea of the Malay worldview is an all-pervading common vital principle (Semangat) in Humanity and Nature. This vital principle “differentiated, broken up into distinctive units and attached to objects, is what constitutes souls, which are also called semangat” (Endicott 1970, p. 38). To avoid any confusion in the following discussion, I will refer

30 The term animism properly refers to a theory set forth by Tylor (1871) which assumed that the earliest form of religion was characterized by a human belief in a plurality of spirits and ghosts. Marett, in The Threshold of Religion (1914), postulated a pre-animistic, or animatistic, phase at the threshold of religion. This hypothetical earliest stage of “pre-religion” was also known as dynamism, a term introduced by the French anthropologist Arnold van Gennep in his Les rites de passage (1909) suggesting, like animatism, the presence of a power that is still somehow homogeneous, not yet differentiated as it is in the stage of animism (Jones 2005). Acciaioli (2004) argues that animatism lends itself more to hierarchical assertions, as it gives nobles the possibility of arguing that they have higher concentrations of “vital force” than commoners, thus justifying their elevated social positions, whereas animism is more likely to be egalitarian in positing that all these beings have a qualitatively and quantitatively similar spiritual essence.

71 to the undifferentiated vital principle as Semangat, Soul or Soul-substance, and to the differentiated vital principle as the semangat or soul.

Malays, says Skeat (1965, p. 53), recognize the possession by most things of souls, the human race, animals and birds, vegetation (trees and plants), reptiles and fishes, including its extension to inert objects, such as minerals, and stocks and stones, weapons, boats, food, clothes, ornaments, and other objects, which to us are “not merely soulless, but lifeless”. While Winstedt (1925, p. 28) argues that there is no aristocracy among souls, no “rank, condition or degree,” that is, there is no difference between the soul of a person and the soul of beasts and plants and objects, Endicott maintains that the soul of a person is completely individualized by a complex process of definition, while most plants share one semangat among all the members of a species. A single semangat will be attached to each “thing” whether the significant unit is the individual organism, as for men and higher animals, or the field, as for rice. The domain of mineral souls is very vague, being defined only where a deposit of ore is being exploited. In such a case there is said to be one semangat for each mine (Endicott 1970, p. 50).

Cuisinier (1951) argues that souls and Soul are ultimately one, although she notes that the Malays make a distinction between the two. Souls are Soul individualized, reduced in scale and attached to objects. The concept of the individual soul, Cuisinier maintains, makes it possible to render the all-pervading Soul sensible; “it reduces it to human scale” (Cuisinier 1951, p. 253). Endicott argues that undifferentiated Semangat animates the body, while the differentiated and individualized soul controls and protects it. Thus, “the soul, as well as Soul material, must be present for proper functioning of a body” (Endicott 1970, p. 38). The Malay notion of semangat is therefore both animistic and animatistic. The idea that semangat is a personal soul which resides in both human and non-human entities (animals, plants, and inanimate objects or phenomena) is animistic (as defined by Tylor 1871). On the other hand, the idea that objects or persons are rendered powerful because they possess an abundance of Semangat is animatistic (as defined by Marett 1914), for in this instance Semangat is an impersonal force like mana (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 88).

Semangat and spirits: Endicott (1970, p. 56) argues that the same vital principle that forms semangat (differentiated Semangat) also makes up spirits, although the process of differentiation or definition is obviously very different. Semangat and spirits react similarly to certain physical substances (for example, they both fear iron) and can be controlled by the same kinds of charms. They both extract the soul material of offerings 72 made to them. Also, souls are addressed as if they had the feelings and desires of human beings, through spells and special languages, in the same way used in addressing certain demons. However, there are important differences between spirits and semangat which can all be traced to the freedom of the former from the constraint of a physical body. Also, the duration of a spirit’s existence, unlike that of a semangat, is not clearly limited (Endicott 1970, p. 56).

The central concept of Semangat, and the different kinds of familiars and free spirits of the Malay pantheon, argues Endicott, are set on a scale from generalized (Semangat, or Soul, as a ubiquitous life-principle) to the most highly differentiated level (where individualized particles of the vital principle exist in conjunction with particular human beings), “from free to constrained”, “from bodiless to embodied” (Endicott 1970, p. 80). As the vital principle is attached to clearer and more rigid entities, tending more and more towards complete conjunction with a physical body, it becomes more predictable and controllable. Thus, Malays, says Endicott, deal with the power of Semangat as it is manifested in a host of potentially malevolent beings and forces, hantu and jinn, with magical spells and formulae, which change undefined forces into clearly delineated ones that are easier to deal with, less powerful and dangerous. The repetitions of names, descriptions, and origins of spirits in spells aim at defining them more clearly. The extreme expression of this procedure, and the most effective, is the rite which consists in drawing a spirit into a physical body, such as a lime, or a bottle, as is done in Brunei (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009), which can be physically disposed of. “Making the hidden clear, visible, and differentiated reduces its power” (Endicott 1970, p. 65).

Variation in the concentration of Semangat (Soul substance): Some things contain more of the vital principle than others, though it is present in everything. To be richly endowed with Semangat renders a person or object extraordinarily powerful.

Objects believed to be saturated with Semangat, such as iron, certain stones, hard woods, teeth and hair are often worn as amulets and talismans (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 79; Chen 1970, p. 38). Some Brunei Malays hold that some objects possess an inherent high concentration of Semangat: the Malay dagger known as keris, which is greatly feared, or the barang pesaka (family heirlooms), such as tongkat (a staff), or tajau (a big jar for storing water or padi), which are believed to attract supernatural beings who may take up residence in them (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 7). A spell can be cast on certain inanimate objects, such as wood and stones, to increase their level of Semangat, and thus their supernatural power. They may then be utilized as amulets (called tangkal, or azimat, 73 the Arabic derived term) to strengthen, both physically and spiritually, the person who wears them.

In people, Semangat manifests itself as a sense of strength, decisiveness, and confidence. It is not associated with physical strength, for “a learned and wizened old person often has more Semangat than a young, muscular nitwit”; however infants and young children are thought to have considerably less Semangat than adults (Chen 1970, p. 38). Changes in the concentration of vital principle would naturally affect the health and integrity of a living body (Endicott 1970, p. 87). Within the human body itself, some parts have an innately higher concentration of Semangat than other parts. Cuisinier says that Semangat, as the common vital principle, is material and immaterial at the same time; though it is an invisible vital force, it draws part of its existence from the centers of soul material, from corporeal elements such as hair, nails, sweat, blood, sperm, saliva, tears; and from certain viscera such as the liver and intestines (Cuisinier 1951, p. 202).

There are natural as well as magical processes of increase, decrease, and transmission of undifferentiated Semangat in human beings. A person's store of Soul can be diminished by evil spells, or by natural causes, such as old age, sickness, weariness, worry, or fear (Endicott 1970, p. 87; Errington 1983, p. 559). Endicott (1970) reports that ceremonies can be performed to increase the supply of Semangat. Membuat semangat rites, for example, work by transferring the particles of soul material, which are embodied in the offerings to the patient; these can be eaten, drunk, breathed or otherwise absorbed by the patient to increase the supply of Semangat. They are added to the patient's deficient supply of the vital force and thereby bolster his or her health (Endicott 1970, p. 37). Winstedt (1925, p. 28) points out that while the soul is the personal property of its host, it is also an “impersonal substance”, whose deficiency in the sick can be supplied by Soul-substance derived, for example, from proper diet, rubbing with a bezoar stone, being breathed upon by the medicine man. The prayers (doa) or magical incantations (jampi) of the healer also strengthen the patient’s individual semangat to help the sick person to overcome the illness (Mas Irun 2005, p. 29) and to avoid incursions from the spirit world (Laderman 1991b, p. 84).

Fragility of the human semangat: It is the function of the semangat, as long as it is healthy, to preserve the boundaries of the body, to combat the forces, such as the belligerent free spirits, which try to invade the body (Endicott 1970, p. 52). Although most people live secure within the “gates” of their individuality, some people’s boundaries are “riddled with tiny openings, more like a permeable membrane than a 74 wall” (Laderman 1991b, p. 86). The natural barrier between spirit and mortal usually ensures an adult protection from spirit attacks, but children are more vulnerable, since their semangat has not yet “hardened” (Massard 1988), and illness, overwork, worry and fright cause “breaks in the barrier”, allowing the spirits to come into contact with the unprotected body (Laderman 1991a, p. 43; Endicott 1970, p. 38). As will be discussed in the next chapter, some Brunei Malays describe this weakening of the human soul as lamah semangat and attribute it mainly to stress.

The semangat can also temporarily leave its body. The semangat of a healthy adult may detach itself during sleep without danger to the subject, although it is most dangerous to awaken suddenly soundly sleeping people, for they might wake without their semangat which would then have no way of returning. In circumstances such as illness, the departure of the semangat while the subject is awake is considered perilous (Massard 1988, pp. 790-791). It can be captured by a sorcerer, or it can simply be scared away from the body by any shock (terkejut) or fright (Chen 1970, p. 39). Individuals whose semangat is weak (lamah semangat in Brunei Malay) or temporarily absent (ilang semangat in Brunei Malay) are in a particularly dangerous state, since they are supposedly very likely to be attacked by spirits, either directly or via some physical causes, as will be discussed in the following chapter. Even if they do not become the object of a spirit’s malevolence, they are particularly susceptible to the effects of any of the physical causes of illness (Chen 1970, p. 39).

According to Skeat (1965, p. 47), the human soul (semangat) is conceived as “a thin, unsubstantial human image or mannikin, which is a diminutive but exact counterpart of its own embodiment”. It possesses all the attributes of the body to which it gives life, it may readily be endowed with quasi-human feelings, and it suffers from all its disabilities. Its shadowy, vapory nature allows it to enter and leave its body without causing displacement. As it can “fly” quickly from place to place, and is timorous and easily scared, it is often, perhaps metaphorically, addressed as if it were a bird (Skeat 1965, p. 47). Cuisinier (1951, p. 204) writes that the conception of the soul or spirit in the form of a bird is a common belief throughout the Malay Archipelago. Laderman (1994) suggests that the common representation of the semangat in Malay thought as a bird might be a vestige of the religious past of the Malays, who were Hindus for a thousand years before their conversion to Islam. The Garuda bird was the mount of Vishnu, one of the high gods of Hinduism, which also still exist in Malay mythology, often appearing in 75 healing ceremonies as beneficent entities who speak through the voice of the shaman (Laderman 1994, p. 195).

The soul-substance, which enters the Malay child the moment the bamboo knife severs the umbilical cord, permeates the person’s whole body and its secretions like an electric fluid (Winstedt 1925, p. 28). All parts of the human body that are invested with only a normal proportion of a person’s soul, but are removable from the body, must be treated with special precautions “lest they fall into the hands of someone who would work evil magic on the original owner through them” (Endicott 1970, p. 88). These particular body parts not only leave the body with their store of Semangat, but also leave behind ruptures in the body’s boundaries (Cuisinier 1951). Clippings from hair or nails are hidden or destroyed for fear possession of them may give an enemy control over their owner’s soul and so over his or her life. The soul may also be attacked through objects that have come into contact with its owner. Many of our “leavings” that have become pervaded with our semangat may be used by other people to work black magic (Errington 1983, p. 560).

The different aspects of the human soul: semangat, nyawa, badi and roh. Besides semangat, some Brunei Malays, like other Malays, also talk of the roh, and of the nyawa, or ‘breath of life’. The roh (the Arabic word for “soul”) and the nyawa (a Sanskrit- derived word, meaning “life” in Malay) are attributed to Islamic influences, and the indigenous word semangat to “the heritage of the larger Malay world” (Massard 1988, p. 790). It is difficult to draw clear-cut distinctions embodying the Malay notions of semangat, nyawa, and roh. Sanskrit and Arabic words conveying the notions of “life” and “soul” are often used interchangeably and sometimes confused with semangat (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 80), but it is the semangat, not the roh or nyawa, which is acted upon by evil spirits, which have no power over a person unless his or her semangat is sick (“Semangat, bukan roh atau nyawa, yang dikacau oleh makhluk halus. Makhluk halus inda dapat mengacau orang kalau semangat orang atu inda lamah atau sakit”), claims one of my informants, which corroborates Annandale’s observation (1903, p. 27). Endicott (1970) affirms that most writers have confused into one what are really three distinct types of soul: semangat, nyawa, and roh. Since many of the Malays themselves consider the three to be one and there is usually considerable overlap in the definitions given of the three types of soul, Endicott (1970, p. 48) suggests it is best to say that roh, nyawa, and semangat are simply different aspects of the soul of a person rather than separate kinds of soul, and that their complete separation is a result of carrying the differentiation of the common vital principle (Semangat in its undifferentiated state, 76 from which souls and aspects of souls take their existence), a step further than is ordinarily done. The human soul, which is confusingly often also called the semangat (Semangat in its differentiated state), is the broader category, which includes these three aspects. The less distinctly defined souls of the lower forms of creation do not have all three of the aspects found in the human soul. The possession, or otherwise, of roh, nyawa, and semangat by the various forms of creation is key to the Malay view of the universe (Endicott 1970, p. 48).

Nyawa: According to Annandale (1903, p. 27), among the Malays of Patani, nyawa is explained as the life-breath and is that part of a person that goes to heaven (syurga) or hell (neraka) after death. Similarly, Endicott (1970, p. 70) claims that the nyawa flies to heaven or hell, while the semangat disintegrates. According to my Bruneian informants, it is the roh and not the nyawa that goes to hell or heaven after death (“Roh, bukan nyawa, akan masuk ke dalam syurga atau neraka sesudah mati. Nyawa atu nafas untuk hidup. Nyawa yang membezakan antara benda hidup dan benda inda hidup”). They maintain that nyawa is the breath of life that distinguishes the living from the non-living things, which supports Endicott’s claim (1970, p. 65) that the nyawa is the aspect of the human soul that distinguishes the “living” from the “dead” and, in its wider distribution, distinguishes human beings and the higher animals from the “non- living” rest of creation, while all animate and inanimate objects have a semangat. The nyawa, or “breath of life”, remarks Laderman (1991a, p. 41), contains the elements of air and fire, which animate the watery, earthy animal body of all God’s creatures at birth, if they are to live.

Badi: The concept of badi has been variously defined by different writers; it seems to vary from place to place and to be rather ambiguous in any given location31. However, there is no mention of badi in the literature on Brunei Malay worldview, nor in the comments of my informants.

Roh: Another term often used interchangeably with semangat is roh, a term introduced by Islam to mean “soul”. Although semangat and roh may be employed

31 According to Annandale (1903, p. 27), badi, among the Malays of Patani, is conceived as “the wickedness or devilry in man, more or less distinctly personified”; if Malays die any sudden or violent death, their badi remain by their bones and devour the semangat of those who approach them. Endicott (1970, p. 70) notes that the badi is an independent entity which coexists with the semangat and nyawa in a rather dormant state during life. The badi of murdered people eventually become detached from the corpses and take up an existence as independent spirits (hantu orang mati di bunoh), which are believed to be particularly powerful and malicious (Endicott 1970, p. 73).

77 interchangeably in ordinary usage to designate the soul of the dead among most of my Brunei Malay informants, the term roh is never used for the soul of the dead that has become a ghost or hantu or for the souls of animals and of the non-believers, which are referred to as semangat, which supports Mohamed Taib Osman’s observation in Malaysia (1989, p. 88). It is the most individualized aspect of the human soul, explains Endicott, and possession of a roh sets humanity off from all the rest of creation. It is essentially “the spirit of life that passed from God to Adam at his creation and is handed down in turn to each new member of the human race” (Endicott 1970, p. 76). It “sets the human being above all other living creatures”, notes Massard (1988). Many of my informants declare semangat and roh to be identical, but an English speaking informant, Hamid, mentions that “the term semangat is now rarely used to talk about the human soul, particularly by the most religious people”. However, the expression lamah semangat is still widely used to refer to a lessening of vital energy; and ilang semangat describes the departure of the soul as a result of black magic. Hamid points out that, “when the semangat leaves a person’s body, sickness will follow, while if the roh departs, its human owner will surely die”.

The three aspects of the human soul, semangat, nyawa, and roh, argues Endicott (1970, p. 79), form the basis of a classification that both unites human beings with and separates them from the rest of creation in an orderly way. Possession of semangat groups together all significant material entities, including human beings, which are distinguished from non-material entities, such as spirits. The nyawa involves human beings in a class with most animals, set off against the lower animals, plants, and minerals as well as non- material things. The roh distinguishes humans still farther from the rest of the world, even separating them from the higher animals; it expresses the uniqueness of humanity despite this involvement with the rest of creation. Thus, the semangat, nyawa, and roh represent successive stages in the differentiation of the soul material of humanity. Some of the contradictions in the qualities attributed to the semangat of human beings probably derive from reference being made to different aspects of that soul (Endicott 1970, p. 79).

CONCLUSION: CONFLICTING COSMOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS?

Besides their professed obedience to the tenets and laws of Islam, some of Brunei’s Muslim Malays also possess a substratum of animistic, animatistic and Indic beliefs alien to their professed religion. Although Muslim scholars in modern-day Brunei, espousing a more puristic Islam, condemn these pre-Islamic elements in the Sultanate’s religious 78 heritage as “superstition”, a number of Brunei Malays retain these non-Islamic elements as the basis for their illness concepts and healing practices. Few Muslims, argues Golomb (1985, p. 108) writing about Thai Malays, seem very compelled to resolve contradictory cosmological explanations by choosing between them. Rather, they will separate them into distinct cognitive and behavioral domains. They may “consult animistic curer- magicians while otherwise adhering to orthodox observance”, but they are careful to distinguish such practices from those of religious observance (Golomb 1985, p. 102). Two spheres of supernatural beliefs are distinguished: religion and folk beliefs.

However, the division between folk beliefs and religion can be so close that in some areas the two tend to merge, because many aspects of the indigenous beliefs have been reinterpreted in terms of Islamic beliefs. It is “very hard to separate animistic and Indic beliefs from Islamic ones in the daily life of the average Bruneian Malay”, claims Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 43). The new ideas and practices introduced by the Muslims have interacted with elements of indigenous and Indic beliefs and provided a new approach and meaning to ancestral practices and concepts. Folk belief, as it relates to the professed religion of the people, is essentially made up of the retentions of older faiths, on the one hand, and the reinterpretation of the teachings of the established religion, on the other (Mensching 1964), as will be further discussed in Chapter 7. In Brunei, many people tend to apply Islamic labels to animistic concepts and designate all spirits as jinn, an Arabic word borrowed from Islamic demonology, rather than using the names of the indigenous spirits, such as the orang bunian, orang halus, orang kebenaran, gimbaran, pengasuh, orang jagau and hantu. The influence of Islam on certain aspects of spirit beliefs is also visible in the distinction made between jinn Islam (Muslim spirits), which are said to be benevolent, and jinn Kafir (the infidel spirits), syaitan and Iblis (the devil or the fallen angel in Islam), which are identified as malevolent spirits. Besides, the animistic idea of semangat has been fused with the Islamic concept of roh (human soul) to the extent that, for many Brunei Malays, semangat and roh are synonymous.

The practice of using Quranic verses written on paper or cloth as amulets against evil spirits and black magic, as well as for the acquisition of strength and courage, which will be detailed in Chapter 5, also represents an attempt to give a reinterpretation to a basically animatistic concept. As noted above, the practice of wearing amulets is rooted in the animatistic notion that animate and inanimate objects richly endowed with Semangat are supernaturally powerful and sacred and can strengthen, both physically and spiritually, the person who wears them. Similarly, most native healers attempt to give an Islamic 79 character to elements of spirit beliefs by including Quranic sentences and other appeals to Allah, his Prophet, and his saints in their incantations used to induce the spirits to be well-disposed toward humanity (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 110; Winstedt 1925, p. 21; Laderman 1992, p. 281). These Islamic supernatural entities, argues Mohamed Taib Osman (1989, p. 111), are “invoked and propitiated for the power that they are believed to possess and are identified with the supernatural forces in the pantheon of the indigenous spirit beliefs and addressed in a similar manner”. Orthodox Muslim scholars argue that the use of Quranic verses removed from their original contexts in Islamic scripture, for magical ends, is an element of “popular” Islam, and is actually incompatible with the teachings of Islam, which stresses submission to the one and only God (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 139). However, some argue, as will be discussed in Chapter 7, that the dichotomy between a scholarly Islam and a “popular” (or “folk”) Islam is actually misleading. In practice, such a distinction is hard to prove, given the ubiquity in the daily life of Muslims of certain forms of magic, notably those using Quranic verses outside of formal Islamic rites, especially within the context of healing, in “magical” preventative and curing techniques. 80

CHAPTER 4: BRUNEI MALAY ILLNESS CONCEPTS

INTRODUCTION

The reasons for the persistence of traditional healing among some Brunei Malays, despite the hostility from representatives of Western medicine and Islamic Orthodoxy, are closely linked to their cognitive representations of illnesses. As in the previous chapter, data from studies of illness concepts among various Malay populations, in peninsular Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia will be used in this chapter, in addition to the specifically Brunei Malay data drawn from my informants, to explicate Brunei Malay indigenous illness concepts. Many anthropologists dealing with indigenous Malay medicine (Chen 1970; Golomb 1985, 1988; Mohamed Taib Osman 1976; Heggenhougen 1980a; Salleh Mohd Razali 1989) claim that it ascribes illness to two classes of causative factors, natural (or physical) and supernatural. However, Brunei Malays, like the Malays of Peninsular Malaysia (Laderman 1991b), do not divide their illnesses into those that are “natural’” and others that are “supernatural”, but, rather, speak of “usual” (biasa) and “unusual” (luar biasa) illnesses. They also speak of punca halus (“invisible cause”) and punca kasar (“visible cause”) (Mas Irun 2005, p. 27). For Malays, there is no emphasis on the “unnaturalness” of the spirit world and its manifestations. Laderman (1991b, p. 83) argues that the division of illness etiologies into “natural” and “supernatural” categories and the assumption of a human duality of mind and body constitute the underpinnings of secular Western belief, our own “emic” view of the world, which does not necessarily correspond to categories employed by non-Western peoples. Many Brunei Malays conceive of humanity as being more complex than a simple mind-body dichotomy or duality. The Malay person includes other forces that must be taken into account in an explanation of health and illness.

The etiology of health problems among a number of Brunei Malays often encompasses more than one causal link, in contrast to the Western medical model which understands illness as deriving simply from biochemical abnormalities or disease-causing organisms or substances. Brunei Malays’ traditional explanatory patterns for illness rely on a composite ensemble of factors, ranging from physical trauma, germs (kuman), nutritional mistakes, humoral imbalance, and angin (wind), to attacks of disembodied spirits acting on their own volition or sent by other human beings who are angry or envious. Besides, certain conditions such as a loss or depletion of vital force (lamah semangat), severe 81 mental stress (uri) and unethical behavior are believed to predispose to illness, usual or unusual. An interlude of illness may produce a more or less complex pattern of explanation. In certain cases, the relationship of cause and effect is direct and uncomplicated. In many cases, the causes of illness consist of complicated sequences of events in several different arenas – biological, nutritional, humoral, social, psychological, and spiritual. For example, most cases of mental illness, or strokes (angin ahmar), are ascribed to a spirit attack or possession which is itself triggered by a weakened semangat, uri, or unethical behavior.

PREDISPOSING CONDITIONS

Some Brunei Malays believe that certain conditions predispose to illness, and that a person exhibiting any of the predisposing conditions is especially susceptible to the effects of either physical or spiritual causes. This idea is reminiscent of Gonzalez’ finding in Guatemala (1966, p. 122) that illness is seen to be a result of some “outer condition” which may involve “not only natural but supernatural powers”, acting in conjunction with “a peculiar inner condition of the body”, which may consist of bodily or psychological weakness, or a hot or cold physiological state. Similarly, Geertz (1977, p. 150) notes that “emotional and psychological stability has a significant impact on physical health”. If one is upset or depressed, one becomes confused and disoriented, and one’s soul is then empty and easily entered by the spirits.

Semangat loss (ilang semangat) and depletion (lamah semangat) are particularly serious predisposing conditions that render the human body highly susceptible to invasion by spirits, as well as assault from otherwise harmless physical agents such as food.

“Ilang semangat is a much more dangerous condition than lamah semangat” (Ilang semangat lebih bahaya daripada lamah semangat), affirm my informants. It refers to “the situation in which a person’s semangat has left its physical counterpart due to the victim having suffered from shock” (Ilang semangat atu artinya samangatnya meninggalkan badan kerana terkejut). As mentioned in the preceding chapter, the semangat is extremely sensitive, and can flee, startled, from its bodily receptacle. Alternatively, it can be captured by the invisible beings, following the instructions of a sorcerer acting on behalf of a thwarted lover or adversary of the victim. Finally, it will not return to the body if a soundly asleep person is awakened suddenly. The body then simply becomes an empty shell until the soul force has returned. “During its absence”, explains one informant, “the person is unresponsive, and appears to be in a coma, and 82 the captured semangat is at the mercy of the sorcerer and spirits”. To prevent it from being captured, explains my informant Damit, a person must recite Eh malaikat Jibril.., jagalah olehmu roh ini (“O Angel Gabriel, please protect this soul”).

The great danger to being salamat (“healthy”) among the Bugis of Luwu is the loss of sumange’, either sudden or slow, says Errington (1983, p. 563). Sumange’ must be protected from suffering the severe shock which causes the sumange’ to leave, rendering the body unconscious, a dangerous state close to death. The loss of sumange’ is not necessarily extreme and sudden; it also happens gradually and continually “in the course of simply living”, claims Errington. Humans are constantly shedding sumange’ by “shedding excrescences of themselves” – body wastes, such as feces, urine, menstrual blood, hair and fingernail clippings, sweat – and “less tangible aspects of themselves” – shadows thrown on a wall, footprints in the dirt, the warmth of a seat we have sat on, the sounds we make when speaking (Errington 1983, p. 559).

Lamah semangat (also sometimes called lambut samangat in Brunei) occurs when the semangat has not completely left the body, but has simply been depleted by physical illness, overwork, stress or depression, a lack of spiritual discipline—a failure to exercise the soul by fasting, and meditation— (Geertz 1977, p. 151), or maybe simply through natural decrease over time, as suggested by Errington for the Bugis. It is felt as “a loss of energy and loss of confidence”, says Hamid, an English speaking informant. Even if a person is physically strong, he or she may suffer from lamah semangat. Hamid maintains:

Lamah semangat is related to the state of the individual’s shield, his or her aura, an invisible emanation surrounding a person’s body. People’s aura changes with their physical, mental and spiritual state; if they are depressed and angry, their aura will emit negative energy, their semangat is weakened, and they become more vulnerable to the attack or disturbance by the invisible beings.

A disconnection from the natural forces around us, from the spirits, and from each other, leads to eroding of the soul substance, creating “a sense of emptiness and loneliness in oneself”, and thereby allowing all kinds of negative thoughts and mental confusion to move in. Soul loss can also cause physical illness, which can enter the body in the vacuum created by the loss of part of one’s soul substance, mentions Haque (2008, p. 689). Post-parturient women are often said to be particularly low in semangat, and therefore have to be properly protected, so as to safeguard them from evil attacks, or simply usual illnesses. 83

Uri, one of the most common ailments affecting people in Brunei, according to some of my informants, seems to be an affliction specific to Brunei, since I have found no mention of it in the literature on Malay medicine in Malaysia. Uri resembles lamah semangat in its manifestations: people who suffer from uri cannot sleep, nor eat, always worry about everything, manifest signs of extreme anxiety and can even have hallucinations (angan- angan). And like lamah semangat, uri makes the sufferers more vulnerable to spirit attack and possession. If uri is left untreated, it can lead to sakit kesarungan (spirit possession). However, uri differs from lamah semangat in its causation. Hjh Mariam, the female healer specializing in problems related to the reproductive system, explains: “Uri is a knot present in everybody’s abdomen, but it is more active in women than men, especially after they give birth, and it is more active in some women than others” (Uri ani barang yang bersimpul yang ada di kawasan dekat bahagian parut di dalam badan semua orang, tapi ia lebih kuat arah bini-bini dari laki-laki, dan selalunya ia labih kuat arah bini-bini yang lapas beranak). This statement corroborates Kimball’s explanation (1979, pp. 272-273).

Everyone has uri, a knot, and dugal, a stick, in the abdomen. If there is an error of pantang the lumps thump and throb, they move. When cold foods are eaten, the knot ascends strongly from in the midline just above the navel. The knot may become more active after childbirth. Heart-pounding fear can also cause the knottiness to become active. If the knot goes up, the patient cannot talk, hurts at the back in the shoulder blade region, and cannot move.

There are a number of herbal treatments for uri, as will be discussed in the next chapter.

Incorrect behavior: Amongst rural Malays there is a whole complex of pantang (taboos or prohibitions) which permeates daily life. For example, it is pantang, particularly for children and sick people, to stay outdoors at times when spirits are reputedly most plentiful, especially at times of transition, such as dawn and at dusk, or when the day is yellowish (hari kuning, a day of mingled rain and sunshine). Children are called in-doors, and “others who are in their slumber are roused and engaged in conversation”, lest some chance spirit be attracted or possess the body of a child in slumber (the semangat being absent during dreams), reports Chen (1970, p. 39). Also, it is pantang to eat food containing blood, like meat, because makhluk halus jahat like blood (Mas Irun 2005, p. 30). Pantang are particularly important during pregnancy and childbirth, and at times of illness.

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One female informant, Nisa, explains:

Pantang is something you should refrain from doing. We get the knowledge of pantang from our mother, aunts or grandmother. Women should not eat certain types of foods, such as itchy (gatal), cold (sejuk) or windy (angin) foods, when they are pregnant and during the confinement period…There are also different pantang to observe when people suffer from cough, fever, chicken pox, or when they suffer from a disease related to gangguan makhluk halus, as a result of black magic or not. But pantang differ depending on the traditional healer.

Another female informant, Azizah, mentions:

The second time I suffered from a stroke in 2013, the Indonesian healer I consulted prohibited me from eating foods that have thorns like durians and bamboo shoots, as they are bisa, sting ray, kangkung, and jack fruit. Those are the only ones I can remember. I didn't listen to him. That’s maybe why I got the third stroke in 2015.

Mas Irun (2005, p. 9) reports that when a person consumes food that is prohibited, he or she will experience ketabukan (the negative effects of going against a pantang) and will suffer from severe stomachache, vomiting and experience weakness.

Kimball (1979, p. 48) reports that in Brunei today, the degree of pantang observation depends to some extent upon the circumstances. Thus, pantang not normally bothered about may suddenly become very important if a person lies gravely ill or if the household faces some crisis. Following these pantang or rules for behavior is “a matter of individual volition”; each person has autonomy of choice, and each must accept responsibility for the outcome (Laderman 1987, p. 363). Besides allowing for individual decisions in their observance, pantang are often both practical and flexible. For example, Bruneian women today are unable to observe pantang after they give birth at the hospital, because they have to consume whatever food is supplied by the hospital kitchen, including hot, cold, or windy food (Hajah Jainah Haji Musa 2009, p. 320). They are only able to abide by the food prohibitions prescribed by family members and bidan kampong, once they return home. Often, they blend modern midwives’ dietary advice with home remedies and pantang (Hajah Jainah Haji Musa 2009, p. 321). Kimball (1979, p. 45) mentions that most accidents and some illnesses result from kapunan, which results from an unfulfilled desire for food; if a person wants to eat a food and cannot, or is offered a food and fails to refuse it in the proper manner, he or she is liable to be harmed.

Just as pantang represents a negative aspect of behavioral regulations, so too adat, aturan, and pitua are positive aspects. The approximate meaning of adat is “the way 85 things are done”. The term adat refers to the ways of doing things that many people know; less widely known ways of doing things are aturan, “arrangements” while exclusively known ways of doing things are pitua. Most pitua are in fact “inner” knowledge that is specialized knowledge limited to a relative few. A pitua is a technique, a medicine or treatment that does not use recited verses (Kimball 1979, p. 50).

USUAL OR “NATURAL” CAUSES

“Usual” health problems may be attributed to a single cause or a conjunction of causes (Laderman 1991b, p. 84). Usual causes include physical trauma, certain foods, kuman (commonly translated as germs), humoral imbalance, angin (wind), keturunan (heredity) (Salleh Mohd Razali 1989, p. 11; Mas Irun 2005, p. 29), poor personal or communal hygiene, tiredness because of overwork or old age (Laderman 1991b, p. 84) and poisoned blood (darah kotor32), which may manifest in headaches or boils in the skin (Mohamed Taib Osman 1976, p. 20). Physical causes can arise directly or they may rise from the working of invisible agents.

Physical trauma: In this category can be included all accidents, falls, fractures, wounds and cuts, sprains, animal bites, as well as burns and other injuries. Some of these traumatic injuries can also be attributed to the intervention of spirits, with or without some predisposing condition (Chen 1970, p. 36).

Foods: The main cause of illness, maintain several of my informants, is food. Hjh Mariam declares:

Many illnesses, like hypertension, diabetes and cholesterol, are caused by the presence of toxins in food. The older generation had a healthier diet; that’s why people lived longer; their vegetables contained fewer chemicals as they did not use pesticides and fertilizers, their meat did not contain hormones, and they did not consume highly processed food containing coloring and preservatives. Nowadays, people absorb a small portion of the toxins contained in the food. The consumption of food containing toxins for a long time affects the colon, which turns black, as well as the nerves; the toxins will remain in our blood and eventually we can get cancer .

32 In Java, darah kotor (dirty blood) can be caused by eating bad food, or by “continual anger, greed, frustration or secreted emotions, such as envy or jealousy, which will upset your heart and dirty your blood” (Geertz 1977, p. 150).

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(Banyak penyakit macam darah tinggi, kancing manis dan kolesterol berpunca dari ada banyak racun dalam makanan. Orang-orang tua dulu, makanan durang sihat pasal atu durang panjang umur. Sayur-sayur durang tanam nada pakai racun sama baja. Durang makan ayam kampong. Daging ayam inda berinjik. Durang inda makan makanan yang sudah diproses macam makanan yang sudah sedia dalam tin yang ada banyak warna dan perasa tiruan. Racun yang ada arah makanan, masuk dalam badan bila ketani masa ketani makan makanan atu. Kalau sudah banyak racun dalam badan, lama-lama usus kan jadi hitam dan saraf ketani akan terganggu. Racun atu masuk ke dalam darah dan akhirnya orang kana penyakit kanser).

In addition to the increase of toxins and hormones in food, the amount of saturated fat, salt, sugar and calories consumed by the Bruneian population has risen notably over the past few decades. With the significant augmentation in the purchasing power of most Bruneians and the effects of globalization, the dietary habits of the Bruneian population have changed dramatically. Highly processed foods, fried foods, as well as sugary drinks, are now an integral part of the daily diet of many Bruneians. These changes have, as in other wealthy countries, led to a range of serious health issues, such as cardiovascular problems, strokes, diabetes, high blood pressure and hypercholesterolemia, which represent today the major causes of death and illness in Brunei. In 1988, the Brunei Minister of Health, Dato Dr. Haji Johar, had already expressed concern over the growing toll of “diseases of affluence” in the country, due to “overindulgence in food, smoking, less physical exercise and increasing exposure to the strain and stress of modern living” (Borneo Bulletin, 21 May 1988). Today, according to the recent Global Nutrition Report 2016, Brunei is the highest-ranked country in ASEAN for obesity and diabetes prevalence in adults (The Brunei Times, 19 June 2016). A number of traditional medicinal plants are used to treat these relatively new health issues, in particular diabetes and high- blood pressure (see Appendix IV). In a context where late onset chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension become increasingly important public health problems, it is likely, claim Nichter and Lock (2002, p. 12), given the cost of curative care, that state interest in indigenous medicines, if not medical systems, will increase. This renewed interest in traditional medicine, particularly in the areas of herbs and drug, is illustrated in Brunei by the recently launched multi-million dollar research project funded by the Brunei Research Council to document and study the traditional herbal medicines of Brunei Darussalam (see p. 193).

The importance of a good diet for maintaining health is recognized, as is the fact that special diets may be needed in case of illness. Harmful (bisa), itchy (gatal), and cold 87

(sajok) are the three food classifications most important in medicine. The main itchy (gatal) foods are the fermented shrimp paste (belacan), prawns and shrimp, mango, guava, coconut, animal fat, oil, all fruits whose trees have sticky sap, any vegetables with spicules, and some fish (Kimball 1979, p. 59). Most cold (sajok) foods are juicy, slimy, sour, or astringent, and many fruits, including papayas, pineapples, citrus fruits, cucumbers, as well as most green leafy vegetables are classified as cold (Laderman 1994; Kimball 1979). The classification of foods into hot or cold is not based upon perceived temperatures, but follows along humoral reasoning (see below). Whereas gatal or sajok are inherent general categories of foods, bisa overlaps with the other two categories; it describes an individual’s relation to those foods. Foods are not considered bisa per se, but only in context, and even then some people are thought to have constitutions so strong and balanced that they can eat them with safety (Laderman 1987, p. 362). A food that is classified as either gatal or sajok may also be bisa for certain individuals depending upon circumstances. During times of vulnerability, particularly during illnesses, or following the birth of a child, or circumcision, people should avoid eating foods considered bisa, as in the case, mentioned above, of the informant who suffered from a stroke and was advised not to consume foods that have thorns. Bisa is often glossed as “toxic” or “poisonous”, although Malays do not think of bisa foods as toxic, but, rather, as “intensifiers of disharmonies already present within the body” (Laderman 1987, p. 362)33.

Kuman: The introduction of simple hygiene books to schools for the past century has brought to common knowledge the concept of germs (kuman) as the cause of illnesses. For example, Hj. Mejin, the Kedayan orang pandai from Temburong declares: “Hospital can treat illnesses, whose cause is obvious, like cuts, fractures and illnesses that are caused by germs or viruses” (Hospital hanya boleh mengubati penyakit-penyakit yang nampak dilihat mata macam luka, patah dan penyakit-penyakit yang di sebabkan kuman). Likewise, Hjh Mariam, the female healer, mentions that she uses bertangas (see pp. 163-164) “to fumigate the vagina in order to kill germs” (Bertangas untuk mematikan kuman di dalam faraj). Thus, the concept of germs has become an integral component of the medical knowledge of many Brunei Malays. However, Golomb (1988, p. 765) and Laderman & Van Esterik (1988, p. 748) argue that germs and parasites are seldom

33 Kimball (1979, p. 60) reports that in Brunei various illnesses have particular food restrictions associated with them; for example, a person with a cough must not eat any itchy food; stomach ache victims cannot eat humorally cold cucumber. However, I do not have any statements from my own informants or from more recent literature on this topic to support Kimball’s observations.

88 accepted as sufficient causal explanations, and many curers in Malaysia believe that germs must be activated by sorcerers or catalyzed by humoral imbalances before they can become pathogenic. The Western germ theory has thus been “grafted onto existing folk-medical theory as an additional, compartmentalized level of causation” (Golomb 1985, p. 130). Similarly, Nichter (1989, p. 117) claims that the recognition of germs as an etiological factor and source of contagion does not mean that villagers have rejected the doctrine of multiple causality or traditional ideas about etiology. Germs have been incorporated into the existing conceptual universe as “another extrinsic cause of illness”. People will purchase Western medicines to destroy germs, but traditional healers will “reinforce the curative power of the drugs with verbal charms to fend off spirits”, or with herbal remedies to care for “concomitant elemental imbalances” which are believed to render the body vulnerable to the harmful influence of germs (Golomb 1988, p. 765).

Humoralism:

Humoral reasoning, based upon the belief that the four basic Elements - Earth, Air, Fire, and Water - are the basic constituents of all matter, in the cosmos and the human person, pervades contemporary Malay thought (Laderman 1992, 1994). In classical Greek- Arabic medicine, Fire and Air have Hot as their primary quality, while Water and Earth have Cold as their primary quality. Classical Islamic humoral theory differentiates not only between the active qualities of heat and coolness, but also between the passive qualities of moisture and dryness, and assigns both active and passive qualities in independent assortment (Laderman 1992, 1994). The Malay indigenous humoral system merely dichotomizes foods, medicines, and illnesses into “hot” and “cold” categories. The ranking of hot and cold by degree, and the classical secondary differentiation of wet and dry, have largely disappeared in all cultures where humoral medical theories have existed and where a simple hot-cold dichotomy continues (Golomb 1985, p. 156). Malaya was introduced to Islam and its elaborate post-Galenic humoral traditions during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries by Indian merchants (and occasional Persian or Arab traders). The transfer of knowledge through the agency of non-professionals and low-level practitioners may help to explain why humoral classifications became less precise, why moisture and dryness virtually disappeared as independent qualities and why a neutral category, neither hot nor cold, took on importance (Laderman 1992, pp. 278-279). However, moisture is generally associated with coolness and dryness with heat. In Malaysia, the dry season is the hottest time of the year, while the monsoon season is justifiably known as the cold season. According to the Malay view of nature, rain 89 should be associated with cold, and dryness with heat. That is why sun showers (called hujan panas, or literally “hot rain"), because of their “anomalous position in nature’s scheme”, are believed to carry risks to the health of vulnerable people (Laderman 1992, p. 279).

Notions of heat and coolness in a humoral system refer to intrinsic qualities rather than merely thermal temperatures, i.e., alcohol is always “very hot” humorally speaking, even when served on ice; steaming hot squash is still humorally “cold” (Laderman 1994, p. 184). This is a “technical hot or cold”, not a hot or cold that is physically felt, mentions Kimball (1979, p. 53), writing about Brunei. Although Malays do not attempt to categorize foods according to precise humoral degrees, their rationales concerning their heating or cooling qualities are essentially those of medieval Islamic theory. Both agree that hot foods include alcohol, fats, oils, the flesh of animals, and foods which are salty, bitter, or spicy; while cold foods are sour or astringent (Laderman 1992, p. 279). Some, but not all, practitioners also recognize a third, “neutral” category of foods (especially ritual foods, such as the meat of cows and water buffaloes that are traditionally slaughtered on festive occasions) and medicines, along with a neutral or normal body condition (Golomb 1985, pp. 141-142).

Although Greek-Arabic medical theories reached Malaya along with Islam by the fourteenth century, and Islamic concepts are used by Malays to interpret empirical realities, the pre-Islamic aboriginal view of the workings of the cosmos and “the positive valence of coolness in the universe and its human microcosm” have radically altered the received theories of Islamic humoralism (Laderman 1992, p. 282). While Greek-Arabic medical theory stresses the importance of the “innate heat” and equates life and happiness with warmth, Malays associate coolness with health, and heat with vulnerability to illness (Laderman 1992, p. 282). Malay insistence on coolness as the optimum condition for health and growth sets the Malay system apart from other humoral systems. The metaphorical use of coolness as personal and social good, and of heat as evil and threatening, extends to many areas of Malay thought. In daily language, sajuk (“cool” in Brunei Malay; sejuk in Standard Malay) can be used as a synonym for healthful, energetic; in contrast, panas (“hot”) can be a synonym for unlucky, or disastrous. Thus, for example, the knowledge of black magic is commonly called ilmu panas (“hot knowledge”) in Brunei. Also, “committing adultery, is hot, luckless” (Kimball 1979, p. 53). Besides, in contrast to “the ancient Greeks, who associate cold with fear and death, and cold winds with malevolent spirits” (Laderman 1987, p. 364), Islamic Malays 90 resemble the non-Islamic Orang Asli, and the Iban of Borneo, in their association of incursions from the spirit world with heat. “The invisible forces involved in luar biasa illnesses are destructively hot” (Penyakit luar biasa kebanyakkannya disebabkan kuasa- kuasa ghaib. Makhluk-makhluk halus atu bersifat panas), says one informant. During an exorcism, reports Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 35), the patient screams “It’s hot! It’s hot!” while the orang pandai chants Ayat Al-Kursi over and over again. Islamic Malays, says Laderman (1987), have adapted this pre-humoral notion to correspond with the Greek-Arabic humoral model of the Universe and the Islamic myth of human creation. The spirits, to a Malay, are not merely hot; they are lacking in two of the four basic elements of which the world is made. “Lacking the earthy and watery components of fleshly bodies, they consist only of superheated air, which they blow on their victim’s back, thus upsetting his or her humoral balance” (Laderman 1987, p. 360).

Malays, says Laderman (1992, p. 282), writing about Peninsular Malaysia, locate the normal, healthy body in the very center of the hot-cold continuum, rather than toward the hot polarity preferred by Islamic humoral doctrine. Many illnesses, such as ordinary fevers, respiratory ailments or digestive upsets, are believed to result from a humoral imbalance, either to the hot or the cold polarity, because of improper management of diet, work, sleep, or because one’s body has not adjusted to changes in the weather (Laderman 1994, p. 185). Humoral concerns, just like dietary restrictions (such as avoiding bisa foods), become most pressing during illnesses and other times of physical vulnerability, such as the post-partum period (Laderman 1992, p. 280). At these times, as we have noted above, people are strongly advised against eating cooling foods.

The forty-four days following childbirth are considered to be the most dangerous time for both mother and baby because “the infant’s semangat has a precarious hold on its new lodging and the mother’s semangat has been depleted by her labors” (Laderman 1987, p. 361). They are both vulnerable to spirit attack. Malays accordingly take many precautions to guard against threats to their bodies and souls during this postpartum period. Childbirth with its concomitant blood loss precipitates women into an abnormally cold state, and many Brunei Malays, like their non-Islamic compatriots (the Iban in Brunei), attempt to bring their bodies back to normal humoral balance by taking a variety of measures, which will be discussed in the following chapter.

Indigenous theories of illness causation were in direct opposition to the tenets of Greek- Arabic medical theory, both in their reversal of the hot and cold polarities, and in their inclusion of “non-rational” etiologies. The positive value that non-Islamic Orang Asli 91 and Iban have always given to coolness and moisture, strongly associated with the rainforest, although contrary to Islamic humoral doctrine, has remained an integral part of Malay cosmology, claims Laderman (1992, p. 284). Some aspects of Islamic religious doctrine, curiously, reinforces aboriginal Malay ideas about heat and cold. “The Islamic conception of the afterlife stresses the pleasure of coolness and moisture and the destructiveness of heat: paradise is a garden watered by refreshing streams in a cool shade; the home of the unrighteous will be a scorching fire, a Destroying Flame”. Reinforcement of the dangers of spiritual heat also comes from the Islamic belief that the jinn were created from fire (Laderman 1992, p. 285).

Wind (angin): Angin is a word with multiple meanings, many of which are connected with notions of sickness. Angin in its everyday meaning can refer to the wind that blows through the trees, a wind that may carry dirt and disease. A strong cold wind can make you sick if it chills your body, upsetting your humoral balance and causing upper respiratory symptoms and pains in the joints (Laderman 1988, p. 803). Malays claim that wind enters the body via the mouth, nose, ears, and other orifices of the body including the umbilicus, via skin pores and via certain foods. A healthy individual whose skin feels warm and who perspires is thought to counteract the wind and thus prevent its entry via the skin pores (Chen 1970, p. 36). Angin in the sense of gas (or stomach wind) is produced spontaneously when a person overeats, making his or her belly swell and producing heartburn and nausea (Laderman 1988, p. 803), or eats certain foods, such as cassava, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, taro, maize and jackfruit, which are believed to “carry wind” and cause flatulence in healthy individuals (Chen 1970, p. 36). An excess of angin in the stomach and in the nerves and blood vessels is also believed to cause hallucinations and delusions (Haque 2008, p. 686).

Illnesses that appear to be naturally caused (those not suspected of occurring as a result of spirit attacks) but not readily diagnosed are often called sakit angin (wind sickness), meaning essentially, “I don’t know what it is”, claims Laderman (1988, p. 803). Another common meaning of angin among peninsular Malays is the varieties of Inner Winds that determine personality.

Inner winds: The majority of illnesses among east coast Peninsular Malays are referred to as neither “usual” nor “unusual”, but as sakit berangin, or sickness due to a problem with the Inner Winds. The Inner Winds, as understood by east coast Malays, explains Laderman (1991b, p. 92), are close to the Western concept of temperament. They are the airy component of the four humors: the traits, talents and desires we inherit from our 92 ancestors. Strong winds will not harm their possessors if they are able to be expressed in ways that satisfy the individual and enrich the community. If they cannot, their angin is trapped inside them, where it accumulates, unbalancing the humors, and causing disharmony within the person. The symptoms of sakit berangin include backaches, headaches, digestive problems, dizziness, asthma, depression, and anxiety – in short, a wide range of what we call psychosomatic and affective disorders. Asthma, in particular, represents “a graphic example of repressed angin that is locked within, choking its possessor” (Laderman 1991b, p. 93). Firth (1967, p. 194), in discussing Kelantanese Malay spirit beliefs, also describes anging as hereditary dispositions or humors.

Thus, although strong or uncontrolled emotions expressed in daily life are considered pathogenic in many Southeast Asian cultures, because they are inconsistent with the positive value placed upon personal balance and social harmony, denial of emotions or desires is also problematic. It may affect the mind, body and soul, and necessitate appropriate therapeutic action (Laderman & Van Esterik 1988, p. 749). As will be discussed in the following chapter, Malays suffering from blocked Inner Winds, or unexpressed desires, regain their health and equilibrium within the context of a shamanistic trance-healing ceremony.

Although Laderman (1988, p. 803) maintains that if the diagnosis is angin, the problem lies within the patient’s own personality and is not caused by external entities, my own research in Brunei, as well as Golomb’s work in Thailand, and Kimball’s research in Temburong, show that the term angin is also often used as a metaphor for “spirits”.

Angin and spirits: In the medical context, my informants commonly refer to spirits as angin (wind). Specific spirits have often been associated with specific body elements whose malfunctioning in turn precipitates specific diseases. Thus, Winstedt (1925, p. 18) reports:

Just as Plato ascribed disease to disturbance of the balance of power between the four properties of earth, air, fire and water, out of which the body is compacted, so the Malay medicine−man ascribes all diseases to the four classes of genies presiding over those properties. The genies of the air cause wind−borne complaints, dropsy, blindness, hemiplegia and insanity. The genies of the black earth cause vertigo, with sudden blackness of vision. The genies of fire cause hot fevers and yellow jaundice. The white genies of the sea cause chills, catarrh and agues. 93

The wind element (angin), in particular, has a complex history of associations with spirit- related afflictions in the literature on Malay cosmology. Laderman (1987, p. 360) relates a Malay myth placing the origin of spirits (hantu) in Allah’s breath:

The hantu were created when God entrusted the Breath of Life into Gabriel’s hands and ordered him to place it into Adam’s nostrils so that his still lifeless body, fashioned of earth and water, might be animated. Gabriel opened his hands before reaching his destination to see what he was carrying, and the Breath of Life escaped. Having no body to enter, the Breath of Life became hantu, disembodied spirits composed only of air and fire, and lacking the earth and water of which our own bodies are made.

Besides, Gimlette (1971, p. 36) mentions that “external jinn ride upon the wings of the wind… [they] come either with a hot wind, or with a cold wind, which is either dry or damp, but always prejudicial to the sick man”. Kimball (1979, p. 54) mentions that, in Temburong, a particular type of sickness, known as “The Windies” (angin-anginan) or “Wind struck” (kana angin), affects people who go out a lot. A person who is unconscious and cannot talk may have incurred the wind of the devil, Satan, hantu (Kimball 1979, p. 283). Also, Golomb (1985, p. 138) states that the Pattani Malay-Thai Dictionary Project (1978) defines anging as a spirit-related illness. And Muslim respondents identify the spiritual essence of a dead person as the wind element that separates from the other elements upon death (Golomb1985, p. 138).

Golomb (1985) claims that winds are not directly associated with spirits today. Some healers even offer humoral analyses of spirit possession, identifying the condition as a variety of elemental imbalance caused by the intrusion of excessive wind. Nevertheless, winds may act as vehicles for disease-causing agents. They may serve as carriers of the magical influence of sorcerers, and of certain poisonous elements that enter the body and cause illness (Golomb 1985, p. 138). Interestingly, the notion of wind or air as a medium for agents that engender disease prevailed in Europe for centuries. The term “malaria”, for example, literally means “bad air” in Italian (mala aria) and reflected the belief that this disease was caused by noxious gas emanating from decaying matter, especially in swamps (Golomb 1985, p. 156). Golomb (1985, p. 138) speculates that the preponderance of the wind element in Thai linguistic expressions concerning ill health, such as pen lam (“it is the wind”), to signify that the wind has disturbed the harmony of the other components, is a survival from the ancient past when Thai curing was almost entirely animistic and winds signaled the intervention of spirits. 94

In Brunei today, the meaning of the frequently heard expression “angin!” (“It is the wind!”) in a medical context depends on the orientation of the healer and on the circumstances. In some cases, angin refers to an excessive amount of “natural” wind entering the body and upsetting the humoral balance, or causing a variety of “usual” illnesses, such as flatulence, swelling, and muscular aches and pains. Angin is also commonly seen as a vehicle for the magical spells cast by sorcerers. Besides, many informants still explicitly associate angin with jinn. My principal informant, a Kedayan orang pandai, calls himself doktor angin, and claims he specializes in the treatment of spirit-caused afflictions.

UNUSUAL OR “INVISIBLE” CAUSES

Should everyday health problems not respond to usual treatments (see following chapter), or should an illness appear to be unusual in kind (such as mental illness), a suspicion may arise that the sufferer’s problems are due, at least in part, to the attacks of spirits, sent by an ill-wisher or acting on their own initiative. The illness is then reclassified as “unusual” (luar biasa). Malays call upon intrusive spirits to explain such disparate phenomena as physical or mental suffering, unconsciousness, and aberrant behavior of all sorts, claims Golomb (1985, p. 230). Unusual causes include the wrath of God, the activities of a wide variety of spirits, and the use of sorcery.

God: As previously mentioned, it is part of the belief system of the Malays that causes of sickness stem from not observing the right conduct; certain unethical or inappropriate behavior may bring supernatural retribution or sanction. This notion even predates the acceptance of Islam among the Malays. Mohamed Taib Osman (1976, p. 21) maintains that it is not unusual to hear people in peninsular Malaysia say that one is afflicted by an incurable or lingering illness because Allah has chosen to show His displeasure, and in such cases, the sufferer’s only recourse is to undergo repentance (taubat) and seek His pardon. Similarly, Chen (1970, p. 38) reports that when individuals break a divine prohibition, it is said that they bring down upon themselves the wrath of God in the form of some serious chronic illness that is fatal. Besides, congenital malformations are ascribed to the act of God punishing the parent for blinding or crippling some harmless animal (Chen 1970, p. 38). However, Laderman (2001, p. 55) argues that many healers point out that both saints and sinners are prone to illness. Denial of personal power and attribution of ultimate cure to God is typical of Malay healers. All the healers I interviewed attribute the success of their curing ministrations to God’s will, rather than 95 to their own healing powers. However, the statement that God punishes people for lack of piety by afflicting them with sickness is not typical. Only one of my informants, the old padian34, refutes the power of the spirits or makhluk-makhluk halus to make people sick, and insists, “If people become sick, it is due to God” (Kalau orang sakit, itu adalah kerana Tuhan bukannya kerana makhluk-makhluk halus).

Spirits: The belief in spirits is paramount in the concept of sickness. Spirits can be sent by an enemy, in the case of sorcery, but they can also act on their own behalf to cause sickness. Brunei Malays refer to spirit-caused sickness as gangguan, meaning “disturbance”. Damit explains:

There are three main causes of gangguan: encountering a jinn, provoking a jinn by uttering its name (cabul), or attracting a jinn through the excretion of blood. Cabul involves talking about a particular jinn at night. Jinn who hear such words will attack those who have uttered them, causing them to sicken, or even to die. Another cause of gangguan is attracting jinn through the excretion of blood. There are jinn (particularly the pontianak) who love to drink human blood, especially menstrual blood, blood excreted during childbirth and blood that is lost as the result of fatal accidents.

(Gangguan adalah disebabkan tiga perkara: Satu, terjumpa jin; dua, ketani sendiri yang menyebabkan jin atu datang, misalnya kalau ketani cabul; dan tiga, jin atu sendiri tertarik untuk datang kerana adanya darah. Cabul ertinya bercakap tentang jin pada waktu malam. Jin yang mendengar akan datang dan menyerang orang yang menyebutnya menyebabkan orang atu sakit atau mati. Jin kan suka kalau ada keluar darah. Ada jenis jin, iaitu pontianak, suka minum darah manusia macam darah orang datang bulan, darah orang beranak dan darah yang banyak keluar contohnya kerana mati aksiden).

The most common cause of gangguan is meeting a jinn by accidentally encroaching upon its territory. Brunei Malays believe that spirits are invisible; only orang pandai can see them. Some informants claim that ordinary people can see them in dreams, because the soul leaves their body when they sleep; but not all informants agree on this point. Some informants mention that supernatural beings can take many forms, the form of cats, snakes and other animals, but they will not let people see their original appearance. Any person entering a place believed to be inhabited by spirits, particularly places such as a forest, river, the sea, an empty house, must tread with care, and respectfully greet the spirit, lest the spirit takes offence. “To ask permission from the jinn that reside in these

34 In the past, padian ladies sold fish, fruits and vegetables in Kampong Ayer, travelling from one house to another by rowing their sampan (small boat). 96 places, people must utter assalamualaikum [“peace be with you”] before entering the place” (Sebelum masuk ke tempat-tempat di mana ada jinn tinggal, kita mesti kata assalamualaikum untuk minta izin), declares Damit. Because spirits are invisible and their abode is not always known, people might accidentally cross their path. As Hj. Mejin declares: “The spirits will normally move aside, but if they are offended, they will purposely walk towards people and hit them. If the spirits hurt people with a bujak [“a spear”], people will not see the wound; only the orang pandai will” (Makhluk halus kan menyiring kalau manusia lalu dapan during. Tapi kalau makhluk halus ani marah atau sakit hati, ia ani sengaja lalu dan melanggar manusia. Kalau makhluk halus ani buat orang luka pakai bujaknya, luka oleh bujak ani manusia biasa inda nampak. Orang pandai saja boleh nampak). If a person unwittingly tramples upon or knocks over the spirit, the unfortunate individual would receive the wrath vented by the injured spirit. In this event, the jinn will retaliate by haunting the offenders. In Brunei, it is quite common to hear and read of epidemics of hysteria affecting Malay schoolgirls particularly those attending religious schools believed to be built on some spirit’s abode, especially during examination periods, when students tend to be more stressed, and hence more vulnerable to “disturbances” (The Brunei Times, 20 April 2010; 2 May 2010; 5 September 2014). Schools are not the only places believed to be inhabited by spirits; in October 2014, the whole building accommodating the Royal Brunei Airlines offices in Bandar Seri Begawan was believed to be haunted by spirits and evacuated in order to let Islamic spiritual healers from Darussyifa Warrafahah (the Islamic Medicine and Welfare Association) conduct prayers to ward off evil and seek God’s protection from jinn and Satan. Guris, a practice which consists in scattering salt and pepper around a building while Quranic verses are recited to create a mystical barrier against spirits’ invasion (see pictures p. 133), was also performed.

Human beings may also encounter jinn, even though they do not infringe upon their territory, because jinn are said to leave their own homes after sunset, to wander through the night into human territory and to return home at dawn. Besides, a number of Brunei Malays believe that if the day is yellowish (hari kuning), the supernatural beings are going out and into human territory, flying through the air, and people, especially those with low semangat (vital principle; see section on the concept of semangat in Chapter 3), particularly children and sick people, are advised to stay indoors to avoid being attacked by the spirits. Spirits are reputedly most plentiful and active at dawn and at dusk, these intermediate times which are neither perfect day nor night. Some of my informants 97 declare that spirits are only active between Maghrib (the fourth prayer, immediately after sunset) and Isha (the fifth and last prayer at night time). Thus, it seems that intermediate situations are fraught with peculiar dangers from evil spirits. This observation illustrates Mary Douglas’ argument that there is danger in the interstices between categories in general. Ambiguous phenomena that cannot be clearly classified are considered both powerful and dangerous; the unclassified is dangerous to the existing order as it challenges the distinctions out of which order is created (Douglas 1966).

On the whole, claims Laderman, a healthy person has little to fear from spirits, but, as mentioned above, should an imbalance occur, whether humoral or in relation to one’s component parts (lamah semangat or uri), the integrity of the person is breached. His or her “gates” no longer protect the “fortress within”, but have opened to allow the incursions of disembodied spirits (Laderman 1991b, p. 85). Most informants insist that “spirit-caused illnesses occur when the victim’s own vital forces (semangat), have been depleted by physical illness, overwork, worry or fright” (Penyakit yang disebabkan makhluk halus akan jadi kalau semangat orang atu lamah sebab ia sudah ada tekana penyakit lain awalnya, kerana ngalih bekeraja, takut dan bimbang). Hj. Norsan reinterprets the concept of lamah semangat in Islamic terms by explaining that “when a person’s heart is weak and his or her mind is disturbed, the person might forget his or her religious praying duties and therefore attract devils” (Kalau hati orang atu lamah dan fikirannya kacau, orang akan sanang diganggu syaitan kerana ia selalu lupa akan agamanya, sembahyang dan berdoa). Left to their own devices, nevertheless, asserts Laderman (1991b, p. 91), spirits will rarely attack; they are never truly vicious unless they are harbored by people who use them to harm others. Also particularly feared is the above mentioned pontianak, the vampire who, it is believed, is attracted by the distinctive fragrance of pregnant women and will enter the woman’s body and eat the placenta, causing the woman’s death.

We can distinguish two main types of gangguan (disturbances): spirit attack and spirit possession.

Spirit attacks (Tekana; literally “being hit”): There are three common forms of tekana. Ketaguran (or katagoran) occurs if a jinn touches a person, when he or she accidently enters the place of the invisible beings. People suffering from ketaguran (also known as “Rainbow-touched Illness”, according to Kimball [1979, p. 279]) “lie still and are weak, cease to care about themselves, and hardly eat and speak” (Orang yang ketaguran inda bergarak, lamah dan ia inda pedulikan dirinya dan inda mau makan atau becakap), 98 according to Hj. Mejin. Tepalit refers to a person’s body coming into contact with jinn excretions, such as saliva, urine and sweat, if somebody accidentally breaches a jinn territory. The victim of tepalit, explains Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 27), will develop a skin rash at the spot where the contact has occurred. Such rashes will spread all over the victim’s body, becoming more severe and itchy, and excreting a foul-smelling liquid or blood. Finally, kana angin (literally meaning “hit by the wind”) means being attacked by a very powerful jinn. “For Brunei Malays”, claims Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 27), “kana angin is one of the most feared spirit-caused sicknesses. The victim may be paralyzed, blinded and unable to speak, or even fall into a coma, and sometimes die”. Hj. Mejin, who, like most of my informants, uses the term angin (wind) as a metaphor for makhluk halus, spirit and iblis, declares:

There are forty kinds of angin (angin ahmar, angin laut, angin darat, angin kabat etc…) causing a great variety of physical, mental and nervous disorders, among which the most notorious is angin ahmar. When a person has angin ahmar [commonly translated as “stroke”], the mouth is slanting and half of the body is paralyzed. The type of angin is different depending on the time of the day; each type of angin causes a different kind of illness, which has its own cure. Some angin affect the whole body and others just half of the body. If we see something whitish in the air, then we should not go near it, because it has powerful evil effects and can cause the illness angin ahmar.

(Ada empat puluh macam angin – angin ahmar, angin laut, angin darat, angin kabat dan lain-lain. Angin-angin ani boleh membuat macam-macam gangguan arah badan, fikiran dan gangguan pada saraf dan yang paling banyak orang tahu, ia boleh membuat orang tekana angin ahmar. Kalau orang tekana angin ahmar, mulutnya biut dan sebelah badannya lumpuh. Jenis jenis angin ani inda sama, bergantung jam berapa orang kana, dan lain angin membawa lain jenis penyakit, dan lain penyakit lain ubatnya. Ada angin yang menyerang seluruh badan dan ada yang menyerang inda semua badan. Kalau ketani nampak ada macam putih-putih arah angin, jangan ketani berjalan dakat ia, pasal ia boleh buat ketani kana angin ahmar).

“Angin kabat affects the eyes, causing blindness, and some angin affect the brain causing mental debility” (Angin kabat menyerang mata manusia dan boleh buat orang buta. Ada angin yang masuk ke otak dan boleh membuat fikiran orang lamah), says Hj. Mohamed. These statements support Kimball’s observation (1979, p. 77) from Temburong that invisible beings can cause “assorted physical illnesses such as dizziness or the general malaise of ‘jumping pain’ that goes from place to place in the body from ‘wind being stirred up’, as well as insanity”. Chen (1970, p. 37) reports that supernatural beings are 99 believed to cause illnesses either by direct assault, causing delirium, hysteria, convulsions and other psychological and neurological disorders, or indirectly, for example, by bringing about a fall resulting in some injury, by sending a blast of wind into some individual to cause a swelling to arise or to cause vertigo, and by causing excessive heat to make an individual feverish.

Indicators of spirit-caused sickness, declares Hamid, an English speaking informant, “are bad dreams; the wilder the dream, the worse the sickness; feeling pain in certain parts of the body usually after sunset; feeling angat-angat dingin [hot and cold, which provokes a feeling of extreme weakness and inability to move]”; and experiencing drastic personality changes; “the victim becomes very quiet and reserved, while also being extremely sensitive and bad tempered”. Mas Irun (2005, p. 31) reports that in the early stage of ketaguran, victims suffer from severe headache and dizziness; then, they feel hot and cold at the same time; finally, their eyes become shiny and they experience bad dreams.

Spirit possession (kasarungan or kesarungan): Although Laderman (1988, p. 801) claims that it is rare that external spirits enter a human body and that spirits mainly affect people from a distance, “just as fire makes one hot even though it may be located several feet away”, spirit possession, which refers to the illness in which the victim’s body is entered by an aggressive spirit, is a most common type of gangguan in Brunei. Likewise, Kimball (1979, p. 273), based on Temburong data, argues that sakit kasarungan is the result of the patient’s having met hantu in the forest; the hantu is “sitting on the person’s eyes or ears, but not entering into him or her”, which contradicts my informants’ statements. Jinn, mentions Hj. Mejin, “may enter the body through the top of the head, or the victim’s eyes, ear, sex organ, mouth or nose” (Jin boleh masuk dari atas kepala atau ubun-ubun, atau dari mata, telinga atau kemaluan). Those victims who are already suffering from lamah semangat (weak vital force) are more vulnerable to spirit possession than those who have kuat semangat (strong vital force): “Spirits do not just possess people randomly. They wait for us to have a weak vital force” (“Orang halus tidak masuk sembarangan. Dia menunggu kita punya semangat lamah”), claims Hj. Norsan. Sometimes more than one malicious jinn may take up residence in a person’s body.

In a majority of cases, possession victims display psychological (a highly conspicuous transformation in the subject’s personality) or physiological (for example, elusive pains that speed through the circulatory system) symptoms that follow culturally prescribed 100 rules for indicating a state of abnormality, reports Golomb 1985, p. 231) basing his observations upon Thai Malays. Amongst the symptoms of spirit-caused illnesses (punca halus), notes Mas Irun (2005, p. 27), writing about Brunei, are “glossy eyes, changes or abnormalities in the acts and behavior of the victim, headache, memory loss, nightmares, such as being chased or stabbed, and speaking an incoherent language that is hard to understand”.

Damit explains:

Victims of spirit possession avoid eye contact with the healer, but if they do stare back at the healer, their eyes are red; possessed people also normally refuse to pray or to take any medicines. In the beginning the patient feels hot and dizzy. It develops into hot- cold, sajok-panas, when the person always feels hot, but other people touching the victim’s skin feel it as cold.

(Orang yang kesarungan selalunya inda mau bertantang mata sama orang yang mengubati. Orang yang kesarungan matanya berwarna merah, inda mau diubati dan inda mau sembahyang. Mula-mula, orang yang kesarungan akan rasa panas dan paning, lapas atu akan rasa panas-sajuk. Orang yang sakit atu kan rasa panas tapi orang lain yang merasa kulitnya kan rasa sajuk).

Hjh Mariam mentions:

The people who suffer from kesarungan act aggressively, run amok, or appear insane; all the talking and aggressiveness comes from the jinn that has is inside the person. Possessed individuals are also fearless and if not restrained, they are likely to die because they will climb up a tree and fall, or jump into the river, following the orders of the invading spirit. Besides, they often have an extraordinary strength and it is hard to hold them, as though they had become a spirit. Also, their voice is changed. Victims of spirit invasion become unconscious or behave in a manner they cannot recall when the possession has ended.

(Orang yang kesarungan akan bertindak ganas, mengamok dan macam orang gila. Cakap-cakap sama tindakan ganas orang kesarungan atu sebanarnya dari jin yang dalam badan orang atu. Orang kesarungan ani inda pandai takut dan kalau inda di tahan, durang ani boleh mati pasal durang boleh panjat pokok dan gugur, tarajun dalam sungai sabab ia menurut jin dalam badannya. Durang selalunya lebih kuat dari biasa, payah kan dipigang. Suara durang berubah. Orang yang kesarungan selalunya inda sadar dan inda ingat apa yang durang buat kalau ditanya bila durang sudah sadar dan sudah diubati). 101

Golomb’s observation (1985, p. 242) among Thai Malays that the intrusive spirit usually reveals its presence by taking over “the vocal apparatus” of its victim while the latter is “in a dissociative state” corroborates Hjh Mariam’s description for Brunei Malays.

Golomb (1985, p. 230) argues that spirit possession serves as “a multipurpose idiom for the expression or interpretation of disturbing psychosocial problems”. Possession may function as a strategy for self-assertion or catharsis, or as an explanation for temporary loss of self-control, commonly resorted to by powerless individuals who wish to muster social support against their adversaries. Jealous, neglected, jilted, abused, or deserted wives and lovers make up a majority of all possession victims, just as they constitute the most frequent clients of love magicians and sorcerers, according to Golomb (1985). By being “overcome involuntarily by an arbitrary affliction for which they cannot be held accountable, women gain attention and consideration”, argues Golomb (1985, p. 239). Where possession behavior is employed as a channel of oblique aggression, the possessed subject will strive to monopolize the sympathy and devotion of her man by dramatizing her own suffering and at the same time vilify her rival by implicating her as the sorcerer’s client responsible for her affliction (Golomb 1985, p. 240). There has been a tendency among Western-trained scholars, to regard spirit possession as a culture- specific form of hysteria. In Brunei, the media, as well as members of the public, also tend to label the recurrent cases of spirit possession as “hysteria” (cf. The Brunei Times 20 April 2010; 2 May 2010; 5 September 2014). Attacks of convulsive hysteria, like possession behavior, are attention-seeking behavior and only take place in the presence of others.

Cases of hysteria among neglected or abused wives similar to those mentioned by Golomb are probably not uncommon in Brunei, but they are not as commonly mentioned by my informants as the recurrent cases of mass hysteria among Malay school girls. They are also certainly less visible than the cases of mass hysteria, which are, due to their extent, regularly reported in the local press. The clinical characteristics of the outbreaks are similar. The girls scream, shout, and run aimlessly all over in terror, with severe hyperventilation followed by tetanic spasms of the limbs. Some fall on the floor in a trancelike state, as though in a stupor. Occasionally, some subjects would speak up on behalf of the group, voicing their discontent and frustrations. Very often they become abusive. They characteristically take hints and cues from one another. The victims cannot recollect much of what had happened and swear amnesia. In all cases, the schools are believed to be built on the abode of jinn who have not been properly propitiated and 102 retaliate by possessing the girls. According to many members of the local community, the anger of the jinn is the cause of the outbreak of hysteria.

Fanselow (in The Brunei Times, 13 May 2010) maintains that mass hysteria, scientifically known as conversion disorder, is the product of deep-seated anxiety and is often an unconscious response to very disciplined, controlled environments:

In modern times, mass hysteria is usually found in institutions that are very hierarchical and that require conformity and a high level of discipline. Any form of non-conformity or disobedience is not tolerated and usually punished very quickly. The response is a form of resistance in environments where people are otherwise not able to articulate dissent. The resistance articulates itself in ways that people cannot be held responsible because when they are possessed they are being used as vehicle for somebody or something else, and can do things or say things for which they are not held responsible.

Fanselow (2010) says that such reactions are rooted in anxiety for which there may be a myriad of explanations, such as stress due to the pressure associated with examinations, or in other cases, reaction to school policies or the school management.

Conversion disorder is something that occurs in times of rapid social change, or life- cycle change, such as the transition from child to adult. In the Brunei context, adolescents are subjected to a multitude of pressures. First, like all adolescents around the world, they are at a point in their life where there is an abundance of conflict, which causes much anxiety; they have the usual behavioral and conflict issues with authoritative figures, such as parents and teachers, because they feel “forced” to do things against their will. Dr Abang Bennet, a specialist child and adolescent psychiatrist at Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha (RIPAS) Hospital (in The Brunei Times, 29 June 2010) argues that passive students who submit to the instructions although they disagree are the groups of people who are most likely to experience hysteria, while students who defy teachers’ instructions are not as vulnerable to hysteria. Second, adolescents in Brunei are subject to the additional pressure of the small, tight-knit Brunei society, which strongly encourages conformity, especially among women and adolescents. Their anxiety is further exacerbated by the rapid social and cultural change experienced in Brunei, and the conflict between the rigidity of the traditional context in which they live and the world outside, which is significantly less disciplined and controlled, to which they have increasing access through the media; many adolescents cannot easily deal with the contradictions between the two worlds in which they live. Traditional exorcistic 103 ceremonies thus fulfil a new function; they are used to relieve some of the tensions and anxieties of acculturative pressures (Landy 1974, p. 117).

Fanselow (2010) suggests that in many societies, such as Brunei, women are subjected to more rigorous control than men because there is a perception that women need to be protected, which often means limiting their freedom, and which explains the prevalence of outbreaks of mass hysteria among female students. Many people, among whom are the female victims of hysteria themselves, describe women’s vulnerability to spirit aggression as a function of their “weak-heartedness”. Women are perceived as less sure of themselves, more easily startled, more fearful of spirits, less inclined to wear amulets to ward off spirits, and therefore easier targets for spirit aggressors. This “weak- heartedness” is aggravated by disturbances in interpersonal relations, frustrated ambitions or needs, or diminished vital energy resulting from an imbalance of body elements (Golomb 1985, p. 238). Their “spiritual frailty, polluting bodies, and erotic nature make women especially likely to transgress moral space, and therefore permeable by spirits”, argues Ong (1988, p. 31). From an outsider’s point of view, notes Golomb (1985), the greater incidence of spirit possession among women points to women’s relatively oppressed status in traditional Malay society, especially with respect to sexual, occupational, and political opportunities. Young, unmarried women in Malay society are expected to be shy, obedient, and deferential, to be observed and not heard. In spirit possession episodes, they speak in other voices that refuse to be silenced (Ong 1987; Ong 1988, p. 33). Malay girls lead “an extremely cloistered life, where no accommodation has been allowed for the expression of their sexual and aggressive strivings”, according to Teoh et al. (1975, p. 259). Most Brunei Malay women, being subject to more protection and control than men, are usually deprived of any cathartic outlets such as drinking or smoking engaged in by some of the men in Brunei. Even though drinking is illegal for Brunei Malays, it is not uncommon to see male Brunei Malays drink in bars in the neighboring Malaysian towns of Miri and Limbang; it is also rumored that married and unmarried Brunei Malay men commonly resort to the services of prostitutes in Malaysia. Most societies provide their members with occasions for “recreative catharsis during which suppressed impulses can be released and tension or anxiety reduced” (Golomb 1985, p. 232). Possession behavior seems to constitute, like intoxication and gallivanting, a culturally sanctioned cathartic outlet. Just as neglected wives can vent their frustrations and reveal their displeasure with their adversaries through possession behavior, Malay school girls can express their distress and dissent through possession 104 behavior, and savor the attention and sympathy of newly indulgent authoritative figures and classmates during exorcistic rituals.

Anthropologists have generally linked spirit possession phenomena to culturally specific forms of conflict management that “disguise and yet resolve social tensions within indigenous societies” (Ong 1988, p. 28). In interpreting epidemic hysteria among schoolgirls as spirit possession rather than the symptoms of interpersonal tensions within the school (an abreactive expression of the frustrations of the girls), the bomoh (spirit healer) “avoids infringing on the taboos and sensitivities of the local community” (Teoh et al. 1975, p. 267). Brunei Malays, by recasting those who have experienced temporary lapses in self-control (which could call for disciplinary action in other societies) in the role of possession victims, re-conceptualize socially unacceptable behavior as supernaturally caused illness. Deviant individuals can be reintegrated into their group without being held responsible for their transgressions or being branded as insane. In addition, the integrity of Brunei society is protected insofar as any antisocial or disrespectful actions on the part of the ill person are identified as the mischief of the spirit-intruder rather than as behavioral alternatives open to rebellious group members. Should the patient’s deviance stem from serious mental illness or as yet unresolved psychosocial conflict, however, abnormal behavior may persist indefinitely (Golomb 1985, p. 231).

Exorcistic rituals performed to treat possessed Malay school girls in Brunei are in some respects reminiscent of the rituals described by Laderman among east coast Peninsular Malays to treat afflictions caused by repressed Inner Winds, or frustrated desires, where the problem lies within the patient’s own personality and is not actually caused by external entities, but rather by the victim’s oppressive socio-cultural environment.

Sorcery (sihir): Evans-Pritchard (1937) established a distinction between witchcraft and sorcery, defining witchcraft as the supernatural harming of others as the consequence of an inherent faculty or a disordered personality and sorcery as the learned and conscious manipulation of objects, spirits, and words. Thus, whereas “witchcraft constitutes an involuntary and passive property of the person, a sorcerer is an active, voluntary participant in an occupational role” (Ellen 1993, p. 6). In Brunei, such terminological distinction does not apply, and witches and sorcerers are not conceptualized as separate entities. Sorcery has come to serve as a dominant paradigm in explaining the use of supernatural agency by persons to harm other persons. Witchcraft—in its narrow sense— is not mentioned. For this reason, I will only use the term “sorcery” in this thesis. The 105

Bruneian religious authorities, however, interchangeably use the terms “witchcraft” and “sorcery”.

Spirits may cause sickness, or even death, by acting on their own volition or they may have been bribed by an enemy of the patient; sickness is thus brought about by human beings through the agency of spirits. All sorcery beliefs, maintains Ellen (1993), are underpinned by the idea that actual attacks represent the consequence of the existence of some general cosmic power which is channeled for malign purposes. The agent may be an independent, free-ranging spirit that is harnessed by a sorcerer for the purpose. Or the power may be harnessed through the direct manipulation of objects, characteristically personal leavings or images of the intended victim. Alternatively, the power may come through utterance of certain words and spells. Attack through utterance alone is a curse, but in most cases effective sorcery entails some combination of these various elements (Ellen 1993, pp. 9-10).

In Brunei, the belief in sorcery still seems to be widespread today, although all informants point out that the practice of sorcery and charming is “contrary to Islamic principles”. Hamid claims that “the number of people practicing black magic, as well as the number of patients suffering from illnesses caused by black magic, has decreased since the 1960s because people have a stronger faith and they know that if they practice black magic and believe in the devil they will have a shorter life”. People who have “bad knowledge”, reports Kimball (1979, p. 155) look different from normal people – their eyes are red. Malays in Temburong believe that Islamic people who traffic with forces of evil (and use ilmu panas) will “die in a painfully lingering manner because the Lord forbids it” (Kimball 1979, p. 155). The growing rejection of the practice of sorcery may be based on its eschatological consequences, as Woodward (1985, p. 1015), writing about Java, suggests. Sorcerers are believed to suffer horrible deaths and torment in the grave in direct proportion to the amount of suffering they caused in life. This view is based on the common Islamic doctrine that the souls of the dead remain until the Day of Judgment in the grave, where they receive a taste of either the rewards of heaven or the punishment of hell. Besides, it is considered perilous just to attempt to acquire the ability to practice sorcery, because if one’s power is not sufficient to control the spirits, they will be enraged, destroying both the physical and spiritual bodies (Woodward 1985, p. 1014). Another reason for the decline of this practice, says Hj. Mejin, is that “people are now protected by the pagar api [“fire fence”], a kind of mystical shield against the devil erected by a person who has the knowledge of the spirits [ilmu] and prays to God to ask 106 for protection. The pulong35, for example, will not be able to go past the pagar api, or if it does, then it will be destroyed, and the sorcerer who sent it will get sick” (Ada jua orang yang memakai pagar api, satu macam perlindungan dari hantu atau iblis. Pagar api ani hanya dapat dibuat oleh orang yang ada ilmu dan tau pasal makhluk-makhluk ghaib dan jua ia berdoa minta perlindungan dari Tuhan. Pulong, misalnya inda dapat melintasi pagar api. Kalau ia melintas jua, ia akan binasa dan orang mengirim polong tu kan sakit).

Despite the increasing denunciation of the practice of sorcery, Damit claims that “many people, from all ethnic groups, still have the knowledge of black magic, although in the past Kedayan and Tutong people were known for having more ‘black knowledge’ [ilmu hitam] than other ethnic groups” (Semua puak tahu tentang ilmu hitam.Tapi dulu, puak Kedayan dan Tutong banyak tahu pasal ilmu hitam dari puak-puak yang lain). “Murut and Iban were also known for being able to kill without using a weapon”, according to Kimball (1979, p. 156). There are many ways to cause sickness and discomfort to the intended victim. In Brunei, there are three main forms of sihir:

The first one is sunti (also called santau). Sunti is a form of sorcery that is transmitted through food: certain odorless and colorless powders, liquids, or other substances obtained from a sorcerer are put in the food or drinks of the victim; “the poisons enter the victim’s blood vessels and attack his or her internal organs”, reports Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 28). Damit explains:

Sunti is practised a lot in Brunei and all ethnic groups have sunti; Malays too have sunti. There are many types of sunti: sunti can be the powdered dried bodies of poisonous animals, such as snakes or spiders, powdered glass, or miang rebung – the hairs of the bamboo shoots, put in a person’s food or drink. This will wound the stomach, cause the person to vomit blood, faint and eventually die. Sunti can also be miang rebung or powdered glass put on the person’s clothing, which will cause itchiness. Scratching the skin will cause the sunti to enter the blood stream and therefore poison the victim. The powdered poisonous substance can also be blown towards the targeted person. If the “thing” that has gone into the body is not removed, then the victim will not be cured and can die.

(Di Brunei, banyak orang guna sunti dan semua puak ada sunti termasuk bangsa Melayu. Sunti ada macam-macam. Ada sunti yang dibuat dari badan binatang bisa yang

35 See the explanation of pulong below.

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sudah dikaring dan dihaluskan macam dari ular atau laba-laba; sunti dari miang rabung; atau kaca yang disimpan arah makanan atau minuman orang yang disunti. Ani kan melukakan parut dan membuat orang muntah darah, pengsan dan mati. Sunti dari miang rabung atau kaca boleh ditaruh arah pakaian orang dan menyebabkan orang rasa gatal-gatal. Kalau orang atu menggaru, sunti akan masuk ke dalam darah dan meracun darahnya. Sunti yang dibuat dari benda beracun yang dihaluskan boleh digunakan dengan cara meniup kepada orang yang dihajati. Kalau barang ani sudah masuk ke dalam badan dan inda dibuang, orang yang kana sunti inda kan mau baik dan boleh mati).

“Santau”, reports Mohamed Taib Osman (1976, p. 20), “the fine hair from the bamboo, will affect the gullet and the digestive tracts when ingested”. Kimball (1979, p. 293) mentions that “the silacaceous needle like spicules of bamboo would ruin a man’s intestines”. Kimball (1979) reports that another type of poisoning is the infamous kalulut, which causes stomach pain accompanied by bloody diarrhea. A lulut is made of various harmful plant or animal ingredients. Some of the poisons are administered in drinks; others work upon being touched. Knowledge of lulut is reputedly a specialty of the Murut and Iban. Western doctors cannot treat kalulut; the only hope is to find a dukun who knows the lulut treatment (Kimball 1979, pp. 293-294). None of my informants mention the term lulut, although its description by other writers is very similar to that of sunti. This suggests that there might be regional variations in the terminology of this form of sorcery.

The fear of being poisoned still appears to be rather widespread in Brunei. Poisoning is likely to be suspected in illnesses of sudden onset, intestinal pain suggesting needle in the intestine, and in general any unexplained or mysterious illness.

When biomedicine fails to identify the cause of intestinal bleeding, many people assume that it is due to black magic (santau - poison). Most of the santau cases cause bleeding in the intestine and the sufferers either vomit or pass out blood. The only remedy is to treat its signs and symptoms, stopping the bleeding and transfusing blood, the same way modern medicine treats the case (The Brunei Times, 10 May 2007).

This fear seems to be similarly widespread in Peninsular Malaysia, where Peletz (1993, pp. 153-154) reports that “most of a dukun’s patients seek treatment from him because they believe that they are the victims of an aggressive antisocial attack” and have been poisoned either through ingesting physical matter with inherently or ritually induced poisonous substances (bisa) or as a result of inhaling malevolent currents or winds

(angin) manipulated through sorcery (sihir). However, accusations of “witchcraft” are 108 never made openly and directly against anyone; they are only whispered to others as “malicious gossip”, mentions Geertz (1977, p. 153), writing about Java. “There is no way in which sorcery can be established as a public crime, and it is highly unusual to discover a case where any general open accusation was made or any claim for punishment or damages instituted—there being no formal procedures for doing so in any case” (Geertz 1960, p. 110; Geertz 1977, p. 154). Sorcery is “a mystical act to be mystically combatted” (Geertz 1977, p. 154). Apart from Murut and Iban, Kedayan and Tutong people are reputed to use poison. To avoid being poisoned, people learn from a very young age not to take any food or drink that they are offered outside of their home, and to just refuse ceremonially, by touching the glass or cup with their fingertips from top to bottom. This concern for self-protection against malevolencies is a part of everyday life according to Kimball (1979, p. 68).

The second form of sorcery is conducted by manipulating certain objects, “usually an item of the intended victim’s clothing, or a photograph of him or her” (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 30). Contagious magic consists in casting spells on parts of the body of the victim or on some of his or her belongings (Mohamed Taib Osman 1976, p. 22). Many of our “leavings”, such as hair, fingernails, pads of fabric soaked with women’s menstrual blood, old pieces of clothing, photographs, and even footprints, “through long association with our sumange’, become pervaded with our sumange’” and may be used by other people to work black magic, as among the Luwu Bugis (Errington 1983, p. 560). A protective measure, as noted in the previous chapter, consists in hiding these body parts and personal possessions so that they cannot be used in bad knowledge against the person from whose body they come. People fear the loss of their clothes lest “fatal knowledge” be worked on them (Kimball 1979, p. 155).

To do pantak/ mamantak, sorcerers make a wax, paper, or cloth doll resembling the victim, or draw a picture of the victim, and put a spell on this representation of the person to make him or her sick. They can also “stick pins into the victim’s picture or doll, while reciting some incantations to hurt the person” (Orang boleh menganakan orang lain pakai gambar atau anak patung yang dicucuk jarum dengan membaca bacaan yang tertentu), as Damit recounts. This technique called “imitative magic36” by Mohamed Taib Osman (1976) is apparently still commonly used in Brunei, although informants are

36 The branch of magic called “imitative magic”, which is based on the belief that like produces like, and that a symbolic action performed on one thing can affect another which it resembles in some respect, was first defined and discussed by Frazer in The Golden Bough, first published in 1890.

109 reluctant to elaborate on it. In Malay magic, note Skeat and Blagden (1967, cited in Bowen 1993, p. 185), a spell (“It is not I who am burying him; it is Jibrail [the archangel Gabriel] who is burying him”) is uttered over a figure that is buried in order to render harm to the person it is carved to resemble.

A number of magical objects are used as projectiles by sorcerers to hurt the victim. One of the most feared manifestations of “bad knowledge” in Brunei is the pulong, as Damit declares:

Pulong is a flying egg containing bamboo, needles and other elements, such as hair or nails. The sorcerer instructs the spirit to make the egg fly at night and fall on the victim’s home. This causes the target to fall very ill. It can also harm a person by entering his or her body.

(Pulong atu talor terabang. Dalam talor atu ada buloh, jarum dan barang-barang macam rambut atau kuku.Orang yang ada ilmu sihir kan menyuruh makhluk halus untuk membuat talor atu terabang dan gugur arah rumah orang yang dihajati.Orang yang dihajati atu kan sakit. Barang ani pun dapat masuk ke dalam badan orang yang dihajati).

According to Norain, my Brunei Malay language assistant, the occurrence of pulong in different parts of Brunei is still quite commonly reported on social media.

Penggalan (or Menggala), flying fireballs, are also particularly feared, as Damit explains:

Menggala are sparkling fireballs, looking like coconut shells on fire, sent by sorcerers, people who have superior knowledge, to kill people. If a menggala lands on a person, he or she would be killed immediately, because it can enter the body and cause the body to pecah [“break”].

(Menggala atu bola api, macam buah kelapa berapi, yang kana kirim oleh orang yang ada ilmu sihir atau orang yang ada ilmu tinggi untuk membunuh orang. Kalau menggala ani terkena orang, orang atu akan tarus mati, pasal ia boleh masuk ke dalam badan dan membuat badan atu pacah).

If the fireball, the penggalan, reports Kimball (1979, p. 157), goes inside the house of the victim, he or she would become sick with choking; after a night and a day “the victim would die with his blood scattered”.

Alternatively, as Damit notes, “the sorcerer can wrap an egg or a piece of wood in a length of yellow cloth, pierce it with needles and bury this object under the intended victim’s house or in his or her compound. If the targeted person steps over the buried 110 object, then the person will fall ill” (Orang yang ada ilmu sihir boleh guna telur atau kayu yang dibungkus dalam kain kuning, dicucuk dangan jarum dan dikubur dibawah rumah atau di kawasan rumah orang yang kana hajati. Orang yang kana hajati, kalau ia melangkah benda atu, ia kan sakit). Also, “each time the sorcerer chants certain spells, the victim will experience pain”, notes Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 30).

Damit continues:

If the hidden object remains undiscovered, and so cannot be destroyed, the victim may die. Only those healers who have a gimbaran are able to locate and destroy the hidden objects. If the knowledge of the healer is equivalent to that of the sorcerer, then the healer will be able to find the “thing”, and can usually tell the patients the reason for being charmed and even the name of the person who has charmed them.

(Kalau barang yang kana simpan di tampat yang payah ketani jumpa dan ertinya barang atu masih inda dibuang, orang yang kana hajati tadi boleh mati. Orang yang ada gimbaran saja boleh mencari, mengambil dan membinasakan barang buatan orang atu. Kalau ilmu orang mengubati tadi sama kuatnya dengan yang membuat sihir, orang yang mengubati selalunya boleh mencari barang yang kana buat atu dan orang yang mengubati boleh membaritahu siapa yang menyuruh membuati dan kenapa ia kana buati).

The last type of black magic, called pukau, is “done by the wind”, according to Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 31), when a sorcerer chants spells and blows the chants to the intended victim. This method can be used to kill a person, when a person with “bad knowledge” requests a familiar spirit to kill people, for example “by choking them to death” (Kimball 1979, p. 157). Sorcerers, acting on behalf of a “customer”, can also recite incantations to request the help of a familiar spirit to entice the victim’s soul from his or her body when the person is asleep and his or her soul is wandering; if the soul is captured, the person will suffer from ilang semangat (see above). Chanting magical spells is also commonly used to induce love in the victim. When somebody has been influenced by pukau, reports Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 31), it is believed he or she will fall madly in love with the one who has utilized this form of sorcery and will do anything that is asked of him or her37. Just like “good knowledge”, “bad” incantations

37 In Brunei, love magic, which consists in seducing somebody by chanting magical spells (pukau) or by rubbing potions provided by a sorcerer onto the targeted person, has an ambiguous status. Although it is considered as a form of sorcery, some Brunei Malays believe that the practice of love magic is not reprehensible because it does not physically harm the victims. 111 start with “Bismillah…” (“In the name of Allah …”), but the names used in the verse are different (Kimball 1979, p. 155).

Some Brunei Malays are so frightened of sorcery that they seldom mention it by name (ilmu sihir), and often refer to it as “an illness caused by a person” (buatan orang). I never encountered a Brunei Malay who claimed to be a sorcerer or who would admit having employed one. A number of my interlocutors, however, claimed to be the victims of sorcery or to know of cases in which it had been used by others. Besides, I observed, while I was hanging out with Damit at the market, a significant number of Brunei Malays coming to Tamu Kianggeh to ask for remedies against sorcery or to request magical love potions. Peletz (1993, p. 171) argues that in Malay society, where the formal rules of social interaction proscribe the public expression of anger, envy, personal desires and affections, Malays assume that many people in their social universe rely on sorcery to achieve what they are prevented by the formal rules of social interaction from accomplishing. Golomb (1985, p. 245) claims, however, that the targets of most magical manipulation strategies in Thai society are not despised competitors, but those persons whose affection or support one is hoping to win; the magical operations thus performed are perceived neither as evil nor as unjustified by the magicians and their clients. Analogously, some well-intentioned orang pandai in Brunei continue to practice such operations, despite the fact that magic is increasingly portrayed as a wicked enterprise by the religious authorities and there is, according to Laderman (2001, p. 55), “a strong injunction in Malay society against thwarting God’s will by attempting to escape one’s assigned status in life”, for example by acquiring spells to increase personal attractiveness and luck.

CONCLUSION: A COMPLEX ETIOLOGICAL SYSTEM

The different traditional Brunei Malay theories of illness causation, including “naturalistic”, or usual (biasa or kasar), ideas, such as physical trauma, dietary or elemental imbalance, as well as “supernaturalistic” (“personalistic” in Foster’s terms [1976, p. 775]), or “unusual” (luar biasa or halus) explanations such as spirit attack and sorcery, along with “psychological” notions such as lamah semangat or uri, are far from mutually exclusive and in fact, often overlap. While an episode of illness can sometimes be simply ascribed a direct and uncomplicated explanation, many illness etiologies consist in complex causal chains of events. For instance, an apparently simple case of chest infection may be perceived as the product of a sudden onset of uri after childbirth, 112 leading to an assault by invisible beings, which activate germs (kuman) causing chest infection. As the immediate causes postulated for some illnesses consist of complicated sequences of events in several different media, distinctive therapeutic approaches, such as antibacterial Western medication, dietary adjustment, humoral balance restoration, as well as magical incantations requesting the help of supernatural beings or the departure of evil spirits, are all perceived as equally appropriate treatments, for they effectively deal with different links on the causal chain of sickness (Golomb 1985, p. 131). Sometimes, the same illness can have multiple etiologies. For example, dysentery may be caused by overeating some fruit, by “thorn” projectiles “shot” into the body by the spirits, or by excessive “heat” in the body, often blamed on failure to take a daily bath (Golomb 1988, p. 768). The identification of the exact cause of the affliction will depend on the response of the victim to the different kinds of treatment.

Sicknesses that do not respond to “usual” treatments, such as dietary changes or herbal treatment aiming at restoring the elemental balance, or which otherwise deviate from the normal course are often blamed on incursions from the unseen world. There is some ambiguity among interviewees in Brunei about the ability of spirits to cause illness. Only a few informants deny that spirits can either cause or cure illness and claim that health and illness are subject to the divine will, which is the origin of all things, or maintain that they only believe in Western theories of illness causation. However, most of my informants believe that spirits are a major cause of human afflictions, both physical and mental. The concept of spirits and their possible influence on humans is reinforced by the Islamic belief in jinn as a creation of God (e.g., Quran, chapter 72, Surah al-Jinn). Aberrant behavior of all sorts and mental disturbances, in particular, are commonly attributed to assaults by spirits acting on their own volition or sent by an enemy. The different forms of spirit attacks, ketaguran, tepalit, and kana angin, can cause an assortment of physical disorders, as well as psychological disturbances. However, it seems that only minor mental disturbances are identified as spirit attacks (tekana), while more serious mental illnesses, such as hysteria, are interpreted as spirit possession (kesarungan), when spirits actually enter the victim’s body.

Spirit attack and spirit possession serve different purposes. Although some of the symptoms of spirit attack may be indistinguishable from those of spirit possession, it is the victim, and not an intrusive agent, who is recognized to be displaying or experiencing those symptoms (Golomb 1985, p. 243). Spirit attacks mainly signal disturbed relationships with the spirit world and unethical behavior. As the gatekeepers of social 113 boundaries, spirits guard against human transgressions into amoral spaces. Such accidents require “the mystical qualities of traditional healers to readjust spirit relations with the human world” (Ong 1988, p. 31). Golomb (1985, p. 249) argues that traditional curers sometimes identify unfamiliar somatic afflictions as spirit attack for lack of an alternative explanation. Spirit possession, on the other hand, serves as “a multipurpose idiom for the expression and interpretation of disturbing psychosocial problems” (Golomb 1985, p. 230). Brunei Malay school girls, who are subject to the highest degree of control in a very oppressive socio-cultural environment, seem to find in possession behavior the opportunity to vent their frustration and release their tension without being held responsible for their deviant behavior. Defining hysterical behavior as the result of arbitrary attacks by offended, or trampled, malevolent spirits, rather than as the expression of the deep anxiety of Malay school girls subjected to a tremendous amount of social pressure, helps maintain social cohesion in Brunei.

Black magic, where spirits have been bribed by an enemy of the patient, is also considered, from the perspective of Brunei Malay traditional medicine, an important factor leading to problems of a physical or psychological nature. Sorcerers’ aggression is usually channeled through food poison, inanimate objects manufactured by a sorcerer employing principles of imitative or contagious magic, or through purely verbal media such as oral charms. In Malay society, where public expression of emotions, envy and desires is seen as immature and excessive, sorcery functions as an alternative, covert instrument of revenge against business or love rivals. All sicknesses that are believed to result from aggression by rivals through black magic or from assaults by malevolent spirits acting on their own initiative cannot be treated by cosmopolitan medicine and require the ministrations of traditional healers.

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CHAPTER 5: TRADITIONAL HEALERS AND

TRADITIONAL HEALING PRACTICES

INTRODUCTION:

The traditional methods of prevention and treatment of illness are a logical corollary of the concepts of causation presented in the previous chapter. The repertoire of therapies of indigenous healers in Brunei includes the prescription of medicinal plants, the use of cupping, massage, post-natal treatments, as well as the many ritualistic incantations aimed at re-enforcing the effectiveness of “naturalistic” treatment methods and at removing the underlying cause of illness. In the different preventative measures and healing methods commonly employed by orang pandai, we discover a mixture of animistic, Indic, Persian and Islamic elements. Some healing techniques, especially tawari and guris, as well as the use of amulets as a protection against evil spirits and sorcery, are clearly a manifestation of the ancient animistic heritage of the Brunei Malay people. Incantations, which constitute the primary means of curing, traditionally mix Quranic verses with other words. Although many aspects of traditional healing in Brunei are clearly related to pre-Islamic beliefs and practices, others, both in the acquisition of knowledge and healing practices of the orang pandai, such as the practice of zikir, asceticism and meditation to acquire spiritual knowledge (ilmu batin), show obvious similarities with Sufi mystical healing. The terms bomoh and dukun, which formerly designated folk healers in Brunei, are now invested with negative connotations, and have recently been replaced by the term orang pandai (literally “skilled people”), which suggests that practitioners depend largely on Islamic, rather than animistic and Indic, ideas for their curing ministrations. This new terminology has permitted non-ustaz healers to be at least tolerated by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, but folk healers must be careful not to use any form of healing that is regarded as syirik (an Arabic term meaning the acknowledgement of other beings or powers besides Allah), such as the recourse to spirit-helpers or the practice of spirit-mediumship.

THE TERMINOLOGY OF MALAY TRADITIONAL HEALING: A COMPLEX AND SENSITIVE QUESTION

Bomoh, pawang, dukun, bidan kampong, and keramat hidup: In Peninsular Malaysia, Mohamed Taib Osman (1976, p. 17) notes that two general terms, pawang and bomoh, 115 are often used to talk about the traditional medical specialist among the Malays. While some people may use the terms interchangeably, the former usually refers to the shaman who is able to communicate with the spirit world and conducts such rituals as opening virgin land, propitiating the spirits of the sea for the fishermen or the pacification of spirits that are supposed to guard a place. The bomoh, on the other hand, usually refers to the specialist who cures illnesses. Ordinary Malays may generally draw the distinction between the functions of pawang and bomoh, but they tend to place both the specialists into one common institutional category of their culture mainly because their practices are regarded as commonly belonging to “a domain strictly outside their religious faith” (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 61). The term dukun is a standard term for a traditional medical practitioner in Indonesia, particularly Java, while bomoh is more frequently used in Peninsular Malaysia (Wazir-Jahan Karim 1984). In Indonesia, dukun are practitioners in the areas of alternative healing, sorcery, and traditional ceremonies; they are linked with the esoteric world of spirits and mysticism (Mahony 2002; Nourse 2013).

The bidan kampong (village midwife) provides pre-natal care, delivers the baby, and then looks after the mother as well as the baby for a forty-four-day period. Today, in Brunei, there are officially no bidan kampong any longer; however, as will be discussed below, some women still hold some of the knowledge of the former bidan kampong, and can advise young post-partum women with regard to their own protection and that of their new-born babies. Mohamed Taib Osman (1976, p. 18) also notes the existence in Peninsular Malaysia of the keramat hidup, a figure emerging from popular religion, more or less a “living saint” endowed with special powers, one of which is the ability to cure illnesses. However, Mohamed Taib Osman mentions that the religious authorities did not allow the keramat hidup in Malaysia forty years ago, because they regarded their presence suspiciously as a deviation from the true teachings of Islam, unlike bomoh over whom no religious sanction had been known to be applied rigorously.

Orang pandai: In Brunei, traditional healers used to be known as bomoh and dukun, as is the case among other Malay communities in Southeast Asia. Today, however, these traditional terms have been invested with negative connotations and associated with animistic and Indic ideas and practices38. Islamic scholars declare (in The Brunei Times, 27 December 2007):

38 Today, it is the term bomoh that is particularly invested with negative connotations. The term dukun is never mentioned in the media, and only a few informants mentioned it. 116

Although there are probably “good bomoh” who teach sick people to seek healing only through supplication to Allah Most High because only Allah has the powers to heal creatures, most bomoh are taking advantage of people’s ignorance about Islam and mislead them into thinking that they, mere human beings, have the powers to heal them and to see the unseen (ghaib). Animism and superstition are often an important part of these bad bomoh’s repertoires.

Consequently, the term orang pandai (literally “skilled men”; they are also sometimes referred to as orang pemandai) has replaced bomoh and dukun, suggesting that the practitioners depend largely on Islamic ideas for their curing ministrations. It seems that the term dukun was the term of widest currency in Brunei and had no pejorative connotation only a few decades ago, when Kimball (1979) conducted her research on Brunei Malay indigenous medicine in Temburong in the 1970s. Similarly, the term bomoh was still commonly used in the late 1980s (Eaton 2010, p. 65). Given the newly negative connotations of bomoh and dukun, all the traditional healers I interviewed refused to be addressed as bomoh or dukun and insisted that their healing practices were based on Islamic principles, while a bomoh or dukun was involved in black magic, which is against Islam. According to Damit:

Bomoh usually do not heal using Quranic verses, but call on the help of spirits and other non-Islamic elements to cure patients, while the healing methods of the Brunei orang pandai involve the use of zikir39 to expel supernatural beings from the body.

(Bomoh tidak guna ayat-ayat Quran, tetapi minta tolong makhluk-makhluk halus dan benda lain yang tidak dibenarkan Islam untuk mengubat orang. Orang pandai di Brunei mengubat guna zikir untuk halau makhluk halus dari dalam badan manusia).

Hj. Norsan even claims that “the terms bomoh and dukun are only used in Malaysia and Indonesia, and are not in use in Brunei” (Di Malaysia dan Indonesia, orang pandai dipanggil bomoh dan dukun. Di Brunei, orang pandai tidak dipanggil bomoh dan dukun). Hj. Majid, however, uses the expression jurusan dukun to refer to the healing sphere which does not encompass Western scientific medical knowledge. He says: “I did not learn from my parents, a book or a doctor, but from those people who heal using Quranic verses” (Aku inda belajar dari ibubapaku, buku atau dari doktor, tapi dari jurusan dukun, dari orang pandai mengubati yang menggunakan ayat-ayat Quran). The

39 Zikir, or dhikr, is a religious exercise in which short prayers – la ilaha illa’llah, “there is no God but Allah” – are repeatedly recited silently or aloud, and sometimes simultaneously counted on a string of beads.

117 negative connotations attached to the term bomoh are reinforced by the local media, which have presented several cases of fraudulent healers calling themselves bomoh. For example, the article “Beware of Bogus Bomoh” (published in the Borneo Bulletin, 4 October 2014) mentions:

Imams denounce the practices of bomoh who deceive the public by offering to predict winning four-digit lottery numbers, tricking people to part with their hard- earned cash and molesting their “patients” as part of their “treatment”. Some of the bomoh would even promise people they are able to make their husband or wife loyal to them. Some bomoh would also tell people to chant mantras to treat illnesses, which is against the teachings of Islam (syirik). Imams urge Muslims to steer clear of such deviant activities, to seek proper treatment from doctors and to recite more prayers.

All healers insist that the success of their treatments is always attributed to God’s willingness, not to the healer’s ability: “A true healer cannot boast because it is against the teachings of Islam. A true healer has to keep a low profile” (Seorang yang pandai mengubat, tidak boleh sombong dan menunjuk-nunjuk kerana ia dilarang oleh agama Islam; orang yang benar-benar pandai mengubati mesti merendah diri), as Hj. Majid declares. All claim that they “heal people just to do good deeds”, and that they “do not ask for payment, while bomoh usually fix the amount to be paid” (Aku inda minta bayaran. Tapi bomoh selalunya menetapkan harga untuk dibayar oleh orang yang diubati). “A person who heals with Quranic verses”, explains Hj. Majid, “does not ask for any payment because the Quran consists of the words of God and it cannot be bought or sold” (Aku inda minta bayaran kerana kalau ku minta bayaran macam aku jual ayat Quran. Ayat-ayat Quran adalah kata kata Tuhan yang inda boleh dijual atau dibeli). Some say that they receive whatever amount is given, and sometimes they do not get paid at all. Usually, patients give them a sedekah or pengaras, so that their illness will not come back. “The sedekah doesn’t have to be money; it can be other items, such as a knife or a parang” (Sedakah atu inda semestinya duit, tapi benda lain macam parang atau pisau), according to Hj. Jamhur. Hj. Majid explains: “This is the ‘principle of sincerity’, the act of giving one’s energy and time to help others without expecting anything in return. If you are “sincere [ikhlas] and help other people, God will help you in return and grant you good health and a prosperous life” (Ikhlas ani ketani menolong orang guna tenaga dan masa ketani dan inda minta balas balik. Kalau ketani ikhlas menolong orang, Tuhan akan tolong ketani balik dan ia akan bagi ketani badan sihat dan murah rezeki). 118

The traditional healers I interviewed set a fixed price for the medicinal plants they sell at home or at the market, but they never ask for payment if they treat a patient with other therapeutic techniques, such as gilir, massage, or incantations. Patients can give them a sedekah or pengaras (a gift, which does not have to be money), so that their illness will not come back. Haque (2008, p. 689) mentions that traditionally, bomoh do not charge a fee for their services. Clients wishing to express their gratitude for the services can make offerings of foods or gifts based on financial ability. Similarly, Kimball (1979, p. 56) notes that underlying the entire process of teaching, learning, and practicing medicine is the concept of pikaras, a gift given for knowledge learnt or treatment received: “Every patient must give some gift, even a nail or a kiss suffices, otherwise the illness will rebound into the treating dukun who will then get sick” notes Kimball (1979, p. 56). Thus, it seems that the notion that bomoh and dukun are not sincere and treat patients mainly for financial reasons and the negative connotations attached to both these terms have only recently emerged in Brunei as a result of the State’s desire to discourage its citizens from resorting to the services of traditional healers.

Today, the expertise of orang pandai includes an extensive knowledge of herbs, massage techniques and incantations. They are also capable of “mediating between alam nyata and alam Ghaib” to cure sickness caused by malevolent spirits (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 14). However, the present-day orang pandai in Brunei cannot be called a shaman because, as mentioned earlier, the practice of trance mediumship among Brunei Malays seems to have completely vanished in the last few decades. Heinze (1992) claims that only those practitioners who, besides being mediators between the sacred and the profane, can attain alternate states of consciousness at will and go into trance can be called shamans. Shamans, like mediums, go on journeys to the spirit world, communicate with the souls of the dead, bring spiritual messages back to the world of the living, and can also “call spirits into their body in a dissociative trance so that these spiritual energies can become actors”, according to Heinze (1992, p. 134).

Ustaz and non-ustaz healers: In modern-day Brunei, there are two opposing categories of orang pandai, who symbolize the conflict between State religious philosophy and Brunei Malay traditional beliefs and practices: Ustaz and non-ustaz healers. My own research only involved non-ustaz healers.

Ustaz are considered to be orthodox Muslim scholars who, in addition to bertarak (asceticism), have acquired their religious knowledge through State-provided centers of Islamic teaching. Since the establishment of the Islamic Da’wah Centre in 1985, these 119 ustaz have tried to prevent the spread of ajaran sesat (heresy or superstitious beliefs) among Muslims in Brunei through religious talks on television and on radio, as well as when visiting various government departments (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 16). The ustaz tend to use the terms dukun and bomoh in a derogatory manner (although this was certainly not the case in traditional Malay society), suggesting that the practices of these traditional healers are more closely related to animism than to orthodox Islam. The State’s Ministry of Religious Affairs has charged these ustaz with overseeing the activities of non-ustaz healers, so as to ensure that the latter do not contradict State- designated Islamic norms. They have the authority to interrogate those whom they suspect of such contraventions and to have them sent to the courts (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 17). Non-ustaz healers’ medical practices typically mix Quranic verses with jampi (magical incantations), and they traditionally had recourse to spirit-helpers. In effect, their practices, argues Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 17), “represent a greater continuity with the past than do those of the ustaz, which partially explains why people still patronize them”. However, if it is discovered that the practices of these non-ustaz healers involve recourse to spirit-helpers or practicing spirit-mediumship, which is regarded as syirik (contrary to Islamic belief), the religious authorities will arrest them (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p.17). Most of my informants, however, claim that the term orang pandai means “skilled people”, and thus designates a person who can heal, whether he or she is an ustaz or not, and indiscriminately attribute healing powers to both categories of orang pandai.

TRADITIONAL HEALING KNOWLEDGE

Learning medicine

Acquisition of naturalistic medicinal knowledge: There seems to be very little standardization in the training of traditional healers. No practitioners whom I interviewed received any formal training on medicinal plants or on urut Melayu. Knowledge of herbal medicines is mainly transmitted orally. Except for a few informants who mentioned that they had acquired their knowledge of medicinal plants through self-research in books (particularly Indonesian books) and experimentation, the majority claim that they have inherited the knowledge from their parents and grandparents, or from the village elderly, when they accompanied them in the forest to collect plants, or when they observed them massaging patients, during their childhood or when they manifested some interest in traditional healing after they fell ill. 120

Hjh Mariam states:

I learnt recipes for special jamu for use during menstruation, pregnancy, and following childbirth from my mother. When I was in my twenties, after I had been very ill, I also learnt from my mother about herbal treatments for specific diseases, such as hypertension, digestive problems, asthma and even cancer. I have already transmitted my knowledge to one of my daughters, because she showed interest.

(Jamu yang ku buat untuk diminum masa datang bulan, masa betian dan lepas beranak, ku belajar dari mamaku. Masa umurku dua-puluh tahun, lepas ku sakit, ku belajar pasal ubat-ubat dari daun-daun untuk penyakit macam darah tinggi, sistem pencernaan, asma dan kanser. Aku sudah menurunkan ilmuku arah salah seorang anak bini-biniku yang ada minat).

Van Esterik (1988) notes that oral transmission from mother to daughter encourages more detailed knowledge of procedures, since students learn fewer recipes but participate directly in their production.

Hj. Jamhur mentions:

I learnt about healing from an old man with a beard and a long white jubah (robe) through a dream, at the age of twenty, after I had been ill for three months because of ketaguran. In my dream, the old man, who was the junjungan [Prophet Muhammad], took me for a walk on a green field with no trees, hills or mountains, which was padang mashyar [the place where Muslims will all gather for Judgment day], and showed me the different plants used to treat a variety of illnesses, as well as the methods of preparation and administration of these plants, including the specific verses of the Quran to be read. I was also warned not to get involved in sinful activities.

(Aku belajar dari seorang tua laki-laki yang berjanggut dan pakai jubah putih panjang yang ku jumpa dalam mimpiku masa umurku dua-puluh tahun. Lapas atu, ku sakit tiga bulan sabab ketaguran. Dalam mimpiku, orang tua atu sebenar junjungan-Nabi Muhammad. Aku dibawa berjalan oleh orang tua atu dipadang hijau yang nada pokok, bukit atau gunong. Tampat atu padang mashyar dan ditampat ani nanti tampat semua orang Islam kan berkumpul masa hari kiamat. Di sana jua aku diliatkan lain-lain tumbuhan untuk mengubat macam-macam penyakit, cara buat ubat dan ayat-ayat Quran yang dibaca. Aku jua dilarang berbuat dosa dan maksiat).

Kimball (1979, p. 92) notes that in the past, people often obtained medical knowledge, and sometimes also techniques, in dreams and not uncommonly still do. Hj. Jamhur claims that he tried to learn massage from his late wife, but he only learnt successfully once his wife had died and taught him in a dream. These statements clearly illustrate the 121 fact that materials and practices which are apparently naturalistic, such as medicinal plant preparation and massage, are often so closely entwined with those that appear to be “magical” that they may defy untangling (Laderman and Van Esterik 1988, p. 748). A dichotomization between natural and supernatural is obviously inadequate among Brunei Malay people.

Acquisition of esoteric medicinal knowledge (ilmu): According to the healers I interviewed, there are two types of ilmu: ilmu batin, whose function is to heal people, and ilmu hitam (black magic), which is used to harm people. Ilmu, which is derived from the Arabic term ilm, is “knowledge of the spiritual and material constituents of created reality” (Woodward 1985, p. 1010). Some varieties of ilmu are purely secular, but most concern some aspect of religious law, ritual or magic, and “range from reciting the Quran to sorcery” (Woodward 1985, p. 1010). Ilmu may be learned from a teacher or a book, but may also be a gift from a dead learned person, or a spirit. A few old texts, such as the Kitab Al Tibb (an encyclopedia of medicine in five books compiled by Persian philosopher Ibn Sina) are sometimes used, but knowledge is generally passed down from father (bomoh) to son or from master to student (Heggenhougen 1980b, p. 237). Geertz (1977, p. 147) mentions that, to become a dukun in Java, it helps to be a descendant of a person with proven spiritual strength to support the extraordinary and dangerous power with which dukun traffic; but this is not necessarily so. Although the capacity to be a dukun can be inherited, the actual ability is not; it is a learned skill. The practitioner learns ilmu (science) from another dukun, who is thus his guru (teacher) (Geertz 1977, p. 147). Kimball (1979, p. 90) mentions that medical knowledge is stored in memory, but much of it is written down in the Quran, the primate of all books, and of all the books in the Quran, the Surah Yasin is one of the most powerful. However, there is more to learning ilmu batin and becoming an orang pandai than merely being able to read the Quran, according to my informants.

In Brunei, there are three ways by which orang pandai acquire their ilmu: by inheriting their skills from a family member, by learning with a guru (teacher) and practicing bertarak (asceticism), or, more rarely, through the assistance of a spirit familiar.

Inheriting ilmu: Mas Irun (2005, p. 8) mentions that the knowledge of orang pandai may be acquired through learning or can be inherited from a family member (diperturunkan). Transmission of knowledge, as Kimball (1979, p. 162) asserts, tends to run along family lines, most commonly from parent to child, primarily from mother to daughter or father to son, but it is not unheard of for a wife to teach her husband. After 122 people with “knowledge” die, and not before, their children, or adopted children, possess the “inherent knowledge” so that they can learn further knowledge from books (Kimball 1979, p. 144). Hj. Jamhur’s statement corroborates Kimball’s observation:

I have tried to pass down my knowledge to all of my children and to other people, but none of them has been able to learn it effectively. This is because I acquired the knowledge from a dream, and I will only be able to transmit my knowledge effectively after I die, when my children will learn from my deceased spirit in a dream, like I did.

(Aku sudah cuba kan turunkan ilmuku arah anak-anakku dan orang lain, tapi durang inda dapat belajar dengan baik. Ani pasal aku dapat ilmu atu dari dalam mimpi dan aku kan dapat membagi ilmuku arah anak-anakku lapas ku mati dari mimpi. Aku datang dalam mimpi durang dan durang dapat belajar dari mimpi atu).

Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 15) mentions that within a family, only certain children are able to inherit such ilmu. Some individuals, it is believed, possess a “sixth sense” (or extrasensory perception which refers to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses but sensed with the mind) that gives them the ability, from childhood, to see supernatural beings. These orang berisi, “people filled up [with knowledge]”, who wish to become orang pandai must, however, enhance their ilmu through asceticism (bertarak) (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 15). Likewise, Mohamed Taib Osman (1976, p. 23) notes that in the Malay worldview it is believed that the chosen few who have “charisma” (roughly equivalent to ilmu batin in Brunei Malay, a divinely conferred power, which is also commonly called “inner knowledge”) can communicate with the spirits.

Learning ilmu with a guru: While some of my informants say that they learnt their ilmu from their parents; others claim that they learnt from a guru, who was not a member of their families. Hj. Majid, for example, says that he learnt which Quranic verses to use as part of healing from religious teachers from Kelantan and Sulawesi, whom he met while he worked at the mosque in Bandar Seri Begawan for twenty years. In Peninsular Malaysia, according to Mohamed Taib Osman (1989, p. 71), a person who does not have a father or grandfather who is a bomoh and has not inherited the proper disposition to take up the vocation can still become a bomoh if he or she is “keen and has the patience to learn the ilmu” (Mohamed Taib Osman 1972, p. 231). A person may be interested in the practice, and may get the sign (alamat), usually in a dream, that he or she is destined to become a bomoh. This person can become a bomoh through apprenticeship, but the final test is whether or not he or she is able to absorb the 123

“charisma” of the teacher (peturun) (Mohamed Taib Osman 1976, p. 23). Dukun teachers pass on to their pupils the foundations of medicine, the concepts of anatomy and physiology, treatments for special conditions, for childbirth and approaching death, amulets and prognostication; people would learn the lesser cures in a few nights at the dukun’s house (Kimball 1979, p. 99). Dukun also pass on the “special knowledge” whose imparting to the already proficient student constitutes the transmission of dukunship (Kimball 1979, p. 99). Inner knowledge is best passed from female to female or male to male, notes Kimball (1979, p. 144). One of my informants, Hj. Jamhur, however, says that the ilmu will be stronger if it is transmitted in a dream from a person of the opposite gender. Kimball (1979, p. 150) declares:

Inner knowledge is said and heard but once, in the quiet solemnity when the teacher passes the power of dukunship on to the pupil by telling him or her the names of the human souls, and by teaching the student certain neutralizing verses, used to perform deals with powerful entities and for protection, given to none but dukun. Inner knowledge has power only if it is orally transmitted from teacher to pupil and if the proper traditional prestations accompany it.

Two people who have knowledge can reciprocally exchange information. Otherwise knowledge must be bought by giving gifts for it (Kimball 1979, p. 147). The acquisition of ilmu through instruction is regarded as incomplete if the right of inheritance of the esoteric knowledge is not created artificially by holding a ceremony called perkeras guru (pikaras in Brunei Malay, literally “ritual gift given to the teacher”) at the conclusion of the training period for the purpose of transferring the guru’s (teacher’s) peturun (blessings) to his or her pupil (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 72). In return for this favor, the pupil reciprocates with gifts which are really of symbolic significance rather than of material value. The ceremony also emphasizes secrecy because the bomoh’s ilmu is considered a closely guarded secret not to be divulged to others (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 73). When dukun teach someone knowledge, their own becomes a little weaker, mentions Kimball (1979, p. 145). After learning knowledge, a dukun must wait one year before teaching any of it to another person. Kedayan often handed down traditional healing cures, particularly the best recitations, only when they felt they were dying (Kimball 1979, p. 146). If “bad knowledge” is “given totally”, then it is lost to the giver. This is also the case with handing over familiars (Kimball 1979, p. 146).

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One of my informants, Damit, explains:

The knowledge of healing is not learnt, it is given by God. Even though a Muslim can read the Quran, he cannot be a healer if God does not give him the necessary knowledge to heal. I was given the ability to heal, after I had been sick, when I was about twenty years old. I had body pain due to gangguan [disturbance], but the healers I had consulted had not been able to heal me completely. One of the healers, who then became my guru, cured me by giving me a bath with water blown on with Quranic verses. He also instructed me to pray and to recite the zikir continuously after reading the verses asking for protection – Auzubillahhi Minassyaitan Nirrajim (“I seek protection from Allah against the devil”) and the Syahada. It was then that I started learning ilmu batin, a spiritual power which one acquires with a guru by getting oneself nearer to God by reciting zikir and refraining from doing sinful acts prohibited by the religion. Only a person who is thoroughly “clean” and avoids committing sins can learn ilmu batin. It takes a long time to really purify oneself, sometimes up to ten years. When a person is really cleansed, then the zikir will fill his or her body, and he or she can ask God to give him or her the knowledge of healing. At this stage, there are many ordeals, in the form of sea water reaching the house or in the form of wind or fire. People who have ilmu batin see and know things that other people do not, they can cure people and protect themselves from the devil. Normally, these people always attribute the success of their treatments not to their own ministrations, but to Allah – only God can cure a sick person. However, nowadays, some of the ilmu batin is not in the right path of Islam because some people tend to use their powers to do black magic.

(Ilmu untuk mengubat ani datang dari Tuhan. Orang Islam, kalau pun durang pandai baca Quran, ia inda dapat mengubati kalau Tuhan inda membari ilmu untuk ubat orang arahnya. Aku kana bagi ilmu untuk mengubati lapas ku sakit, masa umurku dua-puluh tahun. Badan ku sakit pasal ada gangguan, tapi orang pandai yang ku aga inda dapat banar-banar mengubatku. Ada seorang yang mengubatku sampai baik. Ia bari ku mandi air yang sudah dibacainya ayat Quran. Ia jua surah aku sembahyang dan berzikir balik- balik selepas mengucapkan Auzubillahi minassyaitan Nirrajim dan baca Syahadah. Orang ani jadi guruku. Sejak atu aku belajar ilmu batin. Ilmu ani ketani dapat dengan berguru, berzikir dan inda membuat dosa atau maksiat. Ani ilmu menyuci jiwa. Untuk menyuci jiwa ani lama, kadang-kadang sampai sepuluh tahun. Kalau orang atu sudah banar-banar suci- zikir atu sudah panuh dalam badannya, ia boleh minta arah Tuhan ilmu untuk mengubati. Masa ani, kan ada banyak cubaan macam air laut sampai ke rumah, angin atau api. Orang yang ada ilmu batin dapat lihat dan tau apa yang orang lain inda dapat. Durang dapat mengubat orang dan melindungi diri durang sendiri dari iblis dan syaitan. Selalunya durang ani kalau dapat mengubat orang, bagi durang bukan 125

durang yang pandai tapi Allah yang membuat orang sakit atu sembuh. Tapi, pada masa ani banyak orang yang ada ilmu batin ani sasat pasal durang guna ilmu atu untuk buat ilmu hitam).

The practice of zikir to get nearer to God and receive ilmu batin from Him closely resembles the techniques of ancestral Sufi mystical healers, which consisted in repetitively uttering la ilaha illa’llah (there is no God but Allah) until they reached trance state to reach “the luminous light within” (Nourse 2013, p. 410). Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 15) mentions that many Bruneian orang pandai acquire their ilmu by practicing bertarak (asceticism) in various parts of Indonesia, where forests, it is believed, have a mystical aura and are inhabited by more powerful supernatural beings than are found in Brunei. Their ascetic practices consist in secluding themselves in isolated places, usually in forests, where they must endure physical and spiritual tests that are set by their guru (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 15); this is accompanied by intensive praying and chanting, both of Quranic surah and of jampi, which corroborates Damit’s statement. These practices are also reminiscent of the Sufi healers’ retreats in caves and practice of meditation to absorb the healing light (Nourse 2013, p. 410). As noted by Woodward (1985, p. 1010), writing about Javanese curers, by secluding themselves in isolated places, “strengthening their physical bodies through fasting and asceticism, purging themselves from passion and sin, and performing intensive praying and chanting, apprentice-healers can clear their minds of conscious thought, and establish contact with saints, spirits, sources of magical power, and ultimately with Allah”.

Obtaining ilmu with the help of a spirit: A familiar spirit normally provides the bomoh with both the diagnosis and the remedy for an ailment (Mohamed Taib Osman 1976). In Brunei, such spirit-helpers (gimbaran) are usually orang halus (literally “invisible people”), orang kebenaran, or orang bunian (“invisible people of the forest”). They are believed to be benevolent and prepared to share their supernatural powers with their human spouses or friends. Nowadays, however, few orang pandai take the path of obtaining spirit helpers, as this practice is regarded as being contrary to Islamic teachings, and is severely punished by the religious authorities, as mentioned in the previous chapter. In fact, none of the healers I interviewed mentioned that they harbored familiar spirits as a medium in treating their patients, or in helping chase away the evil spirits that intruded upon human territory.

Ilmu, an equivocal power: In Brunei, as among Malays in Thailand (see Golomb 1988, p. 762), traditional healers, who are believed to have access to supernatural power, 126 often receive requests for other, nontherapeutic magical services as well, such as love magic, sorcery, the tracing of lost or stolen objects, and the provision of invulnerability charms. Ilmu is generally considered to be “a kind of substantive magical power” (Geertz 1977, p. 147) that can be used for finding lost objects, for getting rich, or for becoming invulnerable. There are many ilmu-ilmu (branches of secret knowledge), such as gagah (the art of making oneself bold or courageous), penundok (the art of making one’s enemy yield), pengasih (the art of making oneself beloved by another), kebal (the art of making oneself invulnerable), ubat guna (a love-philter), and a quantity of others (Skeat 1965, p. 102). Under paganism, Hinduism, and Islam, curers have always been credited with supernatural powers (Winstedt 1925). Some of the healers I interviewed do indeed claim that their powers and tasks go beyond simply healing sicknesses. For example, both Hj. Jamhur and Damit claim that some people come to them “to predict their future”, or ask them “to increase their seduction power” (Ada orang jumpa aku kan minta ramalkan masa depan atau yang minta ilmu pengasih). Damit uses spelled water (water recited with Quranic verses) and a special oil, minyak bulu perindu (see figure 3), to make an individual attracted to a person and always remember that person. Special rings are also worn to attract the opposite sex (see figure 4). Hj. Jamhur mentions that he uses “mandi bunga, bathing with water mixed with the petals of seven types of flowers, and mandi minyak wangi, bathing with water mixed with perfume, to make a person appealing to the opposite sex, to find a husband or wife, or to remove the bad luck that is attached to a person since birth [buang sial]” (Aku pakai mandi bunga - air di campur tujuh macam bunga, dan mandi minyak wangi - air bercampur minyak wangi - untuk mencari jodoh atau untuk buang sial). Damit even claims that he can transfer himself to Mecca every Friday, and that “in the past Kedayan healers could magically stop rifle bullets” (Dulu, orang Kedayan yang pandai mengubati dapat merantikan peluru senapang).

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Figure 3: Minyak bulu perindu (‘Love potion’) (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Figure 4: Rings to attract the opposite sex (“Love magic”, Pengasih) (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

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Having more power than do other people, notes (Kimball 1979, p. 161), the dukun is in an ambiguous position, although each individual dukun is privately classed as “good” or “bad”. The dukun role, according to Geertz (1977, p. 148), although it carries some prestige, also tends to draw suspicion, because the Javanese dukun is often suspected of “either fakery or sorcery”. The ambivalent attitude toward dukun is explained by “the inherent ambiguity of the dukun’s power, trafficking both with God and with devils, able to sicken people as well as to cure them, and engaging both in devout supplications to a high God and in dubious contracts with less elevated spirits” (Geertz 1977, p. 150). People know that the healing power inherent in dukunship carries with it also the possibility of ill and accordingly view the most benevolent dukun with somewhat mixed feelings, notes Kimball (1979, p. 158); for this reason, some people who do have ilmu do not engage in the practice of healing. Golomb (1985, p. 246) maintains that love magic is portrayed as a wicked enterprise among Malays in Thailand, because love charms made with “corpse materials” are said to drive people insane with love and cause some victims to fall ill or even die. Similarly, Bennett (2003, p. 140), writing about Lombok in Indonesia, notes that the primary danger of love magic relates to the woman’s surrender of self-control, which is manifested “by allowing herself to be seduced, by becoming completely subservient to her protagonist, or by displaying symptoms of madness or acute illness which can in extreme cases lead to death”. However, in Brunei today, as mentioned previously, a number of healers and their clients do not consider love magic as an objectionable form of sorcery, or even as sorcery at all, because the targets of such magical manipulation strategies are not harmed.

Traditional healers’ specializations:

Golomb (1988, p. 761) claims that three prominent therapeutic traditions are discernible among the diversity of folk-medical practitioners among Malays in Thailand: those of the “herbalists” (who attribute most illness, directly or indirectly, to disturbances in the natural balance of the four body elements, which are addressed by prescribing compensatory foods and medicines), “folk psychotherapists” (who insist that patients need psychological encouragement above all else, and must be encouraged to voice their frustrations, whereupon their emotions should lose some of their negative and disruptive qualities), and “supernaturalists” (who hold spirits and/or sorcerers to be at the root of most serious physical or mental suffering). However, none of the healers I interviewed can be classified as belonging exclusively to one of these three specialties. It seems that most orang pandai belong to more than one category. Some curers describe themselves 129 as specialists in certain types of illnesses, but they all maintain that they can cure both illnesses that are biasa (“usual”, those illnesses that are also usually addressed by Western medicine) and illnesses that are luar biasa (“unusual”, those ailments caused by the supernatural beings). My main informant, Damit, a Kedayan orang pandai, or doktor angin, as he likes to call himself, claims that most of his patients consult him for illnesses caused by the invisible beings or makhluk-makhluk halus, although he can also treat a variety of usual ailments. Hjh Mariam, the Malay female healer specializes in problems related to the reproductive system, such as infertility and post-partum care, but mentions that she also occasionally treats patients suffering from other problems, including spirit attacks. Hj. Jamhur, the Malay healer from Temburong, claims that he can treat both usual and unusual illnesses, as well as all sorts of problems involving magical practices, such as removing the bad luck that is attached to a person or increasing the sexual attractiveness of a client (love magic). Hj. Mejin, the Kedayan healer I interviewed in Temburong, as well as Hj. Norsan and Hj. Majid, the two Malay healers from Kampong Wasan and Pulau Berambang in the Brunei-Muara district, also speak unreservedly about the different cases of spirit-caused illnesses they have treated, in addition to their expertise in medicinal plants used to treat usual illnesses. Hj. Nayan, the Kedayan healer from Kampong Kulapis, although he is reluctant to elaborate on this subject and changes the subject when prompted to explain how he deals with such cases, does not refute the existence of spirit-caused illnesses and sorcery, and even maintains that he is capable of curing such unusual illnesses. Only the old Malay padian, who sells medicinal plants at Tamu Kianggeh, insists that she can only cure usual illnesses, using herbs and massage, because she denies the power of supernatural beings in causing illnesses.

Mohamed Taib Osman (1976, p. 23) argues that the bomoh is actually a conglomerate of a shaman, an herbalist, and a psychiatrist. As a shaman he communicates with the spirit world; as an herbalist he has knowledge of the materia medica; and as a psychiatrist he overcomes patients’ emotional disorders. All the orang pandai I interviewed in Brunei are herbalists, as they have an extensive knowledge of humoral principles and herbal cures. The majority are also “supernaturalists”, as they systematically use Quranic and other incantations as part of their healing ministrations. For example, they customarily utter secret incantations while concocting herbal remedies in order to galvanize the components supernaturally. Also, the majority of orang pandai use holy water, which is sprinkled on the victim, used by the victim for bathing, or drunk by the victim, to expel intrusive spirits, or the invisible missiles launched by spirits or sorcerers, as will be 130 further discussed below. All orang pandai are also psychotherapists, as they are concerned with the psychological well-being of their patients, and provide them with psychological support, by encouraging them to voice their concerns, patiently listening to them, and by never distressing them with an alarming diagnosis, as will be discussed in the following chapter. Healers also commonly dispense personal amulets or holy water as tangible reminders that great powers are being mobilized to protect their patients, which helps reassure them. Exorcistic ceremonies, where possession victims, through the voices of intrusive spirit spokesmen, can vent pent-up frustrations, provide an institutionalized context for patients to externalize anxieties, as in Western psychotherapy.

TRADITIONAL HEALING PRACTICES

Various methods of illness prevention and treatment employed by traditional healers were observed. These included the making of amulets, the prescription of medicinal plants, the recitation of various types of incantations or prayers (doa and jampi), the giving of holy water (air bertawari) to drink or use for bathing, blood cupping (bekam), massage (urut), medicinal sauna (bertajul), body fumigation (bertangas), and the practice of removing the “wind” (angin) from the patient’s body by gilir. Combinations of these procedures are common. Not a single case of the main puteri (a form of psychodrama involving exorcism and trance, recorded by Laderman in Terrenganu, called menurun in Brunei) was reported by informants in this study. Brunei Malay traditional medicine makes a distinction between ubat kasar and ubat halus, according to Mas Irun (2005, pp. 11-12). Ubat kasar are the remedies that can be seen, felt, touched and smelt, such as medicinal plants, animal organs, and stones. They are consumed, rubbed, used for bathing, or worn as amulets. In contrast, ubat halus refer to the cures that cannot be seen, touched or smelt, and primarily take the form of incantations (baca- bacaan) (Mas Irun 2005, pp. 11-12). All illnesses, including usual (kasar) illnesses, claims Mas Irun (2005, p. 29), are treated with a combination of both ubat halus and ubat kasar. Ubat halus is used to strengthen the semangat of the sick person and help him or her to overcome the illness.

Preventative measures:

To prevent illnesses, a number of Brunei Malays, like many Malays in other parts of the Malay world, firstly attempt to avoid predisposing conditions, such as loss of semangat, 131 and, secondly, try to avoid contact with those elements that cause illness, namely supernatural agents, such as spirits, and physical agents, such as foods that “carry wind” or cold foods. Many of these precautions are taken by either the family members, or by the individuals themselves. Frequently, however, the aid of a specialist, the orang pandai, is sought.

Family and personal precautions consist in observing certain traditional beliefs and taboos in order to avoid illness. For example, since the semangat is easily scared away by fright, anxiety and undue stress, Malays will avoid strong emotions and shocks, especially for young children and weak people. Since a violent awakening in which the soul is scared off and does not return to the body puts the individual in a particularly dangerous state, people are wakened gently so that their soul has time to get back to the body (Chen 1970, p. 38). To avoid contact with malevolent spirits, as noted above (see p. 83), people are strongly advised against going outdoors any time that a yellow light appears, but especially on hari kuning (a day of mingled rain and sunshine), when all spirits become fearless and those that normally stay away from habitations approach. Furthermore, in order “to prevent emboldened hantu from causing harm”, notes Kimball (1979, p. 74), betel-nut, red onion skins, kayu limpanas itam leaves, and limpanas puteh leaves are burnt on a brazier so that the smell of the smoke will drive away the hantu. A couple of Damit’s customers mention that they regularly burn the dried leaves, roots and bark of merungai and bidara to protect their families from black magic and the incursion of spirits. A number of pantang (taboos or prohibitions) concerning the consumption of certain types of food also have to be observed, when people are in a vulnerable state, particularly during pregnancy, confinement, and at times of illness (see pp. 83-84).

In Brunei, as in other parts of the Malay world, pregnant women and post-partum women are subject to many dietary and other restrictions. Childbirth with its concomitant blood loss “precipitates women into an abnormally cold state” (Laderman 1987, p. 362), and new mothers are advised to eat “hot” foods (see p. 89) and refrain from eating certain foods that are supposedly cooling, bisa-bisa (see p. 87), to prevent illnesses, until they have been ritually released from the postpartum period. During pregnancy, on the other hand, the prospective mother’s body is believed to be hot; therefore, she is bathed in cold water into which humorally “cold” lime juice has been squeezed. Tepung tawar, the neutralizing rice paste, is added to the water in an attempt “to neutralize the fire and air of the spirit world by adding earthy and watery elements (rice is the quintessential fruit of the earth which is grown in water) to the body of the mother-to-be”, according to 132

Laderman (1987, p. 360). Also, a prospective mother is prescribed an avoidance of “hot” foods. Besides, pregnant women, say my informants, are particularly vulnerable to spirit attacks (especially by the infamous pontianak), and thus have to be properly protected. “Pregnant women have a special fragrance which attracts spirits. So, they have to be bathed with water that has been recited over with verses from the Quran and the limau nipis (lime), which spirits fear” (Orang betian ani ada bau yang makhluk halus suka. Pasal atu durang ani mesti dibagi mandi air berbacai ayat Quran dan limau nipis supaya makhluk- makhluk halus takut), as Hj. Jamhur claims.

Traditional healers, in addition to their functions as diagnosticians and therapists, carry out preventative measures, such as the utterance of magical incantations (jampi) and the creation of talismans (tangkal). Incantations (jampi), reports Chen (1970, p. 40), are used to protect a specific environment so that “the forces of evil cannot bring illnesses, floods, and other natural disasters to harm the inhabitants”. While the practice of jampi kampong (incantations to protect the village) has now fallen into disuse in Peninsular Malaysia, “as a result of erosion by Islam and Western science”, jampi rumah baru (incantations to protect the new house) were still used in the 1960s “to keep not only malevolent spirits out of the compound, but also thieves and mischief makers” (Chen 1970, p. 40). In this ritual, pieces of common household plants, foods and other items such as nails were distributed into four pots, whilst the bomoh repeated a whole series of mystical incantations. At the conclusion of the incantations, the contents of the pots were “ceremoniously buried in the four corners of the compound” (Chen 1970, p. 40). Khairunnisa Yakub (2009), as well as one of my informants, Hamid, assert that the practice of ceremonially protecting a new house from the intrusion of evil forces still persists today in Brunei. A barrier against spirits may be created by burying in the house compound “some object, such as a turmeric root or a piece of wood (kayu simpur), into which the spirit guardian of the house (penjaga rumah)” has been put by the orang pandai (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 9). Also commonly used is the practice of guris (see figure 5), which consists in scattering salt and pepper, “both substances being said to ‘burn’ the malicious spirits” (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 40), around the house and throwing it on the floor and onto the ceiling, while Quranic verses are recited to create an invisible fence that prevents spirits from attacking the house and its inhabitants.

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Figure 5: Guris performed in a local school in October 2014 (Source: Kate Daily, 2014; picture used with the permission of the author).

Orang pandai can also create tangkal (talismans, also called azimat in Brunei) to protect individuals against spirit attack or spirit invasion. Errington (1983, p. 565) notes that, among the Luwu Bugis, because semangat can be absorbed, people can augment their 134 own potency from the acquisition of potent objects, such as the keris (a dagger made of iron, which is associated throughout the Malay world with potency) and other talismans worn around the waist so that they will be salamat – safe, healthy, and, most of all, invulnerable to penetration. In Brunei, a talisman might consist of a piece of root, a stone, a coin, a Malay dagger (keris; see figure 6), a piece of the Holy Quran, a piece of paper on which have been written some mystical signs (see figure 7), or an animal part (bear claw, for example). The orang pandai chants some secret mystical formula (jampi) or a Muslim prayer over these objects to render them magical and hence powerful and protective. Amulets, be they written by skilled dukun or home-made by illiterates, are a defense against life’s hazards. Of all the good amulets, says Kimball (1979, p. 197), the simplest are those made by illiterate people, who cut off a small piece of the stem of limpanas puteh or limpanas itam and tie it at their waist to make an amulet against hantu and harmful animals. Although dukun may write some amulets from memory, they copy most from their manuscript amulet book (Kimball 1979, p. 198). An amulet may be rolled tightly and inserted into a small cylinder-shaped amulet-holding pendant attached to a chain worn around the neck. Or it may simply be tied to a piece of string, and worn around the waist, ankle or wrist, like the pieces of jarangau merah and jarangau putih (see figure 8), the Chinese coins (duit china; used as a protection against invasive spirits; see figure 9), or the bear claw (used against bad dreams; see figure 10). Alternatively, an amulet may be sewn into a little yellow rectangular cloth, which is attached to a string and worn around the neck, like the pieces of bidara and merungai, two varieties of plants believed to be feared by the spirits (see figure 11); or they may be made into bracelets (see figure 12). It can also simply be hung on the wall, like the sarang tuma (pieces of termites’ nests, used as a protection against black magic; see figure 13). Although Chen (1970) mentions that amulets are frequently disease-specific (such as tangkal chaching, used for preventing worms, or tangkal sawan, used against convulsions), none of the amulets I was shown was disease-specific; they were more general protections against the ills of life. Unlike treating illness, it is not possible to give an amulet in charity; a present must be given for each amulet to be efficacious, which makes accumulating amulets expensive (Kimball 1979, p. 200).

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Figure 6: Keris (Malay dagger) (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Figure 7: Written amulets (Source: Khairunnisa Yakub, 2009; picture used with the permission of the author). 136

Figure 8: Jarangau merah and Jarangau putih amulets (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Figure 9: Duit Cina amulet (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

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Figure 10: Bear claw amulet (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Figure 11: Pieces of bidara and merungai wrapped in yellow pieces of cloth (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

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Figure 12: Bracelet made of pieces of bidara and merungai (amulet) (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Figure 13: Sarang tuma (Termites’ nest) against black magic (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

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Diagnosis:

The identification of a particular illness is based on the observation of the physical state of the patient: the temperature (perceived but not measured), skin conditions (itching, redness, and swellings), abnormal condition of stools, symptoms of vomiting, bleeding, lack of appetite, and crying constitute important elements of the diagnosis, as mentioned by (Massard 1988, p. 791). The dukun also feels the veins on a patient’s face, chest, hands, and legs to determine if the blood is or is not moving, as a slow blood flow indicates health problems (Kimball 1979, p. 55). As Laderman (1991b, p. 88) points out, traditional healers are usually well acquainted with the life circumstances of their patients and ask them questions to aid in the diagnosis. They assess both the physical and emotional states of their patients. Unusual illnesses are identified through the behavioral cues mentioned in the previous chapter (see p. 99): a spirit victim experiences bad dreams, travelling pains in certain parts of the body, and drastic personality changes; a spirit victim also commonly refuses to pray and avoids looking at the healer in the eyes. “If this person, or rather the supernatural being inside him or her, wants to fight the healer back, then the patient will stare back at the healer with red eyes” (Kalau orang yang kesarungan atu, atau sebanarnya makhluk halus dalam badan orang yang kesarungan atu, kan melawan orang mengubati, orang yang kesarungan atu kan menantang mata orang mengubati. Matanya merah), declares Damit. Furthermore, if a healer feels “goosebumps when massaging the patient, this indicates the presence of supernatural beings in the patient’s body” Kalau aku rasa kambang bulu masa mengurut, artinya dalam badan orang yang diurut atu ada makhluk halus), as Damit also mentions. If the cause of an illness is still not apparent to the healer, notes Laderman (1991b, p. 88), “divination”, may provide the answer. Thus, two of my informants from Temburong claim that they know whether an illness is caused by the supernatural beings or is the result of black magic, by looking in a container of water, while reciting baca-baca (they do not say exactly what they recite, whether verses from the Quran or other words). “If the water is cloudy, it means the illness is due to black magic” (Kalau airnya berubah jadi kabut, artinya tekana buatan orang), declare Hj. Jamhur and Hj. Mejin. Not only can they see the cause of the illness in the water, but they also know what type of spirit is involved. Damit mentions that many of his patients “suffer from illnesses inflicted by the supernatural beings (angin), but the cause of this kind of illness cannot be seen by medical doctors, even with an x-ray” (Banyak orang yang ku ubat tekana penyakit oleh makhluk-makhluk halus. Penyakit macam ani puncanya inda dapat dilihat oleh doktor 140 hospital atau x-ray). “If an operation is done by a doctor on a patient suffering from a spirit-caused illness, the angin will move to another part of the body” (Kalau orang yang tekana sakit oleh makhluk halus, kalau dipotong doktor, angin atu kan pindah arah lain dalam badannya), according to Hjh. Mariam. Traditional healers usually suspect that the illness is caused by spirits if there is no improvement, after they have treated a patient with medicinal plants and massage (ubat kasar). Orang pandai also search for indications of “weak-heartedness” in the patient’s psychosocial profile, because, as we have seen, it is widely recognized that spirits only bother people who lack confidence or suffer from lamah semangat. Once the cause of the illness has been found, a treatment is prescribed to remove or neutralize it.

Medicinal plants40:

Orang pandai resort to numerous medicinal plants to treat both usual and unusual illnesses. The botanical lore of the Malays reflects Borneo’s floral composition. However, since Borneo was at a crossroads of maritime routes that brought in science and culture from three great civilizations – India, China and the Arab world – Malays may have benefited from early initiation to Ayurvedic botanical knowledge, from Chinese sen seh and settlers’ knowledge of small tropical herbs, and from Arabo-Persian medicinal and botanical knowledge that included the value of spices as medicine (Longuet 2008, p. 853). In addition to these influences, there was a permanent influx of visitors and settlers from the South – Achenese, Minangkabau, Javanese, and Bugis – and from the North – Pattani Malays and Chams – carrying Chinese, Vietnamese and Cambodian knowledge. During the nineteenth century, compilations in jawi of medicinal and botanical knowledge, such as the Tajul Muluk (Book of Malayan Medicine) or the Kitab Al Tibb (Book of healing), gave lists of therapeutic plants, as well as lists of charms. The role and the effect of the plants were described according to their relation to the balance between the four elements, the humors and “hot or cold” and “wet or dry” states (Longuet 2008).

The Malay floral nomenclature does not refer to Arab, Indian or Chinese classifications. It is pragmatic and empirical and based on the villagers’ needs. Plant species receive their names by reference to their aspect or their use. Sometimes, the aspect of the plant serves to indicate its utility (as in the “Doctrine of Signature”), and the name evokes both aspect

40 A list of the most commonly used medicinal plants, for both usual and unusual illnesses, is provided in Appendix IV.

141 and use. For example, in Tongkat Ali, tongkat, “cane” or “staff”, refers to the aspect of the straight growing Eurycoma shrub, and also indicates the use: like a cane, it supports failing (especially erectile) strength (see figure 14). A qualificative may indicate the degree of effectiveness of the material. In Tongkat Ali, the name Ali, the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin, carries a connotation of effectiveness and strength. Plants good for women refer to Fatimah, the Prophet’s daughter (such as Kicap Fatimah). Some plants are so specific to some ailments that they are called by the name of what they cure (such as ubat perut, used to treat stomach ache, or penawar sunti to treat the effects of black magic; see figure 15). Or they may be known by the illness they cause. As the main criterion for designating plants is their use, a few very useful and well-known species change names: rice (Oriza sativa), for example, is nasi in the plate, beras in the shop and padi in the field (Longuet 2008).

Figure 14: Tongkat Ali (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

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Figure 15: Penawar Sunti (Antidote for black magic) (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Mas Irun (2005, p. 14) mentions that people of the land (orang darat, especially the Kedayan) are particularly well-known for their knowledge of medicinal plants and their “spiritual knowledge (ilmu kerohanian)”, because living on land was more dangerous than living on water. Although Kimball (1979, p. 111) notes that Brunei Malays say that people of the land, meaning particularly the Kedayan, use leaves, while people of the sea, especially the ethnic Bruneis, use spices, in actuality there has been considerable trading of medicines back and forth, so that it seems each group uses both. A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetable substance primarily used for flavoring food. I believe Kimball was referring to the use of aromatic dried plant parts (“spices”) as opposed to fresh, not necessarily aromatic, leafy green plant parts (“leaves”). My research shows that the majority of traditional healers, both Kedayan and Malays (ethnic Bruneis), use primarily leafy green plant parts, either fresh or dried; only those healers specializing in post-partum care make extensive use of spices, the majority of which have been imported from India to prepare marjum (a medicinal plant paste used in post-partum care). A few informants mention they collect themselves all the medicinal plants from the forest when they need them, but all insist that they are very difficult to find. Some informants plant some species near their homes, especially the most commonly used medicinal plants, such as kunyit (turmeric, Curcuma longa), daun sirih (betel leaves, Piper betle; see figure 143

16), or durian salat (soursop; see figure 17). However, many forest varieties cannot be planted in their gardens, as they will not grow. Many buy traditional medicinal plants from the local markets (Tamu Kianggeh, Tamu Tutong, and others). Many plants are said to be imported from neighboring Indonesia (Kalimantan) and Malaysia (Limbang).

Figure 16: Sirih leaves (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Figure 17: Soursop fruit to treat cancer, hypertension, and diabetes (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

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Indian spices are imported and widely used in medicinal preparations, especially for post- partum care. Hjh. Mariam, the female healer who specializes in the treatment of problems related to the reproductive system, uses many spices from the Indian shop. These include ketumbar (coriander; see figure 18), jintan manis (fennel seeds), jintan putih (white cumin), jintan hitam (black cumin), pelaga (pulaga – Brunei, cardamom), cengkih (clove), bunga lawang (star anise), manjakani (oak galls from the oak trees; see figure 19), biji sawi (mustard seeds), kayu manis (cinnamon), kayu sepang (Caesalpinia Sappan L. used for the recovery of internal cuts from childbirth), and tahi angin (Usnea Barbata Fries).

Figure 18: Ketumbar seeds (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

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Figure 19: Manjakani (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Herbal medicines can be prepared in different manners: sometimes, plant parts, particularly fruits and leaves, are eaten raw, as is the case with the bidara (Zyziphus jujuba) fruit (see figure 20), which is believed to chase away spirits, the young leaves of guava plants (Psidium guajava) which are eaten fresh as ulam (side dish) to treat diarrhea, the fruits of pangku anak which improve female fertility (see figure 21), or the heart of the mengala palm tree to treat tuberculosis (see figure 22).

Figure 20: Bidara fruits are eaten raw to chase away evil spirits (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

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Figure 21: Pangku anak fruits are consumed to increase female fertility (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Figure 22: The heart of the mengala palm tree is eaten raw to treat tuberculosis (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

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Medicinal plant products can also be a decoction of fresh or dried plant parts, such as the oils used to cure the effects of spirit attacks and black magic, minyak taguli (see figure 23) and minyak siampis (see figure 24), or the decoction of the roots of simpur bini, which is consumed to treat cancer, itchiness, and to improve libido (see figure 25). Sliced plant material, such as leaves, roots, stems or bark, is boiled in water, or in oil, generally for a few minutes, and then is left to steep until it is cool before it is consumed (see figures 26 and 27). The various plant parts can also be washed, peeled, chopped, ground and mashed; finally, the mash is filtered and the liquid is squeezed out; these concentrated liquids are then mixed with water. Powdered herbal ingredients can also be cooked, then kneaded with honey and beef fat and formed into a thick edible medicinal plant paste, as in the case of marjum, which is used to restore the female bodily heat after childbirth (see figure 28). “A mixture of dried herbs can also be fried in a wok until they become reddish, before they are blended and sieved; the powdered form is mixed with water and drunk, as in the case of the commonly consumed irupan panas41” (Irupan panas ani dibuat pakai daun campur-campur yang boleh ketani guna jadi ubat, digoreng di dalam kuali sampai warnanya merah-merah. Lapas atu, dimesin sampai halus dan diayak. Baru tah di campur air dan diminum), explains Hjh. Mariam. “If a plant or a medicinal plant preparation has a bitter or disagreeable taste, it may be taken with madu [honey], betel nut [Areca catechu] or sirih leaf [Piper betel]” (Kalau ubat yang sudah dibuat dari tumbuhan atu rasa inda nyaman atau pahit, ia dapat ketani campur madu, pinang atau daun sirih), according to a number of the medicinal plant sellers I interviewed. Herbal remedies can be drunk, rubbed onto the skin, applied as a poultice (tapal) after the plant material has been pounded, or can be burnt on a fire to fumigate patients with the smoke (as in bertangas), or to drive away evil spirits from the house with the smell of the smoke. An infusion of leaves can also be used to bathe patients (see figure 30). Some herbal remedies consists of a single plant; others consist of several (up to forty) different plant species. Some preparations for herbal baths used after childbirth may involve the use of up to ten plants (including kudok-kudok; see figure 31, pangil-pangil, balik sumpah, linjuang, kulimpapa, daun sambung, ringan-ringan, and ribu-ribu).

41 A liquid mixture containing ground black pepper, oak galls, star anise, cumin, clove, cinnamon, and cardamom, which is used to improve blood circulation, restore women’s bodily heat and stop the production of breast milk. See Figure 29.

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Figure 23: Minyak taguli, to treat spirit attack and black magic (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Figure 24: Minyak siampis, to treat spirit attack (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

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Figure 25: The decoction of the roots of simpur bini is consumed to treat cancer, itchiness, and to improve libido (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Figure 26: Medicinal plant preparation (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

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Figure 27: Medicinal plant decoction (minyak tepalit) (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Figure 28: Marjum (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

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Figure 29: Irupan panas (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Figure 30: Daun mandi untuk orang beranak (leaves used for bathing after giving birth) (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

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Figure 31: Kudok-kudok leaves to treat wounds and cuts (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Many herbal medicines can work without recited verses; they are medicines, ubat, just as much as ones with special recitations, according to Kimball (1979, p. 111). However, all my informants mention that they utter incantations to make the medicinal concoction more powerful, and speed up the recovery process, either at the time they collect the plants themselves from the forest, or during the medicinal plant preparation process. Thus, even when the chief means of treatment “seems to be” herbal, there is a spiritual or supernatural emphasis.

The boundaries of foods and medicines are often blurred, so that ingesting herbal mixtures requires simultaneous changes in daily food consumption, so as to avoid the possibility of an overdose and synergistic or antagonistic reactions (Van Esterik 1988, p. 758). The same ingredients, derived from herbs, spices, oils, leaves and roots, for example, may be found in food dishes, such as curries, and in powdered or pressed pills clearly considered as medicine. Between these two extremes are a wide range of condiments, soups, and teas taken as part of meals, and other infusions, tonic drinks, and herbal medicines taken to maintain or restore health. Similar consequences follow whether ginger, garlic, tamarind, cloves, and cinnamon, for example, are ingested as part of a meal or as a medicine (Van Esterik 1988, p. 757). In Brunei, there are many examples of fresh plant leaves and fruits, which are consumed both as food and as medicine: for example, the leaves of jering or petai, which are commonly eaten by villagers with 153 sambal belacan (a sauce made with shrimp paste) are a well-known remedy for diabetes; the young leaves of guava plants, eaten fresh as ulam (side dish), can cure diarrhea. In addition, the consumption of the delicious soursop fruit (durian salat) is said to be very efficacious to cure cancer, and consuming soups made with herbs called daun uras is recommended to improve the blood flow after giving birth.

Herbal medicines are not simply treatments for specific illnesses, they are also part of health maintenance systems. In Brunei, the term most commonly used to refer to all Malay traditional pharmaceuticals made from fresh or dried medicinal plants is ubat kampung (“village medicine”). The term jamu is more specifically used to refer to herbal tonics consumed on a regular basis as a prophylactic rather than as a curative remedy, especially for post-partum care. Marjum (majun is an Arabic term meaning “paste”) is also commonly consumed in post-partum care. It is very similar to jamu in its plant composition and purpose, but it differs in its form: jamu is a liquid medicinal plant decoction (see figure 32), while marjum is a thick medicinal plant paste. Tuschinsky (1995, p. 1590) argues that, in Peninsular Malaysia, the choice of the term majun, rather than jamu, has become a symbol of the supposed Islamic historical and philosophical background of the popular remedies in an effort to strengthen claims to Arabic-Islamic roots and deny any link to the Indonesian “ancestral heritage”. However, in Brunei both terms are used to refer to two different forms of phytopharmaceutical products.

Figure 32: Jamu (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

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Jamu is not a pharmaceutical in the Western sense, because it contains all active, inactive and unknown constituents of the plant, which cannot be singled out, in contrast to Western medicines, where an isolated and standardized substance is considered to be effective for one symptom (Tuschinsky 1995, pp. 1592-1593). Besides, mentions Van Esterik (1988, p. 755), herbal mixtures, such as jamu, are generally very diluted with water, difficult to overdose, and generally act quite slowly on the system. They have to be consumed regularly for a period of at least three months to treat certain health problems or to provide a tonic for general well-being; the notion of “care” and “therapy” are not kept as separate as they are in Western medicine (Tuschinsky 1995, p. 1587). Most jamu products are specifically designed for women, generally to enhance their sexual appeal, maintain their strength, beauty and freshness following childbirth so that they may be youthful (awet muda) to their husbands, to regulate their reproductive function, and to increase their milk supply. There are also products which serve to diminish fertility and space out pregnancies, some to increase fertility and libido, some for lactating mothers. To promote sexual satisfaction, herbal mixtures containing manjakani (oak galls; see Figure 19) and other spices thought to increase vaginal tightness are consumed. Thus, jamu is not used as a substitute for Western medicines, but rather as part of a distinctive parallel system, supplementing other therapies (Van Esterik 1988, p. 752).

The qualities and effects of Malay herbal medicines are embedded in the widely discussed principles of the Malay humoral system, balancing between the poles of hot (panas) and cold (sejuk). In Malay humoral theory, as already mentioned in the previous chapter, both poles, hot and cold, are essentials of a healthy and satisfactory life: neither pole is exclusively positive or negative. The dichotomous “hot-cold” system prescribes “cold” foods and medicines for “hot” illnesses, and “hot” foods and medicines for “cold” illnesses or certain feverish conditions (Golomb 1985, p. 141). Herbal medicines are used to treat the usual physical complaints and illnesses which indicate an imbalance in the humoral condition. There are very few cooling jamu, and jamu consumers are more concerned about maintaining heat in the body than suffering from too much heat (Tuschinsky 1995, p. 1591). Cold threats come from wind and rain, from constant working in air-conditioned rooms, from energy-consuming activities, from the process of ageing, and above all from giving birth, which involves a loss of blood and, by extension, of life energy. Women are supposed to avoid too much heat because heat is synonymous with life energy, potency and power, and women should not have too much 155 of these masculine qualities; nevertheless, they must be “hot” enough to be attractive, and they must consume heating marjum after giving birth to restore their bodily heat (Tuschinsky 1995, p. 1591). Cooling herbal medicines are prescribed in cases of spirit attack to counteract the spirits’ hot breath (Laderman 1991), and in pregnancy, since coolness and humidity are seen as basic conditions for fertility and reproduction.

Besides being used for women’s reproductive activities, herbal remedies are also used to treat a whole range of illnesses, both usual and unusual. The common ailments that traditional healers claim they can cure with plant medicines range from coughs, cuts, cysts, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, asthma, and digestive problems, to lung infection, kidney stones, heart problem, bloody stools, jaundice and even cancer. One healer, Hj. Nayan, claims that he has concocted himself a “multi-purpose oil” (minyak serbaguna) made from the leaves and roots of about sixty different plants, which can cure a wide variety of common ailments: rash, headache, heart, stomach and kidney problems, blood in urine, as well as gout. This oil, whose power is reinforced by the healer’s incantations before it is dispensed to the patients, is either consumed or rubbed on the skin for about thirty minutes, depending on the nature of the affliction. Plants can also be used to treat unusual illnesses. In Brunei, a wide range of plants is believed to cure illnesses caused by spirits or black magic. Orang pandai drive out invasive spirits or remove the spells of sorcerers by utilizing the leaves and roots of certain plants that are believed to be feared by spirits. For example, merungai (a plant also known as kemuning in Malaysia, and kelor in Indonesia; see figure 33), and bidara (see figure 34), are extensively prescribed by Damit to treat all spirit-related illnesses; raja bisa is used for people who have touched oil that has been given a spell; a decoction of mengkunis that is given to a patient to drink and to bathe with for three days can cure angin sapal laut – a poison that is brought by the “wind” – that the doctor cannot cure, whose symptoms are paleness of the face, yellowish skin and loss of appetite. The cure for uri (“severe mental stress”), which can lead to kesarungan (spirit possession), is merungai, bidara, or kayu uri (see figure 35). A decoction of the akar mali-mali, or batang sicancang, is also used to remove the effects of black magic (see figure 36).

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Figure 33: Merungai, a protection against evil spirits and sorcery (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Figure 34: Bidara, a protection against evil spirits and sorcery (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

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Figure 35: Kayu uri (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Figure 36: Kayu sicancang to treat uri, dugal and black magic (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

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Blood cupping, massage and postpartum treatment:

All the healers I interviewed in Brunei practice massage in addition to the prescription of medicinal plant decoctions and the use of mystical incantations. Blood-cupping is only done by two specialized healers, Hjh. Mariam and Zukrina. Post-natal treatments are mainly dispensed by specialized female healers, who might be considered as the modern version of the bidan kampong (village midwife) of the past. Today, lay midwives concentrate mainly on women’s health during pre-conception, and the antenatal and postnatal periods. Traditionally, bidan kampong initially cared for women in their family, but could also practice outside of their family when the knowledge of their expertise spread through words of mouth (Khadizah Haji Abdul Mumin 2015, p. 75). While formerly village midwives were “driven by the strong obligations to help each other”, today the provision of treatments for women’s health is “increasingly motivated by monetary values” (Khadizah Haji Abdul Mumin 2015, p. 80). Some women, for example Hjh. Mariam and her daughter Latifah, have established commercial women’s health care centers and propose a variety of postnatal packages. The younger generation has transformed and modernized the traditional practices of village midwives by adding new health and beauty treatments such as body Spa, clay mask, Jacuzzi bath, and the use of essential oils to traditional practices. This modernization constitutes a commodification of traditional health and beauty practices.

Blood cupping (bekam in Brunei Malay, hijamah in Arabic) is based on the idea that the accumulation of toxins in the blood can clog blood vessels, which slows down blood circulation throughout the body and reduces the supply of oxygen to the organs. “The accumulation of toxins can cause illnesses such as gout, diabetes, heart diseases, high blood pressure and kidney failure, as well as frequent headaches, drowsiness, inability to focus, insomnia and forgetfulness, and even stroke; bekam can help unclog blood vessels and improve blood circulation” (Racun yang berkumpul dapat buat banyak penyakit macam gout, kancing manis, sakit jantung, darah tinggi dan buah pinggang rusak dan juga orang akan selalu rasa sakit kepala, mengantuk, inda dapat tumpu perhatian, inda dapat tidur malam, kuat lupa dan stroke. Bekam dapat bersihkan saluran darah tersumbat dan melancarkan darah mengalir), according to Zukrina and Hjh. Mariam. Bekam is believed to address the cause of the illness, unlike Western medicine, which is simply removing the symptoms of the illness. Ustaz Yasin (cited in The Brunei Times, 3 December 2011) states: 159

The complete bekam treatment involves four steps: tausiah, or advice to the patient, when the healer tries to strengthen the patients’ spirit before treating them; rukiyah, which is reciting verses from the Quran on the patient; hijamah, or the bekam treatment, which involves the cupping of certain points on the patient’s body. A cut is then made on the points before re-cupping to extract the “dirty’ blood”42; alamiah, or herbal treatment that the patient should take or use on the affected parts to help in the healing, is then given.

Figure 37: Islamic blood cupping (bekam) (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2014).

The Bruneian authorities encourage the use of this therapeutic method, as it was supposedly “practiced and highly recommended by Prophet Muhammad hundreds of years ago” (The Brunei Times, 3 December 2011):

This health treatment dates back to the ancient Greeks, where it was used as a remedy for internal disease and structural problems. Ancient Chinese and Muslim civilizations also practiced cupping as a method of treating chronic diseases. There are records that the Prophet Muhammad and his companions regularly performed cupping as a method of removing toxins from the blood (The Brunei Times, 15 March 2014).

42 This technique consists in placing glass cups on the skin for a few minutes. A vacuum is created in the cups using a pump to draw the blood. The cups are then removed and small superficial skin incisions are made using a scalpel. A second suction is used to draw out a small quantity of blood (see figure 37).

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Hjh. Mariam claims that “many patients, including biomedical doctors from Brunei, request blood cupping” (Banyak orang sakit termasuk doktor dari hospital di Brunei minta untuk berbekam). Only those who use a pacemaker, the very old, dialysis or chemotherapy patients, and very young children, below ten years old, cannot be treated with cupping” (Orang yang memakai bateri dijantungnya, orang yang terlampau tua, orang yang bercuci buah pinggang, orang berkimo, kanak kanak dibawah umur sepuluh tahun inda dapat pakai bekam), she adds.

Massage (urut Melayu): The main purpose of urut Melayu is to optimize blood flow and to relieve patients of angin (wind), which if left untreated can turn into lendir (mucus) and finally ketulan (solid lumps) (Haniza Mohd Anuar et al. 2010, p. 1202). Laderman (1991a, p. 30) claims that massage, like other therapeutic techniques, such as dietary changes, ingestion and topical application of medicines, follows rationally along an Islamic humoral model. It is believed to “break up the lumps of cold phlegm” that cause muscular pain and may be the start of many diseases such as cancer, as it allows the “hot blood” to flow properly (Laderman 1991a, p. 30). Bruneian practitioners claim that the usual conditions that can benefit from urut Melayu are kencing manis (diabetes), darah tinggi (hypertension), lelah (asthma), sakit kepala (migraine), sakit pinggang (backache), seliuh (sprains), kencing tidak lawas (urinary incontinence), keputihan (vaginal discharge due to infection), and sakit burut (inguinal hernia).

Most of the healers I interviewed maintain that massage, used in combination with other therapeutic practices (medicinal plants and incantations), can cure unusual illnesses as well, as it can help expel angin (in the sense of intruding spirit) from the body of the patient. “The head, arms, hands, calves, feet, back, and shoulders must be massaged with a mixture of taguli oil and siampis oil, because these oils contain plants which are particularly feared by the spirits” (Kepala, lengan, tangan, betis, kaki, belakang dan bahu mesti diurut dengan minyak taguli dan minyak siampis yang dicampur, pasal dua-dua minyak ani dalamnya ada tumbuhan yang makhluk-makhluk halus takut), according to Damit (see figures 23 & 24 above). Both males and females can be massaged. However, the procedure must take place in the privacy of a house, because the Ministry of Religious Affairs does not allow massage to be done in public. Besides, it is now a legal requirement that the practitioners of urut are of the same sex as their patients. Damit mentions that he nevertheless “sometimes performs this procedure at the market [Tamu Kianggeh] on both male and female patients, if there are not too many people around” (Kadang-kadang ku mengurut laki-laki dan bini-bini di tamu, kalau inda banyak orang 161 di sana). “Massage can cure a variety of health problems due to angin, such as sleeping difficulties (gangguan tidur), stomach ache (sakit parut), convulsions (sawan), stroke (angin ahmar), itch (gatal), and breathing difficulty (nafas sesak), declares Hj. Majid. “Massage is particularly efficient to treat illnesses that cannot be cured by the hospital, such as angin ahmar [stroke], which can be cured in three days with massage, in combination with gilir and the ingestion of special medicinal plants” (Urut ani berkesan untuk penyakit yang inda dapat diubat hospital, seperti angin ahmar. Sakit angin ahmar ani dapat baik kalau urut tiga hari, digilir dan jua dibari ubat kampung dari tumbuhan), according to Damit.

Since all parts of the body are interlinked, discomfort or pain in one part is often caused by another part; hence, in urut Melayu, the whole body is massaged to relieve the clients of their pain. Urut Melayu for well-being is supposed to be soothing and caressing, but it can be painful for therapeutic purposes, where the client has specific complaints (Haniza Mohd Anuar et al. 2010, p. 1203). Practitioners always converse with their clients throughout the urut Melayu process to relax them. Although some modern practitioners add a few drops of different essential oils in the coconut oil that is traditionally used in carrying out urut Melayu, to reduce friction, or as a pore opener, there is no concept of aromatherapy in urut Melayu. Hjh. Mariam admits that “these essential oils only help to improve the smell of the coconut oil, and their smell is not believed to have medicinal properties” (Pati-pati minyak hanya untuk dicampur dengan minyak kelapa untuk mengharumkan bau minyak kelapa atu saja. Baunya atu inda ada apa apa kesan perubatan). Urut Melayu practitioners always pray before massaging a patient, especially when they treat a patient whose ailment is believed to be spirit-caused, because it is believed, as Hjh. Mariam declares, that “without pendinding [spiritual protection], the affliction of the client will be transferred to the practitioners” (kalau ketani nada pendinding, ketani pulang tekana anginnya). Another important purpose of urut Melayu, when combined with the consumption of jamu, is to treat fertility problems in both men and women. Hjh. Mariam claims that she can “change the position of the uterus [Rahim] by massage, so as to allow the woman to conceive” (Aku dapat mengubah kedudukan rahim pakai urut supaya bini-bini dapat betian). She also maintains that she can “change the position of the baby in-utero to facilitate the delivery” (Aku dapat memusing kedudukan anak dalam parut jua supaya sanang orang beranak). One of my non-specialist male informants in Kampong Ayer mentions that he can also perform this manipulation, and that this skill is widespread among both male and female locals. 162

Postpartum care: Urut Melayu is commonly used for postpartum care, especially by female practitioners. It is administered to new mothers to maintain their body’s strength (Hjh. Mariam; Khadizah Haji Abdul Mumin 2015, p. 78). The benefits that mothers are reported to get are general well-being, relief from breast engorgement, and enhanced milk flow (Haniza Mohd Anuar et al. 2010, p. 1202). For three days after giving birth, a new mother receives a thorough massage from her midwife to increase the speed of her circulating blood and bring healing heat to all parts of her body, as Laderman (1987, p. 362) reports. Hjh. Mariam mentions that “the maintenance of a woman’s health after she gives birth commences immediately after labor and lasts for forty-four days43”, and that “urut Melayu can actually be performed on new mothers throughout the confinement period” (Masa berpantang lapas beranak atu empat-puluh empat hari. Ani tujuannya untuk memulihkan kesihatan. Orang dapat berurut masa dalam pantang). In postpartum care, urut Melayu is only one component in a whole regimen of care carried out throughout the forty-four-day postpartum period following delivery. A number of Brunei Malays, like their non-Islamic compatriots, the Iban (Harris 1999), attempt to “redress the state of excessive coolness into which women are precipitated after giving birth” (Laderman 1987, p. 362; Laderman 1992, p. 282) by encouraging women in the puerperium to eat “hot” foods and avoid “cold” foods (see p. 84), to take “hot” herbal medicines, such as jamu, marjum, and irupan panas (see p. 153), to bathe in warm water, and to rest next to a fire, or a big can containing heated charcoals, for a specified number of days to regain their strength (a widespread practice throughout Southeast Asia known as “mother-roasting”, called bekindu in Iban, berdiang in Brunei Malay)44,. The persistence of the practice of berdiang is reported by Khadizah Haji Abdul Mumin (2015, p. 78), the old Malay padian, Hjh. Mariam, and a number of other informants. It is, however, condemned in the local press (The Brunei Times, 1st September 2015) as being dangerous, because “the carbon monoxide that is released in an enclosed space can lead to the poisoning and even death of the participants”.

43In classic Hindu beliefs, the number 4 refers to the four elements (earth, water, wind and fire) that need to be balanced after the imbalanced act of giving birth (Hishamshah et al. 2010). In Islam, the number 4 refers to the four Archangels. In the Islamic tradition, the maximum duration of postnatal bleeding (nifas) is 40 days according to the Hanafi Madhhab, one of the four religious Sunni Islamic schools of jurisprudence (myreligionislam.com). Thus, the traditional Malay belief in terms of confinement period is not entirely consistent with the maximum number of days that is regarded as nifas by Islamic jurisprudence.

44 Winstedt (1925, p. 46) also noted that “the toasting of new mothers during forty−four days is a widely observed custom, still surviving in Hindu ritual with invocations to Agni”. 163

Other components of this regimen are bertajul (traditional Malay sauna), bertangas (vaginal fumigation), bertungku, and berbengkung. Bertajul is like a Malay version of a sauna: patients, covered in a kain (a big piece of cloth), sit above a pot containing a mixture of herbs and boiling water for the purpose of “full body steaming” (see figure 38). “Bertajul is used for treating whitish discharge coming from the vagina before the forty-fourth day after childbirth. It can also be used to burn fats for those who have cholesterol problems, and to treat hypertension because it dilates the blood vessels and helps increase the blood flow” (Bertajul ani untuk mengubati keputihan yang keluar dari faraj sebelum hari ke empat-puluh empat lepas beranak. Kalau orang yang ada masalah kolesterol, bertajul ani baik pasal ia membuang lamak. Kalau orang ada darah tinggi, ia membasari saluran darah dan melancarkan darah), as Hjh. Mariam explains. Bertangas is used forty-four days after childbirth. The patient squats over a bowl containing charcoal and a mixture of herbs, including manjakani (oak galls, which tighten the vagina after childbirth). The mixture is burnt in order to fumigate and tighten the vagina and to kill germs (see figure 39). According to Hjh. Mariam, “a certain kind of bacteria cannot be killed by feminine wash, and bertangas is the only efficient treatment. It is even used by some local practitioners of Western medicine themselves” (Ada jenis kuman yang inda dapat dibunuh oleh pencuci alat sulit yang berjual dikedai, tapi ia dapat dibunuh pakai tangas. Doktor orang Brunei yang bekerja di hospital pun memakai tangas). Bertungku is a big heated stone, which is wrapped in a piece of cloth and put on top of the uterus for five to ten minutes to make the blood flow more easily out of the uterus. “It can be used immediately after birth for the treatment of clotted blood” (Bertungku ani untuk mengubati masalah darah beku atau darah tembatu. Ia boleh digunakan tarus lapas beranak), as Hjh. Mariam declares. “Berbengkung 45[also called tapal luta] is a poultice made from plants, which is used to ease blood circulation and restore the uterus to its normal size after child birth” (Berbengkung atau tapal luta ani tapal dari tumbuhan, yang digunakan untuk melancarkan perjalanan darah dan membalikkan peranakan ke saiz asal selepas beranak), explains Hjh. Mariam.

45 Bengkung is the name of the piece of cloth wrapped around the abdomen to keep the poultice in place (see figure 40). 164

Figure 38: Bertajul (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Figure 39: Bertangas (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

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Figure 40: Bengkung (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Incantations:

Incantations (variously called doa, baca-baca, jampi or tawari by informants46) are the most commonly used traditional healing procedures in Brunei. Since illnesses can be attributed to a variety of causes, operating in conjunction, treatments often combine the (seemingly) pragmatic, such as medicinal plants and massage, with the (seemingly) symbolic, such as spells and prayers. Treating a victim with a combination of remedies is thought to accelerate the healing process. Treatments of “usual” illnesses, as mentioned above, are frequently accompanied by the recitation of a short prayer (doa) or magical incantations (jampi), both to add to their effectiveness and to strengthen the patient’s “gate” against incursions from the spirit world, since those already weakened by “usual” problems are particularly vulnerable to spirit attacks. In the case of “unusual” illnesses, as will be further discussed below, healers address first the underlying cause of the illness through the recitation of incantations before they treat the symptoms with a range of

46 While doa strictly involves the use of Quranic verses and is recited in Arabic, jampi, tawari and baca- baca are traditional magical incantations, which involve a combination of Quranic verses interspersed with the esoteric vocabulary of the bomoh and appeal for protection from supernatural beings other than God. The distinction between these terms will be further discussed in Chapter 7 (see pp. 230-232). 166 naturalistic therapeutic techniques, such as herbal remedies, massage and diet adjustment. In addition to the orang pandai’s own incantations, patients — especially those who have lamah semangat (weak soul force) — are encouraged to perform daily prayers and drink holy water so as to protect themselves against malicious spirits. “Incantations help wash away disease-causing forces and/or protect patients from such forces in the future”, according to Golomb (1985, p. 148). Prevention and cure are thus, to a certain extent, the same thing. Incantations, as we have noted above, are pronounced when tangkal (talismans) and medicinal plant preparations are being made to further enhance their healing powers. Also, a massage, meant to soothe muscles and increase blood circulation, or remove angin from the body, is preceded by an incantation, both as a protection for the healer against the illness (pendinding) and to insure effectiveness of the treatment. Geertz (1977, p. 149) mentions that, in Java, the crucial element in the curing process is what Malinowski used to call “the condition of the performer”—in this context the spiritual strength of the dukun, his ability to so concentrate his mind that the spell reaches the ears of either God or the patient’s twin guardian spirits.

Content: Malay incantations invariably include Quranic sentences and other appeals to Allah, his Prophet, and his saints, because Malays have reinterpreted their beliefs about the spirits, using Islamic references, as Laderman (1992, p. 281) argues. Basically, incantations call on good spirits to counter the evil, but they can also be used in sorcery, in which event evil forces are being invoked to harm an enemy, according to Chen (1975, p. 172). Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 33) reports that the Quranic verse called Ayat Al- Kursi (verse 255 of Surah Al-Baqarah [The Cow]) is the most common incantation that orang pandai use. It is said that when orang pandai recite the final two lines, viz. “those who are the inhabitants of the Fire; therein dwelling forever”, the offending spirits will suffer great pain and burn up (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 34). Before reciting parts of the Quran, healers would mention the name, age and gender of the client and the date on which the client’s illness started, notes Haque (2008, p. 689). Hj. Jamhur declares that he mentions, in his incantations, “not only the name of the patient, but also the name of the patient’s mother because it is the mother who carried the child for nine months in her womb and gave birth to the child” (Kalau ku baca-baca, aku menyabut nama orang sakit atu sama nama ibunya pasal ibunya yang mengandungkan dan melahirkan ia). Of all the neutralizing healing verses, according to Kimball (1979), the most useful is “Neutralizing Harm”, which is the verse, the key item in a dukun’s skill (Kimball 1979, p. 152). Although all informants claim that they only use Quranic verses in healing, the 167 words that healers recite to themselves, the content of the recitations, remain mysterious. Beyond an initial Bismillahir… “In the Name of Allah …” the healer’s neutralizing verse is heard at best as an indistinct mumble, and usually not at all. This dissimulation is intentional, as Kimball (1979, p. 57) argues, “because much of the strength and power of treatment comes from and is transmitted through the verses”.

Ethnographers of many Southeast Asian cultures have stressed the importance of secrecy in the workings of magic. Cuisinier (1951) averred that Malays consider secrecy a condition for success, necessitating the use of mumbling and whispering when reciting spells. More recently, Errington (1983, p. 556) mentions that in Luwu (South Sulawesi, Indonesia) “whispers have a higher status as a ritual medium than clearly audible words”. Semangat is intangible (halus); since that which is most potent is also imperceptible, intangibility is synonymous with potency. “Barely audible sounds, conveyed by invisible breath, can transfer the potency from the curer who stores it in his or her chest and clean soul to the patient who is in need of it” (Errington 1983, p. 556). Laderman (1991a, p. 52), however, remarks that far from according greater status to practitioners who deliver their incantations in a fast low murmur, impossible to understand, some Malay healers in Peninsular Malaysia “mock those practitioners’ mumbling and secretive attitude as owing to their desire to hide a lack of knowledge”. Some of the verses are fully intelligible to the reciter, others scarcely at all, for many disease names are Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Tamil or Murut, and found in no other context which might serve to elucidate their meaning, claims Kimball (1979, p. 58), writing about Brunei Malay healers. Kimball (1979, p. 58) notes that reciting the neutralizing verses (baca-baca in Brunei Malay) even without understanding their meaning is efficacious, “in the same way reading the Quran even without comprehension pleases Allah” .

Form: Incantations can be used in several different ways. In cases of spirit-caused illnesses, when herbal treatments and dietary changes alone cannot alleviate the symptoms, because spirits have blown their superheated breath on the victims’ backs, upsetting their humoral balance, bomoh “blow their own breath, made cool by an incantation, on the patients’ backs to counteract the spirits’ hot breath”, as Laderman (1991b, p. 88) reports. The cure, notes Errington (1983), writing about traditional healers in South Sulawesi, is inside the curer: the curer’s “clean soul” effects the patient’s cure, rather than some technique or some pharmacological items divorced from the curer’s person. The curer’s powers are augmented by his/her knowledge, which consists of spells and is stored in the chest. “Whispering the spells brings them out of the chest and into 168 the breath, through which they can be conveyed into the patient through the ears” (Errington 1983, p. 555). Blowing is a part of most Brunei Malay traditional treatment (Kimball 1979, p. 57). The general procedure for any treatment is to “thrice repeat the actions of reciting the verse, then blowing it onto the patient” (Kimball 1979, p. 89). One procedure quite often employed by dukun, as Kimball (1979, p. 89) reports, is to hold the sore place on the patient in a mild pinch grip, then after reciting the neutralizing verse, throw the illness away from the patient, taking care not to throw it at anyone, and blow on the affected part .

Besides being blown directly onto the patient, the spells can be applied in other ways as well, commonly by being whispered into water or oil, or by being blown onto an object. In general, says Kimball (1979, p. 57), a dukun blows a neutralizing verse onto something because “the breath from the dukun’s stomach thus enters the chant into the object and thence into the person being treated”. For example, Kimball (1979, p. 54) reports that when a person is afflicted by Wind, the particular type of sickness known as “The Windies” (angin-anginan), or “Wind struck” (kana angin), one treatment is “pepper seed rolling”. A white-pepper seed properly blown on with neutralizing verses is rolled hard on the patient’s fingertips to drive out the illness. If rolling the seed hurts the patient, recovery will be rapid because the “Wind has been met and Satan will leave” (Kimball 1979, p. 55). But if the rolling does not hurt the patient, it shows the recovery will be slow because the Wind does not want to “meet”. The Wind may have become a stone; the illness has “settled in” and is tenacious (Kimball 1979, p. 55). This technique, known as gilir, is a method commonly used in Brunei for expelling angin from the body, and I have been able to observe this practice on many occasions. As previously mentioned, in most healers’ understanding, angin has the dual meaning of wind that blows in the trees and supernatural beings. Hj. Majid explains: “The term angin is used as a metaphor for ‘spirits’, because people, especially old people, do not like to pronounce the word makhluk halus” (Panggilan saja angin. Sebenarnya itu makhluk halus. Peribahasa saja tu (itu) angin. Orang tua-tua tidak mahu menyebut makhluk halus).

In most cases I have observed, gilir was performed with the healer’s ring (see figure 41). A kalkati (a cutter for betel nuts) can also be used for older patients. My informants mention that, in fact, “any object can be used to perform gilir, as long as it is blown on with the correct verses” (see figures 42 & 43); in some cases, a thin piece of wood, about fifteen centimeters long (see figure 44), was used to practice gilir. Hjh. Mariam mentions that, “in serious cases, such as hysteria”, she uses “a special piece of wood, called setegi”, 169 which was given to her “by an ustaz from Indonesia and is particularly feared by the spirits” (Kalau kes teruk macam histeria, aku guna satu jenis kayu, orang panggil setegi. Kayu ani dibagi ustaz dari Indonesia. Kayu ani makhluk-makhluk halus takut). Damit mentions that “if there is a popping sound” when he treats a patient, “and if the procedure is painful, then it is a sign that there is a lot of angin. If two weeks after the treatment, a patient is not cured, the patient has to go to the doctor, as the illness is not caused by angin” (Kalau ada bunyi melatup kalau ku mengilir orang, dan kalau orang atu kesakitan, artinya ada banyak angin. Kalau lapas dua minggu bergilir, orang atu inda jua baik, artinya penyakit atu bukan dari angin dan orang atu ku suruh ke hospital).

Figure 41: Performing gilir with the healer’s ring (Source: Greg Acciaioli, 2014; picture used with the permission of the author).

170

Figure 42: Rings to remove angin (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Figure 43: Gilir with a piece of metal (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

171

Figure 44: Gilir with a long piece of wood (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Incantations are also very frequently blown on to water or oil. Once sacralized through the recitation of religious verses, “this liquid allegedly becomes the vehicle of the supernatural power in those verses”, as Golomb (1985, p. 148) notes. The “mystical water” (air bertawari, neutralization water) can be drunk by the patient over a specified period or the orang pandai can use it for sprinkling and bathing his or her patient. In addition, it can be used for massaging the sick person (buang angin, “throwing away wind”). The water must be “cool”, as Errington (1983, p. 555) mentions, because “coolness is associated with self-control and therefore with health, while hotness is associated with loss of control, hence vulnerability”. Water is an appropriate medium for the invisible potency that has been conveyed into it through the breath of the curer, because “it is a transparent and tasteless substance, only a step away from being intangible” (Errington 1983, p. 556). Smoke, fragrant and barely visible, is another commonly used ritual substance, as it rises, “carrying whispered prayers to the spirits of the upper world” (Errington 1983, p. 556). Ritual bathing (kasi mandi) is a commonly used method to aid the ill in Brunei. Orang pandai blow incantations (that Kimball [1979, p. 93] calls the “Bathing a Sick Person Neutralizer”) into a container of water, which they then ladle over their patients, starting at the head and working downwards. Patient 172 thrice sip some of the water, slosh it around in their mouth and spit it out. When the bathing is over, patients put on new clothes and are then fumigated with incense. Damit suggests that “kasi mandi is good for a person to use once a month even if he or she is well” (Kasi mandi ani baik dibuat sebulan sekali walaupun orang atu sihat). Kimball (1979, p. 94) reports that during the bathing, as during any treatment session, the “time of neutralizing” (waktu menawari), people must not walk about and children must be made to sit quietly. However, I was personally surprised by the lack of solemnity and formality of most healing sessions I attended (including kasi mandi) both among the Iban and the Malays; people continued walking around, chatting, joking, and, at times, even seemed to completely ignore the healer’s ministrations.

Treating spirit-caused illnesses:

Protection: Protection is the first necessary step in the treatment of any form of spirit- caused illness. “Before treating a patient suffering from a spirit-caused illness”, notes Damit, “healers must always first take the necessary self-protection measures against the invasive supernatural beings by reciting the Kalimah tawhid or Syahada [verses claiming the oneness of God] and by requesting guidance and protection from God with the recital of Bismillah-iRahman-i-Rahim (“In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful”), and of Auzubillahhi Minassyaitan Nirrajim (“I seek protection from Allah against the devil”)” (Sebelum mengubati orang sakit yang kana ganggu makhluk halus, orang yang mengubati mesti ada sedia perlindungan dulu. Mesti pakai kalimah tawhid, dan minta perlindungan dari Tuhan dengan baca Auzubillahhi Minassyaitan Nirrajim dan lepas atu Bismillah-iRahman-i-Rahim). Some traditional healers, according to Kimball (1979, p. 86), also make a counter clockwise circling motion in front of their faces with their right hands, starting from their right cheeks, to “gather the light of their faces”. Others, including Damit, “take the sign” (tanda), by putting their right thumbs into their mouths and rubbing it at the back of the palate, “to show the disturbing spirits that they belong to humankind, are believers in Allah, followers of the Prophet Muhammad, and therefore cannot be attacked” (Orang yang mengubati mesti tunjuk tanda arah makhluk-makhluk halus yang durang ani orang yang percaya Allah dan pengikut Nabi Muhammad dan inda boleh dikacau). As Damit further notes:

Since spirits are made by God, the only one they fear is God, and the spirits will not hurt those people who have the tanda (“sign”). However, being a Muslim is not sufficient; only those who have learnt ilmu batin are able to take the sign. 173

Makhluk halus ani Tuhan yang jadikan, durang takutkan Allah. Makhluk halus inda kan kacau orang yang ada tanda. Kalau orang yang ada ilmu batin, ia ada tanda.

“Healers must also recite the zikir”47 (Orang mengubat jua mesti selalu berzikir), says Damit. Kimball (1979, p. 85) reports that before going out to a patient’s house, healers must recite “the Bodyguard Verse and call on the angels to protect themselves”.

Ketaguran: To treat ketaguran, when the spirits have not entered the patient’s body, Hj. Jamhur says that he just calls “the name of the supernatural beings that caused the illness and have them treat the patient” (Untuk mengubati orang yang ketaguran, aku panggil saja nama makhluk halus yang buat orang sakit dan suruh durang sendiri ubat orang sakit atu). To treat a person who is unconscious and cannot talk because of the wind of the devil, Kimball (1979, pp. 283-284) reports that the healer holds the patient’s head and recites “Windstruck Person Neutralizer”:

In the name of Allah the Gracious the Merciful, Peace be unto you, Finished your name Murin, hantu, Of land origin return to the land, Of sea origin return to the sea; I shall know the origin of your beginning, You originate from fireless smoke, Done! Neutralized.

The healer then blows strongly in one breath from head to feet of the patient to chase away the wind (Kimball 1979, p. 284). The invocation of the origin of the spirits seems to be the key to the cure of such illnesses. The spirits lose their power (though not their existence) as soon as their victims acquire the ability to name them: “By identifying the aggressor, the healer manages to neutralize it” (Massard 1988, p. 794). “Spirits can take up to forty different forms”, claims Damit, “but many illnesses are caused by the grand- children of Merijoh – the King of the spirits – and Merijah – his wife” (Makhluk halus ada empat-puluh kejadian, tapi banyak penyakit dibuat oleh cucu Merijoh dan Merijah. Merijoh ani raja jinn dan Merijah ani bini Merijoh).

During one of the healing sessions I observed in Tutong, Damit, after he had protected himself against evil forces, following the self-protection measures described above, diagnosed the patient’s illness as “the result of an attack by Merijoh – the king of the spirits”. The 67-year-old patient, who, it was believed, became ill a year before, while he was watering his plants at midnight, had been hospitalized for one month before being discharged because the doctor could not find the cause of his illness and cure him. The patient was eating very little, which explains why he was so emaciated. He was drooling

47 Zikir, or dhikr, is the repetitive utterance of “La ilaha illa’llah”, meaning “There is no God but Allah”. 174 profusely, and his lower limbs were uncontrollably shaking with spasms. He did not speak, but could still walk around, although he was lying down during the treatment. The patient was treated with massage, gilir and the recital of the verses of Al Fatihah and other verses from the Quran to help remove angin from his body. The recital of the verses from the Quran was followed by the words:

Do not disturb the children and grandchildren of Adam and Muhammad. Go back to your place of origin – if you come from the mountain, go back to the mountain, from the land, go back to the land, from the forest, back to the forest, and from the sea, back to the sea.

Jangan kacau anak cucu Adam dan Muhammad. Balik tampat asalmu – kalau kau datang dari gunung, balik ke gunung, dari darat, balik ke darat, dari hutan, balik ke hutan dan dari laut, balik ke laut.

After treatment, the patient’s family was advised by Damit to “fumigate (bertangas) the patient’s whole body, and mouth, to unlock the patient’s tongue (Orang sakit atu ditangas seluruh badannya, dan mulutnya, untuk membuka lidah yang terkunci), for three days, wipe his face with recited water (air bertawari) during his sleep, make him drink the recited water (to chase away supernatural beings), and massage his whole body with minyak taguli (an herbal oil whose components are believed to be feared by spirits) while reciting the Syahada. Dukun, notes Kimball (1979), employ as many treatments as possible in a given case so that even if some do not work, others will. If some treatments fail, as in the above mentioned case, others are tried or the relatives will be advised to consult another practitioner. “But you must wait two weeks before another practitioner can be called in, because if there are too many treatments going on at once the sickness will become worse” (Orang mesti tunggu dua minggu baru dapat mengaga orang pandai yang lain. Kalau bercampur-campur orang mengubati, takut penyakitnya tambah teruk), Damit warns.

During another healing session, which was carried out in the house of my main healer informant, a combination of treatments was used to cure the patient, a woman in her forties, who was very pale and had completely lost her appetite and energy. Damit declared that the patient was suffering from “angin sapal laut, a poison that is brought by the spirits, an affliction that the Western doctor cannot cure” (Orang yang kana angin sapal laut, inda dapat diubat oleh doktor. Angin sapal laut atu racun yang dibawa oleh makhluk halus). First, the patient was ritually bathed in a decoction of the roots of mengkunis upon which the healer had blown incantations (kasi mandi); then, her whole 175 body was fumigated (with the smoke of kayu balik angin and kayu balik sumpa) while the orang pandai was reciting incantations (some verses of the Quran, including Ayat Al- Fatihah, as well as other words that my Brunei Malay language assistant did not understand) and requesting the spirits to return to their place of origin (see above). The healer finally performed gilir on the patient, and massaged her legs and arms with minyak siampis and minyak taguli “to remove the angin” (untuk membuang angin). She was instructed to drink and bathe in the decoction of mengkunis the healer gave her for three days.

Black magic: Illnesses due to black magic (especially those that have been induced by the manipulation of body parts and personal possessions in contagious magic, or the manipulation of magical objects used as projectiles by sorcerers, or hidden in the ground of the victim’s house or compound) are “the most difficult to cure”, according to Damit and Hj. Mejin, “because it requires the help of a gimbaran [spirit helper], which means having a pact with the spirits” (Sakit orang yang kana buatan orang ada ilmu hitam paling susah mau ubat. Orang yang ada gimbaran saja dapat ubat. Kalau orang bergimbaran, ia ada perjanjian sama makhluk halus). In the past many healers had a spirit helper, which could be acquired by obtaining special ilmu (knowledge), or by marrying or making friends with the spirit, or else inheriting it from a deceased family member, but “now fewer people have a gimbaran, because this practice is syirik” (Sekarang inda banyak orang ada gimbaran, pasal ia syirik), as both Damit and Hj. Mejin note. Without a gimbaran, most orang pandai find themselves powerless to counter certain forms of black magic. The best defense they can offer against black magic is to provide protective amulets against sorcery and advise people to keep in their houses certain elements (such as the sarang tuma, bidara, or the limau nipis , mentioned above) that are reputedly feared by the spirits, which can even be destroyed if they get in contact with them. “The sarang tuma can also be soaked in water and drunk as a protection against spirit possession” (Sarang tuma dirandam dalam air dan diminum supaya inda kana rasuk makhluk halus), according to Damit. Hj. Mejin maintains that “if the illness results from eating or drinking a poisonous substance (such as sunti), then it can only be cured by ingesting medicinal products; it cannot be simply treated by bathing the patient because the cause has entered the body” (Kalau penyakit atu berpunca dari makan atau minum barang bisa macam sunti, orang mesti makan atau minum ubat. Ia inda dapat dibari mandi kerana barang atu sudah masuk dalam badan). A number of herbal remedies (penawar racun) are used to treat sunti (see figure 45). 176

Figure 45: Oil to remove black magic (Minyak Penawar Sunti) (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Main puteri: As noted earlier, I did not observe exorcistic rituals such as the main puteri, an indigenous Malay shamanistic healing ceremony described by Laderman on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, while I was conducting my research in Brunei. In the main puteri, the suspected spirits are brought to the séance by the officiating shamans’ own familiar spirits, and the minduk (“master of ceremony”) exhorts them to return to their origins and restore the patient to health. Following the minduk’s invocation, shamans achieve trance, which sensitizes them and allows them to express the wishes of the spirits. Spirits cause shamans to temporarily lose all awareness of their own personality and speak in the persona of the spirits, but they do not usually invade the shamans’ body, which is protected by the familiar spirits who perch upon their shoulders (Laderman 1991a, p. 61). At the height of the performance of the main puteri, patients go into a trance, where they express their feelings and interact with shamans through the minduk. Laderman (1991a, p. 51) argues that Malay shamans help their patients move into an altered state through the force of their own personalities, conceptualized as a powerful Wind, which is intrinsic to the patient, not an outside entity. While in trance, patients are encouraged to act out the repressed portions of their personalities until their hearts are content and their angin refreshed. The trance, in allowing the Inner Winds (see pp. 91- 92) to blow freely, removes their unhealthy accumulation, returning the patient to a state of balance and harmony, which strengthens the patient’s “gate”, protecting the semangat 177 within (Laderman 1991b, p. 94). Laderman (1988, p. 808) maintains that “sufferers of sakit berangin must face the reality of their own personalities undisguised by symbols that locate their problems outside themselves”. Chen argues that main puteri is highly successful in treating psychoneuroses and depression, since the ritual “draws sick individuals out of their state of morbid self-absorption and heightens their feelings of self-worth” (Chen 1981, p. 128). Also, a vital element in this treatment is the involvement of the patients’ family and friends, which enhances group solidarity and reintegrates patients into their social group (Frank 1963, p. 53).

Modern exorcism: In Brunei, in the modern Islamic version of exorcism, neither the exorcist nor the patient achieves trance. Also, the patient’s behavior is not perceived as an outward expression of the inner workings of his or her personality, but rather is believed to be the result of possession by external spirits. Some informants acknowledge the existence of exorcistic rituals similar to main puteri (called menurun in Brunei), but insist that this practice is not allowed by Islam. Hj. Majid explains:

Menurun is the act of curing where the bomoh calls spirits for help; the invisible beings possess the traditional healer, who then impersonates the different spirits. Many practiced it a long time ago, and there is still someone in my village [Kg. Menunggul] who claims he can heal people without using Quranic verses. Any practice not using the Quran is not in the right path of Islam.

Menurun ani artinya bomoh atu minta tolong makhluk halus untuk ubat orang sakit. Makhluk halus masuk dalam badan bomoh. Dulu orang banyak pandai menurun. Di kampungku, ada satu orang cakap ia dapat mengubat inda payah pakai ayat-ayat Quran. Orang kalau mengubati inda pakai ayat-ayat Quran atu sasat.

Kimball (1979, p. 78) notes that “in the past there were quite a few trance mediums in Brunei”, orang keterunan, commonly referred to as orang bemambang, or less commonly, orang behantu (possessed by hantu), “whose spirits were usually mambang, hantu, or pari”. Most trance mediums, she reports, were young females, who had a “weak vital force” (lamah semangat) and often saw supernatural beings when other people did not. Once the spirit had selected a girl, she would become insane, unless she went through the requisite ceremony to make the spirit her helper and become a trance medium (Kimball 1979, p. 79). “Trance sessions seem to have been quite common before World War Two in Brunei”, although they have long been declared illegal (Kimball 1979, p. 82). Many people were ashamed of being possessed by spirits because the Lord would be angry with them, since their trance activities had been very sinful. By contrast to this, 178 the acquisition of spirit helpers, usually confined to non-possessing, non-trance types, was commonly sought in the past, as mentioned in Chapter 3, and “many people were friends with jinn” (Kimball 1979, p. 83).

Spirit possession, however, as mentioned in the previous chapter, is still quite common in Brunei. It is usually assumed that the deviant behavior of the victim results from the intrusion of an external agent and is curable through supernaturalistic therapy. Exorcism sessions are nowadays mainly conducted by official members of the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Brunei and ustaz (see: http://youtu.be/Do9b-ZtFNRs and http://youtu.be/y5BP_rBK2rU). Islamic healers first threaten the invading spirits, telling them that God will be angry if they do not leave the patient. Spirits usually respond verbally, by uttering protests and threats through the mouth of the patient. Healers then recite Ayat Al-Kursi to destroy the spirits (jinn) in the victim’s body. Once the spirits have been destroyed, “Islamic healers must advise their patients to recite Ayat Al-Kursi or Al-Fatihah every day, before they sleep, to prevent spirit possessions from recurring, as reading Al-Quran can serve as a powerful protection”, as the State mufti declares (cited in The Brunei Times, 15 March 2014). Sometimes, Islamic healers convert the invading spirits to Islam by teaching them to recite the Kalimah tawhid or Syahada and make them promise that they will never possess human beings again.

Most of the non-ustaz traditional healers I interviewed claim that they are also able to exorcise noxious spirits. To remove the intrusive spirit from the body, they note, the healer first tries to persuade it to leave the victim alone. Damit declares: “Treating the possessed patient without asking the spirit’s approval first puts the healer at great risk of being attacked by the spirit” (Ketani kalau kan ubat orang kesarongan ani mesti minta kebenaran dulu. Kalau inda, orang mengubati atu boleh kana kacau oleh makhluk halus). After taking the necessary self-protection measures against the invasive supernatural beings by reciting the Kalimah tawhid and other verses to request guidance and protection from God, and trying to persuade the noxious spirits to go back to their place of origin and stop disturbing the victim, non-ustaz healers, like ustaz healers, recite Quranic verses to hurt and weaken the invading spirits, which will finally be expelled from the patient’s body when the person regains consciousness. In the traditional version of exorcism, patients are also treated with massage, gilir, bertangas (fumigation of the body), air bertawari (water upon which incantations have been recited) and herbal oils whose components are believed to be feared by spirits. During an exorcism, as Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 35) reports, “the orang pandai presses on the patient’s big 179 toes or left shoulder”, and recites Quranic surah to weaken and cause pain to the invading spirit inside the client’s body, which “the orang pandai extracts through the patient’s left ear or head, making gestures indicating that he or she is pulling something out from the client’s body”. When such a spirit leaves its victim’s body, “the orang pandai usually imprisons it inside a bottle, and either kills the spirit inside the bottle or throws the bottle into the sea” (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 36). I never observed a similar practice of physical extraction of the intruding spirit, except during a healing ceremony among the Iban, when the manang extracted a tiny stone representing the cause of the patient’s illness and placed it into a bowl, before throwing it out of the longhouse.

During the exorcistic sessions performed both by members of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and by non-ustaz traditional healers, the expulsion or destruction of the external agents that have allegedly displaced the victim’s normal self takes place only after these agents are interrogated about the purpose of the intervention. Thus, as discussed in the previous chapter, these sessions provide patients with the opportunity to express their feelings and desires, and vent their frustrations, through the voice of invading spirits, without being held accountable for their temporary loss of self-control.

CONCLUSION

We can distinguish four main groups of traditional Brunei Malay healing procedures. In the first can be included the numerous medicinal plant preparations that orang pandai use to treat both usual and unusual illnesses. The second group includes the use of blood- cupping (bekam), massage (urut) and the various techniques of post-natal treatment (bertangas, bertajul…etc.). The third group consists of mystical incantations (variously termed doa, baca-baca, jampi or tawari by informants) used to invoke the help of the supernatural as a means of therapy against spirit-caused illnesses and as a way to re- inforce the healing power of even the most “naturalistic” specialties, such as herbal medicines, massage, or cupping. There is still a prevailing supernatural basis to most traditional healers’ treatments. Drinking, or bathing with, water upon which incantations have been read (air bertawari) constitutes the primary means of curing. The last group of healing procedures includes the various forms of exorcism. Although Laderman claims that the bulk of most shamans’ practices, in fact, is treatment of the Inner Winds rather than merely exorcism of disembodied spirits, in the modern Islamic version of exorcism in Brunei, the patient’s behavior is not perceived as an outward expression of the inner workings of his or her personality, but rather is believed to be the result of possession by external spirits. Whether Malay exorcistic ritual is used as a projective 180 system which locates the patient’s problems in external entities (as is the case in Brunei today)48, or rather locates problems within the patients’ own personality components, as described by Laderman, it always encourages the sick individual to express a wide spectrum of emotions and behavior and provides the patient with a cathartic experience, which helps relieve him or her of tensions and anxieties.

The abilities of the specialist healer differ from those of the lay practitioner both by degree and by their very nature. Lay practitioners, like indigenous therapists, may utilize either magical or phytotherapeutic methods to prevent the occurrence of illness or alleviate symptoms, but therapies which aim at extracting the agents responsible for the symptoms, and drive away the sickness, are usually more complicated than lay medicinal treatment. Dukun, according to Kimball (1979, p. 3), are “privy to a world of ideas and conceptions only partly known to the average person”, who is aware of the existence of invisible forces, but lacks the dukun’s expertise in dealing with them and with the illnesses they cause. Only dukun know the content of the recitations used to treat spirit- caused illnesses and the techniques that must be used for self-protection while in close contact with illness-causing beings (Kimball 1979, p. 3). This esoteric knowledge (ilmu), which is the source of both the orang pandai’s healing skills and moral ambiguity, is either inherited from relatives, sometimes conveyed in a dream, or learnt with a guru. In both cases, orang pandai go through a long period of apprenticeship to further refine their professional skills. Besides his/her knowledge (ilmu), “the healer is inhabited by an especially strong semangat, and is thus able to protect another being whose semangat is correspondingly weak” (Massard 1988, p. 794). The ability to attain a state of trance, which allowed the healer to communicate with invisible creatures, in order to request help for both diagnosis and treatment, was, in the past, another prerogative of the profession that has now fallen into disuse in Brunei as a result of the sanctions applied by the Islamic hierarchy. Similarly, the practice of calling spirit-helpers (gimbaran), “so much a prominent feature of the armamentarium of the bomoh of the past” (Heggenhougen 1980b, p. 238), seems to have largely declined in Brunei, as, strictly speaking, dealing with such spirits is against Islam.

48 Also, Golomb (1985, p. 247) argues that, among Thai Malays, while exorcists and spectators try to satisfy intrusive spirits’ demands, they generally do not perceive themselves as fulfilling the needs of the host in the process.

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CHAPTER 6: RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TRADITIONAL MEDICINE AND WESTERN MEDICINE

INTRODUCTION: Western medicine and traditional medicine are parallel medical systems, which both seek health and well-being for their patients, despite their differences in techniques, pharmacopeia, conceptual backgrounds and training (Mohamed Taib Osman 1976, p. 24). The validity of the biomedical model, as discussed in the introduction of this thesis, has been the subject of heated debates since the 1970s. It has commonly been argued that biomedicine was reductionist in conceptualizing all illnesses in terms of perturbations at the biochemical level (Engel 1977), that it was more concerned with diseased bodies than with general well-being of patients (Kleinman et al. 2006 [1978]; Baer et al. 2003), and that it ignored the social and psychological backgrounds of patients, as well as their perceptions of their illnesses (Riley 1977; Nichter 1978; Jaspan 1976a). However, as Engel (1977, p. 130) argues, the biomedical model has now acquired the status of dogma and its limitations are easily overlooked: “The power of vested social, political, and economic interests are formidable deterrents to any effective assault on biomedical dogmatism” (Engel 1977, p. 135). In Brunei, as in most other postcolonial states, biomedicine has become “a metonym for modernity in the domain of healing” (Connor 2001, p. 7), and most representatives of official Western medicine tend to regard healing practices that are not based on formal literate knowledge with disdain, as superstitions, or as a disappearing historical vestige. Traditional healers, on the other hand, do not deny the value of cosmopolitan medicine. They perceive their services as complementary, rather than contradictory, to the therapeutic efforts of Western doctors.

Despite the dwindling number of folk healers in Brunei (which is emphasized by both my Brunei Malay and Iban informants, resulting in people commonly consulting healers from the neighboring states of Sabah and Sarawak) and the increasing availability and pre-eminence of Western medicine, some Brunei Malays continue to seek the services of practitioners of traditional medicine both for illnesses whose etiology is perceived as being “extraordinary” (luar biasa) and for “ordinary” (biasa) ailments. In addition to my Bruneian informants’ comments, observations made in the rest of the Malay world and beyond help to elucidate the reasons for the persistent popularity of traditional healers among some Brunei Malays despite the indisputable achievements of the biomedical model. The theoretical literature on the relationships between biomedicine and traditional 182 medicine has highlighted the constellation of factors that contribute to the tenacity of traditional healing in many countries: the difficulty of accepting the idea of single causality in health and illness; the exclusion of certain categories of folk illness from the scope of biomedicine; patients’ faith in traditional healers’ power; the attention to the affective aspects of healing; the congruity of traditional diagnosis with patients’ belief system; and the ability of folk healers to identify and remove what is regarded as the real underlying cause of illness.

FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT PREMISES OF INDIGENOUS AND WESTERN MEDICINES

The foundations of modern Western medicine were laid some 2500 years ago by Hippocrates. However, it was not until the latter part of the nineteenth century that Western medicine finally became truly scientific (Chen 1975, p. 176), although some critics of the biomedical model (Barnes 1973; Loudon 1976; Foucault 1973; Good 1994; Jaspan 1976a) have demonstrated that supposedly scientific Western medicine is still riddled with informal and non-scientific elements. In medieval Europe, life revolved around the Church, and society was dominated by religious ideas. Sickness was seen as “God’s will” (Russel, 2013 p. 7). Early Christian theories of illness shared some aspects in common with those of some Brunei Malays today. People’s afflictions were attributed to divine punishment for their sins, possession by the devil, or sorcery. Therapy usually consisted of attempts to induce miraculous cures through penitence, prayer, and appeals for assistance from the saints (Golomb 1985, pp. 160-161). The scientific approach to disease began to make considerable advances when the Church finally permitted researchers to dissect the human body in the fifteenth century, with the tacit understanding that “no corresponding investigation of man’s mind or behavior” would be undertaken (Engel 1977, p. 131). The Church, in claiming man’s [sic] mind or behavior as the exclusive domain of religion, was instrumental in establishing “the mind- body dualism” that characterizes Western biomedical science today (Engel 1977, p. 131). Early doctors were eager to discover the mechanical way that the parts of the body worked together, and an important characteristic of the biomedical model is to treat the body as a machine (Russell 2013, p. 10; Kleinman et al. 2006 [1978], p. 146; Engel 1977, p. 131). In the seventeenth century, René Descartes (1596–1650), who argued that the body could be seen as part of the physical world and the mind as part of the spiritual world and suggested that a person’s brain and their mind were distinct, significantly 183 influenced the biomedical model and developed the idea that emotions and beliefs – matters of the mind – were of secondary importance when it came to fixing body- machines (Russell 2013, p. 10; Frank 1975, p. 46).

In the late part of the seventeenth century and until the beginning of the nineteenth century, Enlightenment thinkers celebrated “reason” and rationality over traditional beliefs. They valued scientific methods of investigation – observation and experimentation – rather than religious authority (Hepburn 1988, p. 60). Thus, biomedicine emerged in a society dominated by empiricism, which did not admit that “non-scientific” reasoning could yield knowledge (Foucault 1966). Biomedicine rapidly came to dominate approaches to health care over the course of the nineteenth century, and a variety of healers on the margins, including herbalists and midwives, were pushed aside (Russell 2013, p. 9). The emphasis on science was intended to eliminate unorthodox kinds of medicine. Paradoxically, while some varieties of Western medicine battled indigenous medical systems in the name of science, those same Western varieties were derided as unscientific, fanciful, mystical, dogmatic soon afterwards (Riley 1977, p. 553). In the nineteenth century medical experts became convinced that illness was something that started with a problem in a specific organ of the body. Then, their focus shifted to specific tissues. By the 1880s, attention had turned to micro-organisms, in particular germs. The discovery of germs was credited with saving thousands of lives of people suffering from major killers of the time, diseases such as smallpox, cholera, diphtheria and typhoid. The idea that all illness could ultimately be explained by a single cause became a key assumption of the biomedical model (Russell 2013, p. 11).

The new scientific approach to health valued an objective, distanced approach to knowledge, against earlier approaches to knowledge, which were varied in orientation, and the new medical experts started disregarding the opinion of the patient when making a diagnosis (Russell 2013, pp. 10-11; Kleinman et al. 2006 [1978]). The tradition of scientism insists on the testing of everything which is received and on its rejection if it does not correspond with the “facts of experience” (Riley 1977, p. 551; Tan 1989, p. 303). Today a large part of the costs of Western medical care is attributable to sophisticated diagnosis, as opposed to prevention, therapy or rehabilitation (Riley 1977, p. 555; Baer et al. 2003, p. 11). What the patient says about his/her illness is merely an approximation through which the doctor has to discover the biological facts (Engel 1977, p. 132; Good 1994, p. 8). Intertwined with the concept of science is the idea that the facts of science correspond with reality, although, as mentioned in the introduction, “the 184 superior technologies of biomedicine do not logically entail privileged ontologies” (Leslie & Young 1992, p. 4), and a consequent expectation that the application of science will be efficacious. Applications of science have been efficacious in many ways, and medicine has utilized many of the “fruits” of physical science and biological science (Riley 1977, p. 551). Examples of scientific medicine’s greatest achievements are the use of antibiotics to cure previously deadly diseases, such as meningitis and pneumonia, and the fantastic achievements of modern surgeons, such as transplanting hearts and kidneys (Frank 1975, p. 46).

However, it cannot be assumed that scientific progress automatically results in improved medical efficacy (Riley 1977, p. 551). “Longevity owes much more to the railroad and to the synthesis of fertilizers and insecticides than it owes to new drugs and syringes”, according to Illich (1974, p. 920). A major contribution science has made to the decline of mortality has been through improvements in the sanitary environment, but even those improvements can simply be attributed to a general increase in standards of living. Science’s contribution through medicine has been substantial in terms of prevention (mainly with inoculations) since about 1900, and in terms of treatment (especially with the introduction of antibiotics) since the 1930s and the 1940s (Riley 1977, p. 556). However, the recent decrease in infectious disease and the augmentation in the number of cancers and cardiovascular diseases, as well as chronic diseases and mental illnesses (Jaspan 1976a; Firth 1978), have led to the recognition of the importance of psychological and social factors in illness causation. Accordingly, the biomedical model, despite its many achievements, has begun to be the target of increasing criticism even in Western countries, as has clearly been demonstrated in the introduction of this thesis. Despite the enormous gains which have accrued from biomedical research, notes Engel (1977, p. 134), there is “a growing uneasiness among the public as well as among physicians, that health needs are not being met”. Biomedical reductionism is particularly harmful when it neglects the impact of non-biological circumstances upon biological processes (Engel 1977, p. 134). The biomedical view that illness is caused by a damage to the body and that the physician is an expert who repairs the damage, is obviously inadequate to explain many of the phenomena of health and illness because, in actual fact, “the individual is a psychobiological unit integrated with his social environment and a perturbation in any part of this system shakes all of it” (Frank 1975, pp. 46-47).

In spite of the hopes of some medical science enthusiasts, alternative medical systems have no more withered away than they have been absorbed. Riley (1977, p. 557) declares: 185

The alternatives to ostensibly scientific medicine can be more effective in ameliorating suffering, as a direct result of not being distracted by a pre-eminent commitment to scientificness, by being less concerned with the disease process than with the sick person and his social relationships, by being less concerned with the technical, bio-medical problems than with the patient’s state of mind and feeling of well-being.

What distinguishes present-day cosmopolitan medicine from other forms of medicine is its orientation as a biological science and the high level of its application of experimental science. Disease is seen as the result of “biological changes at the cellular level” brought about by microbiological agents, trauma, chemicals, carcinogenic agents, metabolic imbalances, and chromosomal combinations (Chen 1975, p. 177). The traditional biomedical view that biological indices are the ultimate criteria defining illness, as Engel (1977, pp. 132-133) points out, leads to the present paradox that some people with positive laboratory findings are told that they are in need of treatment when in fact they are feeling quite well, while others feeling sick are assured that they have no illness. Although it has not always been the case, the European medical tradition, currently designated as “biomedicine”, has increasingly become influenced by the principles of modern science, which views the concepts of health and illness in terms of the organic, biological constitution of the human body, to the exclusion of other social, psychological or spiritual factors that are perceived by other medical systems to act upon the individual to cause physical or mental suffering (Wright 2014, p. 70). This emphasis on biological aspects has led to a depersonalization of the sick individual, who is no longer seen as a “total person”, and cosmopolitan medicine has been described as being mechanistic, impersonal, organ-oriented and individualistic, in contrast with traditional medicine, which is supportive, personal and holistic in its approach (Chen 1975, p. 177; Fabrega and Silver 1973; Engel 1977). Although the introduction of Western medicine in developing countries has indisputably decreased mortality, it has been less effective against chronic illnesses, and it can be experienced as alienating and “de-humanizing” (Janes 1999), as it does not take into account the social and emotional realm of health.

The therapy of many traditional healers is practically based on the theoretical inverse of biomedicine, which has committed itself to explaining all illness in terms of “deviations from the norm of measurable biological (somatic) variables” rather than also considering the social, psychological, and behavioral dimensions of illness (Engel 1977, p. 130). “The signs and symptoms of disease ... are not ‘things-in-themselves’, are not only biological and physical, but are also signs of social relations disguised as natural things, concealing their roots in human reciprocity” (Taussig 1980, p. 3). In biomedical practice, 186 this social “language” emanating from our bodies is manipulated by “concealing it within the realm of biological signs” (Taussig 1980, p. 3). Insofar as they downplay biological processes, traditional healing rituals “serve to raise the patients’ expectancy of cure, help them to harmonize their inner conflicts, and reintegrate them with their groups and the spirit world” (Frank, 1963, p. 53). Traditional Brunei Malay explanatory patterns for illnesses, as we have mentioned previously, are not drawn from a single etiological system, but rely on a composite ensemble of factors, ranging from physical trauma and biology (with reference to kuman, a generic term covering all parasites, germs and microbes), humoral elements (the role of climate and nutrition), to angin (wind), spirits, acting on their own volition or sent by an enemy of the patient, and emotions. A patient’s emotional state may have a profound influence on his or her health, as will be discussed below. It also considers that certain conditions, such as the loss of semangat (spirit of life), severe mental stress (uri) and incorrect behavior, predispose to illness. Brunei Malay traditional medicine does not categorize an illness into either a physical or a psychological complaint to the extent done by cosmopolitan medicine, but rather tends to treat the whole body-mind-spirit complex. The hypothesis that the use of “modern” versus “indigenous” sources of therapy can best be explained by determining whether the disorder is of “natural” origin (in the domain of the “modern” therapist) or of “supernatural” origin (in the domain of the native health practitioner) is applicable only to belief systems that clearly separate “natural” from “supernatural” etiology (Colson 1971, p. 227). From the perspective of Brunei Malay traditional medicine, illnesses may sometimes combine the features of being biasa (usual) and luar biasa (unusual), calling for a combination of treatments.

PERCEPTION OF TRADITIONAL MEDICINE

In culture contact situations, it was generally taken for granted that Western medicine was more scientific, and therefore more efficacious, than whatever kind of local medicine it confronted (Riley 1977, p. 549). At the time of European encounters, in the East Indies (now Indonesia), Europeans found folk healers’ pharmaceutical practices acceptable, but considered their methods of inducing trance to heal others as reprehensible “quackery”, based on “magic” and “superstitions” (Nourse 2013, p. 414). As Western medicine was moving toward a more “modern, rational, scientific and hygienic” definition of itself, its advocates described the dukun’s professional skills as “superstitious”, with only a few “empirical techniques” “for prescribing medicinal herbs” (Nourse 2013, p. 416). 187

Indigenous therapies such as massage and herbal medicines were tolerated by the Dutch. Only recently have herbal mixtures been blamed for acute renal failure, and fears of poisoning from heavy lead, arsenic, or mercury as a result of ingesting herbal remedies which circulate in Singapore and other Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. Further studies are required to establish whether these accusations are actually founded (Van Esterik 1988, p. 757).

As Western medicines result from a mechanistic idea of body, health and sickness, ideally, an isolated, analyzed and standardized substance is considered to be effective for one symptom. Western pharmaceuticals are molecularly-defined active biological substances. By contrast, traditional pharmaceuticals, jamu, are made of numerous medicinal plants, and contain no extracts or concentrated substances, but rather preparations of the entire plant. In this pharmaceutical concept of jamu, there is no hierarchy of “main”, “active”, “inactive”, or “superfluous” substances, whose constituents can be singled out; each element has its proper place and acts only in coexistence with all its partners (Tuschinsky 1995, pp. 1592-1593). Some argue that the physiological effects of herbal medicines may depend as much on placebo effects as on the pharmacological properties of the herbs (Van Esterik 1988, p. 757), and more studies need to be conducted to clarify the question of pharmacological efficacy of these plant medicines. Plant medicines are not pharmaceuticals in the Western sense, as they are consumed on a regular basis often as a prophylactic rather than as a curative remedy, and thus are not used as a substitute for Western medicines, but rather as part of a distinctive parallel system, supplementing other therapies. The underlying concepts of the traditional pharmacological mixtures, jamu, are therefore incompatible with the Western pharmaceutical paradigm, and these non-standardized traditional plant medicines seemingly “prove” to be inferior in light of the standards generated by the Western scientific model for investigating all pharmaceuticals (Tuschinsky 1995, p. 1595).

After the Second World War, as medical services were spreading to the rural areas, and modern medical practitioners were trying to “sell” their brand of medicine in the face of the competition from the traditional medicine which had been in the lives of the people for centuries, the assault on traditional beliefs and practices regarding health was relentless (Mohamed Taib Osman 1976, p. 16). Because the principles traditional healing systems utilize differ from those of twentieth century “scientific” medicine, outsiders tend to view the procedures as irrelevant, harmful, “mumbo-jumbo” or magical panaceas. Many doctors look down on dukun as “superstitious ignoramuses”, as Kimball (1979, p. 188

326) maintains. The germ theory of disease created an “unconditional faith in modern invasive technological probes” and at the same time produced a common notion that discovering bodily needs without technological mediation was “primitive and largely conjectural” (Hajah Jainah Haji Musa 2009, p. 309). The interpenetration and seemingly inevitable hegemony of Western biomedicine constitutes but one feature of the diffusion of industrialization in autochthonous cultural and economic systems (Fabrega & Manning 1979, p. 41). Biomedicine achieved its dominant position in the West and beyond with the emergence of industrial capitalism whose interests it served (Baer et al. 2003). The ideology of biomedicine is compatible with the world view of the capitalist class, as “it focuses attention on discrete, external agents rather than on social structural or environmental factors”, as Baer et al. (2003, pp. 12-13) claim. Also, biomedicine portrays the body as a machine that requires periodic repair so that it may perform “assigned productive tasks essential to economic imperatives” (Baer et al. 2003, pp. 12- 13). Biomedicine, which is the dominant form of medicine supported by national governments in Asia, is emblematic of modernity in the domain of healing, implying notions of social progress and economic improvement for the nation’s citizens. Healing practices that are not based on formal literate knowledge are likely to be defined as dangerous relics of the past, clung to by “backward” populations out of ignorance and superstition (Connor 2001, p. 9). In reality, both urban and rural people with “many degrees of knowledge and sophistication” still resort to traditional healing practices (Heggenhougen 1980a, p. 39). Although Western medicine has become well established in all the major towns and is also available to the rural population, a diversity of traditional medical systems thrive with vigor in towns as well as in rural areas (Chen 1975, p. 171). Press (1978, p. 75) argues that one of the reasons for the persistence of folk medicine in urban areas is that it “minimizes the trauma of acculturation of recent rural migrants”.

Healing practices that do not depend for their efficacy on highly systematized bodies of formal knowledge may be antithetical to the state projects of normalization of citizens through techniques of hygiene, hospitalization, and pharmaceutical treatments (Connor 2001, p. 10). Baer et al. (2003, p. 13) argue that the birth experience, in many countries that pride themselves on undergoing modernization, has been distorted into a pathological event rather than a natural physiological one for childbearing women. “The medicalization of birthing”, which includes the expectation that women give birth in a hospital, the chemical stimulation of labor, the requirement that the mother assume a 189 prone position rather than a squatting one, the routine use of regional or general anesthesia for delivery, and routine episiotomy, “contributes to increasing social control on the part of physicians and health institutions over behavior” (Baer et al. 2003, p. 14).49 Since indices of fertility and mortality rates of infants and mothers have become deeply invested with political meanings of progress, women, as patients, have become the target of invasive forms of surveillance and control instituted by the “social welfare” arm of modern Asian states. From the perspective of this constituency, women’s expertise as healers is rendered valueless or even dangerous and should “yield to the superior capacities of biomedicine” (Connor 2001, p. 13; Nichter & Lock 2002).

In Brunei, the number of traditional midwives (bidan kampong) has diminished as a result of the enforcement of the Midwives’ Acts between the 1930s and 1956, which requested all midwives to attend a midwifery training in the General Hospital50 (Khadizah Haji Abdul Mumin 2015, p. 75). The formal training of hospital midwives was introduced in 1933. A small number of bidan kampong who had some education were selected to become bidan kerajaan (government midwives) and were taught how to deliver babies and use aseptic techniques (Hajah Jainah Haji Musa 2009, p. 243). Midwifery became increasingly professionalized into an occupation which could be undertaken only with State authorization through a complex system of certification. Many mothers, sisters, aunts, or neighbors who learnt midwifery through networks of sharing, apprenticeship and accumulated experience became increasingly “imagined as the adversary of women” in whose hands the safety of women would be compromised (Hajah Jainah Haji Musa 2009, p. 246). By the 1970s, family members had to adhere to perintah kerajaan (government order) and call the bidan kerajaan when a woman got into labor. Acceptance of the bidan kerajaan was facilitated by the enforcement of the registration of birth and death, because only government midwives could notify the Birth and Death Registration Office of the new birth (Hajah Jainah Haji Musa 2009, p. 238). By the end of the 1980s and early 1990s, the once extensive demand for bidan kampong as pengulin (at home birth attendant) had waned. Presently, although bidan kampong do not play a major role in delivering babies, they might still be asked to provide air selusoh

49 Taussig (1980, p. 13) argues that traditional medicine is as much an instrument of social control as biomedicine, in so far as the traditional healer sees his task less as curing an individual patient than as remedying the ills of a corporate group. The patient will only get better once “all the tensions and aggressions in the groups interrelations have been exposed to ritual treatment and domesticated in the service of the traditional social order”.

50 Many found the training difficult because their literacy capability was minimal. 190 or minyak selusoh (water or oil onto which specific prayers have been chanted) to help ease labor pain and hasten delivery (Hajah Jainah Haji Musa 2009, p. 240). Their main role consists in taking care of women during their forty-four day post-natal confinement period, when they are believed to be particularly vulnerable to disturbances. They provide various rituals (such as the proper cleaning of the placenta), perform body massage and ritual cleansing baths, supply locally made herbal medicines, and provide women with spiritual protection against the attacks of evil spirits (in particular the pontianak) with the recitation of special prayers and mantras (Hajah Jainah Haji Musa 2009, p. 299).

Today, notes Khadizah Haji Abdul Mumin (2015, p. 74), traditional midwives, who do not have any formal midwifery training and acquired their knowledge and expertise through real life experiences and knowledge that have been passed on to them from other women or from one generation to the next, continue to carry out their practices in silence. They are no longer involved with the labor and delivery process, and their practices focus mainly on the antenatal period, postnatal confinement and women’s general health. During the antenatal period, their treatments include giving women herbs that would strengthen the uterus and prevent miscarriage, reminding them to always remember Allah, reciting part or full verses from the Quran such as Ayat Al-Kursi and Surah Al- Masad, and zikir (Khadizah Haji Abdul Mumin 2015, p. 77; Hjh. Mariam). As mentioned in the previous chapter, lay midwives also care for women’s reproductive and sexual health. They provide home remedies and practices that promote fertility, increase libido during menopause, maintain women’s internal and external beauty and youthfulness, alleviate premenstrual ailments, increase sexual satisfaction, and treat smelly vaginal discharge. There are some reservations about the safety of traditional practices, such as abdominal massage during pregnancy to manipulate foetal presentations, and expediting the involution of the uterus in the postnatal period (Khadizah Haji Abdul Mumin 2015, p. 80). Besides, although lay midwives claim that homemade remedies made from herbs, flowers, trees, roots and spices are not harmful because they are natural, some argue that the mixture of different ingredients in these remedies may have dangerous reactions and that scientific studies have yet to establish the safety of these products ((Khadizah Haji Abdul Mumin 2015, p. 80).

The recent call by the World Health Organization (1978) for the integration of traditional medicine into the system of medical care of member countries has triggered renewed interest in traditional medicine, particularly in the areas of herbs and drugs (Chen 1981, 191 p. 135; Heggenhougen 1980b, p. 235). It has also provided a legitimacy to traditional practice not enjoyed in the recent past when, all too often, traditional medicine was thought of as “unscientific quackery”. Since the 1980s, one area where the importance of local knowledge has begun to be recognized is in the field of primary health care (PHC) projects, although PHC providers and policy makers used to view local knowledge as a barrier to the complete and correct adoption of biomedically based public health interventions (Wayland 2001, p. 172). Sillitoe (1998, p. 243) states that the growing interest in indigenous knowledge is linked to the rejection of ‘‘top-down’’ approaches to development and a stress on ‘‘participatory’’ approaches which ‘‘empower’’ the poor and the marginal. Kalland (2000, p. 316) claims that it reflects both “the increasing skepticism many people in the industrialized world have of the heuristic power of the Western, scientific paradigm” and the growing ability of some indigenous peoples to make their voices heard. The process of marginalizing indigenous knowledge, as Ellen and Harris (2000, p. 11) declare, “has been put into reverse for romantic reasons”, with the notion that traditional, indigenous or “primitive” peoples are “in some kind of idyllic harmony with nature”. Not only has this representation given international legitimacy to indigenous perceptions of nature, but it has also provided indigenous peoples with the opportunity to become full members of the “global” village, with important consequences for their self-confidence and identity as peoples (Kalland 2000, p. 316).

Medical anthropologists in the international health field, after initially advocating for greater integration of indigenous healers in primary health care, have now distanced themselves from an integrative approach for several reasons. Gold and Clapp (2011, p. 95) maintain that attempts to integrate traditional medicine and PHC can result in its subordination to biomedicine, or to its biomedicalization, and can lead to the loss of identity of indigenous medical practices. Medicinal plant use (phytotherapy) is one of the few areas where PHC has drawn upon stores of local knowledge (World Health Organization 1978). With the recognition that local cultures held vast stores of useful information concerning medicinal plants, botanists, pharmacologists, anthropologists, and biologists began cataloguing this knowledge (Wayland 2001, p. 172). However, the use of plants in a particular medical system is consistent with the prevailing medical cosmology, including concepts of illness and disease etiology (Leslie 1976; Landy 1977). In many cultures, patterns of plant utilization are organized by various formulations of the humoral theory of illness in which etiologies are ascribed to imbalances and 192 treatments are directed toward restoring harmony. In other cases, plant selection may be patterned in accordance with the belief that “some tangible attributes of the plant serve as signs to indicate its utility” (e.g. the Doctrine of Signatures) (Etkin 1986, pp. 3-4).

The implication of considering indigenous and scientific perspectives side by side is not that we can translate another culture’s conceptions into scientific discourse or necessarily that we should test them according to its canons (Sillitoe 1998, p. 226). As Moerman and Jonas (2002) have highlighted, plants can have healing effects, not because they contain pharmacological active compounds, but because of the cultural “meaning” assigned to them, in the same way that placebo medicines have healing effects in Western culture. The idea that local medicines become meaningful only when pharmacologically validated diminishes traditional knowledge systems and indigenous explanations of the world. “Intangible attributes of a species may be as important criteria for inclusion in indigenous pharmacopeias as its tangible attributes” (Reyes-Garcia 2010, p. 5). Without concerted effort to maintain native epistemologies, indigenous medical systems face “an inevitable slide into narrow herbal traditions” and a loss of those elements of diagnosis and therapy which may be the most valuable and effective (Janes 1999, p. 1803). The result of uncritical integration of biomedicine with indigenous knowledge, according to Ellen and Harris (2000, pp. 13-14), is that many so-called indigenous-knowledge reports “radically disembody particular bits of proclaimed useful knowledge” from the rest of culture in a way which does a profound disservice to its potential importance. Traditional medicines, argues Janes (1999, p. 1804), are being transformed from culturally-specific methods for identifying, naming and treating illness to “repositories of herbal concoctions where assumptions of efficacy rest in scientific understanding of biochemistry rather than in native epistemologies of the body and its relationship to family, society and cosmos”. Thus, recent scholarship tends to reject the assumptions of the integrative approach and instead focuses on a model of “medical pluralism”, or the use of many different health care alternatives (Leslie 1980), which represent various systems of medical practice and ideology, “each deriving from a separate historical and philosophical basis and each providing a different mode or theory of treatment for the individuals who use them” (Stoner 1986, p. 44).

The growing interest in the vast stores of indigenous medicinal knowledge is not solely motivated by the desire to integrate this knowledge into local Primary Health Care. Nowadays, it is mainly the huge economic value of tropical medicinal plants which explains the increasing attention of scientists to these plants in the search for novel drug 193 compounds. About 25 per cent of all prescription drugs sold in the USA in the 1980s were derived from plants that had been discovered through scientific investigation of plants used in traditional herbal medicines (Soejarto and Farnsworth 1989, cited in Voeks 2004, p. 873). Thus, traditional healers are increasingly portrayed as “living conduits” of powerful and perhaps profitable wisdom (Voeks 2004, p. 881). Today, the Bruneian authorities are aware of the considerable value of traditional medicine trade worldwide. “It is estimated to be at US$117 billion. It is growing at seven per cent per year and is estimated to hit US$5 trillion by 2050” (The Brunei Times, 22 March 2014). Brunei’s Deputy Minister of Health, Pehin Dato Hazair (cited in The Brunei Times, 1 December 2007), mentioned that “treatment using traditional medicine holds various potentials especially to the economy and trade and can contribute to the development of medicine around the world, if developed scientifically and through modern technological research methods”. Research on traditional herbal plants in Brunei received a boost upon the titah (decree) of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam and Chancellor of UBD in 2011 that mentioned the health benefits of herbs that have been traditionally consumed by Bruneians and urged that further research be conducted on them. Since then, the University of Brunei Darussalam (UBD) has embarked on a multi- million dollar research project funded by the Brunei Research Council to document and study the traditional herbal medicines of Brunei Darussalam. This research project, entitled “Ex-situ conservation, biological and phytochemical studies of the flora of Brunei Darussalam”, aims at: documenting the traditional botanical and medicinal knowledge of the various indigenous groups; scientifically testing the efficacy of these traditional herbal treatments; setting up a Herbal Garden within the campus to study and propagate plants on a large scale; isolating and characterizing the bioactive compounds in the laboratory; testing for bioactivity and clinical trials; patenting and commercializing products. The Bruneian authorities hope that the sustainable production and commercialization of these plants will “give Brunei the opportunity to capture a significant share of the global alternative medicine market” (Borneo Bulletin, 11 December 2013), and will “play a very important role in diversifying the economy of the country” (The Brunei Times, 22 March 2014).

Although there is a “softening” in the attitudes of cosmopolitan practitioners, with a number willing to consider the value of non-cosmopolitan systems, most still tend to keep their distance from these other systems, and many look at them with disdain, according to Heggenhougen (1980b, p. 236). Many biomedical doctors, as Golomb 194

(1985, p. 168) reports, writing about Thailand, frown on the simultaneous use of biomedicine and traditional remedies, because herbal medicines, they point out, may retard the healing process, and “superstitious” animistic beliefs, they lament, commonly distract patients from taking a responsible role in facilitating their own cures. Not only do modern medical personnel brush aside folk diagnoses, maintains Golomb (1985, p. 165), they also prohibit most traditional practitioners from visiting hospitals where they might help alleviate patients’ anxieties. Harris (1999, pp. 152-153) reports that, in Sarawak, indigenous healers escape direct mention altogether in official policy, but many health professionals explain the continuing “belief in spirits and magicians”, inherent in traditional healing, in terms of the intellectual inferiority of rural people. I suspect that the connotations of backwardness and superstition that are attached to traditional medicine explain why some of my Brunei Malay interlocutors denied that they occasionally resorted to traditional medical treatment.

In Brunei, a distinction must be made between Malay and non-Malay practitioners of cosmopolitan medicine in the attitude towards traditional medical practices. Malay doctors are frequently more tolerant of these practices than doctors from a different ethnic group (mainly Chinese and Indian). A Malay biomedical doctor I interviewed mentioned that he did not object to his patients resorting to “traditional treatments, such as the consumption of medicinal plants, massage, blood-cupping, tawari, kasi mandi, berdiang, or bertajul, as long as these practices are not dangerous and help patients feel better”. On the other hand, both the Chinese and Indian General Practitioners I interviewed were more condescending in their comments on traditional medical practices. However, one English speaking informant, Hamid, mentions that “many hospital doctors, especially Asian doctors – Malay, Indian, Chinese, Burmese, Vietnamese, or Thai – who come from countries where the belief in the supernatural is still common, often encourage people to consult traditional healers, when they cannot find the reason for their suffering”.

Similarly, Hajah Jainah Haji Musa (2009, p. 315) reports that Brunei Malay hospital midwives, who are familiar with the indigenous midwifery knowledge, often welcome local practices to the hospital, as they consider that these practices provide emotional and physical comfort to their patients. Thus, “minyak selusoh”, also referred to as “magic oil” by local hospital midwives, is commonly offered to women in labor to facilitate delivery and reduce contraction pain. During labor and after childbirth, women are also commonly offered spiritual support “in the form of air penawar (recited water) or the recitation of special religious prayers to protect them from the attacks of evil spirits” (Hajah Jainah 195

Haji Musa 2009, p. 316). However, the spiritual support which was commonly provided in the past by orang pandai and bidan kampong at home or at the hospital, is now offered by “a unit of religious officials from the Ministry of Religious Affairs established by the Ministry of Health” (Hajah Jainah Haji Musa 2009, p. 317). Besides, since 2000, the training of hospital midwives includes fifteen hours of “Islamic Midwifery”, which consists in learning specific prayers for parturient women (Hajah Jainah Haji Musa 2009, p. 317). Besides, Hj. Abdul Rahim Hj. Damit, head of clinical at the Pengiran Anak Puteri Rashidah Sa'adatul Bolkiah College of Nursing, reminded the nurses, during a nursing diagnosis workshop conducted at RIPAS Hospital in 2008, that patients come from different “races” and religions and have their own beliefs and traditions and, therefore, cannot be blamed for their “eccentricities”, such as bringing their own dukun, or traditional healers, to the hospital. “Let the dukun come in, don’t be mad when patients bring them to the hospital”, he declared. He added, “When we treat a patient, sometimes we forget to treat them as an individual. The first step to making a diagnosis is to gather information about a patient's physiological, psychological, sociological and spiritual status” (Hj. Abdul Rahim, cited in The Brunei Times, April 10, 2008). Thus, we observe a growing recognition by cosmopolitan medicine practitioners in Brunei of the differences in the traditional beliefs of their patients, even though some representatives of official cosmopolitan medicine still look at traditional medicine with condescension and describe it as an “eccentricity”.

PERCEPTION OF WESTERN MEDICINE BY TRADITIONAL HEALERS AND THEIR PATIENTS

In Brunei, today, free Western medical services are available to all citizens, both in urban and rural areas. No transportation difficulties limit the access of rural people to modern health facilities, since most rural people own a car, and the government provides helicopter transportation to the most isolated communities. The widespread acceptance of Western medicine in Brunei is beyond doubt. However, there is a difference between the ease with which the tools and the skills of Western medicine are adopted and the difficulty of understanding and accepting “the ideas underlying the technology of medicine which was imposed by Westerners” (Wolff 1965, p. 340). As Gould (1965, p. 202) and Nichter (1978, p. 40) have pointed out, the acceptance of Western pharmaceuticals and medical practices does not necessarily result in transformations in basic folk cognitive representations of illnesses. Most informants say that “traditional 196 medicine is not necessarily better than Western medicine, but it treats different kinds of sicknesses” (Ubat kampung ani inda jua labih baik. Ubat hospital lain penyakitnya. Ubat kampung ani baik untuk sakit yang nada ubatnya di hospital). The choice of practitioner seems to depend on etiological perception. All informants agree that “illnesses whose cause is invisible and which are thought to be due to a malign spirit or evil magic can only be dealt with by traditional medicinal practitioners” (Penyakit yang puncanya halus, makhluk-makhluk halus atau ilmu jahat, ani nganya dapat diubat oleh orang pandai), because, as mentioned above, “illnesses caused by angin cannot be seen by the doctor”, and “Western medical practices and medications are ineffective against such illnesses” (Doktor mana dapat lihat punca jenis penyakit ani kalau ia dari angin. Pakai ubat hospital mana ia mau baik). For illnesses thought to be due to natural (kasar) causes, some respondents tend to first consult practitioners of Western medicine, while others affirm that many common ailments are best dealt with by traditional medicine.

Although naturally-caused illnesses tend to be initially presented to biomedical practitioners, notes Khairunnisa Yakub (2009), many people also seek the assistance of an orang pandai concurrently with a Western doctor. Various studies in other parts of the Malay world and beyond have demonstrated that besides the perceived etiology of the illness, several other factors influence how Malays and others cope with occurrences of illness. Although not all the statements made in these studies are substantiated by specifically Brunei Malay data, drawn from my informants or from the literature, I believe that these general characterizations of traditional healing significantly shed light on the possible reasons for the persistent dual use of biomedicine and traditional medicine among Brunei Malays that was first reported by Khairunnisa Yakub (2009), and recently documented by Nurolaini et al. (2014).51

Multi-causal Malay therapeutic approach: As noted above, a fundamental tenet of Western biomedical science is that every symptomatically identifiable disease has a specific etiology. It is difficult for many peoples to accept the idea of single causality in health and illness, which is so much part of the Western biomedical worldview. Brunei Malay traditional concepts of illness, as discussed in chapter 4, are extremely varied and multivalent. Illness can be caused by malevolent spirits, either because one has offended them or because some maliciously inclined person has manipulated them; it can also be

51 A study recently conducted by Nurolaini et al. (2014) reveals that about two thirds of Bruneians, Malay and non-Malay alike, have used some form of traditional medicine in their lives. The study clearly demonstrates the persistent use of traditional medicine in Brunei.

197 caused by improper diet, germs, wind, humoral imbalance, inappropriate behavior, negative emotions, diminished vital energy (lamah semangat), severe mental stress (uri), or by God, either as a punishment or as a test. The treatment of illness is related to these varying concepts of cause: an illness can be treated by chasing away spirits, strengthening the patient’s semangat, dietary adjustments, the prescription of herbal remedies, urut, bekam, or gilir. It is common for Brunei Malay traditional healers to treat an illness with all these methods at once, combining tangible (ubat kasar) and intangible (ubat halus) treatments, for they effectively deal with different links on the causal chain of illness.

Wolff (1965, p. 343) argues that for Malays, illness, like any other phenomenon of the natural world, is “many faceted and ultimately incomprehensible” in the sense that no single theory will cover all known facts perfectly. Thus, Westerners often seem dogmatic to the Malays (Wolff 1965, p. 343). Some Brunei Malays, like many other non-Western people (Landy 1977; Leslie 1980), try several differing systems simultaneously, alternately, or sequentially in the hope that one if not all will eventually rid them of their illnesses. Very few South-East Asians, argues Jaspan (1969, pp. 11-12), would accept the view that only one medical system is valid, and that the other is either bogus or ineffective; undergoing simultaneous treatment by both medical doctors and folk doctors is “a form of double insurance”, since neither system of medicine is infallible and neither can guarantee therapeutic success. Since Malays, in their daily lives, often deal with a variety of ethnic groups and, in spite of ethnocentrism, often adopt bits of the culture of the groups with which they come into contact, it appears logical to them to combine several differing systems in what appears to them to be “a harmonious blend”, as Chen (1981, p. 134) argues. Perhaps this is why Malays today seem to have accepted some Western medical practices and modern drugs, especially pills and injections, as they have accepted Chinese medicinal herbs, and Indian Ayurvedic medical practices, but they have only accepted the technology, not the ideas behind it (Wolff 1965, p. 344; Gould 1965, p. 204; Landy 1974, p. 108). The pills and potions handed out by a Western clinic do not replace native herbs or traditional medical practices; they are added to the repertoire of the traditional healer (Wolff 1965, p. 343; Landy 1974, p. 108). Conversion from “a pluralistic system of active exploration” to a system in which the patient passively accepts the authority of a single medical establishment constitutes “an abrupt curtailment of the patient’s autonomy” (Golomb 1985, p. 151).

Interpretation of Western medical knowledge in Malay terms: In Brunei, as in Peninsular Malaysia (Massard 1988, p. 789), contacts with physicians, pharmacists and 198 nurse practitioners through the network of rural dispensaries and regional hospitals set up by the state since the early 1960s have contributed to the transmission of information about biomedicine within the population. People gain further exposure to biomedicine from children, who discuss health-related information from school lessons with their parents (Finerman 1989, p. 165). The contribution of Western medical knowledge cannot be overlooked, for it has become part of the medical world-view of the Brunei Malays, as mentioned in Chapter 4, to recognize “germs” (kuman) as legitimate alternative explanations of illness causation.

Comaroff (1978, p. 250) reports that an alternative body of knowledge, as a systematic corpus, is not necessarily regarded as competing with indigenous beliefs for universal relevance as the “only true system”; knowledge from the outside is either assimilated in terms of existing categories of thought, or it is particularized, that is, regarded as valuable only for particular sorts of ailments, particular categories of people, or for symptomatic, rather than underlying treatment. Such particularization, as well as assimilation, the restructuration of the traditional system through an “indigenization” of foreign concepts and practices, claims Tan (1989, p. 304), is a frequent response to the intrusion of Western medicine in non-Western situations. Many contemporary indigenous practitioners have often absorbed both lay Western and biomedical terminology and speak of certain illnesses and cures in biomedical terms without comparable biomedical understanding (Waldram 2000, p. 609; Landy 1977; Leslie 1976). Thus, germs (kuman) are believed by some Brunei Malay traditional healers to be particularly dangerous for people who suffer from lamah semangat, or to become pathogenic only once activated by sorcerers and spirits. Besides, Brunei Malay traditional practitioners and their patients have adopted biomedical disease labels in place of indigenous ones to designate local illness categories, such as “stroke” to refer to angin ahmar, or “jaundice” to refer to angin sapal laut (“an illness that is brought by the spirits, and that the Western doctor cannot cure”, Orang yang kana angin sapal laut, inda dapat diubat oleh doktor. Angin sapal laut atu racun yang dibawa oleh makhluk halus).

Practitioners of traditional medicine act according to their different interpretative medical models, but they also do concede that biomedicine is superior in the treatment of certain symptoms and illnesses, so that they, at times, even encourage patients to seek Western medicine (Pedersen & Baruffati 1989, p. 489). Some symptoms can be quickly alleviated with the right Western remedies, which explains the great popularity of “Western wonder drugs” like antibiotics (Golomb 1985, p. 150). However, Western medicines are often 199 used with medicinal herbs; Western drugs, far from replacing medicinal plants, are added to the treatment (Nichter 1978, p. 40). The types of prescribed medicines used with traditional medicines among Bruneians are common cold remedies, antipyretics, and antibiotics, report Nurolaini et al. (2014, p. 84). Although combinations of treatments are perceived to have positive cumulative effects, traditional healers usually warn patients not to combine Western and indigenous medicines, or at least to respect a gap of a few hours between the consumption of both types of remedies. This precaution is based not on Western notions of chemical incompatibility, but on indigenous humoral reasoning, which considers that Western drugs are hot and liable to destroy delicate elemental balances or violate “hot-cold” dietetic prescriptions (Golomb 1985, p. 149). Many of my informants take traditional medicine and hospital medicine simultaneously, but they note that “there must be a gap in consuming both of them” (Kalau makan ubat hospital dan ubat kampung sama-sama, mesti ada jarak masanya) (between three and twenty-four hours, depending on the respondents). Besides, some folk healers mention that they cannot treat certain categories of patients who have already received medical treatment in modern health facilities: “Stroke, angin ahmar), [for example], can only be treated traditionally if the patient has not previously had injections at the hospital” (Angin ahmar boleh dibawa berubat kampung kalau orang yang kana atu belum kana injek di hospital), says Hjh. Mariam.

People use new therapeutic resources such as antibiotics or vitamins introduced by the official medical system, without incurring any contradictions in their belief system. They have adapted the indications and use of Western drugs to their own idiosyncrasy and explanatory model, attributing to them magic and supernatural effects (Pedersen & Baruffati 1989, p. 492), labelling drug therapies as hot or cold, and prohibiting their use if certain foods have been eaten (Tan 1989, p. 304). In Brunei, many indigenous practitioners of the older generation, especially those who are illiterate, as is the case for some of the healers I interviewed, learned their skill without influence from westernized education or scientific books; thus, their medical conceptualizations and understandings are the same as those of their ancestors, and they interpret the doctor’s diagnosis and prescriptions in terms of the Brunei Malay etiology and curative practices (Kimball 1979, p. 2). Thus, many foreign medical concepts and practices are “indigenized” (Tan 1989).

Fear of surgery and hospital: Surgery has not been accepted as easily as pills and injections, since it is “an injunction from the Quran not to cut or in any way mutilate the body”, as Wolff (1965, p. 343) highlights, writing about Peninsular Malaysia. Their real 200 fear seems to be not of the cutting itself, but rather that part of the body may be removed (Wolff 1965, p. 343). To many people, surgery is practically synonymous with amputation, sometimes regarded as unnecessary: “Hospital doctors often want to perform surgery, without trying first other curing methods” (Doktor di hospital selalunya tarus- tarus kan potong orang sakit. Durang inda mahu cari ikhtiar berubat cara lain dulu), in the words of Azri, one of Damit’s regular customers. Successful surgery, especially internal, notes Golomb (1985, p. 158), is usually invisible, while “amputations are all too visible and ominous”. The basic notion of modern surgery is that if something is inflamed or impaired, it is reasonable to cut it out, replacing it if necessary. Yet, the “medical effectiveness” of many common procedures remains highly controversial; what appears obvious and, above all, rational is “often ineffective and more often dangerous”, claims Moerman (1979, p. 63). Only when they have exhausted a great many curative possibilities with no favorable results do many patients finally return to the hospital, resigned to the prospect of surgery. Syazwi, one of those informants who use traditional medicine as a first resort, mentions that he will “seek a Western doctor’s help only if [his] condition persists or worsens after initial traditional treatment” (Kalau ku berubat cara kampung, inda mau baik, baru tah ku jumpa doktor hospital lapas atu).

Golomb (1985, p. 188) notes that traditional practitioners in Thailand have helped the physicians’ treatment gain acceptance among people by supplying a proper dose of protective holy water to encourage patients to perform badly needed surgery. However, Landy (1974, p. 119) argues that they only refer critically ill patients to Western doctors if their own remedies fail, when it is too late to cure patients, who then die in the Western doctors’ care, thereby shifting the responsibility for therapeutic failure to their shoulders and thus discrediting the biomedical system. Hjh. Mariam explains:

If a sick person comes to see me, I usually ask him or her to go to the hospital first to get the doctor’s opinion. The diagnosis is usually the same in both places, and many patients come back to me for treatment. In some cases, traditional treatment can help patients avoid surgery; small cysts, not bigger than five centimeters, for example, can be removed with the application of hot herbal poultices.

(Kalau ada orang sakit datang jumpa aku, ku suruh hasil periksa penyakitnya dulu di hospital. Selalunya periksa sini sama hospital sama. Orang sakit tadi kan bebalik ke sini berubat lapas ia periksa penyakitnya di hospital. Ada penyakitnya dapat diubat cara kampung, inda payah beputong. Kalau orang ada barang tumbuh tapi damit saja, inda labih lima centimeter, boleh diubat pakai tapal dari tumbuh-tumbuhan yang masih panas). 201

Also, the decoction of keratau leaves (see figure 46) is a well-known cure for kidney stones that enables patients to avoid surgery. Hj. Majid claims: “If you drink a decoction of keratau leaves, the stones will break up into ‘sand ‘and will be eliminated through the urine” (Air masak daun keratau diminum untuk menghancurkan batu buah pinggang. Batu tu karang hancur jadi pasir. Kalau bekamih, ia keluar).

Figure 46: Keratau leaves to eliminate kidney stones (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

While people have been relatively receptive to many of the material and some of the conceptual features of cosmopolitan medicine, many patients still fear hospitalization. First, the hospital is seen as a place where people are brought to die; Malays have traditionally feared locations that have been associated with death. Many continue to believe that “the spirits of the dead linger on in those places where death actually occurs” (Golomb 1985, p. 167). Besides, hospitals were initially established to isolate patients with contagious diseases (e.g. leprosy, plague…). The social isolation of patients from their families and friends, who may only see them during visiting hours, “runs counter to the Malay customary obligations of relatives and friends towards the sick” (Chen 1975, p. 177). The daily hustle and bustle that characterize at RIPAS Hospital in Bandar Seri Begawan strikingly contrasts with the formal and sanitized atmosphere of hospitals in the West. Many people spend the whole day at the hospital, visiting sick relatives and friends in a relaxed atmosphere of eating, chatting and joking, thus providing the 202 proximity, concern and comfort that, they feel, family and friends particularly need at the time of sickness when people feel most isolated. Furthermore, people see hospitals as places where people are treated without human warmth and given over to powers beyond their control in an “alien world” that they do not understand and with which they cannot negotiate, as Heggenhougen (1980b, p. 241) argues, writing about Peninsular Malaysia. In some cases, family members, especially mothers, refuse yielding the social role of family health provider to hospital personnel. Hospital care is perceived as an immediate threat to their personal status, since mothers “gain a degree of power in the household” by supervising diagnosis and treatment, and they get gratitude and prestige for keeping individuals healthy (Finerman 1989, p. 170).

Patient’s faith in the healer’s power: There is some scientific evidence of mind and body inseparably contributing to the healing process. The hypothalamus is the key to a non-dichotomized perception of the human organism, according to Moerman (1979, p. 65), since it operates as both a neural and an endocrine organ, thereby urging us to drop the separation of “mental” and “bodily” processes (Cartesian dualism). Responding to symbols can as easily and naturally influence physiological process as might responding to a chilly breeze, argues Moerman (1979, p. 66). If you are facing a stressful situation, you find that your palms are sweaty, you are breathing deeply, your face is flushed, you feel hot, your heart is pumping, and your head is pounding; you are “in the midst of a whole series of hypothalamically mediated reactions to a purely symbolic situation” (Moerman 1979, p. 66).

Western physicians can foster healing emotions of hope and exaltation in patients directly by their words, or indirectly by two tangible symbols of their healing power, medications and surgical operations. Their social role of respect, power and trustworthiness also influences patients’ mental states (Frank 1975, pp. 50-52). Favorable patients’ expectations generate feelings of optimism and well-being and commonly produce considerable symptomatic relief and may promote healing, especially of those illnesses connected with unfavorable emotional states, as Frank (1963, p. 132) also claims. Frank (1975, p. 53) argues that the placebo effect – the positive effect that a substance or treatment has on a patient’s condition as a result of a patient’s perception that it is beneficial rather than as a result of a causative ingredient – is 55% as potent as the active medications used and that the act of medication is often more important than the medications themselves. As placebos depend upon a patient’s belief that the therapy is likely to work, they are inherently culture-dependent. The belief in the supremacy of 203

“science” may have as much of a placebo effect as the belief in the power that an indigenous curer receives from his helping spirits or from Allah. The post-war development of “wonder drugs” has led to a deification of doctors who are “revered, honored, and considered magically omnipotent” (Moerman 1979, p. 59). Western patients’ faith in science has even produced a placebo effect in cases where medical science still lacks actual pragmatic benefits. Until this century, most medications prescribed by physicians were either ineffective or harmful, so the physician's reputation depended primarily on the placebo effect, inert substances whose power lie solely in their function as symbols of the physician's healing power and on their ability to mobilize the patient's expectation of help (Frank 1975, p. 53; Frank 1963, p. 133). Despite their inadvertent reliance on placebos, physicians maintained an honored reputation as successful healers, which suggests that these remedies were often effective on other than strictly medical grounds (Frank 1963, p. 134).

While a Western patient’s belief in a doctor’s scientific knowledge alone might promote optimism, a Malay patient usually requires special ritual treatment tailored to his or her self-defined illness in order to provide comparable “psychological security” (Golomb 1985, p. 164). Malay patients believe that the local healer, as a religious man, “receives guidance and healing power from Allah” (Heggenhougen 1980a, p. 41). The healing power of the folk healer’ s ministrations mainly lies in the patient’s expectation of help, based on his perception of the healer as possessing special healing powers, derived from his ability to communicate with the spirit world (Frank 1963, p. 46). Drinking or bathing with spelled water (water blown on with Quranic verses by the healer) are used extensively in Brunei Malay traditional healing, as we have seen in the previous chapter, and incantations are tangible reminders that great powers are being mobilized to protect patients, which make them feel better and confident that the problem can be solved. Hajah Jainah Haji Musa (2009, p. 308), writing about the treatment of psychological disturbances in Kedayan post-partum women, notes that, from the perspective of Western medicine, a woman’s recovery after being treated with special mantras is a result of the placebo effect, a phenomenon which occurs firstly because the woman has faith in the power of the bidan kampong or bomoh to counter the attacks of evil spirits. Besides the faith of Malay patients in the healing power of indigenous curers, the supportive and caring treatment provided by traditional healers to help patients feel better is also of curative value. 204

Impersonal practitioner-patient relationships: Evidence has accumulated showing that the practitioner-patient relationship may be as important as medications in combating illness (Golomb 1985, p. 182). Harmonious (sesuai) relationships between the healer and his patient are the keys to good health in the view of Malays (Laderman 1991b, p. 90). People will change their doctors not for a question of competence, but for a lack of harmony (tidak sesuai) between the healer and his patient. Geertz (1977, p. 148) also reports that the concept of tjotjog – fittingness – plays a crucial role among the Javanese. A particular dukun may be very powerful and very clever, but if the patient and he or she do not tjotjog, there will be nothing he or she can do, and the patient will remain sick. Not only are agreement and understanding always crucial, but also on no account may the doctor cause his patient to suffer pain because “Malays cannot conceive that suffering or coercion can possibly lead to any improvement in health” (Massard 1988, p. 795). Hence, Malays see the anonymity of relationships in the hospital milieu as ruling out the personal contacts which condition the outcome of medical treatment (Massard 1988, p. 795).

As was mentioned earlier, a common criticism of biomedical doctors is that they ignore patients’ own perceptions of their illnesses. Western doctors do not subscribe to traditional classifications of illness and hence cannot accept either the diagnosis or the etiology proposed by the entourage of the patient (Massard 1988, p. 794; Nichter 1978, p. 47). Folk healers, in contrast, respond to patients’ descriptions of their symptoms rather than performing detailed examinations of those symptoms (Jaspan 1976a, p. 233). Traditional practitioners thereby give priority to psychological needs as expressed in verbal discourse, while Western doctors favor impersonal treatment of physical abnormalities (Engel 1977, p. 134; Good 1994, p. 8). Unlike Western physicians, who communicate alien concepts to Malay patients, sometimes in broken Malay (Golomb 1985, p. 177), local healers offer a diagnosis that is entirely “comprehensible” to the patient and is congruous with the patient’s belief system (Leslie 1980, p.194). The patient can then confidently elaborate upon the folk healer’s diagnosis using familiar concepts and vocabulary; many patients derive comfort simply from being able to talk about their afflictions (Golomb 1985, p. 177).

Traditional healers’ approach to diagnosis and curing has been described as “very personal and supportive” (Fabrega and Silver 1973, pp. 218-223). They tend to enquire in depth into the patient’s past and social history, requiring detailed information about the patient’s problem, life, family and enemies. Often they have the advantage of being 205 already familiar with these aspects of the patient’s background. In Western society the biomedical practitioner is usually unrelated to the patient, and treatment is “a transaction in some ways like other services offered and purchased in the market economy” (Hepburn 1988, p. 65). In contrast, non-Western healers are often (though not always) integrated members of the community in which they work. Treatment often takes place within a web of interpersonal obligations and trust (Gould 1965, p. 202). Also, in addition to treating the patient, the healer spends time dealing with distraught relatives. And family members are usually invited to actively participate in determining the cause as well as curing the illness. Where sickness is thought of as originating in inharmonious or inappropriate behavior on the part of the patient’s relatives and neighbors, or as being due to his own lapses, treatment may involve family members as well as the patient (Laderman & Van Esterik 1988, p. 747). In contrast to the dyadic private interaction between patient and healer in Western medical practice, a traditional healer in the developing world often deals publicly with an entire “therapy managing group” (Hepburn 1988, p. 65). Furthermore, treatment takes place in a convivial atmosphere, in contrast to the impersonalized treatment offered by Western medicine and “the restriction of freedom that is a corollary of hospitalization” (Chen 1975, p. 178). Whenever a healer is called in on a case, “the proprieties of hospitality prevail” (Kimball 1979, p. 99). As I witnessed on several occasions, the usual small talk precedes getting down to the business of curing, and light refreshments are served after the treatment session.

In contrast to the concern and the warmth shown by indigenous healers, the attitude of the doctor seems impersonal and uncaring to the patient’s family and friends (Chen 1975, p. 177; Fabrega and Silver 1973, pp. 218-223). People in Peninsular Malaysia are critical of government medical personnel for their impatient and ungentle bedside manner which “sometime makes them feel worse than did the illness for which they have come” (Heggenhougen 1980a, p. 44). One of my informants notes: “Hospital doctors are not always very friendly, and they are always in a hurry” (Doktor hospital selalunya durang ani inda mesra sama ketani. Selalu saja kan berabut). Individual Western doctors are cognizant of the importance of psychosocial factors in illness, but Western-style medical schools have traditionally underemphasized these factors in their curricula (Loudon 1976). To know how to induce peace of mind in patients and enhance their faith in the healing powers of the physician requires psychological knowledge and skills, which are outside the biomedical framework (Engel 1977, p. 132). Upon graduation from medical schools, physicians are often ill prepared to enter practitioner-patient relationships with 206 villagers whom they regard as their social inferiors. Usually, they are equipped with therapeutic methods “fashioned specifically for secularized, middle-class Western patients” (Golomb 1985, p. 162).

Much of the impersonality of doctor-patient interaction derives from differences in social status based on wealth, education, and power. In pre-industrial societies, the Western physician is perceived as a person of a different social class and culture whose financial and social prestige and technical abilities are recognized, but not his or her scientific knowledge, notes Landy (1974, p. 110). Baer et al. (2003, p. 14) claim that with biomedical hegemony, the process by which capitalist values come to permeate medical diagnosis and treatment, doctor-patient interactions frequently reinforce hierarchical structures in the larger society by stressing the need for the patient to comply with a social superior’s judgment. Some of my informants are aware of the class differences and point out examples of condescending behavior on the part of biomedical personnel in general. “Sometimes, hospital doctors are annoyed when I tell them that I cannot read the instructions on the package of the medication they give me” (Kadang-kadang doktor hospital ani macam marah kalau ketani bagi tau durang ketani inda pandai baca tulisan arah plastik atau kotak ubat atu), as one informant from Temburong declares. Another informant, Latifah, complains: “Often, hospital doctors mock you, if you tell them that your illness might be caused by black magic” (Kalau ketani bagi tau yang punca sakit dari ilmu hitam, mana durang pecaya. Durang main-mainkan pulang ketani). They likewise dislike being reprimanded by doctors for not following instructions; traditional practitioners avoid such scolding. Constantly pressed for time, hospital physicians often fail to conceal their impatience (Golomb 1985, p. 165), and consultation time is too short, on the average, to establish close contact or to diagnose and advise with sufficient precision, clarity and tact. Furthermore, Malays frequently find the regimentation of institutional waiting rooms and the tedious and humiliating bureaucratic procedures, such as registration in hospitals, frustrating (Gould 1965, p. 208; Golomb 1985, p. 165). Because cosmopolitan medicine has forfeited the affective and social aspects of healing which were part of its heritage, emphasized by Hippocrates, patients are often prompted to rely on other practices. Most traditional healing systems offer the philosophy that psychological, social and spiritual aspects of healing are as important as the physical (biochemical) ones and that “feeling well is as important as being free of disease” (Heggenhougen 1980b, p. 241). 207

Townsfolk, says Golomb (1985, p. 162) are better prepared than their rural counterparts to cope with impersonal treatment owing to their exposure to the mass media and the generally impersonal nature of their urban milieus. They would also appear to be more familiar with the value of scientific technology; they are more likely to be impressed with expensive modern equipment and symbols, such as uniforms, diplomas, and technical jargon, which serve to communicate professionalism in the West, but which often go unappreciated in interactions with semiliterate villagers (Golomb 1985, p. 163). This remark, however, might only apply to Bruneians who have experienced, for an extended period of time, the impersonality of big cities overseas, since the biggest city in Brunei, Bandar Seri Begawan, is still small enough to have something of a village feel.

Patients’ loss of autonomy: By transforming pain, illness, and death from a personal challenge into a technical problem, biomedical practice denies patients the freedom to “deal with their human condition in an autonomous way ...” and thereby sets the stage for the “medical nemesis” syndrome (Illich 1974, p. 918), when the patient’s health is threatened by maintaining him or her in a childlike, depersonalized condition, totally dependent on institutional personnel for management of the illness. In regarding biomedical professionals as knowing better than patients as to the extent of their incapacities and feelings of pain, patients’ own senses are alienated. Biomedical professionals deprive patients of their “sense of certainty and security concerning their own self-judgement” (Taussig 1980, pp. 8-9). The increasing rationalization of biomedical practice amounts to an attempt to wrest control from patients, “anxious and malleable” individuals (Tausig 1980, p. 4), and define their status for them by first compartmentalizing them into the status of patienthood, and then into “the categories of Objective and Subjective” (Tausig 1980, p. 8). In the name of “the noble cause of healing”, the power to heal of biomedical professionals is converted into the power to control (Taussig 1980, p. 10). The ability to cope with the fragility of life - pain, sickness and death - is fundamental to human beings’ health. Cosmopolitan medical, by denying people the right to deal with this trio in autonomy, is a source of a new form of un-health, as Illich (1974, p. 921) argues.

Traditional medicine, in contrast, does not infantilize patients and tolerates individual violations of prescribed regimens, recognizing the right of people to establish “pragmatically” their own personal therapeutic rules (Golomb 1985, p. 153). Unlike Western doctors, traditional healers have never been in a position to demand total commitment from their patients, partly because they lack any formal professional 208 standards; there can be no exclusively correct procedures nor any malpractice where there is “no fixed body of knowledge” (Golomb 1985, pp. 149-150). Folk diagnoses and treatments are understood by all concerned to be only tentative, and herbalists see no harm in experimenting with different concoctions in sequence. Patients are continually encouraged to take new measures to reverse the deteriorating trend in their fortune, and can postpone indefinitely the fatalistic realization that they can do nothing to influence their destiny any further, since alternative sources of explanation are ostensibly inexhaustible. Unlike Western-style doctors, Malay curers never inform clients that their condition is hopeless, because such fatalistic pronouncements not only “dishearten patients”, but can conceivably affect future events “through the magical power of suggestion” (Golomb 1985, p. 159).

Lack of understanding of the underlying cause of sickness: Some Brunei Malays feel that Western medicine merely deals with the palliation of the manifestations of an illness, the removal of pain. Most of the informants who assert their preference for traditional treatment agree that “hospital doctors’ treatment is often limited to giving Panadol to patients to ease their symptoms, when they do not know the cause of the illness” (Di hospital, doktor selalu saja bagi Panadol untuk mengurangkan sakit, tapi sebenarnya durang inda tau apa punca penyakitnya). “Even if it is a serious illness, I prefer to use traditional medicine, because if I go to the hospital, and the doctor does not know the cause of the illness, he will just experiment with different kinds of medications on me” (Kalau penyakit yang teruk pun, aku lebih suka pakai ubat kampung, pasal kalau ku ke hospital, kalau doktor atu inda tau punca penyakit, karang di cubanya macam arah ku), as one of my informants, Sabariah, puts it. To them traditional medicine not only treats the manifestations of the illness, but can also explain and remove the real underlying cause. Even when biomedicine can identify the cause of illness, its explanations are limited to what has been termed earlier as the “usual” (biasa or kasar) causes of illness (germs, diet, physical trauma, or heredity). Brunei Malay traditional healers, like other traditional healers, often carry the question a step further than do Western medicine practitioners, who are satisfied when a child’s gastroenteritis, for example, can be traced to a microbiological origin. Traditional healers, in contrast, ask: “Why did this child, of all people, develop this sickness? Is there not an underlying supernatural or predisposing cause? Was witchcraft the cause? Did the patient commit some offence or did he annoy some spirit?” (Chen 1981, p. 133). Many medical anthropologists have argued, as noted in the introduction, that medical science can explain the “how” but not the “why” of 209 illness. Folk medicine, on the other hand, provides explanations for the “singularity of misfortune” (Loudon 1957, p. 93). In traditional medical practice, the issues of “how” and “why” are folded into one another; etiology is simultaneously physical, social and moral, as Taussig (1980, p. 4) claims. The biomedical emphasis on physical etiological agents in explaining and treating sickness seems questionable to those who explain suffering in ways that assign a minor and peripheral role to the physical aspects of sicknesses, which are just seen as “one part of a wider condition needing treatment” (Hepburn 1988, p. 62). Unlike cosmopolitan practitioners, most traditional Malay practitioners relate their healing to both the “how” (the immediate cause of the illness, which is found in the visible, physical realm) and to the “why” (the underlying cause, which is found in the realm of disrupted relationships with the social and spiritual worlds). Because Western-style medical personnel concentrate on treating symptoms rather than providing adequate explanations of the causes of illness, their diagnoses often fail to relieve Malay patients’ anxieties completely (Golomb 1985, p. 163; Comaroff 1978, p. 251).

Although “mere symptomatic relief” has been demeaned in Western medicine, the ability to suppress certain kinds of distressing symptoms must have been an important basis of Western medicine’s appeal and success in foreign places (Riley 1977, p. 556). Conversely, the resistance to Western medicine in non-Western countries has depended also upon its symptomatic focus (Riley 1977, p. 556). As a consequence of the emphasis on relieving symptoms, Malay patients expect immediate results from any visit to a doctor and frequently show no interest in following prescribed treatments later on (Massard 1988, p. 794.). When Western-style medical personnel prescribe slow-working medications, such as pills or syrups, that have to be taken over extended periods of time and do not immediately remedy superficial symptoms, patients will commonly lose faith in these remedies and consult other curers in hopes of finding a superior cure (Golomb 1985, p. 150).

Patients often fail to take medications as prescribed not only because they grow impatient with medications that do not immediately relieve their discomfort; they also sometimes fear various harmful consequences, such as addiction, dangerous allergic reactions, or aggravated humoral imbalances (Golomb 1985, p. 169.). The biomedical practitioner, argues Nichter (1980, p. 230) is often viewed by villagers as knowing about technical cures, medicines which reduce symptoms, but not much about health – the patient’s constitution, dietary needs or how foods and medicines act and react in the body. Azizah, 210 one of Damit’s regular customers, declares, like many other informants: “I prefer to use traditional herbal remedies because they are “natural” and effective, particularly for healing cholesterol, headache, and hypertension, but have no side effects” (Aku lebih suka pakai ubat dari tumbuhan-tumbuhan, pasal ia asli dari hutan, nada campur kimia, dan baik sakit olehnya macam darah tinggi, kolesterol dan sakit kepala. Ia nada kesan inda baik arah ketani). Lay experimentation with the saved, unused portion of potentially dangerous drugs obtained from Western-trained doctors and administered for ailments having similar symptoms, as Golomb (1985, p. 170) points out, occasionally leads to tragedy and partly accounts for the growing fear of Western-style medicines. Besides, some patients are simply unable to read the foreign-language labels on most modern drug packaging. Finally, some pious Muslim patients may refuse to take any prescribed foods or medicines during the daylight hours of the fasting month of Ramadan (Golomb 1985, p. 171).

When the rapid, almost miraculous cures from cosmopolitan medicine that most people expect do not occur, patients assume that the treatment by cosmopolitan medicine is inappropriate, and the illness is reinterpreted (Heggenhougen 1980a, p. 43). The longer an ailment persists, the higher the probability that people will attribute it to a supernatural cause and thus make an orang pandai the most appropriate healer to consult.

COMPLEMENTARY ROLES OF TRADITIONAL AND WESTERN MEDICINES Gould’s finding (1957, p. 515) that “choice of scientific over folk medicine was related directly to economic well-being, formal education, and occupational and spatial mobility” does not apply in the Brunei context, where those making use of the services of traditional healers, as noted in the introduction, cannot be distinguished from the rest of the population on the basis of their socio-economic background or level of formal education. Colson (1971, p. 228) argues that although some have hypothesized that the degree of acculturation of the individual suffering from a disorder could explain the differential use of alternative therapeutic resources in developing countries, it is clear that the nature of perceived etiology has the most significant effect on the choice of therapeutic resource. Faridah, one of my Brunei Malay respondents, declares: “I only go to the hospital for emergencies, in case of accidents or if I am in a lot of pain, bleed heavily or lose consciousness”; but I prefer to consult traditional healers to treat chronic illnesses or when I feel low in energy” (Aku ke hospital hanya kalau ada sakit yang mesti 211 di bawa ke hospital capat-capat, macam eksiden atau sakit yang terlampau sakit, keluar darah atau pengsan. Tapi kalau penyakit yang berat, macam sakit kancing manis atau darah tinggi, atau kalau aku lamah semangat, aku lebih suka jumpa orang yang pandai mengubati saja). This statement corroborates Gould’s observation (1957, p. 508) that biomedical doctors are sought for complaints classifiable as “critical incapacitating dysfunctions” (“maladies involving sudden and often violent onset, and rather complete debilitation with reference to some aspects of the individual’s routine”), while folk healers are consulted for complaints classifiable as “chronic non-incapacitating dysfunctions” (“conditions manifesting drawnout periods of suffering, sometimes cyclical in character, usually not fatal and only partially debilitating”).

Other Brunei Malay informants, such as Hakim and Zaki, claim that they “usually consult a biomedical doctor first for all types of illness, but resort to traditional medicine if the cosmopolitan treatment fails to solve [their] problems” (Selalunya aku kan mengaga doktor dulu untuk apa saja penyakit, tapi kalau inda baik jua, ku kan gunakan ubat kampung). As mentioned above, illnesses that fail to respond to biomedical treatment are commonly reclassified as being “luar biasa” or “halus” (caused by the spirits, acting on their own volition or sent by an enemy of the patient) and are therefore referred to indigenous practitioners. Most cases of mental illness, as explained in chapter 4, are also usually ascribed to a spirit attack or possession and treated by orang pandai. Besides, traditional healers provide an important source of “psychotherapeutic help” for persons suffering from emotional problems and “troubles in living” (Landy 1974, p. 113), such as lamah semangat (low vital energy), or uri (severe mental stress) in Brunei, that overburdened or impersonal doctors cannot address. With the possible exceptions of massage and the dispensing of a few chemically effective herbal medicines (which normally include incantations, or sacralized oil or water to reinforce the patient’s confidence that the problem can be solved), the bulk of the therapy traditional practitioners provide, as demonstrated in the previous chapter, is indeed psychological and verbal.

Thus, as noted by Landy (1974, p. 107), a division of role responsibility seems to have been arranged tacitly between traditional curers and Western physicians. However, Gonzalez (1966, p. 125) argues that the same malady is very often brought to the attention of both the traditional healer and the medical doctor; patients seek “the power of scientific medicine in relieving symptoms”, while the ability of the curer to relieve the underlying cause of the illness, plus the hope he gives patients, lead the ill to him. Hence, 212 the question of traditional medicine vis-a-vis Western medicine is not so much of the latter displacing the former, but rather that of two different medical systems existing side by side, offering alternatives as well as “psychological reserve” when one is found to be inadequate or ineffective (Mohamed Taib Osman 1976, p. 20). Brunei Malay folk healers provide a variety of services to complement, rather than contradict, the therapeutic efforts of biomedical personnel. Their scope of activities encompasses a somewhat wider range than that usually dealt with by Western-trained physicians, as was reported by Kimball (1979, p. 158), and they now concentrate more heavily on an assortment of problems that Western medical personnel neglect.

Personal problems: In many developing countries, as cosmopolitan medicine becomes more firmly established, folk healers continue to specialize in the treatment of delicate personal concerns, such as sexual disorders, gynecological problems, and success in love and marriage (Golomb 1985, p. 183). Magical practices to attract the opposite sex (love magic, pengasih) persist in Brunei, as mentioned previously, although they are strictly frowned upon by the religious orthodoxy. Brunei Malay traditional healers also offer various medicines for treating all sorts of menstrual irregularities, for delaying menopause, for stimulating fertility, for preventing or terminating pregnancies, and for accelerating childbirth, for treating male impotence (see figure 47), or prescribe folk remedies for frigidity and herbal medicines to make women more attractive to their husbands, including roots for stimulating the growth of breasts, ointments for tightening vaginas, and cosmetics for lightening complexions (see p. 154), which corroborates Golomb’s observations (1985, p. 184) in Peninsular Malaysia. These herbal medicines, as well as the several previously mentioned post-partum care treatments (bertajul, bertangas, bertungku…), do not appear to be used as a substitute for Western medicines, but rather, as noted by Van Esterik (1988, p. 758) in Peninsular Malaysia, “as part of a distinctive parallel system, supplementing other therapies, since allopathic medicine offers no comparable products that are geared to women’s reproductive activities in quite the same way”. Orang pandai also supply frequent fixes of prophylactic medicines, holy water or protective amulets (see pp. 133-134) to people who chronically fear spirit aggression or aggression by rivals through black magic. Besides, folk curers, rather than Western doctors, are sometimes called upon to change healthy people’s behavior, such as addictions to alcohol and cigarettes (see figure 48).

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Figure 47: Batang suspan to treat male impotence (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

Figure 48: Batang pelupa to get rid of addictions (Source: Virginie Roseberg, 2013).

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Chronic and psychosomatic disorders: As was mentioned earlier, a common criticism of the biomedical model is that it ignores not only the social circumstances of patients, but also their emotional states. The biomedical model assumes that “biologic concerns are more basic, real, clinically significant, and interesting than psychologic and sociocultural issues” (Kleinman et al. 2006 [1978], p. 146). The crucial role of emotions in illness causation and in healing is now largely recognized. Feelings of optimism and well-being have a demonstrated healing power, claims Frank (1963, p. 132). The connection between emotional stability and physical health is a common place (Geertz 1977, p. 150); if one is upset or depressed, one becomes more vulnerable to both physical illness and to spirit invasion. Psychosomatic research has demonstrated that environmental psychosocial disruptions can have detrimental effects on physiological functions. . “Anxiety produces damage or dysfunction to organs under the control of the endocrine system” (leading to disorders such as asthma, hyperventilation, obesity, high blood pressure, etc.) (Moerman 1979, p. 61). Many studies show that the ability of the immune system to fight infection is also influenced by psychological and social factors. “Emotional” involvements or associations have similarly been demonstrated in many cases of “chronic inflammatory diseases” (such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus, ulcerative colitis, or multiple sclerosis) (Moerman 1979, p. 61). Hence, there seems to be “a complex interacting web of factors” – pathogen, carcinogen, immunological system, and mental or emotional state – which determines the course of illness (Moerman 1979, p. 62). The underlying theory of psychosomatic medical treatment is that the therapist can reverse the emotional forces causing harm, and thereby heal afflictions. If emotions52 can be made positive and constructive, the physical mechanism will grow healthier by analogy (Frank 1963, p. 132; Frank 1975, p. 52). Just as psychosocial stress can destroy elemental balance, psychotherapeutic relief of stress can restore that balance (Golomb 1985, p. 136).

Unlike Western medicine, argues Jaspan (1976b, p. 268), traditional medicine does not differentiate sharply between soma and psyche, body and mind, and between the ability to treat effectively the one without concomitant treatment of the other. Folk healers concentrate on the management of certain chronic diseases (for example, diabetes or high blood pressure) or the treatment of psychological or psychosomatic disorders that necessitate time-consuming psychotherapy, or which represent categories of folk illness

52 For Malays, the seat of emotions is the hati, literally the liver, an organ that substitutes for the Western “heart” in Malay expressions of emotion (Laderman 1988). 215 which physicians exclude from the scope of scientific medicine. Many of the most regular visitors to the homes of traditional practitioners are “mental hypochondriacs, searching for someone to lift the normal burdens of living from their shoulders” (Frank 1963, p. 8). Western doctors only have the time and training necessary to diagnose and treat what Kleinman has termed “diseases” rather than “illnesses”. Patients who have ambiguous disorders that defy conventional biomedical diagnosis are classified by Western doctors as “neurotics” or “hypochondriacs” (Pedersen & Baraffuti 1989, p. 495) and are prescribed tranquilizers or vitamins, rather than extended psychotherapeutic conversation, although what they need is someone with whom they can talk over their personal problems “in their own cultural idiom (Golomb 1988, p. 764)”. Unlike some Western-trained physicians, indigenous healers never question the reality of their patients’ afflictions; they practically never send patients home without first calming their fears (Golomb 1985, p. 132).

Traditional therapy is better equipped than Western medicine to handle broader categories of illness that may have no specific organic symptoms and to provide the psychosocial support needed. Traditional illness categories permit a patient’s condition to be diagnosed as a general state of ill-being brought on by any of a great variety of causes, such as breach of prohibitions (pantang), spirit attack, negligence in religious observance, ilang semangat, lamah semangat, uri, angin or elemental imbalance. Therapeutic conversation with personable practitioners who “closely match their patients in social status and cultural beliefs”, in which patients are permitted to voice their frustrations and receive encouragement, can cure many common maladies arising from stress and involving psychosomatic symptoms (Golomb 1985, p. 187). The expression of emotions (catharsis), i.e., weeping, laughing, the acting out of anger, as Laderman (1991b, p. 95) notes, has proved to be very efficacious in the healing of a wide range of what we call psychosomatic and affective disorders (backaches, headaches, digestive problems, asthma, chronic fatigue, insomnia, depression, anxiety, skin disorders, various sexual disorders, menstrual disorders....). Dramatic relief of asthma, in particular, has been observed following catharsis: “The expression of emotions has proved to remove the oxygen deprivation which characterized these patients” (Doust and Leigh 1953, p. 304).

Exorcism as a culture-specific form of psychotherapy: Spontaneous possession behavior, like what is labelled “hysterical”, “neurotic”, or “schizophrenic” behavior, functions primarily to stimulate the concern of others (Golomb 1985, p. 182). In Brunei, 216 some people, and Malay school girls in particular, commonly express their distress and dissent through spontaneous possession behavior. As explained in chapter 4, by cooperating in the staging of an exorcism, they become passive victims of alien forces and are thus not held responsible for temporary lapses in self-control and socially unacceptable behavior that might otherwise call for disciplinary action. Folk therapists can better respond to the needs of hysterical patients wishing to communicate their psychosocial problems through possession behavior than Western doctors. There is convincing evidence that Western psychotherapeutic treatment flourishes only when “patient and healer share the same cultural myths” – contemporary myths that were formulated by the healers and have become part of the cultural assumptions of a significant portion of the society (Laderman 1988, p. 808). The stories of spirit possession (kesarungan) and their implications for explaining human behavior are common knowledge among many Brunei Malays, whereas “the stories of Oedipus and Electra, which Freud used as archetypal myths” and which have become part of the shared assumptions of contemporary Western patients and healers (Laderman 1988, p. 808), are not. Western therapists often assume that patients of a social class or ethnic group other than their own will not benefit from psychotherapeutic methods and therefore are more likely to treat them with drug therapy (Laderman 1988, p. 808).

According to Dr Kumaraswamy, a clinical psychologist working in RIPAS Hospital, most psychotherapy in Brunei is still provided by traditional healers. “While Islam is a central aspect of life for the majority of the Bruneian population, the animist beliefs that have existed in this part of the world for centuries attribute mental disorder to evil spirits. Bomoh are considered keepers of hidden knowledge who can cure possession by evil spirits and, thus, psychological illnesses” (Dr Kumaraswamy, cited in The Brunei Times, 25 December 2007). According to Dr Kumaraswamy, Islamic healers use Quranic verses to drive out malevolent spirits possessing the patient, while bomoh use Malay magic (ilmu batin), and enter a trance to communicate with the spirit world and learn the cause of the disorder and its treatment. According to Todd McPherson, a Canadian psychotherapist who has been working in Brunei for many years, it is not impossible for a Western psychotherapist to work with a client who has seen, or is seeing a bomoh, as long as the therapist does not impose his or her world view on a client, and understands what the client’s belief system is, and how to work with it, rather than against it.

It is acknowledged that differences between the client and therapist in their perspective regarding mental disorders and appropriate behaviors can make therapy less effective. 217

For example, when the patient believes his or her symptoms are the result of black magic, while the therapist believes they are caused by problems in his relationship with his father, any attempt to persuade the patient to look at his relationship with his father is probably bound to fail (Todd McPherson, cited in The Brunei Times, 25 December 2007).

Salleh Mohd Razali (1989, p. 12) maintains that bomoh are good psychotherapists who can communicate with patients more effectively than biomedical practitioners. In addition to the presumed advantages of group psychotherapy as practiced in clinical settings, spiritualist sessions, argues Landy (1974, p. 116), are “coterminous with the values, beliefs, aspirations, and problems of the participants”. Problems are discussed in a convivial setting, interpreted, and rendered understandable within a belief system that is accepted by all (Landy 1974, p. 116). Not only does traditional healers’ treatment lack the stigmas associated with referral to mental health services, but also the appearance before the traditional healer, who is perceived to possess special healing powers derived from the ability to communicate with the supernatural world, raises the patient’s expectation of a cure, an important prerequisite of all successful forms of psychotherapy (Salleh Mohd Razali 1999, p. 472; Frank 1963, p. 51).

CONCLUSION

While traditional medicine has long been regarded with disdain by many representatives of official Western medicine in Brunei, as elsewhere, there is a growing recognition of the necessity to take into consideration the differences in the cultural beliefs of Brunei Malay patients, especially in the domain of mental illness and in the healthcare of parturient and post-parturient women. Psychologists in Brunei acknowledge the irrelevance of Western psychotherapeutic treatment for patients who have long attributed mental illness to disturbance by malevolent spirits. Similarly, the traditional Brunei Malay belief that women have to be protected from the attacks of evil spirits during labor and after childbirth is recognized, and local Western-trained midwives commonly offer women spiritual support in the form of air penawar (recited water) or the recitation of special religious prayers in order to improve their emotional well-being. Most of the traditional healers I interviewed in Brunei are aware of the limitations of their treatments, and they do not hesitate to refer their patients to biomedical practitioners if they fail to relieve them of their suffering. Many Brunei Malay respondents mention that they often simultaneously use Western and traditional medicines, which corroborates the 218 conclusions of the study conducted by Nurolaini et al. (2014). However, the acceptance of the “fruits” of biomedical science, the pills and injections, in Brunei, as in other non- Western countries, does not necessarily mean, as was pointed out by Gould (1965, p. 202) and Nichter (1978, p. 40), that people’s cognitive representations of illnesses have changed. People do not doubt the “efficacy of local cures in respect to ultimate causes” just because Western medicines treat symptoms more swiftly and more dramatically. Western medicines, as Nichter (1978, p. 40) notes, frequently supplement rather than replace folk treatment, because they are regarded as symptom-oriented as opposed to cause-oriented.

The choice of practitioners in Brunei, as in other parts of the world, seems to depend primarily on the perceived etiology. All informants agree that disorders that involve “supernatural” causation (luar biasa illnesses), especially mental disorders, are more responsive to traditional practitioner regimens. Some respondents claim that they prefer to use traditional medicine for usual (biasa) ailments, while others declare that somatically based disorders will best respond to biomedical ministrations. However, when Western medicine fails to provide rapid symptomatic relief for ailments initially thought to be ordinary (biasa), patients will often reinterpret their illness as being caused by spirits and thus as “extraordinary” (luar biasa) and seek relief from local practitioners. “Naturally expressed illnesses” are often believed to have underlying supernatural causes. Besides the perceived etiology of the illness, critics of biomedicine have identified several other factors that might possibly influence the therapeutic decisions of a number of Brunei Malays.

The cosmopolitan system is often seen as a partial health care system, and some patients in Brunei and elsewhere seek in one system what they cannot find in another. The simultaneous consultation of an orang pandai and a cosmopolitan practitioner to treat different aspects of the same problem might simply be a matter of wanting to try all possibilities for realizing a cure, but it might equally well reflect a concern of some Brunei Malays for the “why”, as well as for the “how”, of their suffering. This concern for the “singularity of misfortune” among some Brunei Malays illustrates a wider trend emphasized in the theoretical literature on traditional medicine. While Western medicine provides symptomatic relief, native health practitioners address the underlying cause of the patients’ suffering and promote their optimism by assuring that the causative agent is being disarmed. The curative value of optimism and feelings of well-being is now fully recognized. Brunei Malay patients’ faith in the healing powers of local healers, which is 219 still more deeply rooted than their nascent commitment to Western scientific philosophy, certainly has a significant placebo effect. Folk practitioners in Brunei and beyond also encourage positive feelings with their caring, soothing, and supportive approach to patients, in contrast to Western medicine’s impersonal treatment. Besides, traditional healers worldwide offer patients the psychological comfort of talking fully about their illnesses in a familiar language, while Western doctors maintain social and psychological distance from patients and ignore their perceptions of their illnesses. The inattention of practitioners of cosmopolitan medicine to the affective, psychological and spiritual aspects of healing has been the object of intense criticism by medical anthropologist since the 1970s. The concentration on disease rather than illness is probably an important reason why some Brunei Malays are sometimes reluctant to use cosmopolitan medical services and continue consulting folk healers for traditional, as well as physical and psychological complaints.

Many of the disorders that Brunei Malay traditional practitioners are called upon to treat belong to the category of vague and lingering afflictions that fail to respond to existing biomedical therapy. Folk healers are prepared to recognize and treat the most amorphous manifestations of ill-being. Because they stem from the same cultural group as their patients, they are better equipped than a busy, impersonal Western doctor to address their anxieties, delve into the psychosocial complications in chronic medical problems and offer more culturally meaningful explanations of their patients’ suffering. Traditional practitioners have been increasingly focusing on those psychosocial needs that have been neglected in biomedical therapy. Besides, their function extends further than strictly medical chores, and a number of Brunei Malays continue to turn to folk healers to address personal problems, such as sexual disorders or love matters. Furthermore, since many Brunei Malays attribute mental illness to supernatural agents, as do other Malays, traditional healers are believed to be more competent than Western psychotherapists in treating mental disorder, as they share the same ethnic background and cultural beliefs as their patients, and will accept the patients’ interpretation of their illness, which will strengthen the therapeutic alliance between the patient and therapist.

220

CHAPTER 7: INTERACTIONS BETWEEN MALAY

TRADITIONAL MEDICINE AND ISLAM

INTRODUCTION

Many aspects of traditional healing in Brunei have their roots in pre-Islamic beliefs and practices. With the coming of Islam in the fourteenth century (Naimah Talib 2002, p. 134), the institution of the bomoh/dukun had to undergo a number of changes to contend with the demands of Islamic teachings, but it did not disappear. As in other parts of the Malay world, there was a degree of tolerance towards those practices which were not conforming to the ideals of the Islamic code, and the two realms of beliefs continued to coexist harmoniously, each institution, religion and bomoh, responding to different needs. Those practices which were in contradiction with the basic tenet of monotheist Islam were banned. Others were reinterpreted in Islamic terms; elements of Muslim civilization have helped to give a new meaning to some of the pre-Islamic concepts underlying the institution of Malay traditional healers, such as the beliefs in semangat and spirits, or the invocation of invisible entities. While Islam certainly exerted some influence on certain notions in spirit beliefs, those Islamic elements in folk beliefs were reinterpreted by Malays in terms of the patterns of indigenous beliefs. This indigenous conception of Islamic elements removed from their original contexts in Islamic scripture, as well as beliefs and practices of Islam which originated in Sufism and certain notions of popular Muslim magic which were introduced to the Malay world concomitantly with the spread of Islam itself, are regarded with contempt by the orthodox, and classified as the “folk conception of Islam” (“popular Islam”). Ideally, the religious leaders would like to see the abandonment of these folk beliefs, but in practice there has historically been a large measure of indulgence towards these “non-orthodox” beliefs and practices. With the acceleration of Islamization and Arabicization in Brunei, the conflicts between religion and folk beliefs have intensified over the past few decades, and many traditional healing concepts and practices have been labelled as superstitious or heretical by the religious authorities.

TWO REALMS OF SUPERNATURAL BELIEFS: AGAMA AND KEPERCAYAAN ORANG TUA-TUA.

Islam influences deeply the lives of Malays in Brunei and elsewhere. As with all Muslims, the observance of Islam among the Malays centers around the five “pillars” or 221 foundations of Islam. They are expected to pray five times a day, fast during the month of Ramadan, join in the congregational prayers on Fridays as well as on festival days, pay a zakat (charitable donation to the poor), and make the pilgrimage to Mecca if they can afford it. Malays are guided by the teachings and requirements of their religion from the cradle to the grave. Between the two points of their life span, they “may not always observe or practice all the teachings of their religion”, but the ultimate spiritual goal, “to die a Muslim and to escape the Fire of the Day of Judgement”, is always present (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 51).

Although Islam permeates the entire life of Brunei’s Muslim Malays who emphasize strongly the importance of worshipping Allah as the one and supreme God, the belief in supernatural entities alien to Islam, which are believed to affect people’s well-being and the success of their ventures, is still widespread among a number of Brunei’s Muslim Malays, and generates no obvious inconsistencies with Islam, even though orthodox Islam defines animistic beliefs and practices as salah (wrong), haram (forbidden), or syirik (against the teachings of Islam). The ideas and rituals involving the spirits predate Islam in the Malay world and are incompatible with the teachings of the Malays’ religious creed in its orthodox variant, but they continue to have a place within the framework of the cultural traditions of some Muslim Malays. Malays have inherited from previous generations the idea that the margin of chance and uncertainty can be reduced and dangers averted by proper negotiation with the spirits. The ability to deal with these forces provides them with “a sense of security” when they are confronted with difficulties pertaining principally to personal matters, such as health, marriage, domestic problems, and economic undertakings, in their day-to-day living (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 53). Traditional healers, variously called bomoh, dukun, or orang pandai, are the accredited intercessors between people and the spirits.

Although orthodox believers in Indianized Sunni Islam might be expected to respond to an affliction by directly intensifying their religious observance, relatively few Muslim Malays adhere exclusively to orthodox religious practices in times of personal crises, according to Golomb (1985, p. 101). Before resigning themselves passively to the consequences of divine wrath, many first “test alternative magical-animistic explanations for their afflictions” – explanations that attribute their suffering to arbitrary, malevolent supernatural forces (spirit aggression or sorcery) emanating from the natural or social environment, as Golomb (1985, p. 101) notes, writing about Thai Malays. Many Brunei Malays, as noted earlier, believe that mental health problems are indicative of the loss of 222 semangat, spirit attack (tekana), spirit possession (ketaguran), or black magic, although Islam, according to Haque (2008, p. 686), professes that “mental disorders are an outcome of neglecting Islamic values”, and that ongoing purification of thought and deeds brings a person closer to God and keeps a person mentally healthy. When someone is struck ill (tekana angin) or possessed by a spirit in Brunei, the traditional healer is called in to identify the malevolent spirit and take the necessary measures so that the afflicted person can be rid of his/her ailment. As observed in the fifth chapter, orang pandai commonly employ a mixture of animistic, Indic and Islamic elements in their healing practices. Many techniques, such as the use of amulets, gilir, jampi, tawari and herbal medicines to chase away spirits, as well as guris, are clearly manifestations of the ancient animistic heritage of the Brunei Malay people. This complex of pre-Islamic supernatural concepts and practices continues to coexist with the belief and practice of Islam in the lives of many Brunei Malays.

The bomoh office has, for a long time, existed side by side with that of the imam, and what he or she stands for has coexisted with religious belief and practice. The two institutions, in fact, have often been complementary to one another. As noted by Mohamed Taib Osman (1972, p. 222) in Peninsular Malaysia, traditional local beliefs and rites have continued to live on as an “informal” belief system fulfilling the pragmatic and immediate needs of day-to-day living side by side with the “formal” religion which serves the more transcendental needs. This distinction is basically the dichotomy Malinowski (1992, pp. 88-90) posed between “magic” and “religion”.

The belief in magic is always the affirmation of men’s [sic] power to cause certain definite effects by a definite spell and rite, while early religion, has to deal with fateful, irremediable happenings and supernatural forces and beings… Religious faith establishes, fixes, and enhances all valuable mental attitudes, such as reverence for tradition, harmony with environment, courage and confidence in the struggle with difficulties and at the prospect of death… All practical activities lead man into impasses where gaps in his knowledge and the limitations of his early power of observation and reason betray him at a crucial moment. Magic supplies primitive man with a number of ready-made ritual acts and beliefs with a definite mental and practical technique which serves to bridge the dangerous gaps in every important pursuit or critical situation. It enables man to carry out with confidence his important tasks, to maintain his poise and his mental integrity in fits of anger, in the throes of hate, of unrequited love, of despair and anxiety. 223

The imam is important in matters pertaining to religion, especially where it concerns the salvation of one’s soul in the next world, while bomoh (orang pandai today in Brunei) deal with supernatural forces and healing of illnesses, providing Malays with a certain measure of assurance that when they experience misfortune in their day-to-day living, it can be countered (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 55). Golomb (1985, p. 102) maintains that by “relegating supernaturalist practices to the profane sphere of the curer-magician rather than the sacred sphere of the holy man”, Muslim communities preserve “a semblance of ritual purity among their devout leaders”; Muslim Malays may consult animistic therapists while otherwise adhering to orthodox observance. Furthermore, supernaturalism, by mobilizing numerous sacred elements of Islam in its campaigns against evil spirits, has served Islam by “making religious symbolism pertinent to people’s everyday fears”, while at the same time assuring the continued acceptance of this religion’s formal observance (Golomb 1985, p. 102).

The conflict between the two institutions does exist, however: religious leaders in Brunei, as well as in Peninsular Malaysia (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 57), have long taken a firm stand against any kind of shamanistic practice, such as the spirit-raising séances performed by specially qualified bomoh. According to the teachings of the Quran, illness is sent by God, and only God can actually cure it. Medicine may be helpful in easing pain and relieving symptoms, but the invocation of spirits is against God’s will. It contradicts the basic Islamic tenet of monotheism. During much of this century, according to Firth (1967, p. 204), main puteri performances in Kelantan have been under some fire from the medical men, on the one hand, and from the Muslim orthodox, on the other, who regard it as a challenge to the purity of Islam.

In Brunei, trance sessions (called menurun in Brunei Malay) were quite common before World War Two. They have long been prohibited, but it is reported that a few hidden sessions were still held in the Water Village (Kampong Ayer) at the time Kimball conducted her research in the 1970s. Since devoutly religious Muslims are not supposed to watch trance sessions, however, “many older people who, in fact, have attended mediumistic ceremonies feign to know nothing about them” (Kimball 1979, p. 82). Although some spirit medium experts claim they are good Muslims and regard themselves as invoking their spirit aids through the help of Allah for the repelling of evil spirits who otherwise would afflict true believers, orthodox Muslim dignitaries, according to Firth (1967, p. 204), consider the spirit medium performance as suspect because jinn and other spirit beings, “while not figments of the imagination”, are given 224 a role far exceeding anything allowed them by the Quran, which recognizes them but declares that “the direction of human affairs is in the hands of Allah”. The spirit medium then is trafficking with powers which he should leave alone or to which he should deny potency, and comes close to being accused of the prime heresy of “giving God a partner” – God who is One only, without associate (Firth 1967, p. 205). Islam looks far more askance at the shaman who calls down spirits at a séance than at the commoner medicine- man who relies solely on charms and invocations covered with “a veneer of orthodox phraseology”, as Winstedt (1925, p. 20) noted almost a century ago.

There is variation in the extent to which sorcery is regarded as evil. What all of the religious traditions have in common is “the conceptual opposition of sorcery to all that is normal and good” (Ellen 1993, p. 11). Islam recognizes the existence of black magic, but forbids its practice, as it is regarded as the work of evil creatures such as the devil (syaitan or iblis) and the “infidel jinn”. There are numerous references to black magic and its effects in the Quran, and the Prophet is reported to have decried the practice of magic as incompatible with the belief in the oneness of Allah in a hadith (an oral saying attributed to Prophet Muhammad, which states that “one who resorts to sorcery truly associates other deities with God”) (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 117). Religion, according to Mohammad Hashim Kamali (2011, p. 565), “promotes moral and social objectives that inspire the approval of societies”, whereas siḥir “aims at subjective benefits”, and in its black variety at the infliction of harm, and the sorcerer often resorts to irrational and impermissible means. When “religion and science fail to respond to the people’s needs, belief in magic begins to fill their space” ((Mohammad Hashim Kamali 2011, p. 565).

Although the practice of sorcery has increasingly been condemned by the religious authorities, the belief in sorcery, the notion that sickness, or even death, can be brought about by spirits which have been bribed by an enemy of the patient, is still prevalent today among some Brunei Malays. All my informants recognize the persistence of “many forms of sorcery in Brunei, such as sunti, pulong, and pukau”, but they claim that “such practices are only done by non-Muslim bomoh or some ‘black bomoh’ practicing it for financial purposes” (Di Brunei, masih ada banyak jenis ilmu hitam, macam sunti, pulong, dan pukau, tapi ilmu hitam ani dibuat bomoh bukan Islam atau bomoh yang ada ilmu hitam untuk ambil duit). This statement supports observations by Woodward (1985, p. 1014) and Geertz (1977, pp. 152-153) in Java that most dukun who control evil spirits and sources of power will practice sorcery “if the price is right”. 225

Brunei’s imams urge local Muslims to “stay away from sorcery, as getting involved in such practices amounts to committing syirik (acts which are against the teachings of Islam) – a huge sin that will not be forgiven by the Almighty” (The Brunei Times, 11 February 2012). Dato Dr Haron Din, the founder of Darussyifa in Malaysia and head teacher of a basic course conducted by Darussyifa Warrafahah (the Islamic Medicine and Welfare Association) in 2010 in Brunei, declared that sorcery was banned not only in Islam, but also in Christianity and Judaism because the practice is clearly immoral.

The effects of witchcraft on its victims are very cruel, forcing them to endure unbearable suffering, sometimes for the rest of their lives… The teachings of Islam that expose the evils of black magic are not being propagated enough, therefore it is not surprising that the phenomenon of witchcraft is widespread (Dato Haron, cited in The Brunei Times, 16 February 2010).

Since the implementation of Syariah law in Brunei in 2014, people found guilty of practicing sorcery have been facing tougher sentences. The Bruneian religious authorities advise those who believe that they are under the spell of black magic to seek treatment only from those who use Quranic verses, rather than from bomoh who claim they possess curing “powers” that are against Islamic teachings (Borneo Bulletin, 2 March 2015).

“Many of those who practiced black magic before used gimbaran (familiar spirits) (Banyak orang yang ada ilmu hitam dulu gunakan gimbaran), according to Damit and Hj. Mejin. Unlike the familiar spirits of Peninsular Malaysia, such as the polong and the bajang previously mentioned, which are always malevolent and reputedly particularly vicious, the gimbaran of Brunei, which are free spirits with whom the sorcerer has a special agreement, “can be used for either good or bad purposes” (Gimbaran ani boleh disuruh buat baik atau buat jahat), they add. Hj. Mejin explains: “They can help healers in expelling other spirits from the sick, but sorcerers can also request their help to cause physical or mental illnesses, or even to kill the targeted people” (Gimbaran boleh disuruh oleh orang mengubati untuk menghalau makhluk-makhluk halus yang lain dari badan orang sakit. Gimbaran ani jua boleh disuruh oleh orang yang ada ilmu jahat untuk membuat sakit arah badan ketani, fikiran ketani, dan paling teruk ia boleh disuruh membunuh). The use of a gimbaran, whatever the intention of its “master”, is now strictly condemned by the Bruneian religious authorities. “Some people use jinn as khadam (servants) to do their biddings, but jinn will only remain loyal and subservient so long as they receive something in return. The conditions and demands of the jinn will involve syirik, so if people use the services of a bomoh, they will lose their good deeds” (Dato 226

Ismail in The Brunei Times, 26 July 2007). Imams explain that there are bomoh who claim that it is possible for an angel, the spirit of a dead person or a bunian (metaphysical being) to enter their bodies during treatment: “This is, in fact, the works of a jinn or syaitan entering the bomoh’s body and relaying information of the unseen” (The Brunei Times, 4 October 2014).

Traditional healers consider their role to be that of one who helps people through the permission of God, and their function, as mentioned in the previous chapter, often extends further than strictly medical chores. Besides diagnosing and curing illnesses and countering spells, they also commonly address personal issues, such as sexual problems and love matters. Consequently, some well-intentioned pious orang pandai in Brunei, although they claim that sorcery is contrary to Islamic principles, continue to practice love magic, which consists in the use of spells and charms to increase personal attractiveness. This corroborates the observation Winstedt made almost a century ago in Peninsular Malaysia that illicit charms for the seduction of women, which were inherited from Hindu sources, are commonly used (Winstedt 1925, p. 60). Today, the distinction between black magic and love magic is still blurred in Brunei. Although some of the healers I interviewed, as well as their clients, do not consider love magic as a reprehensible form of sorcery, because the targets of such magical manipulation strategies are not harmed, these magical practices are strictly condemned by the religious orthodoxy. “The services of bomoh to solve life problems, such as locating missing belongings, obtaining good job positions and promotions, fortune-telling for lottery numbers, and having total control of their spouses, are all forbidden by Syariah” (The Brunei Times, 11th February 2012). My informant Hamid, nevertheless, insists that “some Quranic verses can be used to ask God to make other people love the person who recites those verses. This Islamic form of love magic is not condemned by the religious authorities”.

Direct communication with Satan or any of his progeny through magical incantations is a violation of fundamentalist Islamic law. Given the nature of traditional Malay animistic beliefs, it has been particularly difficult for Muslims to abide by such orthodox Islamic prohibitions, and many “resolve the conflict between their supernaturalist and Islamic cosmological views by separating both systems into distinct cognitive and behavioral domains”, as Golomb (1985, p. 108) notes for Malays in Thailand. Some of my informants make a distinction between agama (religion) and kepercayaan orang tua-tua (elders’ beliefs), which corroborates the observation Mohamed Taib Osman (1972, p. 227

224) made in Peninsular Malaysia. When I asked medicinal plant buyers at Tamu Kianggeh what they knew about orang bunian, for example, a number of them replied: “Orang bunian are spirits, but this is the belief of the elders” (Orang bunian ani makhluk- makhluk halus jua, ani menurut kepercayaan orang tua-tua). However, a number of Malays may not know for sure where the demarcation line really is between these two realms. The division between folk beliefs and religion can be so close that in some areas the two tend to merge, especially since Malays have resorted to various ways of rationalizing their old beliefs and practices so as to make them consonant with Islamic traditions.

REINTERPRETATION OF OLD BELIEFS AND PRACTICES IN ISLAMIC TERMS

Many Malay traditional healers, as Laderman (1991a, p. 18) maintains, are, in fact, “devout Muslims”, who are concerned, to a greater or lesser degree, about the negative attitude of Muslim orthodoxy toward their activities and have attempted to combine traditional Malay medical theory with elements of Islamic doctrine, mixing “antiquity and modernity” (Connor 2001, p. 12), in ways that satisfy the demands of Islamic teachings.

Giving new interpretations to an old institution:

In Peninsular Malaysia, the influence of Islam and “the need to give the bomoh office an Islamic character” usually lead to a fallacious claim that the institution has an Islamic genesis, although “the prototype of the present-day Malay bomoh is the shaman of the ancestral archipelagic culture” (Mohamed Taib Osman 1972, p. 227). The institution of the bomoh has its roots in an impressive array of powerful beings: the primordial “First Magician” (Pawang Yang Tua), who is sometimes identified with Allah himself; Siva, the Divine Teacher of the Brahmins; the Light of Muhammad, which according to Sufi thought, was the pre-existing soul of the Holy Prophet himself (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 64). In addition, many bomoh ascribe the origin of their office to Luqman al- Hakim, the reputed father of Arabian magic. The legend of Luqman as a great sage, which actually goes back to Arab paganism, was introduced to the Malay world together with the popular tales of heroes, kings, and prophets usually found in the literature of the Islamic civilizations of Arabia, Persia, and Muslim India (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 65). These numerous popular narratives originating from Muslim civilization, which 228 have diffused into the Malay Archipelago with the spread of Islam, although they are “rejected by the orthodoxy because of their false contents”, are thus used to give new interpretations to an old Malay institution (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 112).

Similarly, there is a definite leaning towards giving an Islamic coloring to the accounts of the extraordinary experiences bomoh have when acquiring their ilmu (“spiritual knowledge”). Ilmu has its roots in animistic thinking and the Hindu-Buddhist practices and doctrine of pre-Islamic Borneo, but it has also incorporated elements of scriptural Islam, as well as Arabian folklore (Bernstein 1997, p. 42). A good deal of the knowledge of bomoh is based on supernatural premises, such as the communication with spiritual beings or the use of objects with extraordinary powers. For instance, Bruneian orang pandai commonly empower medicinal concoctions with a special incantation (jampi), often blending Islamic and pre-Islamic elements, and they provide talismans as a protection against evil spirits and black magic. Traditionally, bomoh acquired their ilmu through an extraordinary situation or experience, such as a dream, or possession of a helper spirit (gimbaran). In Brunei today, it seems, however, that fewer orang pandai obtain their ilmu with the help of a spirit-familiar, as, strictly speaking, dealing with such spirits is against Islam. With the influence of Islam, “the extraordinary qualities or powers which create an aura of almost supernatural character around the person of the bomoh” (Mohamed Taib Osman 1972, p. 231) are sometimes said to be acquired through an ecstatic vision or a dream of the Prophet, as in the case of Hj. Jamhur (see the account of his experience p. 120). Alternatively, as in the case of Damit, healers can receive ilmu directly from God after a long period of asceticism, meditation and practice of zikir (the repetitive utterance of la ilaha illa’llah - there is no God but Allah) to get nearer to God. All the healers I interviewed insist that they do not handle illness with any hidden magical power. Hj. Mejin declares: “I am only begging God, because the success of my treatments depends upon His mercy and will” (Aku mengubati ani inda ada pakai campur ilmu yang salah tapi ku hanya minta tolong kepada Allah, kerana dengan rahmat dan izinnya saja, orang yang ku ubat kan sembuh). “Admonitions concerning piety, prayer, and devotion to Islam”, as Laderman (2001, p. 61) claims, protect traditional healers’ treatments from criticism directed at more traditional shamans’ séances.

Giving new interpretations to old beliefs:

Semangat: The most ancient survival of the traditional archipelagic belief system still strongly held by some Malays is the animistic and animatistic belief that an all-pervading common vital principle (Semangat) is present in diffuse form throughout the universe, 229 but “also fixed and contained within every individual human being, animal, vegetable or mineral on earth” (Massard 1988, p. 790). This impersonal force is vital to the well-being of people and things, and essential in warding off evil influences. As discussed in the third chapter, the idea of semangat has been fused with the Islamic concept of roh (human soul) to the extent that, for some Brunei Malays, semangat and roh are synonymous. However, although the indigenous term semangat and the Arabic term roh introduced by Islam are sometimes employed interchangeably in ordinary usage to designate the human soul, the two terms are never mixed up in rituals of religious significance. It is the roh, not the semangat, of the human being that goes to heaven (syurga) or hell (neraka) after death.

Spirits: The notion that illnesses are induced by malignant spirits and that there are the chosen few who can communicate with these beings are retentions of traditional archipelagic animism. Muslims justify their supernaturalist beliefs by demonstrating that their religious scriptures clearly warn of the existence of spirits. The Islamic scriptures are explicit about supernatural forces of evil; Satan is said to have produced “a great many offspring who wander about the earth intent upon deceiving mankind” (Golomb 1985, p. 106). The Prophet Muhammad himself, notes Haque (2008, p. 692), encountered magic and evil eyes in his personal life, and “recited the last two small chapters of the Quran regularly (Surah Falaq and Naas), which are prayers meant to protect oneself from the evil of everything, including the evil whispers of spirits”. Brunei’s Darussyifa Warrafahah mentor, Dato’ Harun Din, declares that makhluk halus exist because they are mentioned in Al-Quran. He adds that there are many ways in which these makhluk halus can cause harm to people:

They can instigate hatred that can lead to hostility and murder, they can cause pain and suffering. They can also cause us to do things that we have no recollection of…Some of the symptoms of the diseases that they cause include prolonged headache, convulsions, loss of focus and fatigue. Allah protects us, but we must also have our ‘shield’ up by performing our religious obligations (Dato’ Harun Din, cited in The Brunei Times, 7 February 2011).

This recognition by government officials of spirits as a legitimate explanation of illness causation triggers confusion among biomedical practitioners. Thus, Hajah Jainah Haji Musa (2009, p. 307), a Western-trained midwife who studied reproductive health issues among Kedayan women in Brunei, mentions that she was baffled by a religious leader’s declaration that “bleeding after childbirth could be caused by the pontianak, a kind of 230 jinn that is evil”, because she had been taught “through scientific knowledge” that bleeding in childbirth is caused by the woman’s womb failing to contract effectively or by a tear in her genital tract.

Jinn, originally superhuman spirits or perhaps even gods to the ancient Arabians, are mentioned in the Quran and from that source entered the folk religions of those nations influenced by Islam (Bernstein 1997, p. 57). Thus, the Islamic concept of jinn or spirits, in itself a survival of Arab paganism, is providing a new frame of reference for animistic spirits in places where Islam has superseded the religious systems of the local people. As mentioned previously, Brunei Malays tend to designate all spirits as jinn, the Arabic word borrowed from Islamic demonology, rather than using the indigenous Brunei Malay terms for spirits (orang makhluk halus, orang bunian, penjaga rumah, gimbaran, pengasuh and orang jagau) which are all rooted in pre-Islamic belief. The influence of Islam is also visible in the distinction Brunei Malays make between Muslim jinn (jinn Islam), which are said to be benevolent, and non-Muslim jinn (jinn kafir), which are inevitably malicious, and referred to as syaitan (Satan), or else as iblis (the devil or the fallen angel in Islam).

Giving new interpretations to old practices: Incantations: When Islam came, Malay healers added the names of Allah and Muhammad, as well as the names of angels, devils and spirits of the youngest of Malaya’s religions, to their repertories of incantations (Winstedt 1925, p. 15). Today, one of the rationales used by native healers to respond to the criticism of the orthodoxy is to replace, at least partially, the usual Malay incantations (jampi) with Quranic sentences and other appeals to Allah, his Prophet, and his saints. Exorcistic rituals for coping with personified evil forces may still include indigenous animistic elements, but more and more they have taken on distinctively Islamic characteristics, and “incorporate scriptural language and symbolism” to confront and control spirits (Golomb 1985, p. 101). Many old pagan spells are prefaced by the Muslim greeting of Assalamualaikum (“Peace be with you”) and Quranic phrases which usually begin religious prayers, such as Bismillah-iRahman-i- Rahim (“In the name of Allah, the All Compassionate and All Merciful”), and concluded with the Syahada (Gimlette 1971, p. 19).

While “these Arabic phrases provide some semblance to the religious prayer or doa”, maintains Mohamed Taib Osman (1989, p. 91), the non-Islamic terms jampi and 231 mantra53 are never mixed up with religious prayers, which suggests that a distinction between the two spheres of supernatural belief and practice is to some measure consciously realized by the people. While doa strictly involves the use of Quranic verses and is recited in Arabic, jampi (or mantra) are magical incantations, mainly in Malay, interspersed with “the esoteric vocabulary of the bomoh”; they combine indigenous, Hindu, and Islamic components (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 91). Jampi is considered different from doa because jampi refers to an appeal for protection from supernatural beings other than God (Haque 2008, p. 690), which is a mark of polytheism (syirik) and is strictly prohibited (haram) from the Islamic perspective. Incantations are frowned upon by strict theologians, but they are the breath of the Malay healer’s life, and they “do not strike the simple folk as unorthodox if they are recited for a lawful object”, as Winstedt (1925, p. 60) claims.

According to Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 11), jampi and mantras are “spells”, not involving Quranic verses, that are mainly used by sorcerers. This corroborates Hj. Mejin’s statement that “jampi involves magic…it is used by bomoh to remove things (such as a needle or a snake) from the body of a victim of black magic. It is against Islam” (Jampi atu ada masuk silap mata...Bomoh guna jampi untuk buang barang macam jarum atau ular dari badan orang sakit yang tekana ilmu hitam. Jampi ani bertentangan sama Islam). Air bertawari (tawari means “neutralization”), on the other hand, is water upon which some Quranic verses have been read. It is used by orang pandai to “stabilize their client’s body and roh, so that they may recover their healthy state of togetherness” (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 37). Mas Irun also notes a major distinction between air jampi (water upon which a “spell” has been recited) and air tawari (water upon which Quranic verses have been read). Similarly, Hj. Mejin mentions that “tawari involves reciting Quranic verses on water or oil. I use this water to cure patients, and I only request God’s help” (Tawari maksudnya minyak atau air ketani bacakan ayat-ayat Quran. Aku pakai air bertawari untuk mengubat orang dan aku minta tolong hanya pada Tuhan). Likewise, Hj. Nayan and the old padian from Tamu Kianggeh declare that they “use tawari, which only makes use of Quranic verses” (Aku tawari guna ayat-ayat Quran saja). All my informants make a distinction between doa (a religious prayer) and jampi. However, the distinction between the terms jampi and tawari is still blurred in the minds

53 As mentioned earlier, mantra is a Sanskrit word, while jampi is Malay. Mantra is mainly used in declarations by Bruneian officials from the Ministry of Religious Affairs. It is also commonly used by Hajah Jainah Haji Musa (2009). None of my informants use this term.

232 of some of the healers I interviewed. Thus, Hj. Majid uses the words tawari and jampi interchangeably, although he insists that he “only uses Quranic verses as a healing method, with different verses being used depending on the type of illness” (Aku pakai ayat ayat Quran saja untuk ubat orang. Satu-satu penyakit atu ada bacanya yang tertentu). For him, “jampi, like tawari, means reciting Quranic verses on to water for healing purposes” (“Jampi, macam tawari, dibacakan ayat Quran arah air yang ketani guna untuk mengubat”). Similarly, Hj. Jamhur and Hj. Norsan declare that “both jampi and tawari mean reciting verses of the Quran on water, but the term jampi is used in Indonesia; here we call it tawari” (Dua-dua jampi sama tawari ani sama, artinya baca ayat Quran arah air, tapi kalau di Indonesia orang cakap jampi, dan di Brunei orang cakap tawari). Thus, despite, the religious instruction provided by the State’s Ministry of Religious Affairs through religious talks in the media, some Brunei Malays still do not make a clear distinction between tawari and jampi, although the latter involves non- Quranic magical incantations and is considered heretical. Besides, all healers use the term baca-baca to refer to the incantations they use in healing. Kimball (1979, p. 58) reports that “baca-bacaan are incantations, which mix Quranic verses with other words, to aid in effecting neutralization of the ailment”.

Peletz (1993, p. 154) reports that the incantations recited over water, so as to infuse it with the efficacy of the chants, are widely assumed in Negeri Sembilan to be “at least partly Islamic in nature and at least partly Arabic in form”, and to include Yasin, the 36th chapter (surah) of the Quran. This belief imbues the ritual incantations of dukun with “the authority and sanctity of Arabic”, which Malays (and other Muslims) regard as “the most sacred of all languages, since it was the language spoken by the Prophet Muhammad and God Himself” (via the archangel Gabriel to Muhammad), and therefore with the authority and power of God (Peletz 1993, p. 154). However, the assumption that dukun’s incantations are at least partly Islamic and Arabic cannot be verified by the patient or others because, as is the case in Brunei, the incantations, which are barely audible, are unintelligible to anyone but the healer. While this situation enhances both the mystery surrounding dukun’s ilmu and the efficacy of the rituals performed, as mentioned in Chapter 5, it also opens the door to suspicions that their chants may not be entirely Islamic in origin and that dukun may be “in league with dangerous spirits whose supplication entails pre-Islamic practices that go against the grain of monotheistic Islam” (Peletz 1993, pp. 154-155), which accounts for the ambivalent attitude most people show toward dukun (Geertz, 1977, p. 150). 233

Mohamed Taib Osman (1989, p. 101) argues that, although Malays have reinterpreted their beliefs about the spirits in the light of stories about the angel Gabriel, Muhammad, and other Islamic figures, the bomoh’s curing ritual act itself is embedded in the system of the indigenous spirit beliefs. Islamic supernatural beings are invoked and propitiated for the power that they are believed to possess, and are invoked side by side with the supernatural forces in the pantheon of the indigenous spirit beliefs. Apart from their names, they are removed from their original contexts in Islamic scripture; they have been “superimposed on the fundamental indigenous notion of powerful spirits which have to be invoked for help, propitiated, or exorcized if human well-being is to be preserved” (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 109). Bomoh invoke and propitiate supernatural entities bearing the names of Hindu gods and of the prophets, the four Archangels in Islam, Mikail, Israfil, Jibrail and Israil (Azrail), and well-known persons found in the teachings of Islam, along with personal familiars which still closely retain the vestiges of shamanism (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 103). Even the name of Allah, who is recognized as the Omnipotent in Islam, is invoked in the same manner as the other supernatural beings in the incantations of the Malay bomoh (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 108).

This integration of Islamic elements according to the patterns of spirit beliefs is regarded with contempt by orthodox Muslim scholars, and is described as the “folk conception of Islam” (popular Islam”). The syncretic magical-animistic (or “supernaturalistic”) approach to the diagnosis and treatment of illness is looked at with disdain by “orthodox religious officials, who have favored and even fostered, throughout much of the history of Islam, naturalistic explanations of the immediate causes of illness” (Golomb 1985, p. 122). Any attempts at interpreting indigenous beliefs in terms of Islam are at best regarded as “a lack of understanding of the true teachings of the religion on the part of the masses” (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 114). In practice, however, the intermingling of local beliefs and Islamic elements has continued to be tolerated, for it is characteristic of the Muslim communities generally, as Mohamed Taib Osman (1989, p. 114) claims, “to think in terms of the ideal, that is, that the purity of Islamic monotheism and the Prophet’s teachings will one day prevail when the people are fully enlightened”.

POPULAR ISLAM

Besides those Islamic elements which have been reinterpreted in terms of the patterns of indigenous beliefs, the folk conception of Islam (“popular Islam”) consists of the popular 234 beliefs and practices of Islam which were introduced to the Malays concomitantly with the spread of Islam itself. Although identified with religion itself, they are basically incompatible with its strict tenets of monotheism and are rejected by orthodox Islam. The development of Islamic civilization saw not only the retention of certain elements of Arab animism54 and of Semitic magical practices, but also the acquisition of many new elements which had their roots in the popular beliefs and practices of the Shi’ites and in the influences of the thoughts and practices of the Sufis (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 116).

Sufism: Nourse (2013, p. 400) argues that although the term dukun signifies an indigenous healer for contemporary Malay/Indonesian speakers, it is etymologically not native to Malay/Indonesian, but Persian. Fifteenth-century Persian settlers brought the proto-form of the word dukun to the Malay Archipelago, along with cosmopolitan notions of Sufism, faith and mystical notions of healing, such as the idea that one could “perceive Allah’s healing essence as a glowing light” (Nourse 2013, p. 400). Despite the repeated allegations by the orthodox, in Brunei as in Indonesia, that traditional healers’ practices are more closely related to animistic and Indic ideas and practices than to Islam, and despite Geertz’s description (1960) of the Islamic components of dukun practices as a “mere superficial overlay” (Nourse 2013, p. 420), the orang pandai’s ancestral ties to Persian forms of mysticism are still evident. Although many aspects of traditional healing in Brunei are clearly related to pre-Islamic beliefs and practices, others, both in the acquisition of knowledge and healing practices of the orang pandai, show obvious similarities with Sufi mystical healing. As mentioned in Chapter 5, practices such as asceticism, meditation, and zikir (dhikr) to receive spiritual knowledge (ilmu batin) from Allah still “bear a family resemblance to the philosophies of illuminated radiance from centuries before” (Nourse 2013, p. 421). Likewise, the use of sanctified water to spray or massage the body, and the use of amulets and incantations resemble the Central Asian Sufi healing methods.

The Sufi mysticism practiced by dukun has recurrently been the subject of attacks by religious reformists and orthodox Muslims. Most radical in their rejection of Sufi practices and beliefs were the original adherents of the Wahhabi movement, as well as later Salafi movements that derived from the same puritanical inspiration (Bruinessen

54 Gibb (2008, p. 181) has shown that while the origin of Islam is in itself a reaction against animism, certain elements of Arab animism remain in its substratum, such as the belief in jinn (spirits) and qarina (familiar spirits).

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2009, p. 125). The Wahhabis considered all beliefs and practices that cannot be accounted for in the Quran or “authentic” hadith (recorded sayings and traditions of the Prophet) as reprehensible innovations (ahl al-bida), “alien to pristine Islam” and explained as borrowings from other religious traditions or as “corrupt deformations of authentic Islamic practices”; they declared all Muslims who did not share their point of view unbelievers (Bruinessen 2009, p. 150). Modernist reformers also reject the classical learned tradition in favor of direct recourse to the Quran and hadith, but there are great differences in the degree to which rational interpretation of these sources is accepted (Bruinessen 2009, p. 151).

At the end of the nineteenth century, in Indonesia, the development of a more orthodox perspective of Islam, similar to the reformist movement that has developed in Brunei over the last few decades, strongly disapproved of the Sufi mysticism practiced by dukun (Nourse 2013, p. 417). Dukun were declared “heretics and innovators (ahl al-bida)”, “out of line with Syariah”, who carried out “unacceptable religious innovations”, including using “magic spells, amulets, and incantations”, gathering community members for dhikr recitations (Nourse 2013, pp. 417-418), using music, dance or drugs to produce a state of ecstasy or changed awareness, and invoking spirits of saints, living or dead, through the recitation of special prayers and litanies (Bruinessen 2009, p. 125). Sufism, as Bruinessen (2009, p. 145) claims, has always been “relatively tolerant of, and adaptable to, local customs and traditions”, and Sufi orders have incorporated what, for lack of a better term, are commonly called “popular” beliefs and practices, of which various reformist currents in Islam have been fiercely critical. Scripturalism (and especially its most radical variety, Salafism) and Sufism have often seemed each other’s opposites and been considered as competing trends within mainstream Islam. However, numerous Sufis, even among those known for their charismatic qualities, were also ulama well versed in scriptural studies (Bruinessen 2009, p. 149).

At the end of the twentieth century, in Indonesia, as Nourse (2013, p. 421) notes, Muslim extremists, who had been silenced during Suharto’s term in office, declared dukun practices anathema to “good religious practices”, quoting verses from the Quran which declare that worship of any spirits other than Allah is blasphemous (syirik). They preached, just like most orthodox Muslim scholars in Brunei today, that dukun practiced black magic and sorcery. Consequently, today few people admit to being a dukun, or to visiting one, and a host of practitioners with new names, e.g., terkun, and docter energi, have arisen with almost identical healing methods to those of past dukun (Nourse 2013, 236 p. 421), just as the term orang pandai has recently replaced the terms bomoh and dukun in Brunei.

Popular Muslim magic: The introduction of Islam to the Malays also brought with it many notions of magic (sihir) which are basically inconsistent with the dogmas of the religion and the oral traditions (hadith) of the Prophet, but have become part of the Malay folk traditions and are commonly identified with Islam itself. These elements of Muslim magic provide a new frame of reference for elements of indigenous beliefs (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 133). For example, Islam, coming first from India, introduced the Malays to a wide range of amulets inscribed with magic squares, cabalistic letters, the signs of the planets and the signs of the zodiac, the names of the angels, Muhammad, Ali, and the Name of Allah (see, for example, figure 7 p. 135). These talismans are worn for protection against evil spirits and black magic, as well as for the acquisition of strength and courage, although the practice of wearing amulets for dispelling evil spirits or for acquiring occult qualities for the wearer, as explained in Chapter 5, is actually rooted in the indigenous concept of Semangat. In Brunei, as in Peninsular Malaysia, the Malay term for amulet is tangkal, but “with the introduction of new ideas regarding charms” (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 134), the Arabic-derived term azimat is also in currency.

In Brunei, the use of tangkal as a protection against sorcery and spirits seems to be relatively widespread, as I have witnessed a significant number of people purchasing tangkal at Tamu Kianggeh. However, amulet makers and wearers must remain discreet because using tangkal has recently been declared superstitious and heretical (syirik) by the religious authorities, in the same way as it was declared “out of line with Syariah” by the conservative ulama in Indonesia at the end of the nineteenth century. One of my informants, a pious Muslim government employee, showed me his impressive collection of amulets, but mentioned that he had to conceal them because one of his amulets was confiscated by an official from the Ministry of Religious Affairs a few months earlier. Interestingly, the most regular clients for amulets of my Kedayan orang pandai informant are Brunei Malay army or police officers, as well as high-ranking government employees, who feel more vulnerable to black magic because of their positions and continue wearing tangkal, although they are most probably aware of the State’s official condemnation of this practice.

Quranic verses, as previously mentioned, are commonly used in healing, sometimes in combination with other words, as either complementary to a medical procedure (e.g. whilst preparing plant medicines) or as the primary or even sole method employed, with 237 particular verses or whole chapters seen as efficacious for particular health problems. They are either recited and blown directly on the patient, on medicine, or on water (air bertawari) which is then drunk or used for bathing (kasi mandi), or they are inscribed for protection or healing on talismans that are worn on the body. The employment of Quranic verses appears to be an attempt to give Islamic sanctity to pre-Islamic ideas. The practice of bathing in water that has been recited over might, in fact, “have its roots in the Hindu rituals of purification in water” (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 56), and Islam has only given a new meaning to an old ritual. Besides, the concept of magical properties of uttered words is the basic notion behind the spells which are part of the ilmu (esoteric knowledge) of bomoh (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 134). “Islam encourages the recitation of Quranic verses to imbue its adherents with the revelations of Allah”, and Muslims attach greater sanctity to certain verses in the Quran, such as the first verse of Surah Al-Fatihah, which is regarded as “the essence of Islamic faith” (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 136). But what has developed within Islam itself is the magical notion that the Quran and its verses may be used as potent charms against evil spirits or as useful amulets achieving certain ends. This notion seems to be mainly “an outgrowth of the religion itself in meeting certain psychological needs of the people”, such as surmounting trials met in the day-to-day living (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 139). The use of Quranic verses as charms is one area where “the realms of folk beliefs and religion seem to coalesce” in vernacular practice, even though this practice does not meet the approval of those who uphold the rigidity of Islamic tenets (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, pp. 138- 139).

The use of Quranic verses in healing does not have the consistency of codified religion. There are no hard and fast rules as to which verse is appropriate to use; the particular verse used for an occasion depends much on the person administering it (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 139). The sources of knowledge about Quranic healing practices can often be traced to popular literature, which discusses the miraculous properties attributed to nearly every verse of the Quran for preventing or curing certain ailments, especially the many treatises on magic and popular beliefs, such as the well-known Kitab Tajul- Muluk among the Malays (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 140). Kitab Tajul-Muluk, for example, recommends the invocation of Surah Al-Fatihah to cure illnesses and counteract black magic55. The identification of magical practices with the teachings of

55 The recitation of Ayat Al-Fatihah every day is recommended by the Brunei State mufti to prevent spirit possession (see p.178). It is also commonly used by Damit to chase away spirits (see pp. 174-175).

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Islam is facilitated by the presence of such works, which are often “not distinguished from works of a truly religious nature”, although the more learned or strict members of the community do make the distinction (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p. 140). Quranic verses, the words of Allah, are claimed by all informants, and by officials from the Ministry of Religious Affairs (see, for example, p. 178, p. 240 and p. 263), as the most potent weapon not only against jinn or syaitan, the supernatural forces introduced by Islam, but also against evil spirits and ghosts, the animistic spirits of the Malays. Thus, as noted by Mohamed Taib Osman (1989, p. 141), magic and religion are inextricably mixed up in the perception of the Malays in the use of Quranic verses as charms and spells.

Yusuf Muslim Eneborg (2014), however, maintains that the dichotomy first popularized by Geertz (1971) and Gellner (1981) is misleading. They distinguished between a “scripturalist, puritanical faith” of the urban bourgeoisie (i.e. scholarly Islam) and a “saint worshipping, ritualistic religion” of the “unlettered country folk” (folk Islam). Such a distinction results in a conceptualization of an official (elite, pure, or orthodox) Islam that approves certain practices, whilst restricting the permissibility of others. These other practices, however, continue to be practiced as popular (or folk) Islam because the masses frequently ignore these restrictions (Yusuf Muslim Eneborg 2014, p. 422). The depictions of certain practices as magical and superstitious, involving the common people, and outside the realms of true religion, present a portrait of Islam as inheriting ancient “magical” practices that it is constantly struggling to dissolve. Golomb, for example, writing about Thai Malays, mentions that although traditional animistic practitioners have lost considerable power among the political elite, their influence among the masses continues to be strong, to the dismay of the orthodox reformers, who display little respect for pre-Islamic or syncretic healing practices (Golomb 1990, p. 277). Likewise, Mohamed Taib Osman (1972, p. 227), using Redfield’s concept (1960) of “Great” and “Little Traditions”, maintains that once a “Great Tradition” was created, first through Hindu influence and later under Islamic civilization, in urban royal centers, indigenous traditions, such as the tradition of Malay bomoh, which continued to live among the rural masses, became the “Little Tradition” of Malay civilization. Yusuf Muslim Eneborg (2014) argues that in practice, such a distinction is hard to prove, as certain forms of magic – notably those using verses of the Quran for protection or to produce another desired effect – were practiced not only by “popular” magicians, but by orthodox ulama as well (Yusuf Muslim Eneborg 2014, p. 422). The fact that the belief 239 in magical healing is not a monopoly of the uneducated masses is also evident from the fieldwork I conducted in Brunei. As mentioned in the introduction, there seems to be no significant criterion, except for ethnicity, by which those making use of the services of traditional healers can be distinguished from the rest of the population. Besides, Maimunah Karim, a psychologist working in Brunei, declared in The Brunei Times (10 May 2007) that “the belief in the supernatural is not confined to the layman, those who are educated are affected too”.

The problem with the concept of “popular Islam”, “folk Islam”, or “low Islam”, the religion of the masses, argues Bruinessen (2009), is that it is implicitly defined in contrast to a “high” Islam, the religion of the scholars. “High Islam”, however, may be conceived in a variety of ways: as “official” or State Islam, as the religion of the (traditional) ulama or of puritan reformists, or as that of the urban middle classes. These are by no means the same, and the boundary between “popular” Islam and any of these conceptions of “high” Islam is not at all easy to establish (Bruinessen 2009, p. 145). The use of Quranic incantations outside of formal Islamic rites, especially within the context of healing, is ubiquitous in the daily life of Muslims. “The belief in the mystical power of the Word of God permeates the life of Malays” (Peletz 1993, p. 162). They recite Bismillah-iRahman- i-Rahim (“in the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful”) whenever they feel in danger or are simply initiating an activity such as bathing, dressing, eating or drinking. Similarly, they use amulets (tangkal) that frequently comprise bits of paper or cloth inscribed with passages from the Quran or other Islamic texts. They also place Quranic passages in strategic locations in their homes to help ensure their health and well-being (Peletz 1993, p. 162). Brunei Malays commonly hang Quranic verses on the wall as a protection against jinn, or place the Mus’haf (copy of the Quran) in cars to ward off the evil eye, or for protection from danger, although the religious authorities claim that these practices are ahl al-bidah (innovation) (The Brunei Times, 27 August 2010). Given the centrality of the Quran in “magical” preventive and curing techniques, as well as the pervasiveness of such activities, Yusuf Muslim Eneborg proposes, as an alternative to the dichotomy between religion and magic (“high” versus “low” Islam), to distinguish such practices as “religious” and “ordinary” aspects of the lives of Muslims. He maintains that although practices that use the oral or inscriptive materialization of the Quran, outside of formal Islamic rites, as an object of inherent power (an instrument of “magic”) are often labelled “paraliturgical’ as opposed to “liturgical”, these practices are 240

“not peripheral to Islamic tradition, but are rather deeply entrenched within it” (Yusuf Muslim Eneborg 2014, pp. 424-425).

The distinction between magical and religious, popular and official, or even between paraliturgical and liturgical depends more on “context” or “style” than on content. When Islamic modernist reformers, at the dawn of the twentieth century, tried to reconcile modern scientific and revealed knowledge, they attempted to distance themselves from the “superstitious” aspects of Islamic healing, and embarked on the project of “disenchanting” what has historically been regarded as magical “by styling it to suit a scientific idiom” (Yusuf Muslim Eneborg 2014, p. 428). As a perceivably pure form of supplication to God, the use of words from the Quran – as both antidote and prophylactic – was retained as an acceptable “religious” practice, albeit gradually stripped of some of its associated characteristics that were deemed superstitious. In confronting the alleged incompatibility of the Quran with scientific knowledge, there arose “scientific” interpretations of miracles, and a tendency to find rational and scientific explanations for how the Quran heals (Yusuf Muslim Eneborg 2014, pp. 426-427). Brunei government officials, as well as some of my Western educated informants, cite the (controversial) experiments and photographs of the Japanese scientist, Masaru Emoto (2004), showing changes in the molecular structure of water through the use of words and emotions to demonstrate the “scientificity” and efficacy of the recitation of Quranic verses over water in healing. The committee adviser to Darussyifa Warrafahah (the Islamic Medicine and Welfare Association), Pg Mohd Zin Pg Damit, declares that Darussyifa Warrafahah uses water, over which zikir has been read, as one of the media to treat its patients, “because water read with zikir shows a hexagonal molecular patterns, which, according to the research conducted by Professor Emoto, means that the water has become ‘cleaner’ and contains more nutrients for the body, which will have a positive effect on people’s health” (Pg Mohd Zin, cited in The Brunei Times, October 30, 2014).

CONCLUSION

Despite the conversion of Malays to Islam, which emphasizes that Allah is Omnipotent and is the ultimate cause of any event, the idea that people’s well-being is dependent on the disposition of spirits has survived until today among many Brunei Malays, including religious leaders. After the coming of Islam, and the institution of bomoh (recently renamed orang pandai in Brunei), whose theories and concepts regarding illnesses and their cure are rooted in the ancestral animistic beliefs in semangat and spirits, did not 241 disappear, even though it had to undergo a number of changes to contend with the demands of Islamic teachings. The world of spirit beliefs and the world of religion continued to coexist harmoniously, each institution responding to different needs. Traditional healers fulfilled the “pragmatic and immediate needs of day-to-day living”, such as the countering of illness and other misfortune, and religion served the more transcendental needs, such as the salvation of one’s soul in the next world. However, in Brunei, as well as in Peninsular Malaysia, after centuries of tolerance for the practices of traditional healers, in whose incantations “appeals to Allah, Muhammad, and the archangels mingle with references to the Hindu triumvirate and to nature spirits” (Laderman 1991a, pp. 16-17), Malay religious leaders have objected to the practices of the bomoh in increasingly strenuous terms in the last few decades. Many aspects of Brunei Malay traditional medicine, particularly the use of any form of magic or sorcery, the treatment of sick people by means of worshipping and negotiating with supernatural beings outside the orbit of Islam, which contradict the principle of Oneness of God (tawhid) and violate the principles of Islamic law, are cited as dangerous deviations from Islam56. Thus, spirit-raising séances, as well as the use of spirit helpers (gimbaran), have long been prohibited in the name of Islam in Brunei, as in the rest of the Malay world. Similarly, black magic has also been strictly condemned, as the Quran views siḥir as a pollutant of true belief, although all informants recognize the persistence of many forms of sorcery in Brunei.

Despite the recent efforts of the State-backed reformist movement to “purify” religious beliefs and practices in Brunei, the demarcation line dividing “folk” beliefs (kepercayaan orang tua-tua) and religion still remains blurred in the minds of a number of Brunei Malays, because many ancestral beliefs and practices were reinterpreted so as to give them an “Islamic” coloring. The use of Islamic notions in the acquisition of the ilmu (spiritual knowledge) of bomoh, the claim that the religious scriptures clearly warn of the existence of spirits, and the addition of Quranic verses to the traditional Malay incantations (jampi) represent some of the attempts to give new interpretations to old beliefs and practices. The tenacity of the institution of the traditional healer (by whatever name it is now known, bomoh, dukun or orang pandai) is due not only to the function it performs in everyday life, but also to its ability to blend the different elements which have contributed to Malay civilization and to provide new meanings and interpretations of its old form. Although the superimposition of Islamic elements on the indigenous

56 See Appendix V (Brunei Syariah Penal Code Order 2013). 242 notion of powerful spirits which have to be invoked for help to preserve people’s well- being does not meet the ideals of the Islamic code, the practice is commonly identified with religion itself. The nations which are converted to a new religion, argues Skeat (1965), in reality only drop the observances connected with their old faiths; they do not succeed in uprooting from their minds their older beliefs. Observances are more easily abandoned than ideas. “Foreign beliefs do not expel and supersede the older religion, but are engrafted on it, blend with it, or overlie it” (Skeat 1965, p. 83). While the supernatural notions which have long suffused the institution of bomoh have undergone some changes with the inclusion of elements from Muslim civilization, according to Mohamed Taib Osman (1972, pp. 233-234), Islam has not changed fundamentally the premises which underlie the Malay worldview regarding illnesses and their cure, which explains why the institution has not disappeared with the ascendancy of Islam in Malay culture.

Many elements of traditional healing, which have their roots in the popular beliefs and practices of the Shi’ites and in the thoughts and practices of the Sufis, were introduced to the Malays concomitantly with the spread of Islam itself, and are often perceived as part of the Muslim tradition sanctioned by religion, although they are considered to be basically incompatible with its strict tenets of monotheism and have been rejected by orthodox Islam (especially the Wahhabi and Salafi movements). Thus, the practices of asceticism, meditation, and zikir (dhikr), as well as the use of mystical water or the wearing of amulets, show obvious similarities with Persian Sufi healing methods, which have recurrently been the subject of attacks by religious reformists. Furthermore, notions of popular Muslim magic, such as the use of Quranic verses inscribed on amulets or blown on water as a protection against evil spirits and black magic, are commonly identified with the teachings of Islam, although they have been decried by the most radical religious reformists. As a result of the increasing Islamization of Brunei, a growing number of Malay traditional healing practices which are perceived as “popular” Islamic practices, such as the use of amulets and the mixing of jampi with Quranic verses, have recently been described as conflicting with Syariah, the basis of social order, and have had to be abandoned, or move from public scrutiny into realms of secrecy.

The distinction between “popular Islam” and “scriptural Islam” is, however, not always as clear as it seems. The most radical religious reformists argue that the use of Quranic verses in healing, for example, belongs to that area where the demarcation line dividing folk beliefs and religion becomes blurred. Quranic incantations for magical ends are, strictly speaking, inconsistent with the teachings of Islam. However, others maintain that 243 this form of magic was practiced not only by “popular” magicians, but by orthodox ulama as well. Besides, practices that use the oral or inscriptive materialization of the Quran as an object of inherent power are so ubiquitous in everyday Muslim life that they bring into question any sharp delineation between practices that are to be considered “religion” and those to be seen as “magic”. Modernist Islamic reformers, in Brunei and in other parts of the world, in their attempts to distance themselves from the “superstitious” aspects of Islamic healing, have resorted to scientific explanations to justify the continued used of Quranic verses in healing, both as antidote and as prophylactic. Thus, the new form of traditional healing, Islamic healing, which only uses Quranic verses, is viewed as legitimate not only because it is strictly monotheist, but also because it is scientific.

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CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION

Abolishing traditional medicine means not only the proscription of its practices and outlawing its practitioners, but implies above all the suppression of beliefs and a value system. Although many countries have tried to do this in one way or another, traditional medicine has survived until today in most Southeast Asian countries (Pedersen & Baruffati 1989, p. 494). As there is very little literature on the question of continuity and transformation of Brunei Malay traditional medicine, this thesis provides valuable first- hand ethnographic data on this subject. It reveals that traditional healers’ services continue to be sought after by a number of Brunei Malays both for common ailments and for illnesses which are reputedly due to supernatural causes, including sorcery, despite the wide availability of Western medicine and pharmaceuticals, and in the face of objections from the Islamic hierarchy. Although both representatives of official Western medicine and Islamic reformists in Brunei strongly emphasize the importance of biomedicine as a source of health care, its limitations are widely recognized, especially with regards to the psychological and social aspects of care. With the recent development of Islamic medical services to respond to the demand of the public for a complementary healthcare system, the Bruneian authorities hope to deter Muslims from resorting to the services of non-ustaz traditional healers, which are depicted as conflicting with Syariah. Over the past few decades, Islamic reformists have tried to rationalize healing by replacing the ceremonial performances acknowledging the presence of spiritual beings with “proper”, solely scriptural forms of Islamic prayer, which implies a reinterpretation of traditional healing in accord with the tenets of strict monotheism. This thesis shows that Western medicine and Islamic orthodoxy have indubitably exerted some influence on Brunei Malay traditional healers’ practice; but the syncretism which characterizes the current practices reveals that the underlying assumptions of tradition are maintained even if the forms have changed.

PERSISTENCE OF THE DEMAND FOR TRADITIONAL HEALING DESPITE THE PRESSURES OF WESTERN MEDICINE AND ISLAMIC ORTHODOXY

As mentioned in the sixth chapter, biomedicine has become the dominant form of medicine in most countries because it is emblematic of notions of modernity, social progress and economic improvement for the nation’s citizens, and because it contributes 245 to increasing social control on the part of states’ health institutions over behavior. In Brunei, although there is an increasing awareness of the differences in the cognitive representations of illnesses of Malay patients, many cosmopolitan practitioners continue to look at other medical systems with disdain. There has certainly been a constriction in the fields in which the ilmu of traditional healers in Brunei is utilized, as a result of the encroachment of Western medicine in Brunei Malays’ lives. Physical illnesses with sudden alarming symptoms, such as extreme pain, loss of consciousness, and extensive bleeding (critical incapacitating dysfunctions), are increasingly being referred directly to hospitals. Besides, the effectiveness of commercial pharmaceuticals, especially for symptomatic relief, as well as the status associated with western pills and injections, translates into the waning attraction, especially among young people, of the jungle- derived remedies so long employed by their elders. In addition to the pressure exerted by the representatives of official Western medicine on the practice of traditional healing in Brunei, Islamic reformism is also strongly emphasizing the importance of biomedicine as a source of health care. Modernist reformers welcome the biomedical model with its rational explanation of sickness and health, which is not seen as opposing the sine qua non of healing, i.e. supplication to God, as much as they try to suppress indigenous, especially magical healing practices (Yusuf Muslim Eneborg 2014, p. 426). In Brunei, imams claim that the act of objecting to physical medications is against Islamic teachings. The use of biomedicine, which is perceived as complementary to, rather than competing with Islamic healing, is in line with the Quranic injunction to honor one’s body through keeping it healthy by any means not contradicting Islam. Imams urge Muslims to steer clear of “the deviant activities of bomoh, who would sometimes brush aside modern medical treatment”, and to seek proper treatment from doctors and recite more prayers (Borneo Bulletin, 4 October 2014).

However, despite the many achievements of Western medicine, a significant number of Brunei Malays, including Brunei’s religious leaders, emphasize its limitations. This thesis shows that practitioners of traditional medicine, despite the decline of certain aspects of their practice, are still in demand, especially for chronic non-incapacitating dysfunctions, or for illnesses diagnosed as caused by supernatural agents, particularly psychological disorders. As Landy (1974, p. 107) notes, since there is a wide range of chronic non-incapacitating dysfunctions for which Western medicine can prescribe no specific treatment, it seems probable that indigenous medicine will continue to “thrive” in a structure complementary to biomedicine. All informants, as well as local religious 246 leaders, acknowledge the limitations of biomedicine in the treatment of mental illnesses, and agree that biomedical practices and medications are ineffective against illnesses that are thought to be due to a malign spirit or evil magic. Furthermore, a number of patients suffering from illnesses thought to be naturally caused tend to seek the assistance of a traditional healer concurrently with a Western doctor. This study contributes to understanding the reasons for the persistence of traditional medicine in a wealthy country where, unlike so many other Southeast Asian countries, economic reasons and lack of access to Western medical facilities cannot be invoked to explain the persistence of traditional medicine. There are multiple factors, besides the perceived etiology of illness, as discussed in the sixth chapter, which might account for the persistent dual use of Western and traditional medicines among some Brunei Malays.

This thesis contributes to the theoretical debate about the validity of the biomedical model in non-Western societies. It shows that Brunei Malay traditional medicine does not conceptualize states of illness and health uniquely in “bodily” terms. As many medical anthropologists have pointed out, a dichotomization between mind and body is misleading, as, from the perspective of traditional medicine, these are inextricably related and jointly determinative of well-being. From the perspective of Brunei Malay medicine, maintaining a state of salamat (“welfare”) is contingent upon the close and harmonious association of the visible and invisible in each individual. Invisible dimensions of the self, such as the semangat (vital inner strength) and the emotional state of individuals, are as pre-eminent in Brunei Malay illness etiologies as the body (badan), the visible, tangible part of each individual. Bodily symptoms are but one factor that some people consider in reckoning their illness explanations and need to be reviewed in relation to such aspects as dreams, emotions, diminished vital energy (lamah semangat), breaches of prohibitions (pantang), disturbances in interpersonal relations, and relations with the spirit world. Thus, the experience of illness does not constitute some isolated cultural domain, but is firmly embedded in the social relations that extend well beyond the medical. A biomedical diagnosis based solely on consideration of bodily symptoms, as noted by Nichter (1989, p. 84), fails to account for the way in which illness symptoms “as signs of misfortune and vulnerability” bear relation to other “overlapping domains of one’s lifeworld”, and is likely to appear inadequate to those people who still subscribe to Brunei Malay traditional illness concepts. Brunei Malays are conditioned to avoid total reliance on any single therapeutic approach and find it difficult to accept the idea of single causality in health and illness, which is so much part of the Western biomedical view. 247

Because the different Brunei Malay traditional theories of illness causation are rarely mutually exclusive, various methods of illness prevention and treatment employed by traditional healers (amulets, medicinal plants, incantations requesting the help of supernatural beings or the departure of evil spirits, holy water, blood cupping, massage, and gilir) or by Western doctors (pills and injections) are all perceived as equally appropriate treatments, for they effectively deal with different links on the causal chain of sickness.

While Brunei Malays have been relatively receptive to many of the material and some of the conceptual features of cosmopolitan medicine, some patients still fear surgery, which is often synonymous with unnecessary amputation, and hospitalization, as the hospital is seen as a place where people are brought to die, socially isolated and treated without human warmth. A common reason for resorting to traditional healers among certain Brunei Malays is dissatisfaction with the Western health care services within which many people experience impersonal and uncaring treatment, inequality, disrespect, and cultural misunderstanding, which corroborates many medical anthropologists’ observations in other parts of the world. While Western doctors look at symptoms as subjective, which have to be tested and validated through a battery of “objective” diagnostic tests, folk healers respond to patients’ descriptions of their symptoms. Thus, they offer a diagnosis that is entirely intelligible to patients and is congruous with their belief system, unlike Western physicians, who often communicate alien concepts to Malay patients.

Besides, orang pandai encourage patients to take an active role in their own healing through, for instance, the performance of daily prayers and drinking water upon which prayers have been recited, as part of post-treatment, so as to protect themselves against malicious spirits, while the Western medical system often demands a much more passive role from patients. Traditional medicine, in contrast to Western medicine, recognizes the right of people to establish “pragmatically” their own personal therapeutic rules by tolerating individual violations of prescribed regimens and encouraging patients to continually take new measures to reverse the deteriorating trend in their fortune. “Medical nemesis”, which, as explained in Chapter 6, refers to the denial by cosmopolitan practitioners of the right of patients to cope in an autonomous way with the fragility of life - pain, sickness and death - is a source of a new form of un-health, as Illich (1974, p. 920) argues.

Some Brunei Malays feel that Western medicine merely deals with the palliation of the manifestations of an illness, while traditional medicine not only treats the manifestations 248 of the illness, but can also explain and remove the real underlying cause. The impersonal idiom of Western medicine defines the patients’ condition in terms over which they have inadequate control, while many non-Western systems render apparently chaotic symptoms manageable and comprehensible (Comaroff 1978, p. 251). One of the important differences between Non-western and Western medical systems regards the search for symptoms outside the human body that may indicate possible causes of the illness. While Western medical civilization has fostered the novel cultural ideal that sickness and death come to all equally from natural causes, says Illich (1974, p. 920), in pre-industrial societies, sickness and death are often conceived as the result of the intervention of a supernatural agent. If an illness fails to respond to successive therapies that aim to alter purely physiological symptoms, there is generally suspicion that the sufferer’s problems are due to the attacks of spirits, sent by an ill-wisher or acting on their own initiative, and that its cure must be found in a larger cosmological or social perspective. The longer an ailment persists, the higher the probability that people will reinterpret the illness and attribute it to an “invisible” cause, and thus make an orang pandai the most appropriate healer to consult.

The faith patients have in the curative power of the practitioners, which is now recognized as a determinant factor in the healing process, is another factor which might contribute to the persistent popularity of traditional healers among some Brunei Malays. The belief that orang pandai can communicate with Allah and other supernatural beings, through the recitation of incantations, and can manipulate the power of these mystical beings for their healing purposes boosts the patients’ confidence, which probably increases the therapeutic efficacy of the treatment. Westerners’ faith in the scientific knowledge of biomedical doctors may have a similar placebo effect. Incantations and the application of holy water are a central feature of Brunei Malay traditional healing. As noted by Golomb (1985, p. 148), this supplementary spiritual protection is not unlike prayer among religious Westerners, except that it is usually perceived as an integral part of the therapy itself, rather than a distinct spiritual enterprise.

Some Brunei Malays also resort to folk healers to address delicate personal concerns, such as sexual or gynecological disorders, problems in love and marriage, or difficult interpersonal relations, which Western medical personnel neglect. Some orang pandai offer a variety of nontherapeutic magical services, such as love magic (to increase their clients’ seduction power) and the provision of protective amulets or holy water to those who fear spirit aggression, or aggression by rivals through black magic. Folk healers also 249 concentrate on the treatment of patients who suffer from psychosomatic disorders and are classified by Western physicians as “neurotics” or “hypochondriacs”. Traditional healers provide these patients with extended psychotherapeutic conversation in which patients are permitted to voice their frustrations and emotions.

Besides, folk healers, who are considered by a number of Brunei Malays as keepers of hidden knowledge that can cure spirit possession and, thus, psychological illnesses, can better respond to the needs of “hysterical” patients wishing to communicate their psychosocial problems through possession behavior than Western doctors. The Malay belief that mental illness has its root in spirit possession is the outcome of complex socialization processes. Golomb (1985, p. 110) argues that Malay acceptance of magical- animistic explanations is probably as rational as the Western layman’s acceptance of the psychoanalytic theory that assumes that “aberrant behavior emanates from another level of consciousness”. Malay patients, whose perspectives regarding mental disorders differ from that of Western therapists, do not benefit from conventional Western psychotherapeutic methods and are therefore likely to be simply treated with drug therapy. Ong (1988) argues that the reinterpretation of spirit possession in biomedical terms in the Malay context and the use of cosmopolitan medical concepts and drugs would have an anesthetizing effect that would erase the authentic experiences of the sick and would thus be prejudicial to the patients (Ong 1988, pp. 39-40). The cases of spontaneous possession behavior, often labelled “hysterical” behavior, that recurrently affect Brunei Malay schoolgirls constitute a culturally sanctioned cathartic outlet in a very disciplined environment where young women cannot openly articulate their dissent. Through spontaneous possession behavior, Malay schoolgirls can express their distress and dissent during exorcistic rituals, without being held responsible for their transgressions or being branded as insane, as their aberrant behavior is believed to come from the invading jinn. These repeated episodes of “mass hysteria” can be interpreted as an embodiment of the conflict between Brunei Malay traditional values and the Western values which are increasingly diffused through social media and continue to undermine and transform local culture and social relations.

As long as people do not share the biomedical worldview, and “explicitly pursue more than one interest when seeking health”, they are unlikely to make exclusive use of biomedicine, and traditional healers will continue to thrive, as Hepburn (1988, p. 68) claims.

250

INTENSIFYING CONFLICTS BETWEEN RELIGION AND BRUNEI MALAY TRADITIONAL HEALING BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

Reinterpretation of many elements of Brunei Malay traditional healing in Islamic terms.

As mentioned in the third chapter, despite relentless attempts by modernist Islam to “purify” religious beliefs, the cosmology of a number of Brunei Malays is an amalgam of animistic, Indic and Islamic elements, which are the basis for their interpretation of sickness. Since the coming of Islam to Brunei, many aspects of the indigenous beliefs have been reinterpreted in terms of popular Islamic beliefs, which makes it very difficult to separate animistic and Indic beliefs from Islamic ones in the daily life of the average Bruneian Malay. First, Brunei Malays tend to apply Islamic labels to animistic concepts and designate non-Islamic local entities, such as the orang bunian, orang halus, orang kebenaran, gimbaran, pengasuh, orang jagau and antu as jinn, an Arabic word borrowed from Islamic demonology. The mention of jinn in the Quran as a creation of God reinforces the notion that spirits exist and can harm human beings. Besides, the animistic and animatistic concept of semangat (the Vital principle), which is believed to be present in diffuse form throughout the universe, but also fixed and contained within every individual human being, animal, vegetable or mineral, has continued to find a place in the belief system of the Malays despite the introduction of the concepts of roh (the Arabic word for “soul”) by the Muslims, and nyawa (meaning “life” in Malay) by the Hindus, which are often used interchangeably and sometimes confused with semangat. The idea of semangat seems to have fused with the Islamic concept of roh to the extent that, for many Brunei Malays, semangat and roh are synonymous. However, the most religious people now rarely use the term semangat to talk about the human soul; it is the roh, and not the semangat, that goes to hell or heaven after death. Nevertheless, it is the semangat, not the roh, which is acted upon by evil spirits, which have no power over a person unless his or her semangat is weak (lamah semangat) or absent (ilang semangat).

To satisfy the demands of Islamic teachings, Malay folk healers have included Quranic verses and other Islamic references in their incantations. Incantations can be blown directly onto patients, whispered into water, or blown onto an object, and, thus substantialized, applied to bodies or ingested, to wash away illness-causing forces. Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 44) notes that, in Brunei, traditional healers’ practices typically mix Quranic verses with jampi, but they now appear to “lean heavily towards Islamic rather than animistic and Indic elements”, through their frequent use of Quranic 251 surah rather than jampi, which was more commonly used in the past. However, since the words that healers recite to themselves, beyond an initial Bismillahir… (“In the Name of Allah…”), are usually barely audible, the exact content of their incantations remains mysterious, and it is very likely that those informants who have inherited their knowledge from their parents continue mixing Quranic verses with other words, as their ancestors did in the past, before the Brunei Ministry of Religious Affairs decreed a ban on many traditional healing practices. Some of the non-ustaz healers I interviewed use interchangeably the terms jampi, tawari, and baca-baca to refer to the incantations they use to cure illnesses, while they insist that they only use Quranic verses as a healing method, with different verses being used depending on the type of illness. They do not seem to make the distinction between those terms, although jampi and baca-baca are magical incantations which involve mixing Quranic verses with other words, and asking help from supernatural beings other than God. Even though tawari is claimed by all informants to strictly involve blowing Quranic verses onto water or oil, tawari is not recognized by Bruneian religious officials as a legitimate healing method. The variety of terminologies is symptomatic of the confusion that still reigns in the minds of some Brunei Malay traditional healers and their patients regarding the distinction between what is accepted or condemned by the Muslim orthodoxy.

Many elements of Brunei Malay traditional healing have been transformed and combined with elements of Muslim civilization to satisfy the demands of Islamic teachings. However, these attempts to give an Islamic coloring to certain aspects of Brunei Malay traditional medicine do not always satisfy the ideals of the Islamic code. The interchangeable use of the terms roh and semangat, jampi, tawari and baca-baca, as well as the use of the term jinn to designate all spirits, clearly indicates that the demarcation line dividing folk beliefs and religion is still blurred for some Brunei Malays. The reinterpretation of Islamic elements in terms of the patterns of indigenous beliefs does not meet the approval of those who uphold the rigidity of Islamic tenets. Similarly, many elements of traditional healing that originated in Sufism and certain notions of popular Muslim magic introduced to the Malay world concomitantly with the spread of Islam itself, such as the wearing of amulets, are often perceived as part of the Muslim tradition sanctioned by religion, although they are regarded with contempt by the Islamic orthodoxy and classified as the “folk conception of Islam” or “popular Islam”. Ideally, the religious leaders would like to see the abandonment of these folk beliefs, but in practice there has been a large measure of tolerance towards these “non-orthodox” beliefs 252 and practices which, for a long time, have answered people’s everyday fears and difficulties, especially in terms of their health and general welfare.

Brunei’s increasing Islamization and Arabicization: As mentioned in the second chapter, although Brunei has been ruled by a Muslim Sultan for at least six hundred years, the authority of the Islamic monarchy beyond the immediate environment of the capital was more symbolic than real, and orthodox versions of Islam only began extending beyond the core Brunei-Muara district in modern times (Schottmann 2006, p. 127). Since the mid-twentieth century, the Islamic elite at the center of the sultanate has started to move its attention to the religious practices of the periphery. The leaders of modern Brunei agree that Islam is crucially important to the future development and modernization of the country. The Constitution of 1959, as ratified by Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III (r. 1950-1967), the father of modern Brunei, institutionalized Malay as the official language, Islam as the official religion, and the Sultan as the official head of State (Wellen 2006, p. 229). At the time of independence in 1984, with the current monarch, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah (r. 1967-present), this triad of culture, religion, and politics was formally declared the “national philosophy” of Malay Islamic Monarchy (Melayu Islam Beraja, MIB). MIB literature portrays religion as the paramount component of Malay values, more important than adat and tradition. Although originally foreign, Islam has become an authentic pillar of Malay culture. With the launching of the national philosophy of MIB in 1984, the prospect of equality of status for anyone who would embrace Malay culture and identity by converting to Islam has speeded up the process of conversion to Islam of various communities of Brunei Darussalam (King 1994, pp. 178-179).

Since independence there has been a consistent effort to Islamize Brunei. The establishment in January 1985 by the Brunei government of the Islamic Da’wah Centre is just one element of this effort. The principal stated purposes of the Islamic Da’wah Centre are to undertake Islamic studies, interpret Muslim scriptures according to orthodox criteria, and censor printed materials so as to ensure that they do not contradict orthodox Islamic beliefs and teachings. Darussyifa Warrafahah (the Islamic Medicine and Welfare Association), which has been operating since 2008, besides providing Islamic medical services, aims to “educate people on the negative aspects of mysticism, such as sorcery, to help them avoid getting involved in any element that is not in line with the religion” (Darussyifa Warrafahah’s deputy head of training and development, Hj. Rosli Hj. Batang, cited in The Brunei Times, 6 July 2015). It aims at “making the 253 country as a zikir nation, by guiding the members of the association to actively practice the recitation of verses of the Quran” (Hj. Rosli Hj. Batang, cited in The Brunei Times, 6 July 2015). The Brunei government also pays great heed to the Islamic religion by building grand mosques, establishing religious schools and colleges, and even sponsoring pilgrims to Mecca. Financial institutions run along Islamic lines have also been introduced since the early 1990s, culminating in the establishment of the first Islamic bank in 1994. The commitment of the Sultan to bring existing laws in line with the teachings of Islam was also demonstrated in 1990 by the ban in the State on the sale of alcohol and the keeping of pigs (Naimah Talib 2002, p. 143). Furthermore, MIB and Islamic Religious Knowledge (IRK) have become core compulsory subjects at both the primary and secondary school levels for all pupils, irrespective of whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims (Loo 2009, p. 153).

The reasons for the intensification of Islamic themes in modern Brunei are unclear, but may represent “a search for a more uniform guiding philosophy of life, as well as a code of ethical and moral behavior, in an increasingly uncertain modern world”, as Maxwell (1991, p. 390) proclaims. By launching MIB, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah created a “unifying ideology which would bolster his power, blunt the appeal of those calling for a stricter observance of Islam, and develop a sense of purpose in the young” (Saunders 1994, p. 187). Schottman (2006, p. 132) argues that the prime rationale behind this Islamization is the “unswerving political obedience commanded by orthodox Sunni Islam”. Conservative interpretations of Islam and Islamic political theory render any principles for the organization of the State which do not conform to the Islamic scholars’ worldviews as haram. Besides, Brunei, like other Islamic modernizing monarchies, mindful of the potential threat of Islamic extremism, has constantly had recourse to Islamic themes in a period of “rising religious enthusiasm”, with the aim of reducing the effectiveness of militant Islamic opposition (Voll 1994, cited in Naimah Talib 2002, p. 243). When the sultanate obtained its full independence in 1984 - five years after the Islamic revolution of Iran – “pro-Islamist sentiment was riding a major wave of sympathy throughout Southeast Asia” (Schottman 2006, p. 119). In the wake of this global religious revivalism and as the stabilizing effects of individual piety became appreciated by the leadership, organizational matrices from states beyond the region had to be imported to respond to the increased piety and “Syariah mindedness” of many Bruneians. With the restoration of sovereignty in 1984, Brunei began “slowly moving away from a reliance on traditional legitimacy alone and groping toward a new model, that of a modern, 254 moderate Islamic monarchy similar to Oman, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait” (Menon 1989, p. 140).

The impact of Islam in the Malay world was not simply a veneer, a “thin and easily flaking glaze” according to Leur (1955, p. 169), over the structure of the Malay society, and one must not underestimate the degree to which local societies in the Malay world have been transformed by Islamic ideas and practices. Undoubtedly, the coming of Islam into the Malay world has transformed many aspects of the pre-Islamic cultural practices and beliefs of the people and imbued it with an Islamic world view; but “the layering and the bundling process” between the previous non-Islamic beliefs and practices and the Islamic one for centuries had somewhat “de-radicalized the general practice of Islam in the Malay world”, giving it characteristics quite different to those found in the Middle East (Shamsul 2005, p. 171). There was, for a long time, a large measure of tolerance for the practices which did not strictly comply with the Islamic ideals. With the recent Arabicization and radicalization of Bruneian Islam, which has allowed the Bruneian elite to remain “a step ahead of potential Islamist critics” (Schottman 2006, p. 129), conflicts between local beliefs and religion have intensified. Since independence and the development of the national ideology MIB, syncretic ideas and practices have been increasingly anathemized by Islamic reformers, who are trying to eradicate all local beliefs and ritual performances considered inconsistent with the “purity” of scripturalist Islam. The recent “Arabicization” of Bruneian Islam implies the rejection of many aspects of Malay custom and traditional healing. The pronounced ban on all the local practices relating to “idolatry”, “polytheism”, and trafficking with spirits, and the concomitant demand to firmly establish the “proper” forms of Islamic worship and prayer clearly indicate that there has been a shift towards a less compromising view of Islam, and the Islamic elite is no longer willing to tolerate any “pagan” forms of belief.

Perceptions of Brunei Malay traditional healing practices by Islamic reformists. With the acceleration of Islamization and Arabicization in Brunei, many traditional healing concepts and practices have been labelled as superstitious or heretical by the religious authorities. Yet, no matter how much the state-backed reformist movement argues against them, “many of the ancient animistic and Indic elements still persist as part of the Brunei Malay worldview”, according to Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 2). Associate Professor at Seri Begawan Religious Teachers University College (KUPU SB), Dr Mohd Fauzi Hamat declares that “the persistence of heretical practices, such as the access to the realm of jinn said to be able to ‘heal’ people, the use of amulets, spells 255 and curses using black magic, which go against the lessons taught based on the Quran and Sunnah and are forbidden by Islam, has prompted the authorities to provide certain guidelines to curb and regulate the prevalence of heretical teachings in the country” (The Brunei Times, 18 August 2014). Traditional healers, who are perceived as “spiritual cornerstones of animist belief systems”, represent the most obvious “impediment to the hegemonic intent of religious zealots”, and are thus dealt with mercilessly (Voeks & Leony 2004, p. 296).

The tension between those who promote a puristic Islam devoid of pre-Islamic ideas and practices and those, “the majority”, claims Khairunnisa Yakub (2009, p. 18), who still “cling” to elements of the ancient syncretistic religious tradition of the country is demonstrated by the fact that healers are now, due to the reformist movement, split into two opposing categories: ustaz and non-ustaz. As explained in chapter 5, ustaz healers, the orthodox Muslim healers who have acquired their religious knowledge through State- provided centers of Islamic teaching, have been charged by the State’s Ministry of Religious Affairs with preventing the spread of superstitious beliefs and making sure that the activities of non-ustaz healers do not contradict State-designated Islamic norms. Non- ustaz healers are considered as “non-orthodox healers”, increasingly referred to as bomoh, whose practices are portrayed as contravening orthodox Islamic teachings: “Islam does not prohibit any form of medical treatment, provided that it does not conflict with Islamic faith, law and morals; it only condemns getting involved in dubious acts of treatment performed by bomoh that go against Islam and lead to deviation in aqidah [faith]” (Ustaz Dr Zaky, cited in The Brunei Times, 7 May 2009). Bomoh are associated with the use of morally suspect forms of magical power and the practice of black magic (sihir), and depicted as charlatans, whose primary goals are the acquisition of wealth and social status. Given the newly negative connotations of the term bomoh, non-ustaz healers have renounced this term, and prefer to be called orang pandai, a term which implies that “the practitioner depends largely on Islamic ideas for his curing ministrations” (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 45). As in Indonesia, where a similar distinction is made between orang tua and dukun, bomoh are described as shamans who “cultivate contacts with an underworld of black-magical forces”, while orang pandai are perceived as respected “father-like figures”, who are said to act as channels for God and whose prayers are directly sent to Allah (Mulder 2005, p. 55). Pious Muslims informants do not deny the possibilities of dukun/bomoh powers, but insist that they personally only believe in God and Islam and only ever sought the help of orang pandai. This insistence 256 suggests either an underlying fear of publicly revealing beliefs that may contradict Islam or a righteous assertion of their faith and piety in opposition to such beliefs, as a result of the current strong influence of the Islamic reformist movement in Brunei. This new terminology, which clearly demonstrates “the power of Islamic purism in this country”, has permitted non-ustaz healers to be at least tolerated by the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 45). Despite the name change in response to the reformist Muslim diatribes against them, bomoh-like healers remain practitioners of choice among a number of moderate Muslims.

Orang pandai resort to numerous medicinal plants to improve women’s reproductive activities and to treat a whole range of illnesses, both usual and unusual. Most of them recite prayers to God (doa), or utter special incantations (jampi), to make the herbal cure more powerful and speed up the recovery process. Some plants (marungai and bidara, for example) are even believed to be intrinsically endowed with the power of chasing away evil spirits. This use of medicinal plants for their magical power, rather than for their pharmacological properties has recently been declared heretical by the religious leaders in Brunei.

The practice of wearing amulets (tangkal) as a protection against evil spirits and black magic, as noted in the third chapter, is rooted in the animistic concept that certain objects are copiously endowed with Semangat (vital principle) and can be worn as talismans to strengthen, both physically and spiritually, the person who wears them. The employment of Quranic verses written on paper or cloth and worn as potent amulets against malevolent spirits appears to be an attempt to provide an Islamic re-interpretation to an originally animistic practice, and the wearing of all amulets has recently been condemned by the religious authorities. Imams say that “the wearing of talismans, lucky charms, daggers (keris), machetes (parang) and stone rings that are believed to hold powers to get rid of adversity or even rid one of illnesses are considered as syirik” (Borneo Bulletin, 4 October 2014). Interestingly, guris, which consists in scattering salt and pepper around the house to “burn” malicious spirits while Quranic verses are recited to create an invisible fence against spirit attacks, a practice that is “clearly a manifestation of the ancient animistic heritage of the Brunei Malay people” (Khairunnisa Yakub 2009, p. 42), is still commonly, even overtly, practiced in Brunei today, especially in government schools that are believed to be haunted by spirits.

Like the Sufis of the fifteenth-century who used repetitive Arabic prayers (dhikr), retreats in caves and meditation to get themselves nearer to God and absorb Allah’s healing light 257

(Nourse 2013, p. 410), some contemporary traditional healers in Brunei also try to augment their potency through zikir, asceticism, meditation, and retreat to acquire spiritual knowledge (ilmu batin). Despite repeated allegations by the orthodoxy in the Malay world that traditional healers’ practices are more closely related to animistic and Indic ideas and practices than to Islam, some elements of the traditional Brunei Malay theories of health, illness and curing are partly based on “Sufi Muslim notions of personhood, cosmology, knowledge and magical power”, which, as noted by Woodward (1985, p. 1007), writing about Javanese traditional medicine, “derive ultimately from Middle Eastern Muslim scriptural traditions”. The religious authorities in Brunei only condemn the animistic and Indic elements of the different preventative measures and healing methods commonly employed by orang pandai, and do not object to some of the practices reminiscent of ancient Sufi mystical healing methods, such as zikir or asceticism.

Brunei Malays are encouraged to use bekam (blood-cupping), as it was supposedly practiced and highly recommended by Prophet Muhammad hundreds of years ago. Blood-cupping is an Islamic way of treating a patient which involves healing by extracting “dirty” blood from the body while Quranic verses are recited (rukiyah) (The Brunei Times, 3 December 2011). This technique is performed by both ustaz and non- ustaz healers to help unclog blood vessels and improve blood circulation mainly to treat chronic diseases.

Urut Melayu is mainly used to optimize blood flow and to relieve patients of angin (wind), which helps to improve many chronic conditions. Urut Melayu is also commonly used in postpartum care and combined with the consumption of jamu to treat fertility problems in both men and women. Some healers maintain that massage, used in combination with other therapeutic practices (such as gilir, the ingestion of special medicinal plant decoctions, and incantations), can cure “unusual” illnesses as well, as it can help expel angin (in the sense of intruding spirit) from the body of the patient. The religious authorities in Brunei only object to urut when it is combined with the recitation of mystical incantations that mix Quranic verses and other words requesting the help of supernatural beings, or with the use of medicinal plants believed to have magical powers.

Although traditional midwives (bidan kampong) have diminished in numbers and are restricted in their practices, as a result of the enforcement of the Midwives’ Acts between the 1930s and 1956 in Brunei, their practices continue to be carried out in silence, especially during pre-conception, and the antenatal and postnatal periods. During the 258 antenatal period, they promote women’s health throughout pregnancy, by giving them herbal treatments and by reciting incantations to protect them from spirit attack. Throughout the forty-four-day postpartum period following delivery, urut Melayu is commonly carried out in combination with a variety of other treatments, including bertajul, bertangas, bertungku, and berbengkung, as well as the consumption of “hot” foods and “hot” herbal medicines (jamu and marjum) to restore women’s strength and beauty. Traditional midwives also provide home remedies and therapeutic practices that promote fertility, increase libido during menopause, alleviate premenstrual ailments, and increase sexual satisfaction. Their practices in pre- and post-partum care are generally not opposed by the religious authorities in Brunei and persist because Western medicine offers no comparable treatments which are geared to women’s reproductive activities in quite the same way. Bidan kampong employ a range of therapeutic techniques, such as ingenious manipulations of the foetal position to facilitate birth, or the use of locally available herbal medicines, which empower them in ways that might not be available to their Western counterparts. However, their knowledge of the spirit world and use of ritual techniques render them subaltern to the agents of “modernity”, and sometimes suspect from the perspective of the Muslim orthodoxy in Brunei.

Since an integral element of Malay midwifery is protection from and mastery over mystical forces in nature and evil spirits harbored by witches, a midwife is also an exorcist with skills rather similar to the Malay bomoh, except that her range of knowledge of witchcraft is limited to diagnostic and curative rituals of spirit possession in infants and children, young unmarried women and pregnant mothers (Wazir-Jahan Karim 1984, p. 159).

Because the Bruneian Ministry of Health is aware of the inability of Western medicine to respond to the psychological needs of local women during the pre- and post-partum periods, it has established a unit of religious officials from the Ministry of Religious Affairs to provide the spiritual support which was commonly provided in the past by bomoh and bidan kampong. Besides, hospital midwives now follow a fifteen-hour course in “Islamic Midwifery”, which consists in learning specific prayers for parturient women (Hajah Jainah Haji Musa 2009, p. 317). These measures have recently been taken to deter women from turning to bomoh and their “heretical” practices, and encourage them to resort instead to proper Islamic medical treatment.

Exorcistic rituals, such as menurun, a shamanistic healing ceremony where spirits are called for help and possess the traditional healer, who then acts as the vehicle for the 259 different spirits, have long been declared illegal and are no longer practiced in Brunei, although trance sessions were reportedly common in the past. In the modern, Islamic version of exorcism, neither the exorcist nor the patient achieves trance, and the patient’s deviant behavior is believed to result from the intrusion of an external agent. Exorcism sessions are nowadays mainly conducted by ustaz accredited by the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Many non-ustaz traditional healers, as mentioned in the fifth chapter, claim that they are also able to exorcise noxious spirits. These healers usually draw on a mixture of Islamic and pre-Islamic sources of knowledge and power. These sessions, whether they are conducted by ustaz or non-ustaz healers, provide patients with the opportunity to express their feelings and desires, and vent their frustrations, through the voice of invading spirits, without being held accountable for their temporary loss of self-control.

The difference between accredited Orthodox Muslim healers (ustaz) and non-ustaz healers is that the former do not rely on magical powers or spirits, but on their ability to communicate directly with Allah and to intercede with him on the behalf of patients; they supplicate God for assistance and recite only sections from the Quran over patients. All traditional healing methods that mix Quranic verses with other words (jampi) or are believed to resort to the help of spirits are characterized as superstitious or polytheistic. “No treatment should be derived from something that is haram (forbidden), and can lead to people believing in khurafat (superstition) or committing syirik (associating Allah SWT with anything as an equal)” (The Brunei Times, 16 March 2014). Consequently, today, many non-ustaz healers emphasize the Islamic opinion that only God has the power to heal, and that attempts by humans serve only as a means by which God may choose to or not to heal. However, even when these healers appear on the surface to be orthodox Muslim medical practitioners and make claims to religious legitimacy, because they only recite Quranic verses and use prayer and fasting to control passion and to establish contact with Allah, angels and saints, they combine their recitations with practices that are deeply rooted in pre-Islamic times, such as gilir, bertangas, bertawari, and use medicinal plants which are believed to have intrinsic supernatural powers against malevolent spirits. Their use of forest plants as medicines links them directly to the evil power of the jungle, which is believed to be inhabited by dangerous spirits, and makes their practice reprehensible in the eyes of Islamic reformists. Religious zealots argue that the occult powers of magical and medicinal plants are “thinly veiled manifestations of paganism” (Voeks 2007, p. 8). 260

Black magic (sorcery, sihir), as mentioned in the seventh chapter, is strictly condemned by the Bruneian religious authorities. Islam recognizes the existence of black magic, but forbids its practice, as it is regarded as the work of evil creatures and is incompatible with the belief in the oneness of Allah. An encounter with any institutionalized religion with “exclusive claims and moral authority”, as Ellen (1993) notes, would seem to “force sorcery beliefs into the inferior and adversarial complement of a dualistic moral order”. Thus, the spirits with which sorcerers engage are characterized as followers of Satan, and sorcery as the work of the Devil. Sorcerers, argues Ellen (1993, p. 16), represent a threat to the authority of a leadership dependent on orthodoxy and control of belief, as they are “autonomous and unpredictable experts in the supernatural”, and are opposed implacably.

The esoteric medicinal knowledge and magical power that are the source of the orang pandai’s healing skills are usually referred to as ilmu or ilmu batin. The term ilmu is sometimes used to refer to esoteric knowledge of a specifically Islamic nature, though it usually denotes syncretic knowledge, which has pre-Islamic (animist and Hindu- Buddhist) elements that fall outside the domains of agama (religion). This esoteric knowledge, as noted in the fifth chapter, can be acquired by inheriting it, often through a dream, from a family member after his/her death, and further enhanced through asceticism (bertarak). People who are not naturally endowed with an innate aptitude to be dukun/bomoh/orang pandai can also acquire spiritual knowledge (ilmu batin) with a guru and through ascetic practices that are reminiscent of the Sufi healers’ retreats in caves and practice of meditation and zikir to get themselves nearer to God and absorb Allah’s healing light. Ilmu was also commonly obtained in the past with the help of a spirit helper (gimbaran), but the practice of calling on a gimbaran seems to have largely declined in Brunei, as dealing with such spirits has been declared heretical.

While the acquisition of religious knowledge is incumbent on all Muslims, the study of magic is discouraged. The acquisition of knowledge (ilmu) and magical power is the source of both the dukun’s healing skills and “moral ambiguity” (Woodward 1985, p. 1010). Those who effectively manipulate supernatural forces in overcoming afflictions are perceived to command more generalized magical power and are often suspected of being powerful sorcerers. The type of ilmu used by dukun/bomoh to cure diseases of the spiritual body, the knowledge of evil, may bring one into contact with spiritual beings and sources of power that are dangerous and should be left alone (Woodward 1985, p. 1015; Geertz 1977, p. 147). With the passing of the current generation of orang pandai, 261 many forms of local knowledge and power (ilmu), obtained through dreams, trancing, or possession of a spirit-helper spirits, which are now strictly condemned by the religious authorities, might be lost forever. However, these forms of ilmu are being replaced by other forms of local healing knowledge, increasingly drawing on Islamic sources of knowledge and power.

A NEW FORM OF TRADITIONAL HEALING A “proper” form of traditional healing: In Brunei Darussalam, as in the rest of the Malay world, we observe a growing opposition to traditional healers by Islamic reformers who wish to replace the ceremonial performances acknowledging the presence of spiritual beings by “proper”, solely scriptural forms of Islamic prayer. Practitioners of this contemporary form of Islamic faith healing, the ustaz, are inclined towards a reformist understanding of Islam, that is, envisaging a return to the “fundamentals” of Islam – the Quran, and the authentic recorded sayings and traditions of the Prophet (hadith). This entails “a highly demanding interpretation of Islam that narrows the scope of acceptable religious practice”, deeming it otherwise as either syirik (polytheism) or ahl al-bida (unwelcomed innovation) (Yusuf Muslim Eneborg 2013, p. 1092). Brunei Muslims are encouraged to incorporate Islamic medicine in their efforts towards curing illnesses, as it can heal both the physical and spiritual illnesses, and because “it uses the words of the Quran and hadiths that do not conflict with the Syariah Law” (The Brunei Times, 16 March 2014). The recitation of selected surah (chapters in the Quran) is said to relieve certain medical conditions, such as anxiety, cancer and headaches. The lack of Islamic guidance and choices for curing “mystical illnesses” is believed to cause some members of the Muslim community to “turn to crooked shamans and black magic which conflicts with Islamic teachings” (Dr Mohd Adi Zaky, a counselling officer from the Civil Service Institute, cited in The Brunei Times, 3 August 2007). There is a growing demand for more professional Islamic medical practitioners in the Sultanate, according to the president of Darussyifa Warrafahah (the Islamic Medicine and Welfare Association), Dato Paduka Ahmad Bukhari PSRK Abu Hanifah. This association, which strongly encourages the recitation of Quranic verses and zikir as a healing method, “to ensure that the public will not be deceived by imposters who will make patients more ill” (The Brunei Times, 15 February 2010), is now planning to open up its very own hospital to specialize in Islamic medicines and treatments and to produce more qualified Islamic medical practitioners. 262

As “a susceptibly pure form of supplication to God” (Yusuf Muslim Eneborg 2013, p. 1092), recitation of the Quran, as both antidote and prophylactic, remains “immune to the stringent demands of a reformist attitude” and so, in turn, becomes the distinguishing feature of a proper healing system, as is illustrated by the declarations of Brunei’s religious leaders. Although some claim that “Quranic incantations for magical ends are, strictly speaking, inconsistent with the teachings of Islam” (Mohamed Taib Osman 1989, p.150), others maintain that the use of Quranic verses outside of formal Islamic rites, specifically within the context of healing, is so pervasive in the daily lives of Muslims that a strict dichotomization between religion and magic is misleading (Yusuf Muslim Eneborg 2014, p. 420). This point is supported by Bruinessen’s assertion (2009, p. 145) that “certain forms of magic – notably those using verses of the Quran for healing – were practiced not only by ‘popular’ magicians, but by orthodox ulama as well”.

A “rational and scientific” form of healing: Modernist Islamic reformers, in their attempts to distance themselves from the superstitious and/or polytheistic (syirik) aspects of Islamic healing, try to reconcile modern scientific and revealed knowledge, and resort to rational and scientific explanations for how the recitation of Quranic verses heals to justify the persistence of this healing practice. Thus, Brunei Muslim scholars maintain that “not only is there no conflict between science and religion but, in fact, religion can guide science by adding revelation to some of the traditional scientific approaches; there exist statements in the Quran shown centuries later to be valid, which support knowledge in the Quran having been derived from God” (The Brunei Times, 7 January 2011). Many Brunei Malays cite the work of the Japanese scientist, Masaru Emoto (2004), regarding the impact of recitations on the molecular structure of water to demonstrate the “scientificity” of the recitation of Quranic verses over water in healing. Thus, the new form of Islamic healing, with “a narrow prism of monotheism” and an inclination towards scientific explanations, claims “legitimacy from both the secular and the religious” (Yusuf Muslim Eneborg 2013, p. 1083). An Islamic healing practice flavored with a modern, rational and scientific idiom is naturally attractive to a generation of Muslims identifying themselves as modern and who share a worldview largely shaped by the cultural dominance of science. However, Western education of the younger generation of Brunei Malays, with its emphasis on “rationality”, does not seem to moderate belief in jinn, and the systematic invocation of jinn explanations for “psychological disturbance” and “unexplained physical symptoms” is not necessarily regarded as the “superstitious” and “non-Islamic” beliefs of the older and less educated generation. 263

Proponents of the contemporary form of Islamic faith healing, associated with reformism, may support a biomedical diagnosis of an illness and accept the need for psychiatric intervention, but if the illness does not respond to treatment, can propose a jinn explanation for the same illness, which then requires exorcism with recitation of Quranic verses as treatment (Yusuf Muslim Eneborg 2013, p. 1082). The Brunei religious authorities recognize the existence of demonic possession and acknowledge that some sickness cannot be cured by Western medicine. Thus, the State Mufti, Pehin Dato Dr Ustaz Hj. Abdul Aziz (cited in The Brunei Times, 16 February 2010), explains that “people who have been possessed by evil entities from the world of jinn are only treated by Western doctors with injections, sedatives or sleeping pills. Once the effects of the medication wear off, they relapse”. The State Mufti calls on Muslims to avoid turning to bomoh, “witchcraft” and “misguided practices” and to recite instead Quranic verses, hadith, and zikir, to combat such illnesses (The Brunei Times, 16 February 2010). Ustaz declare that Islamic medical treatment is better equipped to handle “mystical and supernatural illnesses”, such as hysteria, than Western medicine. However, they point out that “the objectives of Islamic medical treatment are not to compete with or criticize medical doctors, but rather to provide supportive counselling and day-to-day guidance as an integral part of submission to Allah, which cannot be practiced under existing models of medicine” (The Brunei Times, 3 August 2007). In January 2009, the State Mufti’s office publicly released a book entitled Berubat dengan Perubatan Bumi dan Perubatan Langit (“Treating sickness with scientific and spiritual medicine”) which claims that “not only can the verses of Al-Quran and zikrullah (constant contact with God) heal various strange illnesses which cannot be treated with modern medicine, but they can also give astonishing results in the treatment of usual illnesses when they are combined with the capabilities of modern treatments” (The Brunei Times, 9 January 2009).

Rationalization but not secularization: Islamic reformism, with its emphasis on the scriptures as the only authority of worship and belief, and the adoption of a scientific idiom to distance itself from the “superstitious” aspects of Islamic healing, has stimulated a process resonant with Weber’s notion of “rationalization” (Prager 2010, p. 22). However, the rationalizing tendencies of Islamic modernism should not be equated with “secularization”, since Islamic reform is aiming at the “delegitimation of old religious practices and the sacralization of others” (Hefner 1998, p. 156). Thus, the Islamic reformation does not lead to a Weberian “disenchantment” of the world, but to “a 264 distancing of spiritual agency from the tangible immediacy of the here and now, and its relocation to the domain of an all-powerful, but also more remote Allah” (Prager 2010, p. 22).

In attacking guardian spirits, belittling the spiritual efficacy of ancestors, and contesting the morality of magic, Muslim reformers have desacralized domains that previously fell under the spell of magic and spiritual technique, and relocated divinity to a higher or more abstract plane. In doing so, the reformers have enacted an ethic consistent with the Islamic emphasis on God’s absolute oneness (tauhid) (Hefner 1998, p. 156).

LIMITED SUCCESS OF THE STATE-SUPPORTED EFFORTS TO RATIONALIZE HEALING

The understanding suppliers and consumers of traditional Malay medicine have of what is approved by Islamic teachings and what belongs to the realm of folk beliefs has been significantly influenced in Brunei by the recent campaigns conducted by the State- backed reformist movement against “superstitious beliefs” (kepercayaan tahyul) and heretical practices (syirik) with the help of the Islamic Da’wah Centre and Darussyifa Warrafahah (the Islamic Medicine and Welfare Association). Religious instruction is provided by the State’s Ministry of Religious Affairs, through ceramah (“religious talks”) on television and on radio, in the various government departments, as well as the weekly publishing of Friday sermons in the local press. The compulsory study of IRK (Islamic Religious Knowledge) at school also contributes to redefining the boundaries between “magic” and religion. The official view is that, through education and law enforcement, people will become more receptive to the importance of orthodox Islam as part of their national identity. Ordinary Malays, as Prager (2010, p. 21) asserts, writing about Bima in Indonesia, do not usually challenge modernists regarding the heretical character of many aspects of traditional healing, as they believe that since Islam is a religion of the book, it would be inappropriate to question the religious authority of those who have committed their life to the interpretation of the scriptures. In Brunei, informants are variably placed in regard to adherence to the contemporary standards of orthodox religious belief and practice being enforced by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, which renders generalization difficult, if not misleading. Nevertheless, based on my observations and interviews, it can be reasonably claimed that a significant number of Brunei Malays continue to resort to certain traditional practices which have recently been 265 described as “inappropriate” or inconsistent with the “purity” of scripturalist Islam. The repeated denunciations by Bruneian religious officials in the local press of heretical beliefs and practices also attest to their persistence in the Sultanate.

The recent campaigns conducted in Brunei by the reformist movement against “superstitious” and “heretical” practices seem to have been successful in eradicating all traditional healing rituals involving trances, communication with spirits, and spirit possession (menurun), which imply ritual acknowledgement of beings other than Allah and amount to committing grave misconduct by violating the universal law of tawhid (God’s absolute oneness). The recourse to spirit helpers (gimbaran) and the recitation of jampi rather than doa are being gradually replaced by more “proper” and “rational” forms of healing. The recent development of Islamic medicine in Brunei, with the creation of Darussyifa Warrafahah (the Islamic Medicine and Welfare Association) in 2008 aims at responding to the demand of the public for a complementary healthcare system, as a result of the unanimously perceived limitations of Western medicine, especially in the domain of mental illness. Similarly, the establishment at RIPAS hospital by the Ministry of Health of a unit consisting of religious officials from the Ministry of Religious affairs to provide women during and after childbirth with spiritual support attests to the recognition by the Bruneian authorities of the insufficiencies of Western midwifery in regard to the psychological and social aspects of care. The Bruneian authorities hope that the provision of Islamic medical services will discourage Muslims from resorting to the services of traditional healers, which are depicted as conflicting with Islamic faith, law and morals. The new Islamic form of healing can respond to the recurrent cases of “hysteria”, and thus to the needs of those who wish to communicate their desires and frustrations through possession behavior, and other illnesses thought to be due to supernatural agency, without contravening orthodox Islamic teachings, by using the words of the Quran and hadith that do not conflict with the Syariah Law.

However, it appears clear both from the comments of my informants and from the statements in the local media that the process of eradication of many magical practices is far from being completed, in spite of the relentless efforts of the religious authorities to persuade the public against committing syirik. Many traditional healing practices and beliefs have not been abandoned and continue to exist in the realm of secrecy. The practice of wearing amulets as a protection against spirit attacks, for example, continues to be conducted in semi-secrecy in Brunei, although the practice has recently been declared superstitious and heretical (syirik) by the religious authorities. Similarly, 266 although the recitation of incantations while concocting herbal remedies in order to galvanize the components supernaturally and the belief that medicinal plants possess occult or magical powers have been depicted by the religious authorities as manifestations of paganism and declared an offence under Syariah law, some Brunei Malays still believe in the occult powers of certain medicinal plants. Some magical practices, although they are under increasingly heavy fire from Islamic reformists, continue to flourish because they have been responding to the daily difficulties of the Brunei Malays for centuries, and Islamic medicine cannot fulfill these needs in quite the same way.

In spite of their exposure to formal education and religious instruction, a number of Brunei Malays, even devout individuals, still place much credence in the practice of sorcery (sihir) and the power of magic. Skeat (1965, p. 83) argues that “what is generally regarded as witchcraft is merely the debris of the older ritual, condemned by the priests of the newer faith, but yet stubbornly, though secretly, persisting, through the unconquerable religious conservatism of the mass of the people”. However, this thesis shows that it is the pragmatism of people rather than their religious conservatism which explains the secret persistence of sorcery. The widespread fear of being the victim of black magic in Brunei today testifies to the prevalence of the tensions that exist in Malay society and culture and the belief that many people rely on ilmu to achieve what they are prevented by the formal rules of social interaction from accomplishing. As mentioned in the fourth chapter, in Malay society, where public expression of emotions and desires is frowned upon, magical operations may serve as “alternative, covert instruments of revenge” (Golomb 1985, p. 244). Thus, magical practices fulfill an important social function and will very likely be difficult to eradicate. The “growing complexity of modern social life” (Golomb 1985, p. 244; Landy 1974, p. 112), “the proliferation of individualistic behavior”, and various forms of socioeconomic inequality may even have prompted an increase in sorcery accusations Peletz (1993, p. 170).

In Brunei, illnesses due to black magic were traditionally cured by indigenous healers with the help of a gimbaran (spirit helper), which is now considered heretical. Without a gimbaran, traditional healers are reduced to offering protective amulets against sorcery and prescribing some herbal remedies to treat poisoning. They cannot counter the effects of certain forms of black magic, such as those that have been induced by the manipulation of body parts and personal possessions in contagious magic, or the manipulation of magical objects used as projectiles by sorcerers, or hidden in the ground of the victim’s 267 house or compound. Although I never met anyone who admitted to engaging in sorcery and possessing a gimbaran, it is very probable, given the extent of the phenomenon of sorcery in Brunei, that there are still, in the realms of secrecy, sorcerers who are capable of working and countering black magic. In fact, the recurrent condemnations of this practice in the local media demonstrate its persistence in the country. In 2011, for example, the Director of Syariah Affairs at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Ustaz Hj. Abdul Aziz, declared that many traditional healers still “solicit help from jinns and syaitan (Satan), or use possession by the spirit of a dead person as a means of treating patients, which is against the aqidah and is syirik” (The Brunei Times, 28 June 2011). Also, the Aqidah Control Section (under the Syariah Affairs Department) discovered, between September and November 2011, “several items of sorcery in the form of gifts for supernatural beings in several places across the Sultanate” (The Brunei Times, 11 February 2012). Religious practice is not typically involved in inducing or curing magic. The only defense the Bruneian religious authorities offer Muslims against sorcery is the performance of zikir and doa, such as reading Ayat Al-Kursi before sleeping, as a preventative measure against illnesses that stem from sihir (The Brunei Times, 16 March 2014). The only remedy they recommend for illnesses due to sorcery is to “treat the symptoms of the affliction, in the same way modern medicine treats the case” (The Brunei Times, 10 May 2007). Thus, traditional healers, and their decried knowledge of the spirit world, are the only practitioners to whom Brunei Malays can turn in order to address the real cause of their illness when they suspect it to be the result of the veiled aggression of rivals through various types of spirits which are controlled by human agency. Brunei Malay traditional healers are caught between religious doctrines denouncing the use of magical power and the lack of alternative means to cure illnesses stemming from sorcery.

Similarly, they are confronted with the dilemma that they must employ potentially heretical methods to respond to the social, personal and psychological problems of their patients. Some informants justify the practice of magic by claiming that magic which is based on the aid and power of Allah is acceptable, while magical power which involves the worship of gods other than Allah is syirik. From this perspective the question at issue is not the moral quality of ilmu, but the intentions of the person who employs it. Although modern reformists claim that any use of magical power, whatever the intention, is syirik and leads to damnation, some well-intentioned orang pandai still agree to cast spells to increase their clients’ luck, courage, or personal attractiveness with “love magic” 268

(pengasih), because they do not perceive these practices as harmful. Besides, love magic fulfills an important social function in Malay society by providing “a socially acceptable explanation for the visibility of premarital sex for women, in terms that do not destabilize dominant cultural ideals of female and male sexuality” (Bennett 2003, pp. 150-151). Just as spirit possession creates a space for the expression of dissent and frustration by powerless individuals without the risk of social exclusion, love magic creates a space for female resistance, as women who become the targets of love magic are understood to be unwitting “victims” who cannot be held culpable for aberrations in their behavior during their affliction (Bennett 2003, p. 140).

With the enunciation of a new discourse on Bruneian identity and the acceleration of Islamization in even more orthodox terms in Brunei over the last few decades, religious leaders, after centuries of tolerance towards the practices of traditional healers that did not conform to the ideals of the Islamic code, have objected to the practices of bomoh, now relabeled orang pandai in response, in increasingly strenuous terms. A growing number of Brunei Malay traditional healing practices, particularly the use of any form of magic or sorcery, have been cited as dangerous deviations from Islam by religious leaders who wish to promote a more Islamic form of healing. Some Brunei Malays, however, still seek services involving these practices, because they have been fulfilling for centuries the pragmatic and immediate needs of day-to-day living, such as the countering of illness thought to result from the aggression of enemies through sorcery or the resolution of personal problems, such as sexual disorders or love matters. Because the vast array of therapeutic and nontherapeutic magical services traditional healers offer respond to daily difficulties that cannot satisfactorily be solved by Western medicine or Islamic medicine, we can expect some of these practices to persist despite being increasingly vilified.

269

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Websites: Map of Brunei Darussalam: http://www.ezilon.com/maps/asia/brunei-physical-maps.html Aerial view of Bandar Seri Begawan: https://www.flickr.com/photos/brunei-photos/6266181214 Population of Brunei in 2014: http://countryeconomy.com/demography/population/brunei Exorcism sessions by official members of the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Brunei: http://youtu.be/Do9b-ZtFNRs and http://youtu.be/y5BP_rBK2rU Brunei Syariah Penal Code Order, 2013: https://www.bsplbd.com.bn/LBDDocuments/Syariah Law /Syariah_Penal_Code_Order_Summary_Final.pdf> 285

APPENDICES

Appendix I: Participants’ socio-economic background.

Healer 1: Damit

Age 64

Gender Male

Ethnic identity Kedayan

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education No schooling (illiterate) (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Retired. Worked in the army.

Usual place of residence Kg. Lumapas B

Main language spoken at home Kedayan and Brunei Malay (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Never newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Sometimes

How often do you use the Never internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia (Sarawak) of Brunei? If yes, where, how many times and for how long?

Healer 2: Hajah Mariam

Age 54

Gender (male/female) Female 286

Ethnic identity Malay (father Malay, mother Chinese and Dusun)

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education Primary school (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Runs a commercial health centre for women (Pusat kesihatan dan kecantikan)

Usual place of residence Kg. Bengkurong

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay and Tutong (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Often newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Often

How often do you use the Never internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia, Singapore, Dubai, Thailand and Hong of Brunei? If yes, where, how Kong. many times and for how long?

Healer 3: Hj. Jamhur

Age 74

Gender (male/female) Male

Ethnic identity Malay

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education No schooling (illiterate) (primary/secondary/tertiary) 287

Occupation Retired. Worked on a rubber plantation for 4 years and for the Department of Public Works (Jabatan Kerja Raya) for 48 years.

Usual place of residence Kg. Peliunan (Temburong)

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Never newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Rarely

How often do you use the Never internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Indonesia and Malaysia (Sarawak) of Brunei? If yes, where, how many times and for how long?

Healer 4: Hj. Mejin

Age 78

Gender (male/female) Male

Ethnic identity Kedayan

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education No schooling (illiterate) (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Retired. Worked for the Department of Public Works (Jabatan Kerja Raya)

Usual place of residence Kg. Senukoh (Temburong)

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay and Kedayan (Malay/English/Other)? 288

How often do you read a Never newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Sometimes

How often do you use the Never internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia (Sarawak and Sabah) of Brunei? If yes, where, how many times and for how long?

Healer 5: Hj. Nayan

Age 83

Gender (male/female) Male

Ethnic identity Kedayan

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education No schooling (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Retired. Worked for the Department of Public Works (Jabatan Kerja Raya) for 5 years, and Ketua Kampong (village headman) for 29 years.

Usual place of residence Kg. Kulapis

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay and Kedayan (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Daily (learnt to read with the help of his newspaper? Which one? children)

How often do you watch Astro? Often

How often do you use the Never internet? 289

Have you ever travelled outside Japan, Singapore and Malaysia (Sarawak, Kuala of Brunei? If yes, where, how Lumpur and Sabah) many times and for how long?

Healer 6: Hj. Majid

Age 76

Gender (male/female) Male

Ethnic identity Malay

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education Primary school (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Retired. Worked as an imam at the Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque in Bandar Seri Begawan and at the local Mosque.

Usual place of residence Kampung Menunggul (on Pulau Berambang)

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Often newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Sometimes

How often do you use the Never internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia of Brunei? If yes, where, how many times and for how long?

290

Healer 7: Hj. Norsan

Age 60

Gender (male/female) Male

Ethnic identity Malay

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education Secondary education (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Retired School teacher

Usual place of residence Kg. Wasan

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Daily newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Often

How often do you use the Never internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Singapore and Malaysia of Brunei? If yes, where, how many times and for how long?

Healer 8: Zukrina

Age 27

Gender (male/female) Male

Ethnic identity Malay

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam 291

Level of education Secondary education; recently completed a 100 (primary/secondary/tertiary) hour course at Darussyifa Warrafahah

Occupation Works at the Forestry Department

Usual place of residence Kg. Sungai Akar

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Daily newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Daily

How often do you use the Daily internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia and Singapore of Brunei? If yes, where, how many times and for how long?

Medicinal plant seller 1 (Tamu Kianggeh):

Age 78

Gender (male/female) Female

Ethnic identity Malay

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education No schooling (illiterate) (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Padian (in the past, padian ladies sold fish, fruits and vegetables in Kampong Ayer, travelling from one house to another by rowing their sampan (small boat).

Usual place of residence Kg. Saba (in Kampong Ayer) 292

Main language spoken at home Kg. Ayer Malay (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Never newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Rarely

How often do you use the Never internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia (Sarawak only) and Saudi Arabia (for of Brunei? If yes, where, how the hajj-Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca). many times and for how long?

Medicinal plant seller 2 (Tamu Kianggeh):

Age 80

Gender (male/female) Male

Ethnic identity Malay

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education Primary school (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Worked in an office at RIPAS hospital. Started working at Tamu Kianggeh thirty years ago.

Usual place of residence Kg. Sungai Besar

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Often newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Sometimes 293

How often do you use the Never internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia of Brunei? If yes, where, how many times and for how long?

Medicinal plant seller 3 (Tamu Kianggeh):

Age 47

Gender (male/female) Female

Ethnic identity Malay

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education Primary school (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Housewife

Usual place of residence Kg. Bengkurong

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Often newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Daily

How often do you use the Sometimes internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia of Brunei? If yes, where, how many times and for how long?

294

Medicinal plant seller 4 (Tamu Kianggeh):

Age 70

Gender (male/female) Female

Ethnic identity Malay

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education No schooling (illiterate) (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Housewife

Usual place of residence Kg. Limau Manis

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Never newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Sometimes

How often do you use the Never internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia (Sarawak only) of Brunei? If yes, where, how many times and for how long?

Medicinal plant seller 5 (Tamu Tutong):

Age 72

Gender (male/female) Male

Ethnic identity Murut

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam convert 295

Level of education Primary school (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Army retiree

Usual place of residence Limbang (Malaysia)

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay and a bit of Murut (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Daily newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Daily

How often do you use the Never internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia and Indonesia (Kalimantan) of Brunei? If yes, where, how many times and for how long?

Medicinal plant seller 6 (Tamu Kianggeh):

Age 51

Gender (male/female) Female

Ethnic identity Malay

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education Primary school (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Housewife

Usual place of residence Kg. Ayer

Main language spoken at home Kg. Ayer Malay (Malay/English/Other)? 296

How often do you read a Rarely newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Daily

How often do you use the Never internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia of Brunei? If yes, where, how many times and for how long?

Medicinal plant seller 7 (Tamu Kianggeh):

Age 42

Gender (male/female) Female

Ethnic identity Kelabit (born in Bario and married to a Chinese Bruneian)

Citizenship? Malaysian, Permanent resident in Brunei

Religion? Christian

Level of education Primary school (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Housewife

Usual place of residence Kg. Sengkurong

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Daily newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Daily

How often do you use the Sometimes internet? 297

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia of Brunei? If yes, where, how many times and for how long?

Chinese Healer: Robert

Age 59

Gender (male/female) Male

Ethnic identity Chinese

Citizenship? Stateless, Permanent Resident in Brunei

Religion? None

Level of education Secondary school (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Professional Chinese Healer

Usual place of residence Bandar Seri Begawan

Main language spoken at home Chinese (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Daily (Chinese newspaper) newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Only news on Brunei TV

How often do you use the Rarely internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong and of Brunei? If yes, where, how Taiwan. many times and for how long?

Indian Healer: Jagadesh

Age 76

Gender (male/female) Male 298

Ethnic identity Indian

Citizenship? Indian and Permanent Resident in Brunei

Religion? Hindu

Level of education University degree (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Retired Teacher at STPRI (Raja Isteri Girls High School)

Usual place of residence Seven months in Brunei and five months in India

Main language spoken at home English only (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Often newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Never

How often do you use the Often, especially to do research on nutrition internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Very often. of Brunei? If yes, where, how many times and for how long?

Patient 1: Hamid

Age 26

Gender (male/female) Male

Ethnic identity Malay

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education Tertiary education (ICT) (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Prime Minister Office Secretary 299

Usual place of residence Kg. Tanah Jambu

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay, some Kedayan and English (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Daily (Borneo Bulletin, Singapore Times, Media newspaper? Which one? Permata)

How often do you watch Astro? Daily, mainly documentaries

How often do you use the Daily, for work and for leisure internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia only of Brunei? If yes, where, how many times and for how long?

Patient 2:

Age 51

Gender (male/female) Male

Ethnic identity Kedayan

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education University degree (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation University lecturer at UBD

Usual place of residence Kg. Sengkurong

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay and Kedayan (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Daily newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Daily 300

How often do you use the Daily internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia, Singapore and England of Brunei? If yes, where, how many times and for how long?

Patient 3:

Age 53

Gender (male/female) Male

Ethnic identity Malay

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education Tertiary education (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Government employee

Usual place of residence Kg. Mata-Mata

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Daily newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Daily

How often do you use the Daily internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and England of Brunei? If yes, where, how many times and for how long?

301

Patient 4:

Age 60

Gender (male/female) Male

Ethnic identity Malay

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education Secondary school (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Government employee

Usual place of residence Kg. Lambak

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Daily newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Rarely

How often do you use the Rarely internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand of Brunei? If yes, where, how many times and for how long?

Patient 5:

Age 64

Gender (male/female) Male

Ethnic identity Dusun

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam convert 302

Level of education Primary school (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Retired police officer. Currently grows and commercializes vegetables.

Usual place of residence Kg. Rimba

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay and Dusun (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Daily (Media Permata) newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Sometimes

How often do you use the Never internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and of Brunei? If yes, where, how Indonesia. many times and for how long?

Patient 6:

Age 56

Gender (male/female) Female

Ethnic identity Malay

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education Primary school (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Office Cleaner

Usual place of residence Kg. Ayer

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay (Malay/English/Other)? 303

How often do you read a Never newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Often

How often do you use the Never internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia (Sarawak only) of Brunei? If yes, where, how many times and for how long?

Patient 7:

Age 45

Gender (male/female) Female

Ethnic identity Malay

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education Primary school (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Housewife

Usual place of residence Kg. Meragang

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Rarely newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Daily

How often do you use the Never internet? 304

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia (Sarawak and Sabah) and Indonesia of Brunei? If yes, where, how (Jakarta) many times and for how long?

Patient 8:

Age 42

Gender (male/female) Female

Ethnic identity Half Iban, half Chinese (but claims she is Malay as she married a Malay from Kg. Ayer)

Citizenship? Permanent Resident in Brunei

Religion? Islam convert

Level of education No schooling (illiterate) (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Housewife

Usual place of residence Kg. Ayer

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay (and she can speak Chinese) (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Never newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Daily

How often do you use the Never internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and of Brunei? If yes, where, how China. many times and for how long?

Patient 9:

Age 73 305

Gender (male/female) Male

Ethnic identity Malay

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education University degree from Birmingham (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Retired Lecturer at Maktab Perguruan Gadong

Usual place of residence Kg. Sungai Tilong

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay (and can speak English very well) (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Daily (Borneo Bulletin) newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Often, especially the news and sport

How often do you use the Never internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Studied in England (Birmingham) and worked in of Brunei? If yes, where, how Malaysia for a few years. Also studied in many times and for how long? Australia (Geelong).

Patient 10:

Age 74

Gender (male/female) Male

Ethnic identity Malay

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education Secondary school (primary/secondary/tertiary) 306

Occupation Retired Custom officer

Usual place of residence Kg. Sungai Tilong

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Daily (Borneo Bulletin) newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Daily

How often do you use the Never internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, of Brunei? If yes, where, how Thailand and Australia many times and for how long?

Patient 11:

Age 67

Gender (male/female) Male

Ethnic identity Malay

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education Primary school (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Retired Government employee.

Usual place of residence Kg. Penanjong (Tutong)

Main language spoken at home Brunei Malay (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Unable to answer (the patient is lying down, newspaper? Which one? shaking and cannot talk)

How often do you watch Astro? Unable to answer 307

How often do you use the Unable to answer internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Unable to answer of Brunei? If yes, where, how many times and for how long?

Patient 12:

Age 65

Gender (male/female) Male

Ethnic identity Malay

Citizenship? Bruneian

Religion? Islam

Level of education Primary school (primary/secondary/tertiary)

Occupation Boat driver in Kg. Ayer

Usual place of residence Kg. Ayer

Main language spoken at home Kg. Ayer Malay (Malay/English/Other)?

How often do you read a Daily newspaper? Which one?

How often do you watch Astro? Daily

How often do you use the Sometimes internet?

Have you ever travelled outside Malaysia of Brunei? If yes, where, how many times and for how long?

308

Appendix II: Interviews.

Interview. Traditional healers.

1. How long have you been a traditional healer for? How long have you been practicing here in Brunei? Lama sudah kita mengubati orang? Berapa lama sudah kita mengubati di Brunei?

2. When, where and how did you become a traditional healer? Did a family member or a friend teach you the art of healing? Are you, yourself, transmitting your knowledge to anyone? Siapa mengajar kita tentang ubat kampung, dan bila? Kita diajar oleh kawan atau keluarga? Kita mengajar (ilmu ani) arah orang lain?

3. On average, how many people do you treat per week? Dalam seminggu berapa orang kita ubati?

4. Are your customers mainly Malay, Chinese, Indian, European, Indonesian, Filipinos, Iban, Dusun, or else? Pelanggan kita orang apa? Melayu? Cina? India? Orang putih? Indonesia? Filipina? Iban? Dusun?

5. What do people most commonly consult you for? To alleviate back or shoulder pain, or to treat other conditions as well, such as digestive or respiratory problems, migraines, sleep disorder or depression? To get protection from witchcraft or spirit attack? Biasanya orang datang berjumpa dengan kita untuk apa? Untuk mengurangkan sakit belakang dan bahu, atau untuk mengubati penyakit yang lain juga, macam sakit perut atau masalah pernafasan, migrain, gangguan tidur atau kemurungan? Untuk minta perlindungan dari ilmu sihir atau makhluk-makhluk halus? Untuk mengubati lemah semangat?

6. Which healing techniques do you use to treat your patients? Do you use medicinal plants, cupping, bone-setting, massage, acupuncture, prayers, incantations, or spells to rid the patients of noxious spirits, to attract a lost soul or to expel accumulated Inner Winds? Apakah kita lakukan untuk mengubat orang sakit? Kita gunakan ubatan herba? Bekam? Meluruskan tulang? Urut? Akupunktur? Doa? Jampi? Atau pucau untuk menghilangkan penyakit di sebabkan oleh makhluk-makhluk halus, mengubat lemah semengat, atau membuang angin di badan?

7. If you use plants to cure sick people, would you accept to tell me more about those plants and show them to me? Kita boleh tunjukkan kepada saya tumbuh-tumbuhan atau tanam-tanaman yang kita gunakan untuk mengubati orang sakit?

8. Do you know if some of your patients seek your help after they have already consulted another practitioner (Western, Chinese, Indian, or else)? Adakah beberapa pelanggan 309 kita yang meminta bantuan kita selepas mereka sudah berjumpa pengamal perubatan lain?

9. Do you sometimes refer your patients to the hospital or to a private doctor if you think you cannot help them? In which cases? Ada jua kita suruh pesakit ke hospital atau doktor lain kalau kita inda dapat mengubati mereka? Bila?

10. Would you mind if I interviewed some of your patients? Boleh ku interview pesakit kita?

Interview. Traditional healers’ patients.

1. Do you often consult this traditional healer? Kita selalu berjumpa dengan orang pandai ani?

2. What do you consult him/her for most commonly? To cure back and shoulder pain, diabetes, high-blood pressure, stomach ache, headache, sleep disorder or depression? Or to seek protection against witchcraft or evil spirits? Biasanya kita berjumpa dengan orang ani untuk apa? Untuk mengubati sakit belakang dan bahu, kencing manis, darah tinggi, sakit parut, sakit kepala, gangguan tidur atau kemurungan? Atau untuk minta perlindungan dari ilmu sihir atau makhluk-makhluk halus?

3. What do you think are the main causes of diseases? Poor diet, poor sleep, overwork, excess or insufficiency of heat or cold, or excess of wind in the body, soul loss, spirit attack? Apakah kita fikir punca utama penyakit? Sebab makanankah, kurang tidur, banyak keraja, adakah panas di dalam atau dingin, atau banyak angin, lamah semangat, atau makhluk-makhluk halus?

4. When you are sick, do you usually go first to the hospital or to the traditional healer? Why do you consult this healer? Because you think that his treatment is more efficient and has less side effects than Western medicine? Do you use traditional medicines at the same time as Western pharmaceuticals? Kalau kita sakit, kita pigi ke hospital dulukah? Atau kita tarus berjumpa dengan orang pandai? Kenapa kita berjumpa dengan orang pandai ani? Berkesankah dari doktor/ubat hospital? Dan nada kesan sampingan? Kita makan ubat kampung dan ubat hospital sama sama?

5. Which techniques does the traditional healer use to treat your problem? Does he use medicinal plants, cupping, bone-setting, massage, acupuncture, prayers, incantations, or spells to rid you of noxious spirits, to attract a lost soul or to expel accumulated Inner Winds? Apakah dia lakukan untuk mengubat kita? Dia gunakan ubatan herba, bekam, meluruskan tulang, urut, akupunktur, doa, jampi, atau pucau untuk menghilangkan penyakit di sebabkan oleh makhluk-makhluk halus, mengubat lemah semengat, atau membuang angin di badan?

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6. Do you sometimes also consult other non-Western medical practitioners, such as Chinese, Indian, Iban, Dusun, or other healers? In which cases? Are you usually happy about their treatments? Kita pernah berjumpa dengan orang yang mengubati yang dari bangsa Cina, India, Iban, Dusun, atau bangsa lain? Bila? Untuk apa? Adakah kita puashati dengan rawatan mereka?

7. Do you know anybody else, who also uses traditional medicine in addition to, or instead of, Western medicine? Kita tahu orang lain (ahli keluarga, kawan kita...), yang juga berjumpa dengan orang pandai?

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Appendix III: Ethnobotanical data

Vernacular name

Botanical name

Therapeutic effect (s)

Harvesting place (primary forest, secondary forest, home garden, trail, swidden).

Harvesting method (whole plant or selective cutting).

Parts used (root, leave, stem, bark, seed, sap, flower or fruit).

Preparation process (plant part is used unprocessed or grated, macerated, boiled, infused, dried, smoked, or simmered).

Administration method (directly applied to affected area, chewed, ingested, or inhaled).

Dosage

Medicinal or magical use

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Appendix IV: Brunei Malay common traditional medicinal plants.

Plant Scientific name Therapeutic use vernacular name Akar janjang Cassytha filiformis L. A decoction of the vine is ingested or applied topically to relieve irritation of the skin and eczema. The roots of the plants are believed to make the bearer invisible at will.

Ambuk segubang Coscinium The roots of ambuk segubang are fenestratum chewed and swallowed to cure food poisoning. An infusion of the roots is consumed for the same purpose. The infusion can also be drunk to treat dizziness.

Balik angin Alphitonia excelsa A decoction of the roots in coconut oil is used to massage patients who suffer from angin.

Balik sumpah Leucosyke capitellata A decoction of the twigs in combination with several others plants is used in herbal baths after childbirth to help the mother regain her strength.

Bamban Donax grandis A decoction of the roots is used as a protection against spirits and black magic. It is also consumed to treat diabetes and high blood pressure.

Bidara Zyziphus jujuba The decoction of the stems or leaves of bidara is traditionally consumed as a protection against evil spirits and sorcery. The fruits are eaten raw or cooked for the same purpose.

Buluh badan Bambusoideae The infusion of the stem of buluh badan in water is traditionally used for ritual bathing as an antidote to “black magic”. 313

Bunga raya Hibiscus rosa- Crushed red flowers are squeezed onto sinensis L. boils daily.

Durian salat Annona muricata L. The fruit of the durian salat (soursop) is consumed raw (when it is ripe) or boiled (when it is unripe) to treat cancer, high blood pressure and diabetes. The decoction of the leaves or roots is drunk for the same medicinal purposes. Durian salat leaves can also be heated on a fire and put on the stomach to treat abdominal pain.

Galata tikus ?57 An infusion of the root is used for bathing to treat bodily heat.

Jerangau puteh Acorus calamus L. Fresh rhizomes are eaten to relieve gastritis, treat food poisoning, and to cure diarrhea. They are also chewed in the belief that they can prevent intoxication from alcohol.

Jering Archidendron A decoction of the roots of jering can pauciflorum cure diabetes and hypertension. And the consumption of cooked jering fruits can ease the flow of urine.

Kangkong Ipomoea aquatica Fried leaves are eaten as a vegetable by feverish patients to effect a cooling condition.

Kayu salah Diospyros borneensis A decoction of the bark of the stem is used to bathe intense itchiness of the skin caused by accidently touching the invisible urine of the forest spirits.

Kecubong Datura metel L. An infusion of the flowers is consumed with food to relieve the mental disorder of a female patient who is “under a spell”.

57 ? indicates that I have been unable to identify the plant’s scientific name. 314

Keladi jantang ? A decoction of the roots, leaves and stems of keladi jantang can cure cancer, as well a whole range of illnesses.

Kepaya Carica papaya L. A decoction of the roots is drunk to counter menstruation problems.

Keramunting Rhodomyrtus A decoction of the leaves or roots of tomentosa keramunting is consumed to treat bloody stools. Juice from the pounded leaves is drunk to treat anemia. Fruits are eaten raw for anemia and to accelerate the healing of wounds.

Keratau Morus alba L. A decoction of the leaves of keratau is drunk to break up kidney stones into ‘sand’ which will be eliminated in the urine. Cooked keratau leaves can also be consumed as vegetables to treat mild hypertension. An infusion of the roots is drunk as an antidote to poisoning.

Kudok-kudok Melastoma The leaves and flowers of kudok- malbatbricum L. kudok are crushed and applied as a poultice to treat wounds and cuts. The purple petals accelerate the healing of burn scars and reduce permanent scarring. The decoction of the roots is drunk to treat conditions associated with blood in the urine. The decoction of the twigs mixed with other plants is used in herbal baths after childbirth to revitalize the body.

Kulimpapa Vitex pinnata L. A decoction of the roots of kulimpapa is traditionally drunk to relieve lower back pain. Young leaves are also eaten raw for the same purpose, and to counteract hypertension. A decoction of the bark mixed with other plants is used in herbal baths after childbirth. It can also be drunk to relieve stomachache. 315

Kunyit Curcuma longa L. Insect bites are rubbed gently with the soft tuber for relief. The skin of the rhizome is rubbed onto the lower abdomen to cure urinary infections. A small portion of the skinned rhizome can also be chewed and swallowed.

Kurap Cassia alata L. An infusion of leaves is used in herbal baths to cure eczema. Crushed leaves or roots are rubbed onto the skin to cure ringworm. Limau kasturi Citrus microcarpa Sore throats are relieved by drinking diluted fruit juice. Limpanas putih Goniothalamus Leaves and stems give a pungent macrophyllus smell when ruptured. Twigs are believed to have protective powers against evil spirits and are often hung above the door of the house. The smoke of burning twigs is used to repel mosquitoes, snakes and other wild animals. It is also used to treat a patient who suffers from fits.

Limpanas hitam Goniothalamus Similar therapeutic uses as Limpanas velutinus putih. Lontas ? The decoction of the roots and stems of lontas is drunk to cure hypertension and diabetes, and to alleviate strong body odor. Leaves can also be eaten raw.

Mengala ? The heart (inner core) of mengala palm is eaten raw to treat tuberculosis and hemoptysis. Mengkudu or Morinda citrifolia L. Root decoction is drunk to regulate Mengkunis menstruation. Heated leaves are applied to the chest to relieve cough or to the abdomen for enlarged spleen. Fruits (noni) are used against tooth decay. A decoction of the roots of mengkudu or mengkunis is used to treat sakit kuning (jaundice; yellowish color of the body and the eyes, which cannot be cured by hospital medication). 316

Merungai Moringa oleifera Merungai leaves, stems, and fruits are used in the same way as bidara, as a protection against evil spirits and magic spells, and to treat uri. The seeds and leaves are cooked and eaten to alleviate hypertension.

Panggil-panggil Clerodendron The leaves are wilted over a fire and paniculatum L. pasted on the lower part of the abdomen of a new mother to relieve pain after childbirth.

Pangku anak ? The decoction of the roots of pangku anak is traditionally consumed to enhance female fertility, or to treat hemoptysis (the expectoration of blood). The fruits of pangku anak are eaten raw to enhance female fertility.

Patah patah ayam Oldenlandia recurva Pounded leaves are applied and wrapped thickly with bandage on fractures to accelerate bone healing. The liquid obtained from sieving the mixture of ground leaves with clean water is dropped into sore eyes.

Pegaga Centella asiatica L. Raw or cooked young leaves are eaten as vegetables to treat hypertension or urinary tract infections and kidney stones.

Pelibas kuning ? A decoction of the roots of pelibas kuning is used to treat diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, menstruation disorder, lung infection, kidney problem, heart problem, bloody stools, and for post-natal treatment.

Pinang Areca catechu L. The dried seed is cut and chewed together with betel leaf and lime paste. The consumption of pinang gives a person energy and alleviates headache.

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Pitundok Fagraea racemosa A decoction of the roots, leaves and stems is used for bathing patients who have been poisoned or are the victims of tepalit (when a person’s body has come into contact with jinn excretions, such as saliva, urine and sweat).

Ribu-ribu Lygodium A root decoction is drunk to counter microphyllum gastric attacks. Crushed leaves are applied to boils. A decoction of the whole plant mixed with several others is used in herbal baths after childbirth. The leaves of ribu-ribu can also be burnt and used as tangas (the person is wrapped in a mat and fumigated with the smoke of the plant) to treat a person who is paralyzed.

Ringan ringan Flemingia strobilifera A decoction of the twigs mixed with L. several other plants is used as an herbal bath after childbirth.

Rumput jepum Chromolaena odorata Crushed leaves are applied to a wound L. as a styptic (causing bleeding to stop) and to relieve catfish stings.

Rumput Siti Centranthera Decoction of the whole plant is Fatimah tranquebarica consumed to treat diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure, backache and general muscle pains.

Samarbulu ? The leaves of samarbulu are pounded and applied to the skin, as a poultice, to relieve itchiness (gatal) due to spirit attack. Also, a decoction, obtained by boiling the leaves in coconut oil for 20 minutes, can be applied to the skin for the same purpose.

Sambong Blumea balsamifera An infusion of the plant is used, in L. combination with several other plants, in herbal baths by mothers after childbirth. A root decoction is drunk to give relief to aching joints.

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Sapal Dianella ensifolia L. A decoction of the roots is taken orally to cure jaundice.

Senudung Aglaonema A poultice (tapal) made up of pounded oblongifolium pieces of the stem of senudung is used as a treatment for gastritis in adults and dugal in babies.

Siampis Hedyotis corymbosa A decoction of the whole plant is L. taken orally to relieve gastric pain. It is also used to cure the mental disorder known as uri.

Simpur bini Dillenia suffruticosia Sap from leaves and stalks is applied to cuts and wounds to stop external bleeding. The decoction of the roots is consumed to treat cancer, itchiness, and to improve libido. Also, young leaves can be eaten raw to treat hemoptysis (the expectoration of blood).

Sirih Piper betel L. The juice of leaves, chewed with betel nut (Areca catechu) and lime, is massaged on the abdomen to relieve stomach ache, induce easier childbirth and disinfect wounds. The juice is swallowed to reduce fatigue, relieve fever, diarrhea, cough and asthma.

Tahi ayam Catharanthus roseus A decoction of the roots is consumed L. as a contraceptive and to control hypertension.

Tongkat ali Eurycoma longifolia A decoction of the roots is drunk to relieve gastric pain, reduce high blood pressure and fever. The infusion of the roots is regarded as a tonic and a male aphrodisiac.

Ubat parut Dischidia raflesiana The whole vines are pounded and rubbed on the abdominal region to cure stomachache.

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Appendix V: Brunei Syariah Penal Code Order, 2013

(Downloaded in 2014 from https://www.bsp-lbd.com.bn/LBDDocuments/Syariah Law /Syariah_Penal_Code_Order_Summary_Final.pdf)

An Overview

Background Syariah law is not new to Brunei Darussalam. Islam was adopted in the 15th Century when a Malay Muslim became Head of State and had the responsibility to uphold the Islam as a way of life. Syariah law has long been embedded in the country’s system of governance with the Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB) ideology. Since the 1930s, Heads of State have promoted Islam, including subsidizing the Hajj, building mosques and expanding the Ministry of Religious Affairs. In the 1990s, the sale and consumption of alcohol was restricted (prohibited for Muslims). Matters concerning Family Law have been referred to the Syariah Court since 1999. On 1 May 2014, phase 1 of the new Syariah Penal Code Order, 2013 came into force.

Brunei Darussalam is a conservative Islamic country. There are expectations that every Muslim fulfils his or her religious obligations. Other religions are permitted to co-exist with Islam. However, Non-Muslims should make no attempt to encourage a Muslim to practice any religion other than Islam.

Syariah Penal Code Order, 2013 (the ‘Penal Code’)  The Penal Code lays out specific offences and punishments for crimes prescribed by the Al-Quran and Sunnah (tradition of the prophet Muhammad).  However, there are some offences and punishments that are not prescribed by the Al-Quran and Sunnah that have been included in the Penal Code, such as making it mandatory for Muslim men to attend Friday prayers and the offence of disrespecting Ramadhan.  The Penal Code is being introduced in three phases.

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Examples of Offences, Punishments and Penalty

Offences Punishment & Penalty - Sariqah (theft), Hirabah (robbery), Zina Hadd - Punishment as ordained (adultery), Zina Bil-Jabar (rape), Liwat (sodomy), by Quran and Hadith, including Qazaf (accusation of adultery, sodomy and rape), amputation of hand (theft),death drinking intoxicating drinks, Irtidad (apostasy) or amputation of hand/foot (robbery), stoning to death or whipping (adultery or rape)

Other – Fine, imprisonment, whipping

- Offences against the human body, Qatl Qisas - Retaliation or similar (causing death or causing hurt) punishment

Diyat - Specified amount payable to heirs of (robbery),victim of Qstoningatl (re stotitut deathion) or whipping (adultery or rape) Arsy - Compensation payable to victim of hurt

OtherBada l–- aFine,l-suth imprisonment, - Mutually agreed compensation whipping to be pai d to a Wali-ad-dam / victim - Offences not expressly mentioned in Ta’zir - Fine, Quran or Sunnah imprisonment, rehabilitation, - Offences that are other than those supervision, whipping and punishable with Hadd or Qisas death - Worship, non-payment of Zakat or Fitrah, failure to perform Friday prayer. consuming alcohol in public places, Khalwat (close proximity if committed with a Muslim), propagating other religion

Evidentiary Requirements The evidentiary requirements for conviction of offences under the Penal Code are onerous; many offences require to have been witnessed by 2 (or more) syahid witnesses. A syahid witness is a person who fulfills all the necessary requirements according to Hukum Syara’, among others, of sound mind, attained puberty and ‘adil. A Non-Muslim is allowed to become a syahid witness only in relation to offences committed by non-Muslims if such person is credible according to his 321 religion. ‘Adil is defined as a Muslim who performs the prescribed religious duties, abstains from committing capital sins and is not perpetually committing minor sins.

Phased Implementation of the Penal Code Phase 1 - came into force in Brunei Darussalam on 1 May 2014. This phase concerns all the offences found under Part IV Chapter IV that are punishable only by fine or imprisonment e.g. failure to perform Friday prayer, disrespecting the month of Ramadhan etc. Phase 2 – will be introduced 12 months after the Syariah Courts Criminal Procedure Code is gazetted. This includes all offences under Part IV Chapter I, II and III that are punishable by Hadd, Qisas, Diyat, Badal–Al-Sulh or Arsy, except offences punishable by death. Estimated in force Q3 or Q4 2015. Phase 3 – will be introduced 24 months after the Syariah Courts Criminal Procedure Code is gazetted. The Penal Code will then be fully enforced including offences punishable by death. Estimated in force Q3 or Q4 2016.

Who does the Penal Code apply to? • The Penal Code applies to both Muslims and Non-Muslims. However, many of the specific offences are applicable to Muslims only. • Muslims and Non-Muslims – Theft, robbery, causing death, causing hurt, contempt of Prophet Muhammad, deriding verses of Quran or Hadith, indecent behaviour, disrespecting Ramadhan (fasting month). • Muslims only - Apostasy, worship, non-payment of Zakat or Fitrah, failure to perform Friday prayer. • Non-Muslims could be implicated - Adultery if committed with a Muslim, consuming alcohol in a public place, close proximity if committed with a Muslim.

Area of Jurisdiction • Implementation will be in Brunei Darussalam. • “Extraterritorial Jurisdiction” - offences committed abroad by citizens or permanent residents of Brunei Darussalam may be prosecuted in Brunei (Section 6 (3) Syariah Courts Act Cap.184). • The existing Civil Penal Code will continue to run in parallel. Some cases could be heard by both Civil and Syariah courts e.g. theft, robbery, statutory rape, unlawful carnal knowledge, criminal defamation, homicide, causing hurt. Such cases will be investigated by the police assisted by religious law enforcement and other law enforcement agencies.

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Indecent Behaviour As per Section 197 of the Penal Code, Indecent behaviour is anything that tarnishes the image of Islam, depraves a person, brings bad influence, or causes anger to the person who is likely to have seen the act. This could include excessive kissing in public and dressing indecently (there is not yet a state guideline on what dress-wear is deemed acceptable in public). Brunei Shell Petroleum Co Sdn Bhd has a staff dress code for its offices and a link to this can be found here. Generally, clothing should not be provocative. A fine of not more than $2,000, imprisonment of not more than 6 months, or both, may be imposed for the offence of indecent behaviour.

Intoxicating Drinks (alcohol) As per Sections 104 to 106 of the Penal Code, Non-Muslims are prohibited from public consumption of intoxicating drinks or offering, or exhibiting, the same to Muslims. A fine of not more than $8,000, imprisonment of not more than 2 years, or both, may be imposed.

Prohibition of Propagation of Religions other than Islam As per Section 209 of the Penal Code, it is an offence for a person to propagate a religion other than Islam to a Muslim or a person having no religion. There are related offences in Sections 210 and 211 of persuading a Muslim or a person having no religion to become a believer or a member of a religion other than Islam. A fine of not more than $20,000, imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, may be imposed.

Click here for the FAQ and official Penal Code slide-pack. For further information, please contact Ayla Abdullah.

BSP-LGL 15 May 2014