MALAY HEALING PRACTICES Ubat-Ubatan As Remedies Administered Hybridised Form of Islam

BIBLIOASIA OCT – DEC 2018 Vol. 14 / Issue 03 / Feature Nadirah Norruddin is an Associate Librarian with the National Library, Singapore. Her PAWANG, BOMOH AND BIDAN gathering and preparing ubat-ubatan main responsibility lies in managing and Traditional Malay healers are the from plants and herbs developing the Singapore and Southeast Asian collections. main providers of Malay medicine. In his book, A Descriptive Diction- To achieve the necessary credentials, ary of British Malaya (1894), Nicholas some have resorted to living in soli- B. Dennys compares the dukun to tude, spending their time meditating, “being on par with witch doctors of fasting or putting themselves through history”. Although the dukun has been strict dietary regimens – all in the generally described in disparaging name of spiritual cleansing. Healers terms by Western scholars, a small are also expected to have an extensive minority saw the merits of these knowledge of botany and nature so traditional healers. Percy N. Gerrard that they can classify and identify the defines the “doctor” as a bomoh, dukun right plants and herbs as well as their or pawang in his dictionary, A Vocabu- healing properties, and prescribe the lary of Malay Medical Terms (1905). correct remedies. Bidan Pawang Also known as “Mak Bidan” or “dukun A pawang is commonly defined as a beranak”, these midwives specialise shaman or general practitioner of in women’s health matters, including magic who incorporates incantations fecundity, midwifery and contraception, (Facing page) The betel vine, prayer bowl engraved into his craft. He is usually involved in along with a variety of beauty-related with Quranic verses and invocations, and the mortar conducting agricultural rituals and disorders. Up till the 1950s, it was and pestle – among other items – are used in the divination ceremonies to sanctify common for mothers in Singapore to practice of traditional Malay medicine. Bowl, collec- the village. Pawangs have also been deliver their babies at home with the tion of the Asian Civilisations Museum; betel vine, mortar and pestle, courtesy of National Museum referred to as “wizards” by scholars help of village midwives. Today, the role of Singapore, National Heritage Board. such as Richard J. Wilkinson for their of these women is limited to providing (Above) A portrait of a Malay traditional healer, ability to manipulate the course of antenatal and postnatal care, such as c. 1900. These medicine men usually carried their nature through the use of incantations confinement services for new mothers bottles of medicine and herbs wrapped in a kain and divination practices. or general massage therapies. Malay ubat-ubatan (medicine) and healing – sarong (“sarong cloth”) slung over their shoulders. which spans many centuries and has been Lim Kheng Chye Collection, courtesy of National Dukun/Bomoh References passed down through generations either Archives of Singapore. A dukun or bomoh is a general practi- Dennys, N.B. (1894). A descriptive dictionary of morally or in written form – is a complex and British Malaya (p. 104). London: London and tioner who treats fevers, headaches, holistic practice. As a result, the practice and form China Telegraph. [Microfilm nos.: NL7464, broken bones, spirit possession and Traditional Malay medicine incor- of traditional Malay medicine underwent NL25454]. various ailments. The skills and repu- Gerrard, P.N. (1905). A vocabulary of Malay porates principles and practices of phar- dramatic changes under colonial rule. Leg- tation of a dukun/bomoh stem from medical terms (p. 24). Singapore: Kelly & macology that are highly dependent on islations, for instance – shaped by altruism the person’s knowledge of humoural Walsh. (Microfilm no.: NL27512) indigenous flora and fauna found in the or bigotry, but more likely a combination Skeat, W.W. (1900). Malay magic: Being an medicine, the healing properties wild.1 Age-old literature and manuscripts of the two – were introduced by the Brit- introduction to the folklore and popular of local flora and fauna as well as – although scarce in number – document ish to stamp out traditional Malay healing religion of the Malay Peninsula (pp. 424–425). syncretic ritual incantations. Some London: Macmillan and Co., Limited. (Call no.: the ways in which plants, animals and practices and regulate village healers. were well known for their treatment RCLOS 398.4 SKE-[GH]) minerals2 native to the Malay Archipelago Wilkinson, R.J. (1908–10). Papers on Malay of victims of sorcery. The bomoh akar have been part and parcel of its healing subjects. [First series, 4], Life and customs The Spread of Islam and Malay Medicine kayu (the latter words meaning “roots” practices. At the heart of Malay ubat-ubatan (p. 1). Kuala Lumpur: Printed at the F.M.S. in Malay) is known for his expertise in Govt. Press. (Microfilm no.: NL263). is the amalgamation of complex Islamic and The adoption of Islam in the Malay Archi- Hindu beliefs and practices presided over pelago from the 13th century onwards not by traditional or faith healers. only introduced a new religious doctrine to fies the complex understanding and expres- derives his knowledge from either ilmu Colonial scholars and administrators the region, but also fostered a pan-Islamic sions of a dynamic and multifaceted faith. turun (inherited knowledge) or ilmu tuntut in 20th-century Malaya were invariably identity and defined new parameters for Medicine in Islam is characterised by (apprenticeship) and, in some instances, conflicted in their perceptions of traditional the spiritual, social and economic way a history of enquiry, innovation and adapta- complemented by the Kitab Tibb (The Malay medicine. Local sources and inter- of life of its inhabitants. Gradually, Islam tion. This is reflected in the ease in which Book of Medicine). pretations were frequently overlooked, and became syncretised with the prevailing indigenous healers adopted and adapted There are numerous versions of this has in turn affected the way in which belief systems of the Malay world. Islamic symbolism in their practices. In the Kitab Tibb manuscripts found in the Malay traditional Malay medicine has been studied Western scholars of the time held the Malay Peninsula, ceremonies overseen by Archipelago. Mostly written between 1786 and understood for decades. Some defined view that the Malay community adopted a the pawang (or shaman) include Quranic and 1883, these broadly outline three main MALAY HEALING PRACTICES ubat-ubatan as remedies administered hybridised form of Islam. In his address incantations and prayers addressed solely types of healing practices: those using according to the principles of chemistry and before the Straits Philosophical Society to God, even though most other aspects of natural resources such as plants and herbs; Is traditional Malay medicine based on superstition scientific evidence, while others dismissed in 1896, English orientalist and linguist the rituals are Hindu-Buddhist or pre-Indic those relying on wafaq (written symbols such healing practices as belonging to Charles O. Blagden postulated that Malays in character. or amulets); and healing practices using and folklore or grounded in scientific evidence? the realm of magic and the supernatural. were “only superficially Muhammadan” as Although the origins are unclear, Quranic verses, supplications and sala- Nadirah Norruddin uncovers the varying perceptions For the most part, the British regarded their folk rituals were “unorthodox” and the Malay method of healing is mainly wat (blessings to the Prophet). All these traditional Malay medicine with suspicion “pagan” in relation to the basic tenets of administered by the traditional medicine techniques can be used simultaneously of Malay medicine in colonial Malaya. and antithetic to its Western counterpart. Islam.3 Such an assertion, however, simpli- man or bomoh (see text box above), who or separately.4 18 19 BIBLIOASIA OCT – DEC 2018 Vol. 14 / Issue 03 / Feature Although Islam may have encour- and botany, traditional Malay healers also religion and animism, centering their writ- aged the use and incorporation of nature offered spiritual healing to cure the sick. ing around the use of amulets, incantations, HUMOURAL THEORY AND MALAY MEDICINE in traditional Malay medicine, natural The belief is that animate and inanimate charms and sorcery by the community. Humoural theory, which is one of remedies were already widely used in objects, including the physical body, pos- The late 19th to early 20th centu- the oldest theories of medicine, is local healing practices and rituals prior sess semangat (a vital force or soul). The ries saw a significant output in research organised around the four humours to the arrival of Islam in the Malay world. loss of semangat can be detrimental to by colonial scholars who studied Malay – blood, phlegm, yellow bile and For example, common plants, herbs and one’s physical and mental well-being. belief systems and healing practices. The black bile – and is associated with the spices like bonglai (Zinggibar cassumunar) A healer is purportedly able to manip- body of ideas and literature generated by four elements of earth (flesh), water had been used to treat migraine, cough and ulate and revive the semangat of the sick these early observers were often biased, (phlegm), air/wind (temperament), gastrointestinal problems for centuries. – particularly those suffering from mental filled with racist sentiments or tinged with and fire (blood). The four elements As observed by British physician John and spiritual ailments. To treat patients who romanticism, although some scholars were are in turn paired up with the four D. Gimlette in his book, Malay Poisons and might have been “disturbed” by unseen of the view that the sudden rise in writings qualities of cold, hot, moist and dry. Charm Cures (1915),6 bomohs used rattan forces, healers invoke supernatural entities on Malay magic and medicine was simply Each individual has a particular splints for simple fractures and wood ash through jampi (incantations), spells and an effort at documenting the “primitive” humoural makeup, or “constitution”. as an antiseptic dressing.

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