The Mixture of Magic and Islam in Djenne
Many people come to Djenne to learn the art of magic from a marabout
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Djenne is well known in Mali and even far beyond for the skill of the marabouts who are even called for and commissioned by the presidential candidates to exercise magic during the times of elections. They also work by internet, and some marabouts conduct consultations through the local cybercafé.
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Islam and Magic: A History
The form of Islam adhered to in Africa is of the Sunni school. Djenne’s strategic importance as a commercial, intellectual and religious centre made the city an early conduit of Islam to the rest of the Niger inland delta.
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However, during the domination of the Bambara Kingdom of Segou in the latter half of the 18th century the strict observation of Islamic rules of conduct seems to have become more relaxed, perhaps through the influence of the Bambara people who had conquered Djenne in 1770 and whose kings had always refused to convert to Islam and were fiercely attached to their ancestral animist beliefs.
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The magic practises which form an important part of the religion in Djenne were allowed to develop and flourish during this time, and it was partly this aspect which prompted Sekou Amadou’s Jihad when he conquered Djenne in 1819 and established his Fulani empire of Massina.
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A Matrix of Magic and Religion
Djenne’s magic practises and maraboutage have remained deeply rooted in the religious fabric of Djenne. At the same time there is also a large adherence to Sufism, the mystical expression of Islam, and in particular the Tijaniyyah form of Sufism which is spread over large parts of West Africa.
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These two aspects of Djenne’s religious make-up are sometimes combined, and many members of the Tijaniyyah brotherhood are practising maraboutage.
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Practical Magic
It is a good idea not to have too many enemies in Djenne. While the population is gentle and agreeable for the most part, and as good Muslims they resign themselves to the will of Allah, there are also many who are not adverse to indulging in a little magic in order to get their way.
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There is a flourishing trade in potions and elixirs, spells and gri-gris or talismans imbued with power for good or ill.
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This trade is largely the monopoly of the marabouts who often make a lucrative side-line as purveyors of magic potions.There are potions for all ills- physical and metaphysical. There are potions to make people love you, and to make them stop loving someone else for instance.
The following story was reported on Malian radio as a news item:
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“A young wife went to a marabout to obtain a potion to give to her husband in order to prevent him from taking a second wife. The marabout liked the look of her and decided he wanted her for himself. He gave her a potion which she promptly dispensed to her husband, who fell ill of a mysterious disease and died within two days. The wife was hardly in a position to say anything.
After the prescribed time of mourning the marabout made her a visit and was politely received. He began courting the young widow, who soon invited him for dinner one night. At the end of the evening he began to feel unwell. The widow said: ‘the potion you gave me was not used up- I gave you the remaining half in your dinner.’ The marabout died within two days.”
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The reason we know this story is that he didn’t want to face Allah without making amends- he had the time to go to the gendarmerie to give himself up before he expired.
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Ritual and Words from the Koran
The most common forms of maraboutage require more than a potion and are often prepared in connection with the written Arabic word in phrases from the Koran, as well as some form of animal sacrifice. If the wish is to make someone fall in love with one, then the marabout might require the sacrifice of a ram, for instance.
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With the blood from this, a line from the Koran, which has been chosen because it is somehow connected to the task at hand, such as the line "he made her fall madly in love with him", is written a certain amount of times - it could be hundreds - on one of the wooden tablets used in the Koran schools.
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This is then washed off and the liquid obtained from the blood is carefully poured into a bottle which becomes the love potion which can be drunk or applied on the skin – which does of course require some proximity to the beloved…
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Moving and Making Magic in Mali
Many potions obtained in this way are traded to the capital and transported to clients in Bamako on the Djenne bus.
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Although there are some factions in Djenne who disapprove of such practises, there has always reigned a good-natured tolerance between those who practise magic and those who feel that a good Muslim should not try and influence the will of Allah but be limited to the study of the Koran and to executing the five pillars of Islam: reciting the profession of faith; praying five times a day; almsgiving, fasting and pilgrimage.
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There are also marabouts who specialize in the preparation of herbal remedies. Some of these undoubtedly work, such as the highly efficient natural laxative senna, an important export for centuries which found its way to Europe together with the gold, palm oil and other exotic products with the trans-Saharan camel caravans.
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Other medicines are prepared from roots and leaves which are sometimes boiled or dried and pulverised and often mixed with sacrificial blood or maybe with the ash from burned paper on which appropriate lines from the Koran have been written.
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It is of course impossible to separate the magic from the purely medicinal benefits from the natural sources here, but there is a power of healing from belief itself, as has been proven by studies of the placebo effect, so the healing properties of the ashes from the writing of Arabic phrases from Koran should perhaps not be underestimated…
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Many such recipes and descriptions can be found in the ca 10000 manuscripts which are kept in the Djenne Manuscript Library, a stones’ throw to the north of the great mosque.
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