The evil eye and cultural beliefs among the Bedouin tribes of the Negev, Middle East [1]

Folklore, Dec, 2005 by Aref Abu-Rabia

Several studies have investigated evil eye beliefs in the Middle East and North Africa (Westermarck 1926, vol. I, 414-78; Evans-Pritchard 1937, esp. 100-3; Granqvist 1947, 84-8; Stillman 1970, 81-94; Edwards 1971, 33-40; Foster 1972, 165-202; Spooner 1976, 76-84; cf Dundes 1981, 257-98). Notwithstanding broad similarities, there are significant regional and cultural variations. Fredrik Barth, for example, found that the Persian nomadic tribes believed that it was unconscious envy that caused harm; therefore, only friends, acquaintances and relations were able to cast the evil eye, while declared enemies were powerless to do so (Barth 1961, 145). According to Hammad Ammar's study of peasant society in southern Egypt, on the other hand, it was particularly critical to guard against the impact of the evil eye from relatives outside the economic family household unit (Ammar 1954, 62). While many aspects of the Bedouin's evil eye traditions are common throughout middle-eastern and Islamic societies, certain features are more unusual, including curing the evil eye by magically transferring it to the healer, which will be discussed later.

The Evil Eye in Islamic Sources

Medieval Islamic authors had much to say about the evil eye and its treatment. In the ninth century AD, the Imam Muslim Ibn al-Hajjaj reported that the Prophet said: "The evil eye is true, and if there were anything in the world which would overcome Fate, it would be an evil eye" (Sahih Muslim 1998, 422). The Prophet ordered that incantations be recited to guard against the evil eye. In his Book of Medicine, al-Bukhari (810-72 AD) recorded that the Prophet one day saw a servant girl with sa'fa (or suf'a, a black or brown mark or excoriation) on her face, and said: "Recite incantations for her, for the 'glance' is on her" (Sahih al-Bukhari 1974, 426). It was said that she was suffering from an evil eye inflicted by the stare of the jinns, whose piercing gaze is more deadly than the points of spears.

Al-Jawziyya (1292-350 AD) argued at length about the logic behind the belief in the power of the evil eye. He insisted that the power rests not with the eye of a person, but rather with the spirit (nafs) working through it (al-Jawziyya 1957, 127-36). [2] He said that people have been known to become ill from a gaze that causes their faculties to weaken. All this transpires due to the power of the spirits. Spirits vary in their nature, their powers, their qualities and their characteristics. The spirit of a jealous person is one of impurity, which takes on an evil quality that provokes real, perceptible damage to the envied person, animal or property. It is sometimes thought to have a poisonous quality. In almost all cases, the evil eye conveys an impure spirit (nafs najsih), as opposed to the pure spirit (nafs tahira) of saints and healers. Najsih derives from najasa, which means "pollution," "dirt," "obscenity," "defilement," "contamination" or "filth." Purity and pollution represent opposite ends of a continuum derived from religious ideas.