Thread by @aaolomi

Magic is a complicated and often nebulous category within most religions. In Islamic orthodoxy it is generally deemed taboo. Yet like Christianity and Judaism, there is a distinction between forbidden and accepted practices

A thread on magic in the Islamic world

Medieval texts on magic recount all sorts of powers and spells

One famous charm involves crafting wax figures of a pair under the auspices of the 13th House of the Moon Al Awwa. With the right fumigations and invoking it’s Lord, you can make two people fall in love

In one text a formula for the crafty mage calls to use the time a city was built to make an image that is then buried in the center of the city. This will bring destruction upon that location.

One set of instructions says to gather dust in your hand and trace out a symbol in it then blow the dust. This will agitate the Ifrit of the area and cause a massive sandstorm

Then there is the magic mirror. Made using lunar timing and special washes upon a mixture of silver, the mirror becomes host for a djinn.

With it the magician could see far off places, communicate at a distance, enter the dreams of others, or receive answers from the djinn

The mirror can reveal hidden things like the whereabouts of a thief or it can be used to enchant people

While many of the accounts are fanciful they reveal the unique role of magic in the Islamic world.

While considered forbidden in orthodox circles there is some grey area on what is even considered magic.

Power is drawn from knowledge of the hidden world al ghayb

But where that knowledge is drawn from determines whether it is licit or illicit

The Quran itself reference sorcery or sihir. The Pharaoh’s sorcerers oppose Moses for example and Surah Falaq invokes protection against “those who blow on knots”

This is a reference to a type of magic practice common in the near East and Mediterranean where knots were used to curse, to bind in love, and for fortune telling

Yet knowledge of the hidden can also be licit. Several scholars who wrote about the evils of sorcery also practiced making talismans or “tawiz”

For example the Quranic verse, 10:57 is written on a tiny scroll and placed in a pouch hung around the neck to affect a healing

Talisman-making sits at the intersection of magic, spirituality, and pseudoscience. It involves specialized knowledge in the “secret of letters” where each Arabic letter contains hidden meanings.

The alphabet is divided into letters of light and letters of darkness

Letters of light could be used to heal while letters of darkness can summon war and disease.

Letters were corresponded to Names of God, angels and djinn, and numbers.

Talismans required both esoteric knowledge & advance calculations.

The alpha numeric system is called abjad

For example the knowledgeable could craft a magic square invoking the name of a djinn and therefore imbue the object with the spirit of that djinn.

This a far different process than the trapping of djinn in vessels with a seal found in the Solomonic tradition

But not all talismans were alphabet based. Some were made with images.

One of Jibrail on his horse Haizum was used to war off djinn, another depicted four strange animals as a sort of djinn totem

But the most recognizable have to be the evil eye amulet and khamsah

Both of which reflect the way in which Muslims interacted with the broader culture absorbing, exchanging, and sharing in a particular cultural milieu

Magic is a complicated subject and what’s considered accepted spiritual practice versus illicit sorcery offers an opportunity to explore the many ways Muslims imagined the boundaries of their faith, the marker between science and non science, and popular practice vs orthodoxy

Magic in the Islamic world is drawn from three tradition: a textual one, a mystic one, and folk tradition.

All three make claim to some supernatural power but often define it differently.

A Sufi claiming to heal, a mage conjuring a storm, and a healer creating an herbal potion

All offer an opportunity to explore further.

In coming weeks I’ll do deeper threads on the types of magic from the Islamic world which include talismans, djinn, astrology, cultivating of powers, and natural healing and how these blend together at times