Chapter X: Religion

The greater part of the natives of Kordofan profess Islamism, but they are less fanatic than other Mahommedans, probably arising from the fact, that few Christians and no Jews are to be met with in these southern parts, hence there is no cause for religious asperity or hatred. I found, however, as a rule that, with the exception of the Dongolavi, but few adhere strictly to the Koran, and their ideas on articles of faith are quite in their infancy; nor do they trouble themselves much with the various religious ceremonies, and live in a state of utter ignorance, with the exception of believing in one God, and sometimes calling upon their prophet for assistance. There are very few Mosques in the country, and these are only frequented by the Turks and Dongolavi, who are resident there. Thus the Koran is not very strictly followed, but every one lives after that natural species of religion which has been impressed upon his mind, through the medium of his senses of sight, and hearing, under the paternal roof. Hence all manner of heterogeneous opinions and ideas are mixed-up with their faith. They believe in one God, and in addition to him in an evil spirit, and a great deal of heathen superstition is, moreover, jumbled together with their Islamism. A prominent cause of this ignorance is the negligence of the government, which does not institute a sufficient number of schools, for very few of them are to be found among the majority of the tribes. Only a small portion of the natives can read and write, with the exception of the Fakeérs and Tekirs. It is the office of these men to study the Koran, and to communicate what they have read to the people. The former are the school-masters and religious instructers: they write a few sentences from the Koran on a board, and make their scholars copy them. When they have learnt thus much, they are considered sufficiently instructed, leave the school, and before a year is over have forgotten everything again. They also write amulets, with which they frequently deceive the people in the most shameful manner. They ingratiate themselves further into the favour of families, like the clergy of Italy, and when they have once gained a footing, worm out the most trivial secrets, interfere with all the domestic affairs, and have frequently more authority in the house than the master himself. Matches are concocted by them, and, in fact, nothing is undertaken without their advice. The functions of a Fakeér would appear to be hereditary, for they descend generally from father to son, and are not so easily transferred from one family to another. They also make vows, for example, not to smoke for the remainder of their lives, to abstain from merissa and coffee, each man choosing the hardship he likes best; in short, they are the same as the Derweéshes among the Turks, but with this wide difference, that they are looked upon as saints. I found the greatest number of Fakeérs among the Dongolavi, who are also the most rigid observers of the Mahommedan religion, with one single exception, that they are very fond of brandy. They do not follow agricultural pursuits, but are merchants, brokers, &c. They are said, as a rule, to be all capable of reading and writing, and wear a long string of large wooden beads round their necks. The majority of them are hypocrites, and indeed it is better to avoid them altogether.

The Mahommedan negroes all live in a state of the most abject ignorance. Not many Fakeérs are to be met with among them, and, with the exception of circumcision, they bear in fact very few signs of belonging to the Mahommedan religion. They have some peculiar ideas of their own on matters of faith, for example, on the creation of the world, and mix up a great deal of superstition with the Koran, with which they are altogether but very little acquainted. Thus an old negro explained to me why God Almighty allowed white men, dark-coloured, and black men, to live together in this world. When, namely, our first parents were driven out of Paradise after committing the original sin, the Lord came down from heaven every day to see his orders strictly obeyed, and to convince himself that they gained their daily bread with the sweat of their brow. Eve, or as the negroes call our first mother, _Hauve_, bore daily many hundred children, which she was obliged to shew to the _Abou_, (God the Father) who sent them into all parts of the world there to multiply. It happened once that _Hauve_ brought several hundred children into the world of a darker colour. When _Abou_ came and saw these, he reproached _Hauve_, and said he would not have any more of these dark babes, took them immediately away from her, and transplanted them into the present Abyssinia. Shortly after this, _Hauve_ brought forth another lot of similar children, which for fear of the _Abou_, she locked in an oven to secrete them; but _Abou_, on his arrival, had a suspicion of what had transpired, and as he did not receive a satisfactory answer from _Hauve_ respecting the last children, hunted for them everywhere, and found them eventually in the oven. When they crept out of their place of confinement, they were all quite black with the soot. _Abou_ in his wrath at this second offence on the part of _Hauve_, again took away her children, and swore that they should, in commemoration of their mother’s crime, remain for ever as black as when they emerged from the oven, and that nothing in the world should be capable of wiping off the stain. These children now became the original parents of the negroes.

The Mahommedan negroes are altogether fond of clothing their religion in a traditionary garb, and of adulterating it with absurdities, which remain then so strongly impressed upon their minds, that it is almost impossible to eradicate the false notions and instruct them differently. They believe firmly in metempsychosis, and accord to apes the honour of being animated by those human souls which, for the commission of some crime during life, must suffer punishment after death in the shape of monkeys. They never in any way injure these animals, and take care that they do not suffer from want of food. If they see any person ill-treating one of them, they become very wrath, and an old negro once reproached me severely for punishing my monkey for some offence of which it had been guilty, for, added he: “Why dost thou beat thy monkey? May it not be thy grandfather, whose soul is incorporated in this animal after death?” Elephants and parrots share the same honour with apes; and they contend that the former more especially could not act so sensibly as they do, unless a human soul dwelt within their body.

Those sheikhs or saints, so common in Egypt, where they are regarded as holy, and, as it were, adored, but who are virtually idiots or cunning impostors, are not tolerated in Kordofan. On the contrary, unfortunate beings really neglected by nature are not indeed ill-treated, but kept as secluded as they possibly can be in their own families, who take care that they do not so readily come in contact with strangers. I only know of two instances in the whole province of Kordofan of those saints above-mentioned (Sheikhs) being worshipped, as they so frequently are, by the Moslems, both before and after death. The one of these died several years ago, and the people from the most distant parts, at the present time undertake pilgrimages to his grave, situated at a distance of two hours’ march from Lobeid. They there make vows to do certain things if the saint will grant them their request. The offerings brought to his grave consist of sheep, corn, &c.; the former are slaughtered on Mondays and Thursdays, and distributed among the blind beggars who assemble on these days, at the tomb. The person bringing the sacrifice now offers up a short prayer, and thus the vow is completed.

The second Sheikh, who is yet living at Lobeid, is named Beduy: he is a pious man and anything but a hypocrite, hence he is beloved and enjoys the good opinion of all men. He settles disputes, and gives friendly advice to all who come to ask for it, knows no partiality, and in no instance receives a present. He lives very simply, his food consisting of nothing but _Garat_,[49] which he has ground to flour, and made into bread. He only eats meat once a year. I have visited him on various occasions, conversed with him on a variety of topics, and have had the opportunity of convincing myself that he is possessed of good sound sense, and has correct ideas on most subjects. As far as his religion is concerned, he is a rigid Mahommedan, and defends his opinions and articles of faith with the greatest zeal; but I never heard him speak with contempt of the Christian or of any other religion, as the Derweeshes frequently do; he merely pities those who are not as fortunate as himself in belonging to the true faith. In short, he is a Mahommedan missionary. He has made thousands of proselytes among the heathen negroes, for he strolls about during the greater part of the year in the mountains, endeavouring to disseminate el Islam. He also defends his faith according to the letter of the Koran, sword in hand, and has even lost a son in the fight for the good cause. The Fakeérs are very much afraid of him, and take great care not to play their pranks in his vicinity; he also feels a thorough contempt for them.

It is high time for the Missionary Societies of Europe to direct their attention to this part of Africa; if they delay much longer it will be too late, for when the negroes have once adopted the Koran, no power on earth can induce them to change their opinions. I have heard through several authentic sources that there are but few provinces in the interior of Africa where Mahommedanism has not already begun to gain a footing. The Djelabi are the people who have taken the conversion of the negroes on themselves, and have met with partial success; I must, however, observe, that if the propaganda, or protestant missionary societies, should decide upon sending missionaries into the country, they ought not to settle where the Koran predominates, for all their trouble would be wasted, and all their money spent in vain. Sennaar and Kordofan, are not fit provinces for this purpose, even if they intended to convert negroes from distant countries, who may be there bought for a trifle, and to send them back into their own country; for the converse with Mahommedans, and the acquirement of the Arabic language, would be sufficient causes of themselves to frustrate their endeavours. Nuba, Kodero, Shilluk, Runga, Kulla, &c.; these are the countries where something might yet be done, but “if it were done, when ’tis done, then ’twere well, it were done quickly,” or these, and many other states, will be lost to Christianity.