Good add-up sister Fatou. This marabout business started a long time ago. when religious knowledge was in the hand of the few privilege families e.g the touray's,ceesay's,drammeh's jabbi's etc or Kah's,leh's,jallow's etc. people place so much hope on this people ,they elevate them beyond the acceptable level. 
  To met the expectations and hope of the illiterate and poor community, the marabouts who know some aspect of Islamic knowledge ,mix it up with the hidden knowledge, what they them self would refer to as DALILO OR in Fula Saboou or mandinka saabo .this terms means ,some one who has a means to solve problems that others aren't privilege with. many families who wish to acquire such wisdom and knowledge in their families send their children to learn under this perceive moros or chernos and seriegns. this children would spend years learning nothing but farm works and other menial jobs. the marabouts securely guard that hidden knowledge. only the inner family line would benefit from the knowledge. this is why many upcountry kids who went to learn under the so-call grand marabout know nothing much. they used them and send them away after they serve the useful purposes. 
  for the marabouts to keep on operating he needed to create many vices. for instance when a sister's husband wish to take a second wife, the marabouts have means to either make that man mute in his tract or make him bias toward the new wife. this is done by using frogs,horns and other devilish methods. they will write whatever thing they do and tell the lady to put in the mouth of a frog. this frog will be killed and then buried. that man will be mute to all his wife's demands. other method involve telling the lady to take her body sweat or fluid to the marabouts who mix it up with his things and the woman will make the husband drink from it. this make some men addictive to that woman. they have several methods. but it all comes down to not having faith and doing things according to the prescription of Allah. this marabouts can say they will facilitate people's travel plans,business, job hunt etc. they now live across all over the world. Europe IE France, England and u.s.
 they earn more than the average Gambian in those countries. whilst you work hard they sit at home and charge consultation fees and high amount of money to mainly Indians and other People who believe in them. 
  the sad thing this people know what they are doing is haram. this is why most grand marabouts before they die will retire from practising the business, the eldest son will take over. it is us who make them still relevant .when the madarasa education started ,many marabout other source of income dropped. people switch to madrases where in one year a child can so much about Islam, his counter-part in the marabout darah will spend six or so years. as you said Fatou, correct faith can take us through every dilemma ,supplicating to God alone solve problems. This marabouts are dangerous and wicked. the mansions they build meant every thing to them.

Ms Dibba <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
  i would like to commend you for your piece on the evils of Marabouts and it is very true indeed.  quite scary too ..."Seringto" definately needs to be Frowned upon.

If a person is a True Believer in God, then I wonder how they can worship the "Marabouts" as well.
 I say "worship', because it seems like that is what People do. When something tragic happens in our lives, the first thing many think about is '" I have to go to the "Marabout" to fix this right now"  ie Getting fired, husband Marrying a second wife, Boss doesn't like you, Court case etc..
 
I would think the first thing you would say is "GOD help me'', and pray  and ask others for prayer.. no matter what your religion is and if you believe in God, Allah. it May take a while but once you reap the benefits of prayer, and belief,  it is sweet and everlasting.

.. I know there are some people who are devil/demon worshippers, that is their prerogative. and I can understand if they rush to the evil power mongers to try to fix their lives, But it seems that the people who visit the marabouts are the ones who Claim to be part of a religion (Islam, Christianity) 

 Now i am not sure if these things really work, but whether they do or not I  think  a person has to be very Mean spirited  and evil to attempt to destroy someone else's life because of envy and because you want what they have.. or to try to get back(revenge) at someone who has done you wrong . you fight back using Black magic, you are no better than he is.

The answer to all our worries and fears,trials and tribulations is prayer, by yourself,through religious and spiritual leaders, your parents, etc not the "Marabouts""


Thanks For that piece Suntou
Fatou D


-----Original Message-----
From: SUNTOU TOURAY 
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wed, 7 May 2008 9:02 am
Subject: the marabouts world.



The work of majority of our marabouts, seriegns, moro’s and chernos. 
As I stated earlier, the majority of the holy men or spiritual doctors are 
nvolving the contact of the jinn world.
The work they do is described in the Quran as SIHR. Sihr is describe by many 
cholars of the past as “uqad ( blowing on knots), Ruqha (incantations), and 
ords uttered or written, or carried out in such a way as to affect the body of 
he target. To affect his heart or mind without him even coming into contact 
ith the practitioner, here the moro, cherno,or sereign.

The practice is an art which has it own methodology and ways. It has nothing 
o do with the Islamic creed or system.
The reality of sihr according some scholars is that it can cause one to die, 
ause people to fall ill or acts as obstacle against a man having sexual 
elation with his wife. Other types can separate husband from wife that is 
ivorce
Ibn Al-qayyim state that the effect of marabout work or sihr “consist of the 
ffect of evil souls and the reaction of the resultant forces.’’. From our 
enegambia experience, many of us have seen this men, we held them highly and 
ccord them respect because we tend to believe that they are Godly men but on 
he contrary. This men are mostly greedy men who mortgage their life for easy 
ife and fame. Traditionally they have an understanding of the Islamic knowledge 
nd aura. But they know, they cannot use the Quran to get money of people by 
oing the acts they do. Yes, God conscious people can pray for others but they 
on’t have any extra-ordinary powers to do things out of the ordinary.

How do the marabouts have the knowledge or power to do things they do? The man 
ho sacrifices is life for the Satan, use the name of a certain jinn that are 
ith people in that line of business. If you have the names of a jinn, you can 
pon them for several days or weeks and you do things that will please that 
articular jinni. The marabout and the jinn or satan form an agreement with the 
arabout. The jinn or satan command the marabout to do certain acts to proof 
imself. This may involve sacrifices and other acts against God. To an outsider, 
he marabout is on the path of God but to himself he knows what he is doing. 
It is claim that some of this people do filty things like, writing 
nagrammatized ( writing in reverse) the Quran. Some perform salat without wudu, 
hey tell their clients to sacrifice animals on certain days. This animal is to 
lease the jinn. The greater the power of the Jinn the higher the demand for 
acrifice. The marabout also use the stars as a guide in their work.
Some big marabouts who obey the commands of jinn get their own family affected 
y the jinn. the following Quranic passages talks about the existence of jinns. 
urah 36:29,6:130,62:1,45:33,62:6,5:91,24:21 .
There are many hadith that confirm the existence of jinns. 
Satan can transform into many things. We cannot see them.

People from our region go to this people to solve their problems and 
ifficulties for them. But our people don’t examine the method this men use to 
o things that seems like solving peoples worries. They pass themselves off as 
reat muslims, that is their outward persona. If say a certain person go them to 
ake a certain individual loose his job, do you think this grand marabout will 
pen the Quran and copy a verse to make that person loose his Job? No. this is 
here their double life comes into play. Any thing to do with causing harm and 
nstability, their jinn is invoke and he carry out the duty diligently. They 
rey on people’s weak beliefs and lack of knowledge about their evil actions. 
his is why they are relevant and respect still today. Some grand marabouts even 
ake their students beg in the streets. Some exceed the sharia even in marriage. 
hey don’t attend jamat community prayer in the mosque yet this men show their 
slamic side to trap customers.
How holy is a marabout who hardly go to mosque were the prayer perform is of 
igher grade than that perform at home.

The specialist marabout or serign can send his jinn on missions to cause harm. 
he jinn can cause some one to get mental illness. 
The methods of getting a jinn are in many categories. One of them is swearing 
y and seeking refuge in the master of the jinns. This is usually done with the 
ethod refered to as thoo batooo ( calling on a name) this practice is done in a 
ark room, smoke incense. the marabouts who practice this evil, do acts that 
leases the jinn. If the jinn is satisfy with the marabout, it will under take 
ask assign to it. If it is steering up hatred, that is the mission.
Another common method of getting the jinn’s attention is slaughtering an 
nimal. The blood that the blood is what the jinn needs. All sacrifice under 
aken by muslims should be for the sake of God only not any other beings. 
Another method is anagrammatizing words of the Quran. This is locally refer to 
s katim. Katim is very dangerous method of harming people. It involves the 
onnection of evil forces. Many are making lots of money by using this method of 
eceiving people. Other methods include using star signs to do incantations and 
ther evils.

Before the marabout or moro under take a task for people, they ask for peoples 
others name, some ask for animals with certain specifications, white lamb, 
potted sheep etc. they also give clients item to burry in the ground,
This men can surprise people. They can tell you your name even without you 
elling them, they narrate thing that happen to you in the past etc. this 
nformation is given to them by jinns.

I stated earlier that, some of the marabouts are only taken to be spiritual by 
eople but they don’t invite or call people to themselves, they work hard and 
ttend jamat prayers. They eat from halal or legal acceptable earnings. They 
on’t cause any harm between people. They don’t deceive using katim or korteh. 
hey pray to God for that person’s well being. We need to stop making this 
eople carry on this profession. They are all over the place. 
anjul,Dakar,Serrekunda, Bansang,Basse, every where. Some of them are very 
owerful and dangerous. To proof their power they can do wick things. 
Next I will write about the Quranic verses to prevent you and me from their 
agic and demonic tools. Many know this topic more than myself but they are 
uiet with their knowledge. We need to explain the implications regarding going 
o to this people. It make us fall into shirk or associating partners with God. 
hat is an unforgivable sin. May God strengthen our imaan.


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