The ''Abu Mashari Faraki'' is an Arabic-language book used for divination in East Africa.
Book-based divination
The ''lamuli'' diviners of the
Banyole
The Banyole or Banyuli are a Bantu ethnic group of Uganda that live mainly in Butaleja District.
Ethnicity
The Banyole are one of the smaller Bantu ethnic groups in Uganda.
They are sometimes called "Abalya Lwooba", meaning "mushroom eaters".
Th ...
of Uganda use books such as the ''Abu Mashari Faraki'', ''
Quran
The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
'' or ''Sa'atili Habari'' for divination, often to answer questions about their client's health.
Ali bin Nasoor, an
Omani
Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...
trader who lived in
Busolwe
Busolwe is a town in the Eastern Region of Uganda. It is one of the two municipalities in Butaleja District, the other being Butaleja.
Location
Busolwe is approximately , by road, southwest of Butaleja, the location of the district headquarters. ...
, is thought to have introduced the use of books for divination.
Other Arabic or Swahili traders supported the practice.
The diviner selects a text at random from the book and reads it aloud in Arabic to their client.
They then translate it into the local language, and explain how it relates to the client's problem.
The ''Abu Mashari Faraki'' says what has caused the problem and how should be treated with medicine or ritual.
More specifically, it may help the diviner know the type of person who is responsible for his client's problems, where to find buried medicine and the type of sacrifice that should be made.
See also
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African divination
African divination is divination practiced by cultures of Africa.
Divination is an attempt to form, and possess, an understanding of reality in the present and additionally, to predict events and reality of a future time.
Cultures of Africa ...
Notes
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Mashari Faraki
20th-century Arabic-language books
Objects used for divination