The Gambian perspective is that NASOO is a a shortened and Mandikanized word of Surat Al-Naas,that short but famous chapter in the Quran through which God instructed the Prophet to pray to him for protection against the multitudes of evils that men could do to their fellow men. And we translate that chapter as follows:- SAY: I SEEK REFUGE WITH THE LORD AND CHERISHER OF MANKIND THE KING (RULER) OF MANKIND THE GOD(JUDGE) OF MANKIND FROM THE MISCHIEF OF THE WHISPERER (OF EVIL),WHO WITHDRAWS (AFTER HIS WHISPER), (THE SAME) WHO WHISPERS INTO THE HEARTS OF MANKIND, AMONG JINNS AND AMONG MEN. ****** ******* ********** As for the Word Saffoo,it comes from the Arabic word,Saff,Line Of Defence. The best way to pray (not the five daily prayers) to God in Islam is to do it the way the prophet was instructed to do it,namely, to recite verses from the Holy Quran,especially those verses that are close in meaning to the things you want God to help you with or evils or dangers you want him to protect you from.For example,it is a standard practice(as was done by the prophet) for those who know the Quran to quote verse 13 of Chapter 43 when using any means of transportation to travel from ones home. That verse reads as follows:- Inorder that ye may sit firm and square on their backs,and when so seated,ye may celebrate the(kind) of favour of your Lord,and say,"Glory to him who has subjected these to our (use),for we could never have accomplished this (by ourselves), "And to our Lord,surely, must we turn back!" Now,the idea of writing those verses of the Quran that might help draw God's attention to the predicament of an individual or protect him from an imminent danger ,as opposed to just reading them from memory,came about as a result of the conversion to Islam by multitudes of non-Arab and non-literate peoples around the globe.It is entirely concievable,therefore, that many such people would at one time or another insist that they too needed and should be provided with some form of protection from the Quran,their inability to read and memorise verses not withstanding. So,it cannot be difficult to see why the moslem clergy,for very practical reasons, had to break with the strict prophetic tradition and innovate a little if only to accommodate the new converts.Yes,there are interesting arguments against such an innovation,esp.given the enormous potential for abuse through commercialisation and the cheapening of the name of God,but there are equally many circumstancial evidence in support of it.And that is how it has now become almost a must for a lot of moslems in our part of the world,esp.those very vaguely familiar with the Quran, to seek help from those conversant with it to write for them some verses from the holy book.And when such writings are encased in leather to be tied around any part of the applicants body,we call it Saffoo;but when it is written on a wooden board and washed with clean water for the liquid to be drunk or rubbed all over the body or parts of it,we call it Nasoo. It is interesting to note here that the Wollofs call Nasoo,the liquid form, Saafara. This word is a badly pronounced Arabic word called Saffra,which means one journey.As for Terreh,that is self-explanatory for those who speak Wollof,since the word means “To Prevent”; and we can elaborate on that by saying that the FUNCTION of a Terreh is to prevent bad things from happening to the bearer. Yes,pre-Islamic Senegambia had practices that could for all practical purposes be described as Saffoos and Nassoos.But ,back then ,such protections could be sought and received only from the tribal gods.If a successful Jarranka man living in the Kombos had reasons to believe that enemies of his success in the Kombos were plotting against him,his best insurance would be to travel to Jarra and seek protection from the Jarra High Priest of the tribal gods of the jarranka people. And chances are that after diagnosing and analysing the problem of our friend,the jarra high priest would give him either some form of liquid to rub on his body or a substance to be kept in a specified place that would help keep the evils of the enemies at bay. A serer woman having marital or fertility problems in the Badibous must also go back to Sine to seek respite from her predicament. So,the alien and non-tribal nature of the Islamic Saffoos and Nasoos has meant that a Jola man having problems with getting a beautiful girl to marry in Sukuru Kunda does not anylonger have to go all to way to Foni or Cassa, just to win the heart of a Sukuru Kunda daughter.Instead,he could visit any Sarahuleh marabout in Dippa Kunda to do that for him.And it wouldn't matter to the marabout if our this Jola friend is christian,moslem or a polytheist.That ,I think, is a most fascinating feature about the Islamic saffoos and nasoos!! On an entirely different note,I want to inform the Gunjurians, and maybe, little kartong as well, that Sukuru Kunda witnessed, for the first time this year, a very heavy downpour on Saturday night,a couple of hours before bedtime. As a result,I would want to start my dormant Sukuru Kunda Dutoo Business.For those of you out there from these sleepy little places who want to import the SWEETEST Dutoos (mangoes)! On this planet,please send in your applications as quickly as pissible. And note that the quantity is very limited !!!! And until I receive your applications……… Keep Up The Good Work Down There! Regards Basss! **************************************************************************** **************** Ylva WROTE:- usually "naso" is described in English as "Koranic inkwashes." Trimingham writes rather extensively about this in "Islam in West Africa." Also Schaeffer's ethnography of the Mandika (Mandinko: The Ethnography of a West African Holy Land). But now we need a Gambian perspective...Bassss, are you out there? :) Best, Ylva On Fri, 4 Jun 1999, Malanding S. Jaiteh wrote: >Folks, >I am very curious about the origins of two culturally important items in the Senegambia region. These are "NASO" and "SAFO" both Mandingka words. Safo being JUJU (English?) TE-RE (Wollof) and NASO is Saafara (Wollof). I do not know the English word for "naso". Are these items some form of Africanization of Islamic rituals or Islamization of the African culture? > >Malanding Jaiteh > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/arch ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------