Unfolding Blessings; the Sudanese Hijab Unfolding Blessings; Hidden Texts, Witches and the Wicked, Love and Body Armour Setting the Scene Left, bands of richly tooled, leather-bound Hijab (plural; Hijbaat) drape the arm of a Sufi of the Qaadiriyyah order at the weekly Friday dhikr ceremony, at Hamed EL-Nil, Omdurman in 2017. These amulets, believed to be pre-Islamic, possibly Babylonian or Syrian in origin, bear holy writings, sacred names and astrological symbols and are still “prescribed to grant safe passage through life’s changes” for many Sudanese today. Interwoven within rituals that draw on rural medicine and herbology; mysticism, and folklore, they embody one of many expressions of Baraka, or benediction; blessings given by God and found in the person of holy figures, certain acts and “any phrase from an Islamic ceremony or prayer devotion which is believed to be infused with barakah and highly efficacious when retained on one’s person, either in the form of a memorized formula or an amulet…“ (Sanneh 1979:208), as quoted by Osman El-Tom (source below). For more on the Sufi dhikr of Hamid El-Nil, see The Eternal Dance Below, colonial photograph of a Beja tribesman wearing several Hijab. Many believe the term to come from the Arabic root for to veil or protect. Bestowing luck, protection and blessings, Hijabs may be worn discreetly under clothes or as above, joyfully centre stage, acknowledging their intrinsic visual appeal and the craftsmanship in their making. R G Anderson (see below), a colonial surgeon in the Egyptian Medical Corps, noted in 1909 that among those Kordofanis who couldn’t afford the true article, “false charms holding only small blocks of wood instead of writing are worn as a sign of respectability or prosperity and also with the view of hoodwinking not only seen but unseen neighbors.” Indeed, Hijab use has always been creatively interpreted by those who seek them and Anderson explores the more colorful, if not picaresque side of Hijab use in his article “Medical Practices and Superstitions among the People of Kordofan, their treatment of disease and the chief drugs, instruments and appliances in common use”, (source below) Below, another interpretation of barakah; a metal talisman with numbers and letters of mystical significance. Found in Omdurman market in the early 1980s. Personal collection. For more on the symbolic power of jewelry, see “A Necklace of Shells from Distant Seas…” Left, illustration of infant wearing Hijabs from Regional Folk Costumes of the Sudan, by Griselda El Tayib, p126. Abdullah El Tayib recounted “The fekki would be asked to write a small Hijab for the baby. This was called the hafizah or protector. The hafizah was written on Abu Shubbak paper and folded into a rectangular shape and then bound in leather with strings to hang from the baby’s neck on to its chest and abdomen. When this custom was not observed, there would be continual nagging from relatives and visitors. The fekki’s wife and women-folk would be the most critical. Sometimes, however, the parents would delay the hafizah until the child was due for weaning. This would be considered as cheating by the fekki. And he would point out that it was necessary to provide the child with two written amulets, a hafizah and a Hijab…” After remonstrating with the family, the fekki would say “ a curse on you, hypocrites”, and he would write a big amulet which was folded inside a leather cover of cylindrical shape and grumble that the child had been cheated of his hafizah”. El-Tom recounts in 1980s that the cost of a Hijab ranged from one to ten pounds – a not inconsiderable sum, depending on the type of Hijab the status of the healer and his relationship to the client, the financial situation of both, the time of consultation ….(Berti Qur’anic Amulets). Anderson d