304 On the Origin of the Egyptian ZarT
her hand to her neck as though she were cuttinc^ a throat with a knife ; her afrit^ required the sacrifice of a sheep. A tall withered negress with a sardonic expression seemed to act as stage manager. Suddenly the drums burst into the rhythm preferred by her spirit and she fell to the ground in a cataleptic fit, and another woman took, her place. An Egyptian Officer told me he had been taken to a ::dr when he was a small child and his description coincided with the above in all the principal features. The zdi' being an affair where women of many different families meet, men of the upper classes are not admitted. They hold them in great abhorrence as a source of continual annoyance and often of great expense, as apart from the ceremonial and fees to the Sheykhat the familiars often demand quantities of jewellery for their " hosts." The practice is not confined to negresses, slaves, and freed women ; on the contrary Egyptian women frequently believe themselves possessed, and more than one man has been known to divorce his wife because she has persisted in attending zdr. Though the celebrants profess to be Muslims and often make use of pious expressions throughout the ceremony, these customs have no religious sanction ; indeed, so great is .the Mohammedan feeling against them that the Ulema of the Ashar Mosque of Cairo have asked the assistance of the Government to suppress them.^
^ Afrit Ss, the ordinary word for an evil spirit, but one possessed would not use such a disrespectful teim for her familiar.
'Extract from Letter No. 10 of the Ulema of the Ashar University Mosque of Cairo to the Egyptian Ministry of the Interior, loth Shaaban, 1312 A. H. (Feb., 1895).
"The appearance among the Muslim public of unorthodox practices has resulted in the violation of the true Faith : their morality and ideas have suffered a set back and corruption has entered their character.
"It is commonly said that the cause of this is the negligence of the Ulema in failing to pronounce against these practices and to demand their prohibition, thereby leading the generality to believe them lawful in our religion.
"For this reason we have assembled on this date and decided to request the Government of H.H. the Khedive to forbid the unorthodox doings hereafter
