Oh dear... UAE reinforces Oman's reputation for Voodoo... But zombie numbers under control in Bahla, thanks to ROP

As one travels through the GCC, it is not unusual occasionally for the locals to comment, when hearing where you live, 'Oh, Oman, that's voodoo country'.

No, really. They do. ((if you don't believe me, check out Muscat-based blogger Suburban on the same issue)

It's a side effect of the East African fear that Oman represents, combined with a much older and deeper pre-Islamic culture being long established in Oman compared to the 100% 'desert states' of the Gulf. For the many many thousands of years Oman has been populated, pagan rituals were common, like everywhere I guess. (and there are still tales of jijn told today when exploring in the amazing wadis of Oman, fair enough).

That is pretty much rubbish today, obviously. But the downside of a freer press in the UAE means they are not above a poke at old Oman, their country cousins. See the report in The National.

Good news in the report though.

According to the super reliable local ex-tour guide Mr Suroor (hint: Age 82), the number of zombies in Bahla is well down in the past few years, what with modern developments reducing the number of local farms (a big natural habitat for Omani zombies, nats)...

No, really.

Mr Suroor said that some of the isolated farms behind the barren, jagged mountains nearby were turned into slave labour camps. Some of them were people who had disappeared from their homes in mysterious circumstances and turned into zombies to work as slaves in the remote farms. With fewer farms and more modern houses being built in their place, the number of zombie workers has been on the decline in the last 20 years, thanks also to police efforts and a change of attitude in the new generation of the local people, he added.

Saleh, come on. You can do better. Where's the Michael Jackson tie in? Halloween? At least get a photo of the zombies man! Now THAT would be a story! Or ask the local police if they can share their zombie busting secrets with the rest of us. I had meetings with several today, for example.

Maybe there is scope for a GCC National Enquirer after all. But I expected better from The National's editors.


Photo: Bahla Farm workers: According to The National.

The National: World News: Oman:

The healing benefits of a witch’s brew
Saleh al Shaibany, Foreign Correspondent

BAHLA // The ancient fort, built before the dawn of Islam, stands vigilant in the middle of the modern part of Bahla, a town famed for its witchcraft and whose reputation extends to the rest of the Gulf and as far as Oman’s former colonies in east Africa.

Wealthy families from the region travel regularly to Bahla seeking witch doctors’ counselling for their problems, which can range from divorce to inheritance.

According to local tradition, the origin of witchcraft in Bahla started with the murder of a local dignitary who was killed by villagers for practising wizardry in the town about 1,400 years ago. The fort was later built on top of his grave to prevent his followers from turning it into a shrine. His spirit then started to appear in the town and it was reported later that he was tutoring youngsters in wizardry at the citadel’s courtyard in the dead of night.

“I am not sure about the story but I know for a fact that people from different parts of the country come here to seek consultations with witch doctors,” Hamood Suroor, the 82-year-old retired guard of the fort, said.

“It ranges from people wanting revenge, pay rises, casting and the removal of evil spells and money matters.”

Mr Suroor said local witch doctors were average people you could see around Bahla’s streets and included traders in the markets, farmers and even civil servants.


“They are also your everyday people and known to all but they possess special powers. They talk to the spirits to get the answers they are looking for in order to cast their spells,” Mr Suroor said.

The witch doctor Khalfan Ismail, 52, was asked to remove an evil spirit from a 26-year old woman that had been preventing her from getting married. Before the ritual could take place, Mr Ismail wanted a pregnant black goat to be slaughtered in the courtyard of his house and the carcass to be offered as a sacrifice to the friendly spirits.

After the slaughter, the woman, clad in black from head to toe, was escorted by her parents into a semi-dark consultation chamber at the back of Mr Ismail’s house. A thick grey smoke from an incense burner floated to the ceiling, creating a screen that divided the room. The woman and her parents walked through the smoke screen to enter the other side of the chamber.

Mr Ismail, sitting on the floor in a corner of the chamber, dropped chunks of frankincense into the incense burner. He mumbled incoherent words as the woman sat down opposite him, flanked by her parents. Seconds later, she dropped her head, her chin touching her chest and began to rock sideways. First gently, but then the movement of her upper body gathered speed as the mumbling from the witch doctor grew louder. Less than a minute later, a single beastly growl coming from the woman was followed by bouts of gasps. The woman sprang to her feet and almost immediately collapsed on the floor in a heap, too quick for her parents to cushion the fall.

The woman was still gasping as she lay down. The witch doctor left the chamber taking the incense burner with him. He came back to open the curtains and let in the sunlight. He assured her parents that the evil spirit had already departed their daughter’s body. She would also find a suitor soon to marry her now that she was free from the shackles of the devil. He explained later the significance of the smoke screen that divided the room. The possessed woman needed to enter the “safe zone” to force the spirit out.

What method had Mr Ismail used to remove the spirit?

“I made contact with the friendly spirits to remove the bad one. The mumbling was part of the ritual to seek their help. The growl was the pain of the bad spirit as he was leaving her body. Of course, it does not always work. The friendly spirits may not co-operate. It also depends on the skills of the witch doctor,” he said.

Mr Suroor said that some of the isolated farms behind the barren, jagged mountains nearby were turned into slave labour camps. Some of them were people who had disappeared from their homes in mysterious circumstances and turned into zombies to work as slaves in the remote farms. With fewer farms and more modern houses being built in their place, the number of zombie workers has been on the decline in the last 20 years, thanks also to police efforts and a change of attitude in the new generation of the local people, he added.

“Witch doctors are still much sought after in Bahla for people who want a shortcut in life. We have wealthy businessmen from the Gulf coming here to take revenge on their competition by casting spells on them or men who want to marry women who rejected them,” Mr Suroor said.

Some of the old demands may be on the decline, like ordering the death of an enemy through spiritual power, but requests of love potions, business prosperity and office promotions are on the rise. These lesser demands keep witch doctors in business in Bahla.

Witch doctors are paid nominal fees for their services, ranging from a mere 20 rials to 100 rials (Dh191 to Dh955) a session. Mr Suroor said that it was the respect and attention that witch doctors receive that keeps them practising, not wealth. Some of them are wealthy in their own right, from the private businesses they run.

“You can still see loose spirits wandering aimlessly in and out of the Bahla Fort, even now, during the night. You can tell that they are no ordinary people because they have no shadows,” Salim Ghailan, a post office worker said.

Mr Ghailan said normally people did not go close to the fort in the night but his car had suffered a puncture and he had been forced to stop within a hundred metres from the old citadel.