An NGO on Fanditha?
A friend informed me about a recent effort underway to form an NGO with the purpose of researching and documenting the practice of "fanditha" and "sihuru" in the Maldives. Their website Fanditha.com states that the intended goal for the NGO is to utilize the research efforts to document the use of fanditha/sihuru and publish findings as a video documentary. The fellows involved in it informed me that they intend on publishing books/articles as well.
Fanditha and sihuru are magic practices that invoke spirits and/or a "higher power" by performing various rituals as remedies to countless events people encounter in life. The events it is applicable for ranges from love problems, family issues, health ailments and even monetary difficulties. The rituals performed are aplenty as well - they vary from recitation of verses, use of a talisman/taweez (locally called a "thaweedh") and even communication with the so-called jinn.
Fanditha usually carries a positive connotation to it and is associated with healing. "Jinni avalun" (possession of individuals by Jinn) is an instance where fanditha is used to heal the afflicted individual via communication with the world of the Jinn. Senn had published sometime ago a video of a (real?) exorcism ritual in the Maldives and is available for download on his website.
Sihuru, in comparison, carries a negative connotation and is associated with evil and harm. The latter is considered to be demonic and its practice is publicly shunned upon. There even was the 1993 case of Ilyas Ibrahim (the President's Brother in Law) being officially charged with "the use of sihuru" to kill Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom (the President)!
I do not believe in either fanditha or sihuru but it is something that I have been intensely interested in for a long time. I am quite interested in getting my hands on the material the fanditha.com group gather, were they to actually go ahead and succeed with their goals. I hope they make a note to publish digitized copies of the books and papers they unearth in addition to their video documentary compilations. Attempting to debunk what the fanditha believers show as proof of its validity with logic and science would be a task I am most willing to undertake.
Fanditha and sihuru are magic practices that invoke spirits and/or a "higher power" by performing various rituals as remedies to countless events people encounter in life. The events it is applicable for ranges from love problems, family issues, health ailments and even monetary difficulties. The rituals performed are aplenty as well - they vary from recitation of verses, use of a talisman/taweez (locally called a "thaweedh") and even communication with the so-called jinn.
Fanditha usually carries a positive connotation to it and is associated with healing. "Jinni avalun" (possession of individuals by Jinn) is an instance where fanditha is used to heal the afflicted individual via communication with the world of the Jinn. Senn had published sometime ago a video of a (real?) exorcism ritual in the Maldives and is available for download on his website.
Sihuru, in comparison, carries a negative connotation and is associated with evil and harm. The latter is considered to be demonic and its practice is publicly shunned upon. There even was the 1993 case of Ilyas Ibrahim (the President's Brother in Law) being officially charged with "the use of sihuru" to kill Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom (the President)!
I do not believe in either fanditha or sihuru but it is something that I have been intensely interested in for a long time. I am quite interested in getting my hands on the material the fanditha.com group gather, were they to actually go ahead and succeed with their goals. I hope they make a note to publish digitized copies of the books and papers they unearth in addition to their video documentary compilations. Attempting to debunk what the fanditha believers show as proof of its validity with logic and science would be a task I am most willing to undertake.
