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This is to certify that the

thesis entitled
Baytin: A Jordanian Village

A Study of Social Institutions and Social Change
in a Folk Community

presented by
Abdulla M. Lutfiyya

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

Ph.D. degree in Social Science

 
     

Major p ofessor

Due 13 November2 1961

 

0-169

  
 

  
 
 

LIBRARY

Michigan State
University

r

 

Abstract Abdulla M. Lutfiyya

31min, A JORDLNIAN VILLAGE

‘A STUDY OF SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN A FOLK SOCIETY

The villages of Jordan may be divided into three types based on
differences in social structure and on the experienced degree of
cultural change. These three types are the Tranejordanian village, the
Phlestinian village, and the Frontier type village. This study deals
'with Baytln, a village of the Palestinian type located about thirteen
miles northeast of Jerusalem, in the administrative subdistrict of
Ramallah.

In the beginning an attempt was made to examine the village culture
from.a distance. This method proved unsatisfactory for several reasons
including the tendency of the student to resort to stereotypes and other
oversimplifications. For the student who is writing about an area with
which he was once familiar, there is a possibility of overlooking how
much has been forgotten or how much things have changed. For the one
who has moved into a new culture, there is an additional danger. He must
be aware of how his sense of values has changed, and that he is looking
at his native culture with a bi-cultural focus. To minimize the effect-
ivness of these obstacles a field trip was undertaken in the summer of
1960 before the writing of this study was completed. Thus, the findings
incorporated here are, to a large degree, based upon information gathered
from informal conversations with the villagers, and from direct observ-

ation and participation in the village culture.

 

 

-2-

.Abstract Abdulla M. Lutfiyya

The village community under study is small with a population of
fewer than one thousand. Many of the inhabitants are culturally isolated
and nonliterate. They are homogeneous in race and custom, ethnocentric,
and possess a high degree of group solidarity. Group relationships
among them.are mainly primary, and the patterns of conduct form a
single web of interrelated meanings. Behavior is traditional and
uncritical.

Familial and religious sanctions firmly govern behavior. The
family plays an important role in social instiutions and in condition-
.ing one's outlook and conduct. Piety is strongly emphasized and re-
ligious rituals and ceremonies are highly developed. The villagers
possess simple technology and utilize simple tools. There is little
specialization of labor among them, and any division of labor which
does exist is based largely upon the different roles played by the
sexes within the social structure of the community. The institution
of government found in the village is oligarchal and authority is
superimposed.

In recent years however, this village community has begun to
experience a considerable degree of cultural change. This has been
the result of contact with the outside Western world achieved through
emigration and secular education. "westerners," or those villagers
who have come under the spell of'Western culture, have been largely
responsible for the socio-economic changes in the village. As a

result of their actions a money economy replaced the barter system

 

 

 

 

 

——_ A—,_~u_ '_..a

.Abstract Abdulla M. Lutfiyya

used previously, a secular system of education for boys—~and to a
lesser degree for girls-- has been developed, a modified dating system
has evolved among the young people of the village, and women slowly
but surely are emerging from.their traditional subservient position
as equals of'men. Finally, familial dependency is being replaced by
individualism, the conjugal family unit is receiving its independence
from.the extended kin group, and religious conditioning is giving way
to newly developing secular and wordly attitudes.

Professor Robert Redfield developed a conceptual framework of
reference in which he defines all societies and cultures in terms of
certain ideal polar types--urban and nonurban or folk societies. By
applying this device to the village under study it was foundthat
Baytin belongs closer to the nonurban end'of the scale and mAy be

characterized as a folk society.

 

 

 

 

 

BAYTIN, A JORDANIAN VILLAGE

A STUDY OF SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN A FOLK SOCIETY

by

ABDULLA u. LUTFIYYA

A T-IS

Submitted to
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

In partial fulfillment of the requirements
’ for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

DIVISION OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

1961

 

 

 

 

 

COpyrighted
by
Abdulla MUhammed Lutfiyya
1962

 

 

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to acknowledge a deep debt of gratitude to
his guidance committee for their continued interest, provocative
commentary and constructive criticism through the months of re-
search to the completion of this thesis. These members were Drs.
Arthur E..Adams, Harry E. Ximber, Bruce Smith and John Useem,
Chairman.

Also an acknowledgement of indebtedness is due my generous
friend and colleague Professor George A. Billias cf the University
of Maine who read the entire manuscript and was especially helpful
in matters of literary style.

To my family I owe a great deal. my children have endured
much. my wife has been a major source of encouragement and
devotion. She created a cheerful environment to make my task
lighter, and made sacrifices above and beyond those required in
most marriages so that this work might be completed.

 

 

 

 

 

Baytin: A Jordanian Village

A Study of Social Institutions and Social Change in a Folk Community

Table of Contents

 

Note on Transliteration -----------------------------------------

I. The Nature of This Study--- ------------------------------- 1
II. The Community ------------------------ - -------------------- 11
III. Islam.and Village Culture --------------------------------- 39
IV. Pbpular Religion and Rituals ---------------------------- -- 67
V. Government and Politics ------------- - -------------------- «— 92
VI. Settlement of Disputes ------------------------------- a---- 110
VII. Making a Living------------------------b ------------------ 122
VIII. lhrriage Customs ------------------------------------------ 160
'11. Family Structure-—--—--------------------é ---------------- 178
I. Conclusion--------—---------—----------—-----------L ----- 214
Glossary ------- - ------------------------------------------------ ZLO

Bibliography- --------------------------------------------------- 256

Note on Transliteration

The following system has been followed in transliterating all the

Arabic words used in this work.

b LLJ As in English.

t LIJ As in English.

Eh L2,! As "th" in three.

3 i 23- As English "3" in "jam”.

h 12:; Like a strongly whispered "h".
£11 8 A scraped guttural "h".

d Q As in English.

th ,3 As "th" in "therefi.

r ~rJ As in English.

-2 ——J As in English.

6 L'f:’ As in English.

sh (“)" As English "sh".

p w A thickened "s".

d. U” A thickened "d".

t -v29 A thickened "t", as in English "tar".
g f A thickened "th'" as in "there".
3 a:;' A harsh guttural intonation.

gh & Like the rolled "r" in French, but deeper.
f ¢—5 As in English.

q (_5 A thickened "k".

k Q As in English.

 

L) As in English.

m r, As in English.
U As in English.
8

As in English but never silent.

Vowels and Diphthcngs

 

1. short vowels

a I (fat h) As in English.

1 (kasrah) As in English.
1'

u 9 (gammah) As in English.

2. long vowels

3 [ Long ”a".
I (Q; Long "i".'
E ‘_19 Long "u".

3. diphthongs

/
aw ‘J7 Pronounced as "owl in "how".
. / .
ay L1; As English "y" in ”why".

The definite article is rendered by 'al-'. The assimilation of
the '1” to a following "d”, "n”, "r”, 's", 't', or '2” has been neglected.
The shaddah (“0 is indicated by a double consonant, e.g., 'iyya'.
Proper names are spelled according to Jordanian Arabic pronunciation.
Standardized English spellings are retained for well-known place names,
e.g., Jerusalem.and Amman.
Sayings are quoted in the colloquial Arabic used in the village.

 

 

 

 

Chdpter I

The Nature of This Study

‘ The study of village life in various parts of the world has
aroused great interest in the last few decades. (This is particu~
larly true of the underdeveloped areas of the world where the ma-
jority of the people live in village communities) The Arabic
Mflddle East, being one of these regions, has not escaped the at-
tention of researchers. There are a number of recent studies
dealing with one phase or another of village life in this area.1

Increased interest in Arabic village life has boon motivat-
ed by a number of the following factors: (1) greater interest on
the part of the world's leading nations in the economics, politics,
social life and welfare of the peoples of the Nflddle East: (2) a
growing awareness among many” observers that the villagers-«who
constitute from.two-thirds to three-fourths of the total popula-

tion-—are a potent.pclitica1-and social.force to be reckoned with

1Though this is by no means an allLinclusive list, the
'fcllowing studies published recently show the increased interest
in the village life in the Middle Easta, Hamed Ammar, Growing up
in an Egyptian Villages Silwa, Province of Aswan (Londbns Routledge
and Kegan Paul, 1954): Henry Habib Ayrout, The Fellaheen trans. by
Hilary'Waymont (Cairo: R. Shindler, 1945)3‘Hilma Granqvist, Birth
and Childhood Among the Arabs: S'tudies in a Mhhammedan Village in
PalestineVZHelsingfers: Sederstrom, 1947): John Gulick, Conservatism
and Change in a Lebanese Villag'e" , The Middle East Journal, VIII
(1954), no. 3, 295-307, Mhhmut Makal, fl Village in Anatolia, trans.
from.Turkish by Sir wyndham Deeds, and ed. by Paul—Stirling (London:
Valentine, 1954); Afif Tannous, "The Village in the National Life
of nobanon" , The Middle East Journal, III (1949), no. 2,151-163.
See also Lyman H. Coult, Jr., An *Annotated Biblioggaphy of the
__gyptian 'Fellah (Coral Gables, Florida: University of Miamifi Press,
1958).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.“)
_ x

l'.’
,«l‘

 

 

 

 

—2.

in the future: (3) the desire of many scholars to study the impact
of‘lestern thought and technology on the region; (4) the creation
of educational programs to help‘lestern students study various as-
pects of Middle East society and culture: and (5) the recent devel-
opment of graduate programs and research centers in Middle East
universities and colleges.

The studies published thus far about the Mflddle East village
life fall into one of’two general categories. .One set of studies
deals in very general terms with the scale-economic aspect of
village life in this area and provides little in the way of spe-
cific information. Other studies go to the opposite extreme and
devote all their attention to particular topics without relating
their subjects tc.Arabic village life in general. ,Fbw’Arabic
villages have been studied on an individual basis: less than ten

2
such studies have been published thus far.

The Jordanian village: An area for research

or the few studies in print, only few deal in part or in
whole with village life in Jordan. These include the volume by
E. Grand entitled The Peasantry of.Palestine (Boston: Iilgrim
Press, 1907)! the twcdvolume study by Hilma Granqvist on marriage
Conditions in a Palestinian Villagg, 2 vols. (Helsingfors: Societas
Scientiarum Fennica, 1931): and Marian Zarcur's article, "Ramallahz

2 . .
Raphael Patai, ed., Jordan (New Haven, Conn.: Human
Relations Area Files, 1957), p. 234. ‘

 

 

 

 

My Home Town,” in the Middle East Journal (Iinter, 1953), VII,

 

430-39. Finally, there is the highly interpretive work by Dr.
.Afif Tannous, ”The.Arab Village Community of the Middle Bast,“

published in the Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the

 

Smithsonian Institution, 194$ (Ihshingtcn, D.C., 1944). The last
author, as the title implies, tries to find what the Arab village
communities in the area have in oommon-especia11y these villages
located in Lebanon, Syria (U.A.R.), and Pulestine (lestern Jordan).

The brevity of this bibliography suggests that considerable
study of Jordanian village life remains to be done. Indeed, after
examining the literature available on Jordan as a whole, a group
of American scholars headed by Professor Raphael Patai, an author-
ity on Jordan, were forced to conclude:

Sources on Jordan include a number of generalized eco-
nomic and demographic surveys. These contain indispensable
information, yet for the most part, it is necessary to ex-
trapolate from them to reach any conclusions regarding village
organisation. There is also a very siseable body of liter-
ature, extending back into the nineteenth century, which is
concerned with what might be labeled ”manners and customs of
the unchanged and unchanging Holy Land”. There is much de—
tailed descriptive material here, but very little of it is
of any use in a study of village organization. The scholars
involved were almost invariably interested in discovering
contemporary evidence of Biblical behavior, and they con-
centrated their efforts on describing rituals, festivals,
and occasionally, economic activities. Analysis rarely goes
beyound citing apparent Biblical parallels. It is worthy ef
note, however, that one intensive village monograph from
Jordan (lest Jordan) was an outgrowth of the original inter-
est ef the author (Granqvist) in searching for Biblical
parallels.

5

-4-

The village continues to play a dominant role in the national
life of Jordan. Half of the country's total population lives in
villages of less than 3,000 inhabitants.‘ The growth in Jordan's
urban population in recent years has been caused by the migration
of villagers to cities and towns. The village contributes the
greatest portion of the nation's labor force and a very high per-
centage of the country's armed forces. The nation's economy roots
to a large degree upon the village; it is here that the population
produces these crops upon which Jordan depends.

From.a sociological point of view, Jordanian villages can be
divided primarily into three types: the Trans-Jordanian village:
the Phlestinian village; and the Front-Line village. .

The Trans-Jordanian villages include the great majority of
the communities located in that part of the nation east of the
Jordan Valley. This area was formerly known as Trans-Jordan, and

is now commonly called 'al-Diffah al-Sharqiyyah,' or “The last

 

Bank". The villages in this region probably did not begin to take
their present form until after the Arab conquest in the seventh
century. Most, if not all, of the inhabitants believe that they
can still trace their ancestry back to the nomadic tribes that
once roamed or are still roaming the area. The village organisa-

tion in these communities is by and large, a tribal organisation.

 

4 ,

Phul G. fhillips, The Hashemite Kin dcm.of Jordan:
Prolegomena to a Technical Assistance FFogram.(Chioagos The
University of Shicago, 1964), p. 71.

1v
"’1‘
VH1"

 

 

 

 

Many of the people are still seminomadic and leadership is acquir-
ed on a tribal basis.

The Palestinian villages encompass those communities located
west of the Jordan Valley-othe area of former Palestine which was
annexed to Trans-Jordan in April 1950. This area is generally ‘

called "al-Diffah al-Gha-rbiyyah,‘ or “The Iestern Bank". The

 

Palestinian villages have been in existence for much longer than
the Trans-Jordanian villages. The inhabitants of Palestinian
villages have divorced themselves, to a large degree, from trib-
alism and nomadic life. They have been permanently settled in
their villages for some time and their primary occupation is land
cultivation. They have been in contact with and influenced by
I‘estern culture and technology.

The Front-Line village, or "Qurt al-hudfid', is composed of
Palestinian villages situated along the Armistice Line separat-
ing Israel from Jordan. Most of the land owned by the inhabit-
ants of these villages has been occupied and claimed by the
Israeli. Dispcs sessed of their lands, not of these villagers
have suffered oxtrem, poverty and have not received any aid from
the United Nations as refugees. Located close to an area where
fighting erupts on occasions, these villagers have found it nec-
essary to make certain cultural changes and to reorganize the

structure of community life.5

50f. Phillips, pp. 80-83.

 

 

 

 

-6-

Each of these three village typos has its own peculiar char-
acteristics, and each, therefore, should be studied separately.
Accordingly, this present work will be devoted to the study of a

particular village only-one which is of the ”Phlestinian' type.

Methodology

The author began this study in the summer of 1956 by reviewb
ing the literature available on the Arabic culture, Arabic village
life and the peasantry of the Middle East. Using the methods of
the social sciences, the author developed a conceptual scheme to
examine qutin, the Jordanian village in which.he was born and
spent the first twenty years of his life. He began to gather and
arrange the data acquired from recollections based on personal
observations, contact with fellow villagers in the United States,
and letters received over a period of eleven years from persons
in the village under study.

Examining a culture from.a distance is a device used by many
social science students. Such a device has its pitfalls, however.
The student is apt to resort to stereotypes and )ther over-
simplifications. For those who have'written about regions with
which they were once familiar, there is a tendency to overlook
how'much has been fbrgotten or how things have changed. For the
student who has moved into a new culture, there is an additional
danger. He must be aware of how his sense of values has changed,
and that he is looking at his native culture with a bi-cultural

fOOUBo

‘\

Realizing many of these factors, the author decided to return
to Jordan on a field trip before completing the writing of this
study. Three months were spent in Baytin, the village under study,
during the summer of 1960.

Arriving in his native village, the author prepared to make
informal inquiries of the Baytfn inhabitants regarding their atti-
tudes toward‘religicus, economic, political and social institutions.
First it was necessary to regain the confidence of the villagers.
This proved difficult for a number of reasons. Some of the ques—

tions asked were of a personal nature, and many villagers declined
to answer because they considered the queries a violation of their
privacy. But a more fundamental reason for the reticence of the
residents stemmed from the fact that presenteday Jordan is a police
state. SuSpicious villagers were reluctant to place their trust
and confidence in one who was only visiting. "There are many spies,"
said one man to the author, "and who can tell who is a spy and who
is not?" He went on to add, "One has to be very careful'these days.,
Even some members of one's family cannot be trusted." The fact
that the author was a naturalized American citizen compounded the
difficulty. Americans are especially mistrusted by the Jordanians
because of the support the United States has given the regime of
King Eusain and are held responsible, in part, for the continued
existence of the government in power.

To overcome these fears the author spent many hours in close

association with the villagers. He visited the local coffee houses

 

WW?

 

 

to converse frequently with the residents. A special effort was
made to renew old friendships and to add new ones. In addition,
many gifts were given to groups and individuals in order to get
back into the good graces of the villagers.

Despite these efforts some villagers remained wary and shied
away from any questions put to them. They appeared more willing
to provide information about others than to talk about themselves.
Quite often they evaded questions by answering in very general terms.

But in the main, many villagers were cooperative and willingly
answered questions put to them. They provided valuable and detailed
information relating to politics, economics, religion and social
behavior. To a large degree, this study is based upon information
gathered in such fashion, and from direct observation and partici-
pation in the village culture.

Because this field trip was of short duration, only tentative
conclusions can be drawn. Given a longer period of time in the
field, and a greater investigation in depth, these conclusions
might be reinforced or changed to some degree.

It should be noted that this is a specialised study pertain-
ing to a specific Jordanian village of the ”Palestinian type“. The
choice of this community was an arbitrary one, motivated only by
the author's familiarity with the place and its people.

It should be emphasised that the village under study is a
typical community of its type. The organizational structure and

culture does not differ substantially from other Phlestinian villages.

-9-

Many of the generalizations made here could apply as well to some
degree to other Arab village communities in the Middle East. V11-
lages, however, like people, possess their own peculiar character-
istics, so some allowances should be made for Baytfn's idiosyncrasies.

Village culture in Baytin has been conditioned to a large de-
gree by religion. It will be demonstrated in this study that Islam--
the religion of all the people in BaytIn-dwas the major underlying
ideological force that shaped the form and the character of the
basic institutions of the community. One should, however, remember
that in a folk community, such as the one under study, the funda-
mental teachings of the faith are often mixed with, and influenced
by, local myths, customm, emotional experiences and misinterpreta-
tions. In this manner a formal religion was reshaped as a popular
religion. In the eyes of the folk group this popular religion is
the true religion and it plays a substantial role in conditioning
the behavior patterns of the villagers.

The village community of Baytin is also conditioned by the
kinship patterns of its members, strong family ties, and a sense
of continuity gained from the respect accorded to ancestors and to
the elderly members of the community. The villagers are tradition-
criented and shame-oriented. They are the carriers of’a local
culture that maintains its continuity through folklore and folk-
ways.

In organizing his research, the author used a topical approach.

From the mass of information gathered through informal interviews,

~10-

direct observation, and residence in the village, the various as-
pects of the community life have been reconstructed under the fol-
lowing headingss the community: Islam.and the village culture;
popular religion and rituals; government and politics; settlement
of disputes: making a living; marriage customs; and family struc-
ture.

An attempt has been made to present the existing patterns
of behavior and thought in regard to the major social institutions
prevalent in the community under study. Two social modalities--
those that deviate extremely or that meet a minimum.degree of
acceptance, and those behavior patterns that are idealized--have
been excluded from.this study unless otherwise indicated. The

study is descriptive as well as analytical in nature.

 

was?

 

 

-11-

Chapter II

THE COMMUNITY

About four miles northeast of the town of Ramallah, the seat
of Ramallah Sub-District in central Palestine, lies the small vil-
lage of Baytfn. The old village is located on the slope of a hill
overlooking a relatively fertile valley planted with fig trees.
On the slopes opposite the village, one can 8so the terraced or-
chards of apricots, apples, plums and grapes scattered in every
direction. Beyond the orchards stretch the open fields which are.
'used as grazing and farming lands. On top of a hill situated to
the east of the village stands the white stone schoolhouse which
has been there for about forty years. The school is somewhat iso-
lated, being located about a mile from.the center of the village,
‘which makes it a little more than two miles from the house lying

farthest out on the west side of Baytin.

TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION

Two paved highways pass through the village. The first runs
from south to north and passes through the western fringes of the
village, connecting the district seat with the northern villages.
The second highway branches off the first at the entrance to the
village and runs eastward through the southern fringes, leading to

the villages of Dair Dibwan and Burqa, which are located in the

_fi

114E311? g

 

 

 

--12—

easternmost reaches of Ramallah District.

Two local bus lines connect the village with Ramallah as well
QS‘With the city of Jerusalem.(al—Quds). One line originates in
the Christian village of‘Tayba, some twenty miles to the north,
and ends in Jerusalem. This line runs two buses daily. The first
bus passes by Baytin around seven o'clock in the morning and is
followed by'a second half an hour to an hour later. The first bus
normally returns around noon; the second does not sake a return trip
until much later in the afternoon. The other bus line runs a single
bus, between Dair Dibwan and Ramallah, and it passes through Baytin
around 7:30 in the morning and again on its way back to Dair Dibwan
about noon time. This bus makes additional trips if additional
passengers are available.

Other means of transportation are also available. Taxi cabs
from the town of Ramallah are always ready to convey people back
and forth for a reasonable fare. Several villagers, with the per-
mission and aid of the taxi driver, often get together and share in
paying a single fare, thereby reducing the amount each has to pay
to a sum.comparable to that charged by buses. Some villagers still
walk the distance or ride horses or donkeys.

Concerning communicattan with the outside world, Baytin has no
telephone service and no electricity; nevertheless, several battery
radios are available. Two such radios have been placed in coffee
shops and are accessible to the patrons of these establishments.

The two national newspapers, Falastin and al-Difas, are brought

daily to the village by individuals who have travelled to Ramallah
or Jerusalem. Groups of men gather around those who are literate,
and the news is read and dismssod. Newspapers change hands may
times in the course of a day. Anyone who buys a newspaper is ex-
pected to pass it on to saloons else after he has finished reading
it. In this way the villagers are able to keep in touch with the

affairs of the world.

PHYSICAL STRUCTURE

Baytin is split into two distinctly different sections. Any-
one approaching the village from the west is amazed by the fine,
modern houses he encounters along the highways. The yards and
flower beds around the houses are well kept. The doors and win-
dows of the stone homes are neatly painted and this section of
the village in general locks clean and inviting.

[any of the inhabitants, especially the men, are dressed in
western clothing. Indeed, if one converses with the inhabitants
of this sector of the village he quickly discovers that most of
the men can speak English. This part at Baytin 1. called Hayy
al-Amirk‘n, or the American quarter. Almost every house in this
area is owned by a family which has at least one member living in
the United States, a number who has been successful in business
and Ins sent money for the building of a family home or one who

has himself returned to build a home.

 

 

 

The rest of the village is located to the east and northeast
of Hayy al-Amirkin, and most of its inhabitants have had little
contact with Western culture. Here the houses are older and lack
the architectural touches seen in the Americanized sector. Many
of the houses are built of mud or made of rough stones. 'lindows
in these homes are few and normally are very small in size, so
that the light and ventilation are poor. Most of the houses have
not been painted for years. The streets are mostly muddy and dirty
and none are paved. ‘lestern attire is less in use here, and the
same holds true for the English language.

One of the striking characteristics of the eastern sector of
the village is the large number of domesticated animals. They roam
in the walled courtyards or wander along the crooked and narrow al-
leys. These animals normally occupy the unfinished basement or the
lower story of the house called qE§_al-bayt, while the people live
and sleep in the area above. The two stories are connected by an
open stairway. Villagers prefer to have their animals share the
same house because they can thus watch their beasts and because the
animals provide much warmth during the cold winters. ‘lhen the
weather becomes warm, the beasts are turned loose and are allowed
to sleep outside in the courtyard, and one or more men sleep out-
side to protect them.

In the center of this older sector of the village lies the
£13, or what amounts to the town square in tiny American communi-

ties. The saha is a wide empty area with rocks and stones scattered

-15-

in every direction. This is a market place of the village and, to
a degree, the center of many other activities. Here, on a rough
stone in the shade of one of the walls bordering on the 332:, one
may find an old peddler sitting with his merchandise in front of
him, or it could be a cobbler’mending some shoes. Either man is
apt to be surrounded by villagers who have come to the _s_a_h_a_ to
trade or to socialize. Subjects for discussion in such social
gatherings vary from the prices of radishes to the success of some
villager who has gone to America or even to what is taking place
in the united Nations that week.

Around the _s_a_h_a_ one finds the three dukkins (miniature gen-
eral stores) of the village. Each is composed of a small room
filled with shelves, cupboards and drawers packed with merchandise
ranging from.razor blades and needles to wheat, barley seeds and
cotton cloth. Between the counter and the front door one is apt
to see a scene familiar to the rural general stores found in
America. In each £25552, sitting on sacks full of seeds or empty
wooden boxes, or perhaps standing in a corner, are groups of men
who may be engaged in conversation or looking over the shoulders
of some card players. In the afternoon when the sun is not so
hot, if there is some shade and a cool breeze blowing outside,
the crowd moves to the street in front of the store. Only when
the SEEEEE is closed do the men finally go home to eat supper.

Three of the six madifas (hospitality houses) were once lo-

cated in this sector of the village. Such madifas'were used in

.16-

the past as public clubs. Here the villagers met to drink coffee,
to socialize, and to entertain guests or strangers passing through
the community. Strangers were offered food and shelter free of
charge. The members of the madafa took turns in providing food
and bedding for guests, and each contributed his share to provide
free coffee three times a day for all present. Club members also
hired someone to prepare the coffee, clean the madafa and attend
to the needs of the guests.

All the six.nmd5fas in Baytin have been closed since 1949
and have been replaced by coffee shops run as regular business
establishments. The disappearance of the madifas was caused by
two factors. The flood of refugees from the western part of
Palestine made such an open~handed policy of hospitality impossible.
Mbreover, many of the refugees came from areas which were more ur-
banized, so they were less accustomed to free hospitality and ex-
pected to pay for services they received. .Also because their social
and economic background was different, they were unwilling to con- '
tribute toward the maintenance of the madEfas.

There are two coffee shops in Baytin. Both are Operated as
partnerships and owned by men from the village. One was built
along the paved highway which connects the eastern villages of
Dair Dibwa'n and Burqa with the district seat. Ithas a shady yard
which is pepular during the sunny days of spring, summer, and fall.
It also has an inside hall which may be used year round. There is

a partition separating the hall from.the little corner where coffee

-1 7..

and other drinks are prepared. The second shop is located inside
the village. An addition was made to one of the dukkins especially
for the purpose of accommodating the shop.

The coffee shop is a most significant institution; it was re-
sponsiblo for the breakdown of two major social traditions. In the
first place it reduced to some degree the feeling of solidarity
among the members of particular hamulas (clans) or Si'ilas (sub-
clans). In the shop men from.different hamfilas came to socialize
on equal footing, whereas in the madifas only the members of cer-
tain kinships met together, all others being looked upon as strangers
or treated as guests. Secondly, the coffee shop helped to personalize
hospitality. No longer does the community recognize all outsiders
as guests to be provided for at the expense of those who belong to
the 35252:. Outsiders now are looked upon either as guests of a
specific person or as guests of no one at all. In the coffee shop
everyone is expertod to pay for the drink he orders, regardless of
whether he is a native of the village or a stranger travelling
through the area.

The disappearance of the madifa has created a problem.for
strangers visiting the community. Uhless such visitors know some-
one in the village it is impossible for them.to get food and shelter.
The villagers have not yet adopted the practice of selling meals to
strangers or of offering lodging for a fee. 4A hungry stranger stop-
ping at a house and offering to pay for a meal or a room would be

treated with contempt and looked upon as'a beggar. It is possible,

however, that in the near future restaurants and inns may be set up
to meet these needs.

The mosque is located across the street from the first coffee
shop. From its appearance one can readily guess that is is seldom
used. Both the interior and the exterior of the mosque are sadly
in need of repair. The deterioration of the Baytin mosque is symp
bolic of the decline of formalized religion in this village.

The mosque consists of but one large, empty room and has no re—
ligious ornaments or decorations. The villagers use it for prayer
only twice a year instead of five times a day as do devout Mhslims.
The two days when the mosque in Baytin is used are Sid al-Fitr, the
day suceeding the fast month of Ramadan, and Sid al-Adha, the holiday
of sacrifice, commemorating the day in which Abraham was about to
sacrifice his son Ismael in accordance with a heavenly command.1 Once
in a great while the spirit of revivalism strikes the villagers. Then
they clean the mosque and use it Ibr prayers nmze frequently, but such
an episode lasts only for a few weeks, after which it fades away and
the mosque is left in its usual unkempt condition.

During the hot summer months, the wellashaded yard outside the
mosque is a favorite spot for scores of villagers who gather to play
cards, checkers, and Eiii’ a native game similar to checkers. Al-
though pcor strangers passing through the village often seek shelter

1Note the Muslim belief that Abraham was asked to sacrifice
his son Ishmael, whom Muslims consider to be the ultimate ancestor of

all Arabs, while in the Judaeo-Christian tradition it is believed
that Isaac was the son about to be sacrificed.

 

 

 

 

-19-

inside the mosque for a night or two, especially during the winter,
villagers stay away from it at night because it is rumored that the
building is inhabited by spirits (j_in_n_).2

If the inhabitants of Baytin pay little attention to their
mosque, they pay a great deal of attention to their school. The
villagers are proud of their school and eagerly volunteer the infor-
mation that it is one of the oldest government schools in the area.
How Baytin came to have such a school, years sooner than some of the
larger neighboring villages, was told to the author by a man who was

himself instrumental in the development:

One summer afternoon the District Governor who was an
Englishman and who spoke no Arabic, came to visit the village
and brought an interpreter with him. we all met him at Dir
3Abdulh€fiz's madifa. He asked many questions and we answered
them. The interpreter was not very careful when translating
our answers into English. This made me shake my head in dis-
agreement constantly, and at one time I was not able to check
myself, but told the interpreter in Arabic that he was not
conveying our wishes to the governor correctly. The governor
noticed my unhappiness and asked the interpreter what was both-
ering me. The interpreter replied that I was unhappy with the
way he translated our thoughts into English. The governor
then told the interpreter to ask me how I knew his was an in-
competent translation when I did not even understand the lan-
guage. When I heard his conment I did not wait for the inter-
preter to ask me but answered the governor directly by saying,
"But I do speak English, Your Honor! I lived in the United
States for more than ten years." The governor was delighted
to discover this, and from that point on he began addressing
his questions to me directly. When we had concluded our in-
terview the governor asked me what the village would like the
government to do for it. I answered without any hesitation:
"To open a government school (madrasat maSarif amiriyya) for
the children." The governor replied, If the village will

239s the story of the mosque's Jinn under chapter IV,
p. 88 , Of this StUch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

..20.-

furnish a school building, the government will appoint a reg-

ular teacher and pay his salary."

When I told the villagers about this, some of them were
unhappy with the idea because they thought it was going to

cost a great deal of money. Although I had no children of

my own at that time, I was very interested in seeing a new

sdhool started in our village; yet, some of the villagers who

had sons of school age were reluctant to back the project.

I had been to America, and I knew the value of education.

Education is what we need in this country. It is the thing

that helps nations and people to become great.

He went on to say that a friend of his who was illiterate, but
who had the good fortune to spend a few years in the United States,
had come forward and contributed the piece of land upon which the
school now stands. Money was then collected from the villagers, and
a three room school house was built that summer. The following year
a teacher, the first appointee to the Government Elementary School at
Baytin, arrived and presented his credentials to the village fathers.

The school gradually developed into a four-grade school.' All
the students met in one room and were taught by the same teacher.
Upon graduation from the fourth grade many of the youngsters went to
work to help their parents. Only a very fortunate few were sent on
to larger schools in the area for further study. The situation has
changed considerably during the last seven years. Since then two
additional class rooms have been added to the structure, the number
of grades has been increased to six, and the staff has grown to three

teachers a nd one principal.
PuPils in the school are taught the usual three "R's“--reading,
writing, and arithemetic. No effort has been made to change this

curriculum which is traditional in this area. None of the students

 

 

 

 

 

 

are taught agricultural techniques or craft skills which might be of
value to them in later life.

Discipline in the school is harsh. This is in keeping with the
local concept that the fear of punishment will motivate the child to
learn. Teachers have been known to slap and kick students or to pun-
ish them by keeping them at school during lunch time, thus causing
them to miss a meal. Such punishment is meted out to students who did
not read their lessons correctly or who misbehaved in class. It is
little wonder that many youngsters grow up hating the idea of going to
school.

About a hundred yards to the south of the mosque lies the Egyn,
or the public spring, from which all the villagers obtain their drink-
ing water. This spring is located somewhere in the center of a vast
area which at one time appears to have been surrounded by a massive
stone wall. No doubt the enclosed area was once a great pool of water
preserved for the purposes of irrigation. The original wall has been
all but destroyed, and only a small section of its eastern side is
still standing. The size of the stones used in building such a wall
is so great that one is led to conclude that Baytfn was at one time a
very prosperous community. The mnall spring which still exists pours
its water into a hole with two openings which are covered by doors.
The water is drawn from the hole into cans or rubber containers and
then is transported homeward in pottery jars or empty kerosene cans
balanced on the heads of women. There are two cement tubs attached

to the covered hole into which the spring flows. These are filled

 

 

 

with.water every now and then so that cattle, sheep, and other animals
may be brought down to drink. Actually none of this water is clean
and as a result it is the source of much disease.

The area around the Egyg is now known as al-bayadir(threshing
place). It is covered with a hard crust of dirt, but if one digs
down about three feet one encounters a stony surface. Almost every
family in the village claims a portion of the bayidir and uses it
‘when separating the grain from the chaff to make the cereals they
consume. The methods used in this process are very primitive. The
harvested grain is brought on the backs_cf donkeys and horses. It
is allowed to dry and then is thrown on the hard grOund and threshed
by the feet of animals. A boy, with a stick in one hand and a tin
can in the other, follows the beasts around and around keeping them
in motion. The tin can is used by the boy to collect the animals'
dung before it fails on the threshed grain. In certain cases, a
threshing board, made of three or four sticks of lumber is construct-
ed. The under surface of this board is studded with filed stones or
with pieces of metal out in such a fashion as to have a sharp, saw-
like edge. Such a threshing board is normally pulled by a horse or
occasionally by a team of oxen. The boy who operates such a board
can rest himself by sitting or standing on the board, in this way
adding to the board's weight and making it more effective. A.man with
a fork in hand stands by to push back sheaves of grain that have work-
ed out to where they are untouched by the board or the animals.

Once the threshing is done, the men, with the aid of an instrument

 

 

 

-23-

called mithrEh (a wooden fork with four wide fingers), separate the
seeds from the softly crushed chaff which they call tibia. This is
done by throwing the grain up on the air. The chaff, which is lighter,
'is carried by air currents and forms a pile some distance from the men.
The seeds and the hard knotty pieces of chaff fall into a heap near
them. Once this is done the farmer, with the help of a sieve, can sep-
arate the seeds'from the other elements still mixed with it. (These
other elements are called qagwal.) The tibia is used in winter to
feed the animals, while the qaswal is used as fuel to heat the tabén,
or family bakery. i
While they work on the bayidir, the villagers always find time
to visit with one another. A group of them, resting, will sit in the
shade of a tree and talk and joke about someone or some subject that
comes to mind. Other men of the village who have nothing to do at

the moment often-join these groups. Thus the bayEdir becomes another

place for play as well as a place for work.

SECTIONAL CHARACTERIZATION

After being in the village for a time, one begins to notice that
the community is divided physically into sections, each harboring a
group of peeple who tend to be related and are generally in the same
social and economic class. The village under study is divided basin—
cally into three sections, °°ll°d.5&£ii'

The first of these, which has already been mentioned, is Hayy

al—Amirkah. It is also called al-Hara al-Gharbiyya (the western hara)

 

 

 

-24-

because it is located in the western part of the village. The common
denominator in this sector is based upon economic and social factors
rather than on family relationships. Almost all who inhabit this
area are relatively well—to-do individuals. many of them have had
some kind of connection with the United States, as has been noted.
There is a tendency among this group to educate their children, both
boys and girls, at least through the high school level and, if pas?
sible, through college. The two American schools, run by the Friends
Society, in neighboring Ramallah are the two high schools most attended
by the youngsters from this hgrg. American colleges and universities
are attended by the young men more often than are institutions of
higher learning in other countries.3
most of the families in this has: moved to this section of the
village as soon as one of their members had emigrated to the United
V States, proved himself successful in business, and sent money home
for the family to build a house in al-Hara al Gharbiyya. The people
of this hag: are respected and looked up to by the rest of the vil-
‘ lagers. They are the ones who have money to lend and the ones who
buy land. They are also the ones who hire others to work. Their
daughters are considered prize prospects for marriage. This is es-
pecially true because the parents are not known to keep any part of
3Only one out of the nine students who went to college from
this har§_attended school in England. The student who was the sole
exception prepared for his English schooling at the American University
in Beirut. Later, he emigrated to the United States, narried an

American girl, and settled there for a while before returning to the
village.

 

the dowry for themselves but give it all to the bride, even adding to
it a handsome gift.

The ether two ha_r_a_a_ are fundamentally based on family relation-
ships. Bach is divided into several sub-m, the latter being the
habitats of kinship groups.

One of these two 3.35.5.9. is known as al-Hara al-Sharquiyya (the
Eastern Kara), or Harit Dar Abu wlin (the Hara of the House of
sulin), the second name being derived from that of the dominant kin-
ship group living in the area. This is by hr the dirtiest section
ofthe village. Shepherds who tend the village herds of sheep and
goats (a job which is considered the lowest and most degrading of
occupations) come from this 3:11. It is in this section that men with
crimiml records live. The percentage of children from this sector
who graduate from the village elementary school is very low.

nether hgr_a_ of the village is al-Hara al-Shamiliyya (the Northern
Hera), or Harit Dar Nabhin (the Hara of the House of Nabhin). This
section is not much more prosperous than the one noted above. The
people here are mostly sharecroppers who cultivate the land of other
villagers for a specified porti‘on of the produce. In talking to the
inhabitants of this ra, one can observe that Turkish words have been
incorporated into the speech of the older people and that some old
men speak Turkish fluently. This could be because the dominant sub-
clan in this fl reached the peak of its power during the last days

of the Ottonn hpire.

There is a great deal of hara-conciousness among the people of

   

 

 

 

-26-

Baytin. The people in each her: are well aware that they belong within
the confines of their own sector, and even children at play are known
to band together according to has: and invade the domains of other
children. The boys from the Eastern fiara are noted among the villagers
for being the toughest, and it is in this area that the greatest number
of juvenile delinquents are found. Each has: has its own speech pat-
terns.

Living conditions in the respective 35555 tend to differ. In
al-Hara al-Gharbiyya alone, this author was able to observe a new
trend among the nuclear families to separate and to live in private
dwellings, independently from their extended kin group.- In the other
tw°.§§£§§! the situation is completely reversed. Each dwelling is
inhabited by a kinship group composed of several nuclear family units.
When these units want to separate, instead of building new dwellings
they add rooms to the existing house or partition the old living
quarters. Finally,,although the inhabitants of the Western Hara are
the wealthiest, they do not tend to marry more than one wife. This
is not true of the men from the other two £55559 who practice polyg-

amy as a matter of prestige.

THE LAND AND THE ANINUJS

-————__———-

Baytin is situated in the center of an arable tract of land.
The lots between the houses and those adjacent to the village are
commonly called hawEkIr, and are used for growing vegetable gardens

and assorted fruit trees. Beyond this area, one finds the orchards

 
  
  
  
   
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

-27-

of figs, grapes, apricots, almonds, peaches and apples. The villagers
call this area al-kurih. The open land used for grazing and growing
grain stretches between the orchards and open lands of other neighbor-
ing villages. Only the olive orchards break this pattern; they are
located beyond the open fields of BaytIn, around the neighboring vil-
lage of Burqa.

Each area of the village land is identi fied by a special name.
At times the name may be a descriptive one. For example, one area is
-oallod al-Bazfidh (the whitish), due to its white clay soil. Other
names reveal the identities of earlier holders, such as Khallit
al-lhatin (the land of lu3t‘h). Still others depict the demographic
features of the land, as al-Sahl (the plain) or _a_l_-W__a:d_ (the valley).

The villagers work their land during the day and retire to their
homes in the village at night; none of them live on the land they cul-
tivate. Almoot'every villager owns several acres of land which is
divided into small lots of approximately one to two acres and scattered
in many directions. This is a result of the system of inheritance
practiced.among the Arabs of the liddle list. In addition to culti-
vating their own land, some farmers, in an effort to increase their
income, loaoo fields from.othor land owners and cultivate than for a
share of the orepo.‘

Booidoo growing grains, fruits and vegetables, almost every villager

4'li'or a more detailed discussion of land practices see the
chapter on economics.

owns a few head of sheep or goats from which he obtains milk and other
dairy products. Instead of tending his own sheep, each farmer entrusts
them to a professional herdsman called 321;, who with the aid of a
faithful dog drives his flock to graze every morning in the open fields.
These fields are the ones that are not under cultivation that year or
the fields from which the crops have already been harvested. In the
evening the herdsman returns the sheep and/or goats to the village,
where they spend the night in the courtyard of his own house.

During the winter season and through the early spring, the Egg
takes the sheep in his care to warmer regions in the Jordan valley.

He moves back westward to the village during the spring, a time which
coincides with the milking season.

Because these herdsmen spend most of their time in isolation and
away from group life, they develop personality traits which are seldom
understood or appreciated by the villagers. Thus “theyare ridiculed
and laughed at whenever they come in contact with the more sophisticated
villagers and no respectable girl would marry a £21 unless she has

given up all hope of marring anyone else.

'sccmlzmc' £11 313 vmass

Social life and work always seem to go hand in hand among the
people of this village. The nan visit each other while they work on
the ban’dir, while they watch others work in the saha, and while they

are in the coffee shops or the madifas. Even in the latter places

the villagers mix work with pleasure, for here over cups of coffee the
most important decisions, decisions affecting the life of the entire
village, are made. The dukkins and the mosque courtyard are also places
where only the men congregate to socialize.

In much the same fashion women participate in social activities
while working. They spend hours, especially during the cold winter
days, in the warm m, gossiping while they bake their bread. The
3323 is the place where the family baking is done, and it is usually
found beside the main house. The 19113 is heated with 33ml and dried
animal dung (22%) which is placed around the outside of the baking
place and left to burn. Inside the fill“. house one finds that the
women have built themselves benches of mud and stone where they sit
and talk. It is the custom for two or three families to share such a
baking place and take turns heating it. A certain amount of time is
alloted for each family to bake its daily quota of bread. The families
sharing a Mn are not necessarily from the same neighborhood, though
quite often they do come from the same area.

Women also find time to chat when they travel in groups to collect
m, a thorny bush which grows uncultivated in the open fields out-
side the village. They gather such bushes in bundles, which they call
ha_m_l;, and carry them into the village on their heads. The M are
left to dry on the stone walls around the courtyards cf the houses or
the adjacent gardens and are used later to start fires in the fireplaces.
The women also travel in pairs or in small groups while fetching water

in jars from the village spring. Frequently they visit each other during

 

 

 

-30-

the day while the men are away working in the fields or relaxing in
the coffee shops. It is during such visits that the news in the vil-
lage is circulated.

On numerous occasions men and women gather in mixed groups. This
is true, for example, when they get together to harvest the grain
(252!!!)' or to pick fruits and vegetables. At such times they talk
and laugh together, and secret romances have been known to develop
from meetings of this kind. The sexes also get together after working
hours in what is called a £2§£2° Such meetings consist of groups of
relatives and friends who meet periodically at different houses. They
drink tea and coffee provided by the host, play games or just talk for
hours. During the'warmwwoather the gghggg are transferred from inside
the house to the balcony, the courtyard, or the flat reof“whore it is

cooler and more pleasant.

SOCIAL STRAIIFIGATION

All inhabitants of the community regard one another as fallihin,
or farmers.6 Nevertheless, the author was able to distinguish four
major social classes. The first class, composed of a small wealthy
group, includes the returning emigrants, those who are college-educated,
5Translating the term.fa11ahin to mean fanmers is justified

here because most of them.are landed. This is not true, however, of
the Egyptian peasant to whom.the same term is applied.

 

 

 

-31..

and those who have held important governmental positions.6 Most of
the members of this class reside in al-Hara al-Gharbiyya, as has al-
ready been indicated. The rest of the villagers are respectful toward
and envious of this class, and they invite its members to occupy first
place in almost every village function.

Although the main occupation of the villagers is forming, members
of this class feel that such work would be below their dignity and do
not till the land they own. Instead they practice sharecropping, a1-
lewing other villagers to cultivate their fields for half of the prod-
uce.7 Members of this upper class are constantly adding to their hold-
ings by buying up available lands, and the competition among them over
choice lots has been a major factor in maintaining land values.

The second social class is also composed almost wholly of people
who are not directly engaged in agriculture. Included in this class
are the school teachers, the village store keepers, and successful
craftsmen such as stone masons and house builders. One should also
include in this class the few farmers who own and cultivate enough
land so that they have become relatively wealthy. An analysis of this

6One young man with no more than high school education was
elected to the Lower House of the Jordanian Parliament on a leftist
ticket. Another young man with similar qualifications, after occupy-

ing several relatively important posts with private firms and with
the government, opened a travel agency in the nearby town of Ramallah.
7
Half of the produce is given to the sharecropper only if he
supplies half of the seeds, otherwise he receives a third of the prod-
uce. Bee further details in the chapter on economics.

-32-

social class reveals some interesting comparisons.

Between fifteen and twenty young men in the village are engaged
as teachers in elementary schools.8 Only two of these teachers have
received formal education beyond the secondary school level. Some
however have studied on their own and passed certain national examina-
tions in education and psychology. The majority of these teachers are
employed by the Jordanian Ministry of Education, and with the excep-
tion of five, all teach in govemment schools in or outside the vil-

lIgOog

.Although such young men visit the village only during vacations
and on week ends, they are considered by all the villagers as residents
of the home cemmunity.1°The young men also consider BaytIn to be their
home and every investment they make in real property is made there.
Compared to the villagers around them.the teachers are quite well
off economically.11They have a steady income and a secure job. In
addition to enjoying economic security, teachers travel more and have
8The number of young men from Baytin who are employed as
teachers is never stable and changes from.one year to another. Some
of them.quit to come to the Uhited States to work or to further their
education. By the same token, other young men of the village graduate
each year from high school and go directly into teaching on the ele-
montary school level.
9The five indicated above have left the village to go and

teach in neighboring Arab countries. Two of them went to Saudi Arabia,
and the others to Kuwait.

10For example, they are assessed for taxes in their native
village and never in the village where they are employed.

llTeachers' pay ranges between 180-300 Jordanian dinars a
year, or between .504-840 at 1960 exchange rates.

more contact with the government and the outside world. Thus, they
are better informed and more influential. The villagers for the most
part respect teachers and call them.'ust3th, er professor.

The store keepers also make a relatively good living. More than
half of their trade is based on credit. Thus a significant number of
the villagers are constantly in debt to them. Villagers who need credit
or who cannot pay their debts learn to fear the store keepers. This
situation gives these businessmen power and social prestige. Stone
cutters who own and operate establishments, and successful stone masons
‘who hire themselves out, are also able to command a reasonable income.

There are only a few well-to-de farmers in Baytin. lembers of
this group occupy a very critical position because any change for the
worse in their economic position is sufficient to ruin their prestige
and to cause their fall into a lower class. Ihny of'theee farmers
doprecate farming, .and, instead of cultivating the few acres they
own, rent them.out to sharecroppers. However, the hunger for land
prevailing among the villagers is shared by the members of this group,
and they invest in land and houses when they have capital available.

The third of the village social classes, and by far the largest,
is composed of small farmers who own and cultivate their own land.

Few of'theee farmers earn enough from their own land to satisfy their
simple needs, therefore they often work the land of others for a

share in the crops or hire themselves out for very modest wages to

 

 

 

 

 

 

to interested people in the village or outside it.12The members of
this class are constantly in debt to others and from time to time,
especially when faced with a drought or when the family has a son who
is to be nrried, find themselves forced to sell a few acres of the
little land they own. By doing this they are forced to rely more and
more upon working for others and thus lose prestige and self-respect.

The fourth and the last social class in this community consists
of the landless, the aged who have no one to care for them, the hand-
icapped, the shiftless, and those who work as shepherds. With the
exception of the latter, numbers of this class are likely to engage
in no regular work of any kind and almost all of them depend upon
charity for their existence.

None of these four social classes is closed or rigid; it is pos-
sible to pass from one class to another. Upon acquiring some wealth
or education, a member of the third class, for instance, may rise on
the social ladder without much difficulty. The marriage of a young
man with a humble background to a girl from an upper class, though
unlikely, could also lead to improvuent of status. She might be the
daughter of a naturalised American citizen and in this case the couple
would be able to emigrate to the United States. Upon their return
to the village with newly acquired wealth from America, they will be

12In 1960 a man could be hired to do a full day's work for

the equivalent of 8.70 to 1.10, and a man with a team of oxen might
be hired for $2.40 to 3.00 per day.

-35..

accepted as members of the elite.130r with the help of his father-in-
law, the young bridegroom might be able to secure a steady and rela-
tively well paid job or even go into business for himself. Thus his
economic and social status in the comnunity would improve.

By the same token individuals can go down the social ladder under
certain circumstances. For instance, if a man loses his wealth or be-
haves in a socially unacceptable manner, he loses social standing. A
man who at one time was rich and generous but due to misfortune has
lost his wealth is apt to suffer economically but could continue to
enjoy the respect of the villagers throughout his life.14 His children
would be the ones to suffer most. They would find it impossible to
live on the good reputation of their father for very long, and they
would be reduced to a lower social status unless they could regain the
family prestige through deeds of their own. As regards behavioral
deviation, one young teacher from the village had been highly respected,
but when he violated the mores of the culture by attacking a married
woman he not only lost the respect of the villagers, but was shamed
and forced to resign his position and flee from the village.

Although the members of one class tend to befriend and interact
with each other freely, they are also apt to oppose and fight each
other as, for instance, when embracing the cause of relatives from a

1"‘l’Due to this fact, the daughters of a naturalized American
citizen are most coveted for marriage.
MlIf such a man were stingy with his money, the treatment

given him would be completely different and he would not receive the
sympathy and help accorded a generous man.

 

 

 

different social stratum. A man cannot remain neutral in this comp
munity; he has to take sides, and in most cases he chooses to stand

with his relatives against the members of his social class.

.5 HISTORICAL SKETCH

 

The population of Baytfn, according to the latest census (1959),
numbered 853. This figure includes 113 who have left the village and
emigrated to other areas of the world to work and live. This group
is included because the villagers still count such persons as citizens,
taxing them and hoping that one day they will return to the home com»
munity with money to retire.15

The population is homogeneous and the popular belief is that all
the villagers have descended from a common ancestry. According to
legends told by the old men of the comunity those who first arrived
in the area came from.the region around Mount JaleS in the northern
region of Trans-Jordan proper, and settled in the village of Burqa.

No one knows at what time they came or for what reason. It is possible
that these early settlers were nomads seeking water and better pastures

for their animals. For a time they may have lived a semi-nomadic life

15No villager is known to have emigrated with the understand-

ing that he would not return to the village. In fact, the tendency
is for the men to emigrate leaving their wives and children behind
‘with the expectation that they will acquire some wealth and quickly
return to the village.

 

 

 

 

 

-37-

in Burqa and eventually settled down to tilling the land for a living.16

At any rate, the first settlers from the east were named after Mount
JalbuS, the area from.which they were supposed to have come. Thus
they were called al-JalibSa. This name, which is still held by one
of the two hamilas (clans) that live in Baytin, was later corrupted
into al-JaribSa.

About the middle of the 19th century the village of Burqa, which
was divided between the two tribal political factions of the time--
the Qaysites and the Yamanites, was invaded by some Yamanites of the
neighboring village of Dair Dibwin. The invaders, aided by the
Yamanites of Burqa, were able to sack and burn the houses of the
JaribSa, forcing them to flee to the ruins of the Biblical town of
Bethel located four miles to the west of Burqa.

The ruins of Bethel, or Khirbit Baytfn as it was then called,
belonged to the Qaysites of neighboring Birah. They welcomed the
Qaysites from Burqa and offered them protection against any Yamanite
attack. 'lhen the Dibwini Yamanites attacked BaytIn in about 1880
the newly-settled Qaysites hoped to avenge themselves. They waited
until the attackers were below them in an open valley and opened fire,
killing and wounding many of the enemy, including one chieftain. The
Yamanites quickly acknowledged defeat and returned to their village.
The Yamanite Dibwani never dared attack the Qaysites of Baytin after

16Some support for this theory may be found in the fact that

the people of Burqa until recently placed more emphasis on sheep
herding as the basis of their economy than upon farming.

 

 

 

 

this incident, and to this day the people of Baytin like to recall

that victory over their enemies.

Just when the Jaribsa clan split into the JarabSa and Dir Hamid

is not clear. But it is certain that the split took place before the

arrival at Baytin. In the beginning the two clans must have remained

fairly close to one another fer purposes of security because they were

both threatened by a common enemy, the Yamanites. But as time went

on the two groups grew apart.
The number of original settlers at Baytin cannot be ascertained.

Judging from the best estimates available the total number must have

been somewhere between fifty and seventy-five persons. In the second

battle with the Dibwani, which occurred several years after the move
to Baytin, no more than twenty males participated, this number includ-
ing some youths no older than fourteen or fifteen years. Since that
time the population has increased rapidly; today it is nearly ten times
greater than it was then. The *Ikfllowfng’diagfimm i shows the way in
which the village population has branched out into clans and kinships.

The new inhabitants of Baytin used the ruins of Bethel as the site
of their village, rebuilding missing walls and doors of the ancient

Judaic buildings. In fact, if one studies the structure of the homes
in the older section of the village he finds the architectural design

of the anterior part of each house to be similar to that used during

the Roman period.

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-59-

 

Chapter III ,(

Islam and Village Culture

All inhabitants of Baytin belong to the Sunni (Orthodox) branch
of the Islamic faith. Their fundamental belief is that the Qur'in
contains the very words of God as revealed to Mhhammad through the
angel Gabriel, and that only through Islam can one hope to gain sal-
vation. ‘

The Islamic tradition which stems from the teachings of the Qur'in
and the sunnah (the 'way' pointed out by the Prophet's adith or sayings,
Ejél or deeds, and taqrir or silent approval)limposes on the community

a strict way of life that tends to govern the thoughts and the actions

 

of the villagers. Islam, it should be noted, provides its followers
with a complete system of social conduct based on divine sanction. It
demands a close adherence to divine law, promising reward for practicing

and punishment for neglecting it. Islam, further makes no distinction

 

between the sacred and the secular. It demands that all actions of the

believer, no matter how trivial, meet prescribed religious standards.2

1Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam, ed. by H. A. R. Gibb and
J. H. Kramers (London: Luzao, 1955), pp. 552-53.

Zcr. Henri Lammens, Islam: Beliefs and Institutions, trans. {w
E. Denison Ross (London: Methuen & Cc., Litd., 1929), P. 43; D. B. 1
thDonald, Mhslim Theology, Jurisprudence and Constitutional Theory “
(New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1905), p. 107; H.-A. R. Gibb,
Modern Trends In Islam (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,
1945), pp. 85-87; Ilse Lichtenstadter, Islam and the modern Age

(New York: Bookman Associates, 1958), pp. 85-86.

 

 

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That, "where the Qur'in did not fully and clearly provide direction,
the inquirer should seek trustworthy information as to what Muhammad

had said on the subject, what his actions had been with relation to

it, or what he had approved in others."3

In describing this totalitarian aspect of Islam, Professor
Grunebaum very ably puts it in the following words:

Islam aims at comprehending life in its totality. It
posits the ideal of a life in which, from the cradle to the
grave, not a single moment is spent out of tune with or merely
unprovided for by religious ruling. The distinction between
important detail of daily routine loses much of its meaning
when every step is thought of as prescribed by divine ordinance.
Profane and sacred no longer denote the area withdrawn from,
and the area subject to, religious supervision. No sphere is
left in which our doings are inconsequential for our fate in
the hereafter. The relevancy of our failings will vary accord-
ing to their moral and social significance, but nowhere shall
we find a no-man's land to which religion does not lay claim.

The Prophet had been charged with revealing not merely the great
metaphysical truths but the rules of daily conduct as well. The
Lord wanted the faithful to organize their commonwealth in a
certain manner, he enjoined them to follow a certain code of law,
and he selected for them a certain way of life. Thus, by accept-
ing Islam, the believer accepted a ready-made set of mandatory
answers to any question of conduct that could possibly arise.

As long as he obeyed sacred custom the Muslim's life was hallowed
down to its irksome and repulsive episodes, and 6 would be
fortified by the assurance of his righteousness.

The general teachings of Islam have been fully analyzed in many
impressive scholarly works in the English language. Any attempt to
discuss these teachings here would be repetitious. But a summary of

3Encyclopaedia of Religion and_Ethics, ed. James Hastings
(New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1922), XII, 114.

4Gustav E. Von Grunebaum, Medieval Islam: A Study in_Eultura1

Orientation, 2nd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953),

p. 108.

 

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Halal or lawful acts.

-41-

certain aspects of the faith is necessary here for a clear comprehension

of how Islam has come to affect the outlook on life and the everyday

behavior of the villager.

Allah, according to Islamic tradition, is the creator (KhEliq) of

all that was or is. He has complete control over the universe and what

is in it. Nothing has happened or shall happen without his knowledge
or will. He is the only eternal and unique reality. At the end, "every

thing shall perish except His face".5

Man is God’s creature and slave (éabg). man was created for the
sole purpose of worshiping and praising God.6 God does not need man for i
anything, for He is "a Being which suffices unto itself, all powerful,
omniscient, and containing all things in itself...."7 God is "closer

to him ma§7 than Zhi§7 jugular vein."8 He keeps a constant watch over

man, and He "misleads whom He will and guides whom He will."9 Thus,

"man must live in constant fear and awe of Him."10
(1)

Islam divides all human acts into five general categories:

These are the actions in harmony with the

5Qur'in, v: 26-27.

6Qur'an.

7As quoted in Henri Masse, Islam, trans. by Halide Edib
(New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1938), p. 129.

 

8Qur'in, L316.
9Qur'in, Lxxiv351.

10H. A. R. Gibb, Muhammedanism: An Historical Survey (New York:
The New American Library, 1955), P. 50.

 

-42-

teachings of the Qur'in and the Prophetical tradition. They can earn

the doer hasanit or good marks. (2) fiarim or forbidden acts. These

are the actions in which the doer violates the teachings if Islam. They

(3) Mandfib or commendable acts, whose

(4)

result in sayi'it or bad marks.

accomplishment is regarded, but whose omission is not punished.

Mubih or permissible acts; and (5) Makrfih or reprehensible acts, which

are not punishable.11

Every person is assigned two guardian angels at birth who are
charged with keeping a thorough account of one's behavior on earth.
The first angel sits on the right shoulder of man and records the
hasanit. 'The second site on the left shoulder and records only the
sayi'Et. "Not a word does he [3&57 utter but there is a sentinel
(533:2) ready [Eb note ii7."12

Islam teaches that man receives punishment for EEIEE acts both

on earth and in the hereafter. Punishment on earth comes from two

sources. The wrongdoer is punished by the theocratic authority ruling
in the Islamic state or community in which he lives. The sinner is
also subject to loss of wealth and to personal suffering through the

"whatever misfortune happens

"15

will of God. In the words of the Qur'in:
to you, is because of the things your hands have wrought.

In the hereafter, all persons will be separated into three classes.

11Masse, pp. 141-42.

leur'En, L317.

lsQur'En, xLiixfio.

 

 

 

-43..

First, the Maqarrabfin or "the nearest to God". This group includes
14

the prophets, the most righteous, and the most blessed among men.
Secondly, Ashlbu al-Maymgna, or "companions of the right".15These are
the righteous people who have obeyed God's words and behaved accord-

ing to his teachings. They are "the godfearing men and women, humble
and charitable, the forgiving, whose who have suffered and been per-
secuted for God's sake [gné7 those who have fought in the way of God."16
Thirdly, there are Ashibu al-Mash'ama, or "companions of agony". These
are often called Ashfibu al-ShamEl, or the "companions of the left".17
This group includes the unbelievers, the wicked, and the wrongdoers
whose say'it are outweighed by their hasanat.

The first two groups, the Muqarrabfin and Ashibu al-Maymana, are
promised rewards in the Garden of Paradise. Here they shall recline on
thrones encrusted with gold and precious stones and be Served by "youth
of perpetual freshness." They shall be offered heavenly foods and
drinks under shady trees that have no thorns. In addition, they shall
enjoy the company of heavenly maidens who are pure, graceful and beau-

tiful, and who will never grow old.18

14Qur'in, lvile-ZG. '
15Qur'in, lvisB; 27-40.

16Gibb, Mohammedanism, p. 54.
17Qur'5n, lvi39; 41-65.

18Qur'fin, lvi:lO-40; Gibb, Mbhammedanism, p. 54.

-44-

The third group, Ashibu al-Shamil, are condemned to the fire of
Hell. Here they shall abide forever, with no release from their tcnment.
The sinners shall feed on the fruits of the cursed zaqqfim tree which will
boil in their insides like molten brass. When thirsting they shall be
offered boiling water which they shall drink "like sick camels raging
with thirst."19

Islam enjoined the believers with five fundamental obligations
(farl’id). These are commonly known as arkinu al-Islim (sometimes
arkinu al-din), or the "Five Pillars" upon which Islam is built. The
fulfillment of these obligations is essential for salvation. The "Five
Pillars" are: (1) Al-tashahhud, or the profession of faith according
to the well-known formula of_a1-shah3dah (the testimonial creed): {is
ilaha illa Allih wa Muhamadun rasula Allih", or "there is no god but
Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allih". (2) Al-salft, or the
traditional canonical prayer of worship,2%n which the Muslim is sup-
posed to indulge five times a day at certain fixed hours.21This prayer

is preceded by ablution (wudfi') and the Muslim prays while facing Mecca.

19Qur'in, 1via41-44; xxxviiz62-68; and xlivx43-46.

onhis prayer is not to be confused with the nifilah, or the
superercgatory prayer; the tahajjud, or nocturnal prayer; the duSE',
or Pr&yer to ask fulfillment of one's desires; and salat al-janazah,
or the prayer of the dead.

zlThe five prayer times are: (1) salit al-subh, or the morning
Prayer, which is held at dawn before sunrise; 2 salat al-zuhr, or
noon prayer;(3) salit al-Sasr, or afternoon prayer, held about 4 p.m.s
(4) salit al-maghrib, or the evening prayer, just after sunset; and
(5) salat al-Sisha', or the night prayer, which is held between the
evening prayer and mid-night.

—45-

(3) 11-pin, or the fast during the month of Rained-amzz During this
religious period, the faithful are supposed to abstain from all eating,
drinking, smoking and sexual intercourse fren sunrise (busfigh al-shams)
to the appearance of the oresent moon (ru'ygtu al-hilil) at evening.
(4) Ll-sakit, or payment of the tithefsand (5) nil-EM, or pilgrimage
to Ibcca in Saudi Arabia.

In practicing their religion, the villagers at BaytIn tend to
ignore most of the more demanding religious practices and to pay at-
tention only to these traditional Islamic teachings that have been
fully incorporated in the culture as a part of everyday behavior.

Very few of the villagers pay 235:3 faithfully. During the month of
Ramadin, only a small number, about five percent of the total popula-
tion, fast for an entire month. Only rarely do more than two dozens
of people pray regularly during this period. So far as making pil-
grimage to Mecca is concerned, only two couples have ever made the
journey in the past half oentury-and even they made the trip for
zaGood behavior is also demanded and expected from the faithful
during this month. The Prophet is quoted as having said: "If any one
does not give up speaking lies and practising deception, God is not
concerned with his abstaining from drinking and eating." See Emile
Dermenghem, Muhammad and the Islamic Tradition, trans. Jean It‘lltt

(London: Harbor andirethers, 1958), p.117.

231t is not to be confused with.a1-!adagah er veluntary con-
tributions that may be given at any time.

“or. Raphael Patai, "The ladle East as a Culture Area",
The Middle East Journal, v1, (winter, 1952), 19.

 

 

-46-

reasons that were not wholly religious.25

Contrary to their covert behavior, all the villagers attempt to
convey the impression that they are practicing their religious duties
assiduously. Although the majority do not fast during Ramaqin, most
villagers refrain from eating, drinking or smoking publicly during that
month. 'lhile pilgrimages to Mecca have been very rare, almost all
inhabitants have talked about making such a trip one day. If caught
in a violation of any of the religious rites, villagers feel compelled
to provide some excuse for their behavior. For example, they will
claim.sickness or ill-health has required them to break the fast if
they are found eating or drinking in the day during Ramadan.

The reasons for this behavior are not hard to discover. Social
ostracism.awaits anyone who openly ignores the religious rituals or
speaks lightly of Islam. The degrading title ofukggir, er unbeliever,
is difficult to shed once it is acquired.

For the few who do keep the faith devoutly, there are social re-
wards. Persons noted for their piety are highly respected. Greater
trust is placed in them.and their opinions are more highly regarded.
For this reason, local politicians and leaders strive to convince the

stho first couple had a son, who, while working in Saudi Arabia,
invited his parents to come visit him. He paid for their trip and made
it possible for them to make the journey at the right time of the year
to fulfill the obligation. The second couple were well-te-do, and the

husband was an active local politician. They went to Band Arabia as
tourists during the pilgrimage season and fulfilled the rite while there.

people of their religious sincerity.26

Although the official rites of Islam are largely ignored, the
villagers have developed a philosophy of life that includes the follow—
ing religious traditions: (1) a feeling of dependency on God; (2) the
fear of God's punishment on earth as well as in the hereafter; (3) a
deep-seated respect for tradition and for the past; (4) politeness to
all and generosity.

In the pages that follow an attempt will be made to analyze the
behavior of the people at Baytin in the light of these religious atti-

tudes.

Dependency on God

 

"In shI'a Allfh," or the phrase "if God wills it,“ looms large in

the thinking of the average inhabitant of Baytfn. Implicit in this i

 

saying is the fatalism which is characteristic of most villagers. One
hears this phrase repeated constantly. A visitor may ask a villager:
"Are you going to send your son to school next year?" The inevitable "“
answer is, "in shl’a Alih." No further explanation is added or needed.
One is apt to hear a mother telling her son who is on his way to school;
"in shl'a AllEh you succeed in passing your examination today." His
reply then would be: “in shf'a Allih."
If a villager loses something of value, he does not stop to examine

26Cf. E. W. Lane, The Manners and Gustgms of the Modern EgyptianS, 3“
5rd ed. (E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1908), p. 285. ifia

«“18-

the causes for the loss, but merely sighs philosophically ”hathih!

mashf'atu Allih,” or "this is the will of God.” Friends who come

 

around to offer sympathy merely reinforce this belief by repeating the
same saying. The author recalls once listening to an old man telling
another villager who had just lost his sick cow, the only property he
had, 'this is the will of Allfh. By taking your cow, Allah has tested
your faith. Be thankful to Allih.and you may be rewarded a better cow.”

"You are right," replied the second villager, "this is mashf'atuiallfh,

 

there is no god but He, and let Him be praised in all circumstances."

The villager exhibits a simdlar fatalism in his farming. Ho sows
during the early spring repeating with every handful of seeds he throws
in the ground the formulas "I am throwing [the seeds in the groung7
'with my right hand. My dependence is on AlIih alone [55 let them.grow'.'
He then lets nature take its course. If sufficient rain falls, and a
good crop is harvested, then AllEh must have answered his prayers. If
the results are not good, the outcome is taken as a sign that God is
unhappy with the behavior of his £521' or servant.

During one long drought, farmers sought out the aid of a pious
layman to pray for rain. He ordered many of the men and boys to gather
in the Eggs in the center of the village with some tin cans and sticks.
Together, they marched through the narrow and dusty streets beating the
cans and calling upon God to send rain. This noisy demonstration was
repeated for four successive afternoons. Finally, "God heard and an-
swered the request,” and rain came pouring down "from.heaven'.

The same philosophy was evident in a discussion on "poverty and

 

-49-

birth control" that took place in one of the coffee shops in the village.
The consensus of those present was that all children'were born simply
because God willed it. No child is ever born without his 5253 (liveli-
hood) being sent down from heaven with him. Hence, the child is never
a burden to his family. It is God who decides how much property and
wealth anyone should have. How unwise and foolish then, of anyone to
try and limit his offspring, hoping that this might increase his wealth.
Indeed, to practice birth control is to oppose the will of God.27
This dependency on God is so strong that it tends to manifest
itself in almost every phase of the villager's behavior. Every vil-
lager utters certain traditional sayings several times each day to
invoke the blessing of God. When he begins a task, he says aloud that

he is doing it "in the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate."28

'When he has finished, he offeres his "thanks to God the Lord of all

people" for enabling him.to complete the jeb.g9

If a villager receives some aid in accomplishing a certain task,

he thanks his helper by telling him."may God pay you {hasan3t7 for the

work you have done for me." The helper then answers: “simahak Alhfh,"

or "may the Lord forgive youdeor mé7t“ If the villager simply uses

the phrase "thank you" to his helper, the helper reminds him, “let your

thanks be to God (al-shakru li-Allah) [for He is the one who caused

27Cf. Qur'In, Xvii: 31.

28This is the phrase with which every suri (Qur‘anic chapter)
begins.

29Excluded from this is the haram or unlawful act, where the
door refrains from invoking the name of God.

 

-50-

me to help yoé7h.

.At the completion of a meal, the guest looks at the host and says:
"lay God will that your tables continue 5e be loaded with food so that

you may always be able to entertain your guest_s_7,' or "In sh'a"a Allih

 

al-gufra diyma.' The guest might also say: "Allfh yikhlif Salayk wa

 

 

,ykathir khayrak,' meaning "may God compensate you‘Zfor'what you have
given me to eat , and heap his abundance upon you." The inevitable

rejoinder is ”Salayni'wa Salgyk", or ”may he do that for both of us."

 

Despite all that has been said to demonstrate the dependency the
villager places on God, it is pertinent to note that he recognizes he
must work in order to provide for himself. He must depend upon man as
well as God and during the late summer and fall seasons he gathers food

in his house to see him through the winter months.

The fear of God's punishment

 

The Muslim villager, as noted above, feels that God keeps a very
close watch over him. ch is interested in his everyday behavior: he
will be punished for his "bad" acts, and rewarded for his "good".
Consequently before the villager will commit a sin or undertake a move
which might be construed as sinful, he asks himself the question:

”Iould God be pleased or displeased with my behavior?" If he proceeds

to commit the sin, he lives in fear of God's punishment and hopes that

he might appease.Allih by repentance and doing good deeds in the future.
Laboring under this sense of guilt, the villager is apt to interpret

any ill-fortune that befalls him as God's retribution for the wrong he

_51-

has oomitted. For example, one villager reported that two days after
he had committed adultery, one of his children drowned. In another
case where a family lost its wealth, villagers were quick to point out
that the family fortune had been acquired in a dishonest way in the
first place.

.t sinner who is in doubt may often interpret his dreams in terms
of divine guidance. After a bad dream, he may seek repentence by per-
forming "good' deeds to make up for his sins. Such repentance might
include the giving of gifts to the poor, bringing gifts to religious
shrines, er fasting an extra number of days in addition to the general
fast during the month of Ramadan.

If a villager suffers misfortune but cannot attribute it to any
sin or wrong doing, he is apt to ask: "God what have I done wrong that
you should punish me?” Such an attitude is evident in the remarks made
by parents who are. mistreated by their offspring. Mothers are often
heard to remark in the presence of their friends and disobedient chil-
dren: ”I have never committed the sin of adultery. 'Why, then, should
God punish.me by giving me such a disobedient sent!”

Swearing by God, the prophet Muhammad, and the Qur'in is a normal
habit with most villagers. It is not considered an act of disrespect,
provided that the villager does not perjure himself.30 Such expressions

30The gur'ln prohibits the use of oaths in ordinary talk and
suggests that they should be reserved for serious matters. See 'In,
II: 224. Further, oaths and vows, according to Islam, should be made
in the name of God alone and not in the name of the Prophet, the Qur'in,

the KaBba (Black stone) or a saint, as is now customary at B‘ytin. ' ee
Tritton, pe 146s

 

-52-

are so sommon that a simple conversation between two friends might run
as follows:

- "Have you seen my son Ahmad today?"

"Wa-Allihi (by God) no."

- "We have been looking for him all day. Wa-Allihi we do not know
where he has gone."

- wWhat seems to be wrong with him3 Wa-Allihi he strikes me as a
good boy."

"wa-Allahi we do not know./ He asked us to buy him a bicycle last
night, and we said no. This morning he disappeared. Wa-Allihi
we do not know where he has gone!"

"That's it. If you don't get them what they want they get angry

with you. Wa-n-Nabi (by the Prophet), children these days need a

big stick to be broken on their backs. wa-Allihi al-Sagim (by God
the greatest) if I were in your place I wouldn't look for him. When
he gets hungry, he'll go home. Come, let me buy you a cup of coffee."

"May God heap his abundance upon you. wa-Allahi one’s heart does not
leave him from worrying in such a case . I'd better look for him."

"may the Lord accompany you [Eh your searcé7."

"And [may he b§7 with you."

Despite the frequent use of such oaths, they hold a special sig-
nificance in certain instances. An oath by God given by an accused
person is often accepted as a sufficient proof of his innocence. It
is believed that whosoever swears intentionally and falsely by God,

His Prophet, or by the Qur'in shall suffer on earth as well as in the
hereafter. The story is told of a villager who died within a week after
he had sworn falsely on the Qur'in that he did not move the stones mark-
ing the boundary between his land and that of his cousin.

The villagers believe further that it is worse sin to swear by

God falsely while facing southward toward the Prophet's tomb in Medina,

 

 

 

 

 

or while at the shrine of a saint.' By swearing falsely at a saint's
shrine, the perjurer antagonizes the saint in addition to God. Numerous
stories are told by the villagers of saints appearing to them in their
dreamm after they had sworn a false oath, and threatening to punish
them if they did not confess to their crimes and repent to God by paying
a kaffira (atonement).31 One tale told by a villager in this regard was
that of a man who agreed to swear by God on the shrine of a local saint
called Shayban, that he did not steal his neighbor's lamb. On their
way to the shrine, a cobra suddenly appeared before the men and would
not allow the accused person to pass. This was accepted by the accused
as ample warning that he should tell the truth. He than confessed and
returned to the village to pay for his crime.

In addition to punishing him for his own ”bad" thoughts, the vil-
lager fears God might also punish him.for keeping company with anyone
who has "bad" thoughts, or who makes blasphemous remarks. Hence, if
someone utters in his presence a wicked statement, the villager auto-
matically tries to disassooiate himself from his companion by shaking
his head in disapproval and by invoking the repentance formula:

'Astaghfuru Allih a1-3agimF, or ”I beg forgiveness of God the Greatest".

 

Then, he turns to the sinner and declares: "La hna bi-hthik'wala

 

ismiBn'a'k", or "we are not near you and we have not heard ‘ 511.37 you

15h.» just uttereé7.‘

311p its original form the haffira consisted of feeding or
clothing ten poor men, the freeing of a slave, or fasting for three
consecutive days. See Tritton, p. 146.

 

 

 

?——_54_

The villager often tries to appease God and to avoid His punishment
by vowing to offer Him a dahiyya, or a sacrifice.325aorifices are also
offered on behalf of a dead relative. This is done with the hope that
the sacrifice will please God so that He may add hasanit to the record
of the deceased to help out-weigh the say'zt the dead person acquired
during his life time.33

In summary, the fear of God's punishment tends to direct the vilv
lager to take a course of action in his daily behavior that is in keeping
with Islamic ethics. 0n the other hand, the idea that God can be ap-
peased and that His forgiveness can be obtained by repentance and the

offer of sacrifices leads many a villager to deviate from Islamic

teachings and to commit criminal acts.

A deep-seated respect for tradition and the past
Muslims are taught to lock to the Qur'in for inspiration and guid-
ance in whatever they do. This holy book is said to be the most comp
plete source of truth and wisdom. But Islam also sanctions traditional
behavior and gives it precedence over innovations.54This view finds a
legal support in the sharISa doctrine that declares, "al-qadim yabqi
32$acrifices of this kind involve the killing of sheep or oxen
and the distribution of meat as well as the hides among the needy or
to persons outside of the immediate family.
33cr. Tritton, p. 147. ‘
34Cf. H. A. R. Gibb and Bowen, Islamic Society and the West:

Islamic Society in the Eighteenth Century (London: Oxford University
Press, 1950), I, Part I, p. 214.

 

 

 

 

 

-55—

5ala qidamih," 1.9., "anything of the past has precedence [over inno-
vation§7i" Hence, Islam provides its followers with a tradition that
is deeply entrenched in the religion and hardened by past usage.

The rural folk at Baytin, like most Muslims, are tradition-oriented.
"Good" and "bad" acts are so defined in the light of the traditional norm.
Thus, if an act is in accord with custom, it is good; if not, it is bad.
In the absence of a specific traditional norm, one's behavior is expected
to be guided by the spirit of tradition in general.35

In view of this orientation, the observer can, without much dif-
ficulty, explain the reasons behind certain practices found in this soci~
ety. There is a constant yearning to get back to "the good old days."
Innovators are always the objects of shame and ridicule. Invariably
there is an outright rejection of anything new that appears to conflict
with tradition. There is always a deep respect reserved for the aged,
and a heavy reliance upon sayings and proverbs in every-day conversation.

The average villager is strongly influenced by respect for his
ancestors. When faced with a problem, he will often pause for a while
to ask how his father or some other person whom he idealizes would have
reacted in a similar situation. There is a strong feeling that the
problems of the present could be better handled by people who lived in
the past. Those of past generations are invariably found to be wiser,
more generous, and more courageous, whether they were local men of a

3501‘. Sania Hamady, Temperament and Character of the Arabs
(New York: Twayne Publishers, 1960), p. 152.

 

 

 

36

relatively recent history, such as, Miss Lihmad, or famous men of

distant Arab communities, such as fiitin Tayy,‘Aby Zayd, or 3Antara

3

ibin Sheddid. 7‘lhen the sirah, er biography, ef these men is read in

public, the listeners are often heard to say, with a sense of sincerity
and certainty, that "never will the womb of a woman carry another like
him."38

The average villager resents social change and rejects anything
new that conflicts with tradition. Old men often express unhappiness
because they have survived their mates and friends of the past and have
lived to see customs change. They sewn to think that this is part of
God's punishment fer wrong-doings they have committed. Older persons
are often heard to exclaimc "God3*what have I done to cause you to
lengthen my age so that I may live to witness the strange and shameful

practices of the new generation?” One mother compared the differences

36Miss Lihmad is a local figure from a near-by village who
gained a great deal of reputation early in this century as a generous
and an outspoken shaykh.
, 37gitim Tayy, Abu Zayd, and 3Antara ibin Shaddid date back to
pre-Islamic times. The first, a poet of some repute, gained his fame
from.the fact that he personified the Arab ideal ef generosity and hes-
pitality. Abu Zayd, a legendary figure of the past, was noted for his
valor and courage in the battlefield. The third, adntara of the tribe
of SAbs, was the son of a slave mother. He was acknowledged by his
father enly after he had distinguished himself in the battlefield.
3Lntara is also a poet of renown, and the here of a celebrated romance
‘with a cousin named 3db1a. See Hasim Zaki Nuseibeh, The Ideas of Arab
Nationalimn (Ithaca, N. Y.a Cornell University Press, 1959), pp. 14616f.

38The sfrahs of such celebrated herees were often read at homes
and in public places, especially during the long nights of the winter
seasen. Villagers have shown less interest in such biegraphies in
recent years. This is due in part to the use of radios in coffee shops
and in the homes.

 

 

 

 

 

-57-

in courtship during her youth and today and said to the author that she
would rather have died than to have lived to see her daughter accompany
her fiance to the cinema. She added, "People today have no shame. They
have lost the virtues of the past. They are no longer Muslims."

Villagers in general display resentment toward any who reject the
customs of the past. School boys who dared twenty years ago to walk
in the streets without wearing the traditional headgear were ridiculed
and nicknamed limfarfiin, or "those with uncovered heads"-—a term indi-
cating that they were shameless, deviators and irreligious. Villagers
who acquire alien habits, meaningful though they may be, are held in
contempt. Hence any villager from a lower social class who uses silver-
ware when eating will be confronted by the comment: "What did the good
God give you a hand with five fingers for?" Villagers seem to think
that whoever acquires strange habits is a deviator, rebelling against
the ways of his people and against Islam.

The villagers are taught from childhood to show great reSpect for
their elders. Children are often instructed to kiss the hands of older
people when they are introduced to them, to be polite in the presence
of elders, and to stand up and offer them their seats. They are to
remain standing until the older folks are all seated. Young people are
encouraged to listen to and to learn from their elders. Only from older
people who have lived in the past can one learn anything of value, they
are told. The wisdom of the elders is seldom questioned. If one devi-
ates from this norm and dares to challenge the ideas of an older person,

he is put in his place immediately, by the latter who would tell him:

 

-53-

"How would you know that? You were only born yesterday." If a younger
person shows impoliteness in the presence of someone older than himself,
he is rebuked for his behavior: ”Haven't you a shame! I am older than
your father."

Respect for elders also stems from the belief that the prayers,
vows, and curses of the older folks are always answered.39Young people
are often reminded that an "elder's blessing is [part7 of the [greateg
blessing of God." And that "the blessings of [35.157 parents are better
than any thing [in the whole worlil7" in helping to achieve one's goal
in life. By the same token, it is believed that whoever causes his
parents to be angry with hin.areuses the anger of God, and hence earns
His punishment.4o

Respect fer the past is also demonstrated in the way the villager
expresses himself in everyday speech. Few villagers ever come up with
an original expression. For the most part, the average villager relies
upon traditional sayings and proverbs to convey his thoughts. Indeed,
this is se much the case that the expression of ideas is often limited
41

and restricted by reliance upon such folk sayings.

Any speaker shunning such speech forms is immediately suspect. The

39st. Hamady, p. 164.
40Qure;n’ XVII, 23-243 XXIX: 8‘ ml! 143 ‘nd EVId 15‘18e

41Cf. Eli Shouby, "The Influence of the Arabic Language en
the Psydhology of the Arabs,” Middle East Journal (Summer, 1951),
V, 933 H. H. Ayreut, The Fellaheen, trans. by Hilary Wayment (Cairo:
R. Shindler, 1945), p. l 2.

 

 

 

-59-

wisdom of his statements is doubted unless they are heavily larded with
proverbs. On the other hand, the villagers listen attentively to anyone
who "documents" his conversation with sayings and popular expressions.
This, in part, explains the extreme popularity and great enthusiasm in
Baytin for the radio program called "Madifit Ab; Iahmhd' er the "Guest
house of the father of lhhmfid". The characters on this program employ
collequial language with humorous proverbs.42
The villagers also enjoy listening to classical Arabic, which

differs considerably from colloquial language used in the village. This
is not because they understand it at all, but because of the association
with the glericus Arab past, and because it is the "sacred" language

of the Holy Qur'in.43

Paliteness and Generosity

 

Islam, it has been noted, provides its followers with a code of
ethics that is designed to govern the behavior of the villagers at all
times. The Muslim villager is required to observe a large number ef

ebligatory forms of politeness. These are so rigid that they leave the

42'uaqir1t Abfi lahmfid" 1. a daily radio program in which the
two main characters try to depict the conversation of two elderly gentl-
men, al-Hajj Iizin and.Abfi Iahmid, who meet every afternoen to discuss
the affairs ef the day. The discussion may touch on a political or
social problem. The characters criticise the problem.and offer a solu-
tien. Ir. Semi Judah, a member of the Jerdanian House ef Representatives,
and a fermer Minister of Communication, informed the author, that, in his
epinion, ‘Iadifit Abu Mahmud” is the favorite program of all villagers in
Jordan. City dwellers listen to it also, but for a different reasen: Te
mock the fallshgn and the'way they express themselves.

433houby, pp. 288-89.

 

 

 

-60—

individual very little room to adopt or to develop his own expressions
of courtesy or etiquette. The average villager conforms to these tra-
ditional forms of etiquette, and because they are accepted so generally
he is able to do so in an atmosphere of ease and seeming informality.

The filial piety demanded and expected of all Muslims has already
been noted. Such behavior is considered a religious duty. Ill-treatment
of parents or disobedience to them constitutes a sin. The child is
considered to owe his parents a great debt for bringing him up.

Every Muslim child is trained to behave in accordance with an in-
tricate system of etiquette in the presence of his parents. He is to
kiss their hands--especially the father‘s—~every morning, or at least
on special occasions, such as religious holidays. He is to seek their
SHE: (prayer to ask fulfillment of one's desires). He is to avoid
their anger at any cost. He is to respond to their wishes--regardless
of how foolish these wishes may be. He is to refrain from doing any

4

thing that might displease his parents or cause them to suffer.4 It is

his sacred obligation to remember them in his prayers, even after their
death, and to ask for God's forgiveness and mercy for them.45
Children on the whole, are very obedient to their parents. Only
the most impolite child dares to cross his legs, smoke, or utter pro-
fanity in the presence of his parents. No child dares to sit down while
44The Qur'in, XVII: 25 instructs: "Thy Lord hath decreed that
you worship none but Him, and that ye be kind to parents. Whether one
or both of them attain old age in thy life, say not to them a word of
contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honor." See also

XXIX: 83 XXXI: l4; XLVI: 15-18.

45Qur’in, XVII: 24.

 

Fi—i-

his father is still standing, or to start eating before his father.

 

The polite child faces his parents with utter humility. He does not
talk back if rebuked, or raise his hand in retaliation if struck. If
his parents confiscate his personal belongings, the polite child is
not expected to object to such an action.46

This complete obedience to parents does not end at an early age.

It continues even after the child is married and lives away from his
father and mother. In fact, a married man's first loyalty is to his
parents; his loyalty to his wife comes second. If his wife does not
honor and obey his parents, it is the husband's duty to rebuke her,
beat her, and even divorce her.

Tradition and religion combine to instruct the villager on how to
be a good relative and neighbor. Every one is expected to visit his
neighbors and relatives at their homes on religious holidays. A gift,
usually in cash, for every close married female relative (waliyygh)
is expected on religious holidays from every close male relative who
can afford such a gift. No such visits or gifts are demanded or expected
on national holidays.

Relatives (agribi') and neighbors (align) are also visited and
helped, if help is needed, on other occasions. This is especially true'
at the arrival of a new baby or in the event of a death in the family.
Similar visits are paid whenever a relative or neighbor goes or returns

46The villagers claim that when a young man complained to the
Prophet that his father had confiscated his personal wealth, the Prophet

told him: "You and your wealth are [the rightfuy7 property of your
father.“

 

 

from a long trip, as well as in case of wedding and sickness.
Parents efton instruct their children that it is a sin to forsake
a waliyyah. They remind them also that the Prophet has specifically
instructed his followers to look into the needs of their neighbors
before they should look into the needs of their own homes.47
The etiquette ef greetings and salutatiens is also highly formal-

iaed. 'lhon villagers meet in the street, the young must invariably
greet the old first out of respect.48Upen entering a house, the guest
is required to give it his blessing.498a1utation is regarded a religious
ebligation (15112), for th°.3EE;§E commands '...whon ye enter houses,‘
salute one anether with a greeting from Allah, blessed and sweet.'50
The person greeted is expected to respond with a better greeting than
the eno ho was saluted with. Thus, if one should salute another by
using the traditional phrase 'al-salimu 3a1aykum,‘ or “peace lxaupen
thee,” the reply of the latter most often would be: ”la Salaykumu
al-salim wa rahmatu Allihi wa barakituhfl' er "and let the peace, the

47The Arabic saying in this connection is ”Salayk billir gabl
al-dir". The Prophet is also quoted to have said: one o you rea 1y
'533_T§ith unless he desires for his neighbor what he desires for himself."

4alt has been noticed that in certain instances, such as when
the younger person is of a higher station in life, the older person
would initiate the greeting.

49L greeting is offered even when one enters an empty house,
for fear that what might appear to be an empty house is inhabited by
spirits.

5°q_ur'i'n, mm. 61'.

~63-

mercy and the blessings of God be upon thee”.51

The villagers often quote a saying that runs: "If guests do not
enter a house, angels do not enter it." This is their way of indicating
that such a house is not blessed by God. In view of this traditional
understanding, the villager usually puts aside anwaork that he might
be doing for the moment, regardless of how pressing the work might be,
in order to welcome any guests. Once the host sees his guest approach-
ing, he puts on his best smile, regardless of his mood, and declares in

a loud voice 'ahlan wa sahlan", er flyou are visiting7'your own people,

 

and [treading upo27 plain grounds.” He then shakes hands with each

guest, repeating the traditional phrase 'ahlan wa sahlan' several times.

 

The guests are then led into the house, offered the best seats, and
every effort is made to provide for their comfort. A cool reception
in eyes of the villagers is considered bad taste and reflects bad manners.’

The host feels it his duty to make the guest feel welcome. He
will say that he is delighted and honored by the visit and inquire why
his guest has not visited more often. The host will do everything in
his power to give the impression that he has no‘work to do, so as to
spare his guest the feeling that he may be imposing. For fear that his
guest might feel lonely, the host will not leave him alone except under
very unusual circumstances.

51 a tradition maintains that the Prophet has said: "To him

who says al-salimu Salaykum,.Allah would record ten good deeds (hasanit),

twenty for wa-rahmatu Allihi (and God's mercy), and thirty for _w_a_
barakituh (and his blessings).'

 

 

 

 

-54-

The ritual of hospitality commences by offering coffee to the
guest immediately after his arrival. The guest accepts the coffee
readily because it would be an insult to his host to reject it. How-
ever, upon being cffered the cup of coffee, the guest murmurs the
traditional phrase: "laysh ha al-ghalaba", or "Why did you bother
yourself so much?"

This first tender of hospitality is followed by offering food to
the guest. The guest shows more restraint when food is brought. He
politely tells his host that he is full and at the moment has no desire
to eat. He further volunteers the information, whether or not it be
true, that he has eaten very recently. The host, at the other hand,
will appear very apologetic for the simplicity of the food he has to
offer. But he will insist that his guest partake of all the food he
desires.

The guest will be served the very best of food as long as he
remains. It is not rare to find a sheep is killed to prepare one meal
for a single guest. Indeed, the poor host may go into debt simply to
entertain his guest in the proper style. In view of this custom, the
women in poorer families who cannot afford meat in their diet have
developed an expression that runs: "May the Lord bring us some guests,
so that we may have meat broth to eat".

The host also has the responsibility of clothing his guest if
the visit coincides with religious holidays. 'When the visit is over,
the host will make every effort to delay the departure of his guest.

If the guest admires any item in the house during his stay, the host

 

 

 

 

 

will offer it to him as a gift. The guest, of course, is expected to
decline the offer.

The guest has certain responsibilities toward his host. He is
expected to be polite and to show his appreciation for everything done
for him. He is also expected to leave a siseablo portion of the food
offered to him so that the women and children of the household may have
something left to eat.

Generosity or 5:55! is another eld.Arab virtue sanctioned by
Islam. One of the ninty-nine names (or attributes) of God in the
Arabic language is 'al-Kari'm' er "the [most] generous." The Qur'i'n

is also called "al-Qur'3n al-Karim' or "the Generous Qur'dn". These

 

are but some of the indications of the high value placed on the act
of generosity in Islzm. ‘Within the village, the person who develops
a reputation for being generous and hospitable finds that his friends
increase, his word is respected, and that he is admired by all. 0n
the other hand, if one gains the reputation of being stingy, he loses
freinds and his prestige in the community drops.

Generosity is not to be saved for special occasions or only for
those close to the family. Villagers expect acts of generosity to be
continual and to cover all occasions and individuals. Thus, if’anyene
drops into a household while the family is eating, the host will insist
that the newcomer share the food. 0no is not expected to smoke a cig-
arette without offering all the people around him.a smoke. In the
coffee house, the person entering rarely pays for his own coffee. How-

ever, he is expected te pay for the coffee of those who come after him.

-66-

The villager returning from a successful business trip is expected
to distribute part of his profit among the members of his hamfila by
bringing them gifts and buying them.food and clothing. One villager
rotruning to his community after a long and successful business career
in the Unitod States was reported to have purchased gifts and clothing
for as nny as sixty-five relatives.

From a religious point of view, the most appreciated and highly
rewarded form.of giving, is the sadaéah. This consists of gifts to
those in need, whether they are related to the family or not. Such

gifts given out of piety to please God are rewarded by promises of

heaven and of even greater wealth.52

520:. qsr'zn, II: 177; 195; 215; 254; 261-2743 III: 134;
III: 393 LVII: 183 fVIII: 103 LXIV: 16-17. The prophet is reported
to have answered a man who asked him: ”What is the best thing in
Islimfl' by saying: ”It is to feed [the hungri7'and to give the

greeting [o'f peacj both to those one knows and to these one does not
“We"

Chapter IV

Popular Religion and Rituals

The religious beliefs of the villagers contain many elements that
are not Islamic in character. Those are often the product of local myths
or customs or reinterpretations of religious doctrine. In the minds of
the villagers, such elements become associated with Islamic doctrine
though they are not part of the dogma at all. An attempt will be made
in the following pages to discuss the most important religious beliefs
and rituals which are a blend of the Islamic faith and local felkways

and to show how they influence the villager's behavior.

Religious Festivals

 

Only two religious festivals are celebrated at Baytin. The first

is called al-SId .1:§.5hir (the Little Festival) or 3rd al-Fitr (the

 

 

festival celebrating the breaking of the fast). It occurs on the day
succeeding the great fast at Ramadin. The second is called al-Sid

al-Kabir (the Great Festival) or 3id .1qsggg (the Sacrificial Feast).

 

It takes place seventy days after a1-3Id ale§aghir, on the day the

 

pilgrims docend from the mount of Sarafa in Saud.Arabia to offer their
animal sacrifices to Allah at Mina, fulfilling the final ritual of the
pilgimage.

During the early morning hours of the festival, a pious layman,
whom.tho villagers respectfully call 'al-shaykh', mounts the roof of

the village mosque, and chants thanks to Allah on this occasion. Later

on, he is joined by some boys who gather around him to repeat after
him the same chant. This serves as a reminder to the villagers that
the day has been officially proclaimed a religious holiday.

All villagers put their work aside for the day, den their best
elothes—their dress is often new and specially prepared for the
occasion—and got ready to celebrate the £13. The men gather in the
LE and in coffee shops. The women prepare special food and sweets
for the £3. and carry some to the tombs of their dead relatives in
commemoration.

Around n'ine o'clock, a short Eld. prayer is offered by some of, the
men in the mosque. At the end of the prayer the _i_m:a_m (prayer loader)
offers an aporopiate semen (khutba).1 Once the sermon is completed,
the men shake hands with one another and exchange greetings by saying

'kul 33m wa-antum bi-khayr", or ”may each and every coming year find

 

you enjoying‘the best [of lifj." The response to this greetinghis

1The imim at Baytin, who can hardly read or write, was believed
to have prepared the same two sermons, one for each 31d, for the last
thirty years. Actually he has written neither. Ho Tia—s- only memorized
them from a book of sermons published in Egypt. In the sermon pertaining
to al-Sid aljaghir, the imi'm congratulated all these who have just com-
pleted the fast at adan. He reminded them that they should have
given away their sakit. He informed them what awaits the faithful in
the hereafter, and what punishment awaits the sinner. He went on to
declare that the gig was not for those who had been able to buy new
garments for themselves, but for these. who had been able, due to their
good works, to earn the true blessings of God.

In the sermon pertaining to 31d alflhg, the imim reminded the
faithful that this was the day on which the pilgrimage to Mecca ended.
He suggested that all in the audience should make the journey some time
in the future. He went on to explain the nature and the function of
animal sacrifices on that day.

 

-69-

"the same to you".

The men then form lines across the road leading to the village
cemetery and take up a chant as they proceed to the burial ground.
Upon their arrival at the cemetery, they read the ring: (the first
chapter in the Qur';n) collectively and offer a blessing to all those
buried at the spot and to "the souls of all dead Muslims". Then, each
person moves to the graves of his ancestors and friends. He reaches
into the container of food placed on the grave and takes a bite. He
then recites the titiha, and offers it in behalf of the grave's occu-
pant. The rest of the food is given away to the poor or to others
who visit the grave. It is believed that the food given on such a
day earns the dead person hassn‘t that will help to lighten his burden
for the say'It he acquired during his lifetime. Once a food container
becomes empty, it is quickly removed from the grave. The tradition
among the villagers is that if any angel visits the area on such a day
and discovers an empty container, the dead person on whose grave it
was found suffers a curse.

Following the visit-to the cemetery,_the men return to their homes
to exchange the {1'3 greetings with their families. lives and children
greet their husbands and parents by wishing them well and by kissing
their hands. members of the upper class stay at home to receive vis-
itors. .After such visits they drop in at the homes of their neighbors
to extend greetings. They then proceed to bring gifts to their married
female relatives, such as daughters, grand-daughters and cousins. Comp

pleting their visits, they return home to enjoy a hearty meal.

 

0n the day before and the morning of al-3Id al-Qaghfr, th'.E§E£E
(tithes) are given out. These tithes are given out in kind or in cash
by the villagers with means to these who are in need. At the sacrificial
feast, all those possessing the means sacrifice a sheep or a goat. The
meat is normally consumed by the family offering the sacrifice and very
little, if any is given away to poor relatives. By such sacrifices,
the villagers seek to commemorato.Lbrahmm's‘willingnoss to sacrifice
his son Ismael in accordance with a divine order he is said to have
received in a dream.2 The poorer families of the village satisfy theme
selves, on such a day, by sharing an animal sacrifice, or by buying
meat to feast on. IAltheugh the celebration of this §£d_lasts officially
for three days, nothing special is usually scheduled for the last two
days. I

Two decades ago the villagers used to celebrate a third holiday
called al-Ziysra (the Visit), or Ziydrit al-Habi hfisa 'tho,visitIZ§e
the shrimi7'of the Prophet Ibses". Although this was not wholly a
religious holiday, it received the sanction of popular religion and
was considered by many villagers at Baytin to be as important as the
celebration of the two £235.

Historically speaking, this holiday, was believed to have been
instituted by the celebrated Muslim warior Saladin. The time of this
holiday was selected to coincide with the Uhristian and Jewish holidays

gaccording to Muslim.tradition, Abraham.was asked to sacrifice
his son Ismael, instead of Isaao, as is stated in the Bible.

-71-

of Easter and'Tlssover. Because there were always huge Christian and
Jewish congregations in Jerusalem during this period, Saladin felt that
a large gathering of Muslims at the same time and in the same place was
necessary to guard against any attempt by either of the two minorities
to rebel against Muslim rule. Thus, the Thursday before Easter was
proclaimed Khamis alédmwit or “the dead zremembrancé7 Thursday".

This was to be a day for visits to the cemetery and colored eggs
were to be distributed among the children; much in the same manner that
the Christians of the area make visits to their cemeteries and distribute
eggs on Easter. On Wednesday and Thursday of that same week, Muslims
from all over the area journey to the shrine of Prophet Moses situated
in the desert southdwest of the town of Ariha (Jericho). To this place,
many bring sheep or goats to be sacrificed in fulfillment of ‘.21325
(a promise to sacrifice an animal in behalf of God or a special saint,
if one's wish is fulfilled). The meat from such sacrifices is cooked
and those present have a feast.

On the Friday before Easter Sunday, "the visitors" of the shrine
'ascend to Jerusalem, and villsgers from all over the adjacent area meet
them there to continue the celebration. During the morning hours of
‘that day, "al-Zuwfr" or "the visitors" go to two holy shrines in Jerusalem;
aleasjid al-Aqs; or al-Earam al-Sharif (Omar Mosque), and al-Sakhra
al-Sharifa (the Dems of the Rock Mosque). More sacrifices are offered
here. _Mlny of the Euwir attend the noon prayer in ono'of the two holy
shrines. In the afternoon, they gather along the Jericho road to watch

the Grand Mufti of Jerusalom-—the then spiritual and political leader of

 

-72-

Palestinian Muslimsuride his horse from the eastern edge of the city
to Bib al-Si'mt'ad (Damascus Gate). During the entire day, the Zuw‘r
dance and sing in the streets of the Old City. in the evening or the
day following, ”the visitors" return to their villages loaded with
stories and gifts to surprise those who have stayed home.

Al-Ziy‘ra was first discontinued at the outset of World War II,
when the Grand llufti of Jerusalem was forced to flee the country.
The Jordanian authorities who annexed the Arabic part of Palestine
after the Palestinian war did nothing to revive this holiday. Perhaps
this was because they wanted to abolish any memory the Palestinians
had of the former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem who was an avowed enemy of
the Hashemite rulers of Jordan.

Very few villagers from Baytimstill make the Hi1}. yearly. They
visit the religious shrines in Jerusalem, offer their prayers there, and
return in the afternoon to their village. But generally speaking, the

:iyira is a dying holiday, if it is not already dead. mania a1-Amwit

 

(the Dead [remembrancj Thursday), hewever lingers on.

Attitudes Toward the Dead and the Other Iorld

The loud cry of a female (walwala or w), usually serves notice
that someone has died. If the deceased is one of high station, there
is a great public display of emotion. Female relatives weep and wail,
tear their clothes, or beat themselves about the face and the breast. If,
' en the other hand,. the deceased is an infant girl, old woman, or one

of a humble background, the news of death is received with much more calm

-73-

and loss display of emotions.

Just prior to and after death, a male relative or friend would
remain in the room with the dying or dead person reading frmn the
.SEELEE’ Once the news of death has spread through the village, relatives,
neighbors, and friends put aside their work for that day and proceed to
the home of the deceased.

The first thing done to the corpse is to make certain that the dead
person is laid on his right side with his face turned toward Ieoca. The
hands are placed on the waist with the right hand atop the left one as
if it is standing in prayer. The eyes are closed. The face of the dead
person is left uncovered for all to see. The villagers believe that
dying on Friday (the “uolimfls Sabbath) and having a white shiny face are
sure signs that the deceased is heaven-bound.3

In case of the death to an important villager, messages are sent
immediately to the people of the neighboring villages, to others who are-
related through blood or marriage, and to friends of the deceased, to
infomm them of the death and of the burial time. .All those attending the
funeral services from outside the village are normally invited to a dinner
prepared in their honor by members of the 3225;: other than that of the
deceased. I

’ In preparing the corpse for burial, it is first washed seven times
with soap and water by a muber of the same sex who knows the 5235}. rites.
3 This concept is probably borrowed from the r'inic verso,

III: 102, stating that on Judgement Day the faces of e hful will
be white; those who have denied the faith will have black faces.

-74-

Then a pious layman performs the ritual of ablution so that the deceased
may face God and the angels in a state of purity on Judgement Day. The
body is then perfumed and the orifices are closed with perfumed cotton
plugs. The seamless grave clothes (Sagas) are then put on.

Ordinarily the burial takes place on the day of death.4 But if a
person dies in late afternoon or at night, burial is delayed until the
second day. {At no time, day or night, is the deceased left alone for
fear that a mdschievous spirit may carry the corpse away. The few persons
‘who stay'with the corpse at night refrain from.s1oeping so that they will
not be mistaken for the dead by the spirits.

Around noon time, the body is placed in a wooden container (sghliyyg)
and changing relays of four men carry it on their shoulders. For the pall.
bearers this is considered a pious act which will be rewarded in the next
life. The pallbearers move slowly chanting: ”Allih is greatest. There
1. no god but.AllEh, and thanks be t..A11ih.' In. men are fellewod by h
. wailing and crying women. Upon arrival at the cemetery, the corpse is
placed on the ground near the grave, and the men alone line up behind it
to perform jaljit al-ujani'sa (the prayer for the dead). This is a short
prayer differing free regular prayer in that it does not include bowing
or prostration. The corpse is then taken out of the sahliyy: and laid
gently on its right side with the face towards Mecca in a rectanglar
trench ($533) lined with flat stones. The trench is then covered tightly

4Tradition maintains that the Prophet has urged the faithful
to hasten the burial of the dead.

-75-

with some more flat stones, and then covered over with dirt. The grave
is marked on the outside with two lines of flat stones, each line curving
a little toward both ends to meet with two relatively high stones placed
there to indicate the head and the foot of the grave. I

This is normally followed by the tglggg ritual. .A pious layman
recites instructions to the dead person informing him that that day was
his last worldly day, and that he is entering upon his first day in the
other world. The deceased is told not to be afraid when the two grave
angels, linkar and Nakir visit him, and to 'tell them.in pure, straight
Arabic“ that "Allah is my God. Muhammad is my Prophet. The 335135.1'
my Book, and Islim ‘is my religion. I have died while professing Islam,
and I bare witness that there is no god except Allah, and that Muhammad
is His slave and lessonger.' The dead person is further told to remember

that death (al—mawt), the questioning by lunkar and.NakIr (gu'dl flunkar

 

wa Nakir), the Resurrection (al-nushur), the Judgement (al-hisdb), the
Garden of Phradise (al-Jannah), and the Fire of Hell {2&2555) are all
true (3:33), and that he should not doubt their existence.

Once the tglgié rite is completed, the men read the £52235 and offer
it as a blessing to the soul of the deceased. They then leave without
looking backward at the grave. Tradition maintains that whosoever looks
backward at the grave dies within the year. The villagers further believe
that when the men start to leave, the corpse of a sinful person starts to
rise to go with them. However the corpse is hit hard by the flat stone
placed over its head, and the deceased then knows that he is dead and

cannot possibly escape judgement, come what may.

-76-

In the days that follow the burial, several rites are observed.
The male relatives of the deceased are invariably invited to a 2:3:
or supper prepared for them by a member of a El; other than their
own. On the morning succeeding the day of burial, the womenfolks bring
food to the grave. The men come later, road the Lotti}: in behalf of
the dead, chant the testimonial creed, and proceed afterwards to eat
the food. Once through they depart, and the women carry the empty food
containers and follow them. This particular ritual is called w
al-hgnak (loosening the Jaw).

On each Friday for the three weeks after the burial, the female
relatives of the deceased bring food at noon and place it on the grave.
This action is called m or blessing. The village men come along
shortly afterwards, chant the testimonial creed, eat from the food, and
road the $531.}: in behalf of the deceased. The rest of the food is
given to children and to poor people who frequent the cemetery on such
occasions.

0n the Friday which falls forty or so days after the funeral, an
animal sacrifice is offered in behalf of the deceased. The cooked meat
is placed atop plates full of boiled rice and hot cream of wheat (M)
and distributed all over the village. Some of the food is also taken
to the grave and served to all these who pay a visit. The dead are also
remnbered, as it has been already noted, on the two £1.31; and on M
al-an'a't (the Dead [remembrance] Thursday).

A person, who is held in high estem by his fellow villagers, is

normally mourned publically for a long period of time. It is ironical,

-77-

however, that only women go through the motions of such mourning while
almost all of those who are mourned in this manner are men. The women

of the village gather in the courtyard of the deceased to lament, wail,
tear their clothes and to praise the dead person.5 At times they may be
joined by women from neighboring villages, who come to participate in
this melancholy task. Such lamentatiens (M) last for several days
and may sometimes run into weeks. The female relatives of the dead person
often declare a period of hid_a'_d or mourning, during which they refrain
from wearing colorful or white clothes. They stain their bright clothes
with blue or black dye, abstain from singing or attending gay parties,
and refrain from changing clothes for a certain period of time. The
Mal period my be short or long, lasting from few weeks to several
years. The men, generally speaking, do nothing of this sort to demon-
strato their sorrow. But the villagers as a whole refrain, at least for
a week, from engaging in any gay public activities that may indicate hap-
piness at such a time.

Tombs, for the most part, have a crude appearance, with no writing
to indicate who is buried at the spot. A few people, however, do build
a small monument to mark the grave of a dear, dead relative. The in-
scription on such headstones usually start with the traditional phrase,
"In the name of Alli'h, the Benoficent, the Merciful.” Sometimes the word

5Ne professional mourners are used in Baytin to load the women-
felk in their melancholy task, as has been observed in case of other
Muslim village communities in the Arabic Middle East. Cf. Maurice

Gaudofery-Domcmbynes, luslim Institutions, trans. John P. McGrogor
(London: George Allen a: Unwin, Litd., T550), p. 171; Ayrcut, p. 102.

 

-73-

‘al-fi'tga', is inscribed in the middle of the top line, serving as an
indirect suggestion to the viewer that he read the first chapter in the
.SBELEE in behalf of the deceased. In the lines that follow, there is
usually indicated the name of the deceased and the date of his death.
The cemetery is not kept‘with care and weeds and bushes grow everywhere.
There is no cemetery custodian and animals in the village frequently
grace in the graveyard.‘

In rare cases a grave may be reopened in order that two close rel-
atives may be buried together. But under no circumstances are a smlo
and a female ever.put together in the same grave.

The villagers believe that two grave angels, lbnkar'and HakIr, visit
the grave on the night of the burial. They question the deceased: 'lho
is your God, Prophet, Book? 'What is your religion? Etc.” If the dead
person answers these questions the way he was instructed during the
.tglgzg ceremony, and remembers to profess the Islamic confession of
naith (al-shahida), the two angels open for'him.a‘window'(§§3:) overt
looking Phradiso, and leave hhm'to lie there in peace. If, on the other
hand, the deceased fails to answer, or answers incorrectly, the angels
boat himnwith iron clubs (mirsabbah) and open a window in the tomb through
which the horrors of Hell can be observed.

There is much uncertainty concerning the abode of the dead between
death and Judgment Day. But the most accepted theory among the Baytin
villagers is that the body of’tho deceased will finally turn to dust and
that his ooud'will Join other souls located in mysterious places on this

earth. One such place is the cave of Souls located under the Dome of'the

-79..

Rock mosque in Jerusalem, where souls are said to travel and hum like
boos.6 The soul of the sinner continues to live in pain and agony,
while the soul of the righteous person will experience blessed harmony.
The souls of the dead always maintain some interest in the affairs
of their living relatives. Thus, from time to time, a soul may make
visits to living,rolatives in their dreams, to infonn than of the location
of a hidden object, to offer an explanation or advice on certain matters,
or to complain about certain practices of the living.7 If the visiting
soul appears wearing white or green garments or carrying a masbah:
(rosary). then it is believed to be in heaven. If the soul appears
unhappy, distorted, or dressed in black, it is believed to be destined
to hell. The villagers also maintain that when a new soul arrives other

souls gather around the newcomer to ask the latest news of their friends

and rolativos.

The Day of Judgment (Teen al-Nushfir, or Yawm.al-Qiyimah), when the

 

angel Israfil blasts the trumpet (lag), the soul returns to the same
body it occupied during lifetime. The grave opens by itself, and every»
one emerges alive on the surface of the earth. All beings, then are
gathered together on a huge plain, prepared by Allah.for the occasion,
to await the hour of judgment.. as last, each person receives a book

in which his good (hgsantt) as‘well as evil (sayi'tt) deeds are recorded.

50:. Tritton, Islam, pp. 150-51.

7an invitation by the dead to a living person in a dream is.
accepted as a sign that the invited person will die within the year.

-30-

The faithful carry their books in their right hands, while the unfaithful
carry them.in the loft hands. 'lhon the turn of each person comes, he
appears in front of‘Lllah,'whc causes his acts to be weighed in accurate

scales (mawisfn). The faces of the faithful (al-Mh'minfn) will bo‘whito,

 

while the unfaithful sinners (al-KafirIn) will have black faces.8 The

 

Prophet Muhammad then intervenes (yatashafaS) in behalf of the Muslim
community. This intercession is accepted by Allah. The people are then

divided into two groups, one bound for Heaven and the other for Hell.

al-Naaisah or Uncloannoss
Radisah denotes a state of uncleanliness resulting from the sex
act. Two other terms are used by the villagers in this same connection.

The first, is ”Janibah', or 'sidednoss'; the second, is "Iblls rikibni',

 

or "I am ridden by the devil". The latter term is used only in case of
men, and novoerith reference to women. .A woman is considered naaisah
when she is having her menstrual period.

While in this unclean state, men and women are expected to refrain
from all religious activities. They avoid entering holy places or coming
into contact with anyone or anything sacred. Intontionalviolaticn of this
law constitutes a sin so far as the villagers are concerned.

‘lomen feel obligated to break the fist during Ramad'a'n if they are
having their’menstrual period. Under these circumstances they abstain

from entering mosques, religious shrines, or cemeteries. During this

8Q_1_1r'3n,. III: 102.

time, they refrain also from touching the Qur'in. Once the menstrual
period is past, the women are expected to make up all the obligatory re-
ligious activities (farl'ig) that they had missed.

If the state of najtsah is acquired through sexual intercourse, or
even by dreaming about sexual intercourse, then the persons involved are
expected to cleanse themselves before performing any religious rituals.
Otherwise, they stand to suffer the burden of a penalty.9

To regain a state of tahirah, or cleanliness, one has to undergo the
tashIIf rite. This involves washing one's body seven times with water,
repeating with each time the testimonial creed.

Certain objects are unclean in themselves. Any direct contact with
such objects results in transferring the quality of uncleanliness to that
portion of the body, place, or object touched. Included among such unclean
objects are dogs, pigs, intoxicants, blood, and waste matter.10Upon coming
into contact with any of these animals or objects, persons must cleanse
themselves in accordance with accepted rites. If a spot is fouled by waste
matter, urine or blood it is considered unfit as place for prayer. By
breaking wind or urinating, persons who prepared themselves for prayer,
become uncleanvand can cleanse themselves only by ablution rites.

Foods are also divided into clean and unclean catagories. Snails,11

9This might include offering longcr*and additional prayers,
fasting two days for each day the fast was broken in Ramadan, or feeding
or clothing a number of poor persons.
10The single exception to this is the urine of a suckling infant.

1ltlthough the Qur'tn is silent about snails, the villagers at
Baytin consider them.uncloan and abstain from eating them.

 

 

n82-

pork, carrion,12

blood, and flesh of any animal that has been immolated in
the name of one other than Allih are considered unclean. Such foods are

to be avoided. Foods acquired through sinful means such as cheating,
stealing or gambling are unclean. The flesh of all animals which have not
been slaughtered in accord with the religious laws are considered unclean.
Religious laws require that three conditions be met: First, the person
slaying the animal must himself be in a state of tahirah; secondly, he must
invoke the basmala formula--indicating that the slaughtering is done in the
name of Allah; and finally, the throat of the animal must be out in such a
manner that the blood drains from the body instantly.

Although foods prepared by Christians and Jews are accepted as clean

and lawful to eat, foods prepared by members of other religious sects, es-
pecially idelaters, are to be shunned and avoided. Those compelled by no-

cessity to partake of unclean foods are forgiven by Allah-13

Spirits

Baytin villagers believe in the existance of spirits. They believe that
such spirits are invisible, dwell among people, inhabit certain places, and
have the power to assume the image of an animal or human. Most spirits are
considered harmful and dangerous. They may be kept away by invoking the name
of God, as in the basmala formula, or by carrying about a slip of paper on

1ZCarrion is defined as any animal which has been killed by another,
strangled, or killed by beating or falling from a height. Qur'an, V: 4.

1

50f. Qur'in, v1: 145; v: 4,

 

-83..

which verses from the Bur—'35 are written. To keep one's home permanently
free from evil spirits, one need only have a copy of the Qur'i'n in the
house.

These mysterious spirits are divided into two major groups. The
first are al-lali'ika or al-llaliycha (angels), the singular of which
respectively is malak or malach. The second group are called al-jin
or al-jinn, the singular of which is jinni. The fin are also called by
the following names: Satirit, singular 31bit; Naradah, singular M's-rid;
Ab‘lisah, singular Iblis; and 8nay‘tin, singular Shayta-n.

Al-hli'ika are regarded as heavenly spirits, invisible, and made
of light (pg-1;). The few that are on earth, are here to perform a specific
mission. Once a malak's mission on earth is finished, it ascends to
heaven, where the mal:'ika normally dwell.

Four outstanding archangels play an important role in relationship
to man. Jibril (Gabriel), is the messenger of God, through whom the
Qur';n was revealed to Muhammad. Hiki'il (Michael), watches over the
order and life of nature. 31sr;'il, is the angel of death, who draws
away the spirit of the dying person. And finally there is Israfil who
will sound the trumpet on the last Day of Judgment.-

A malak is supposed to be stationed at any spot where a man was
killed. Such a spirit appears only at night, and, from time to time,
mkes loud and weird sounds. It may also repeat the last phrase uttered
by the person who was killed. one night, a group of villagers with whom
the author was spending an evening, heard a strange sound. It was said

to be the malak of a Turkish soldier who was killed in the area during

-34.

World War 1. After investigating the source of the sound, the author
found it was nothing more than a neighbor's dog. However, such a simple
explanation was unacceptable to the group. A blind person from the vil-
lage has also reported to the author, that he heard the voice of what he
assumed to be a malak coming from the spot on which a villager was killed.
According to this informant, the malak was calling for help, apparently
in the same manner the dying person had. ‘

‘ngols visit the earth on two occasions during the month of Ramadan.
On the night of the tenth of that month, an angel, commonly called
'imfattish liqdur (the Inspector .r 151:.) visits the different homes and
peeks into the pots used for cooking the evening meal. Then the Inspec-
tor makes a wish that food of the same kind be mde available for that
family during the succeeding year. In view of this belief, the greater
majority of the villagers cook meat that night and leave the pets unwashed
until the second morning.

The night of the twenty-seventh of Ramadin is known as Laylat
al-Qadr. This is the holy night of power on which the Qur'3n was sent
down. During this night, for just a short period of time, the gates of
heaven are opened. The angels come down to visit earth and to bless it.
Then, they ascend again to heaven on ladders of light. If someone awakens
during that night at the right moment and makes a wish, the request, be it
good or bad, is for sure granted. Thus many persons, especially the women
in the village, spend much of that night wishing for wealth and an in-
crease in the number of men in their families.

There are also two angels, Raqib and Satid, as it has been already

-8 5-

noted, that accompany every living person at all times to record his
good and bad deeds on earth. The two angels, llunkar and NakIr, who
appear in order to question every dead person shortly after the burial
ceremony have also been discussed.

{Although their abode is underground, the Jin are believed to be
found in more numerous places and on more frequent occasions on the
surface of the earth than the Mali'Ika. The villagers believe that many
specific places within the village are maamfira or haunted by the JIn.
8uch places include, the cemetery, the village watering place, caves,
dark places, deserted houses and the area beneath the doorsill of each
heme. In protecting themselves fron.such spirits, the villagers invoke
the heme of God when passing or entering such places.

The Jim are made on fire (35:), and it is believed that they are
capable of doing great harm to human beings. They are vindictive and
mischievous. Therefore, one should be very careful not to give them an
opportunity to strike at him or his loved ones. The villagers, oxpecial-
ly women, hardly ever pass or enter a place that is believed to be haunt-
ed without seeking protection from.these spirits by invoking the formula:
'dastur ya 'ggib'alematirihgwa aldnaetfir', followed by the basmala phrase.
They also try to avoid all situations in which they may become vulnerable
to attack by the Jin. These spirits are believed to attack the human
being with a greater force when he is experiencing a high degree of joy

14

or sorrow, as during one's wedding, or at the death of a close and dear

1"The insanity of a person from a neighboring village was attributed
to his excessive joy at the sight of his bride on the night of the wedding.

-36-

relative. The Jdn are also reported to attack the egotistical persons
who admire their images in the mirror or in water, especially at night.

It is possible for a jinni to enter the body of a human. 'lhen this
happens, the person loses control of his faculties and becomes the serv-
ant of the jinni. Such an individual is called mgjgfig (possessed by a
jinni). Th'.2£l£§£ in the eyes of the villagers, is considered a hope-
less caso. Nothing can be done to cure him. Thus, he is a prisoner
within his own home.168pilepsy (wag3ah or falling) is also believed to
be caused by the act of a jinni who gains control over its victim only
temporarily. This is why the victim acts queerly only on occasions.

The epileptic, the villagers believe, can be cured. The services
of a man who can communicate with the spirits is sought. .Such a mystic
beats and humiliates the epileptic. Using an old shoe, he strikes the
sick man in the face several times. Every time he strikes a blow, the
‘mystic orders the evil spirit to leave the body of the one possessed.
71f the mystic fails to get any results, he invariably claims that the
jinni has a stronger grip on the victim.than was first thought. The
mystic than writes ‘.§ll§2 and tells a member of the family to keep the
charm hidden in the clothing worn by the sick person with the hope of
protecting him from further harm by the jinni.

al-Jin are also thought to be teasing spirits. They cause, for
example, articles to disappear. In order to retrieve the lost item,

15Only one villager during the last fifty years was announced

to be mejnun. He was tied up with chains around his feet and confined
to his home until the day he died.

-37-

the victim is supposed to look in places where the article is least
likely to be found and to call on Allih for help.

Baytin villagers believe it is possible for certain persons to
gain control over a jinni. The name given to such a person is hashshsr.
The hasheh‘r may gain contrezithe jinni and make it work for him. The
jinni can be used to predict information about the future, give news
about absent friends or relatives, to declare the meaning of good or bad
omens, or even to solve crimes.

ono hashshzr was brought to the village by a woman whose jewelry
had been stolen. He was charged with the duty of giving the name or
description of the thief. The hashshar asked for a bowl full of water
and placed a drop of olive oil in its center. A young boy of seven was
chosen from the audience by the hashshzr to be the nggitr or the "medium".
The bowl was placed in front of the boy, and he was asked to concentrate
on the drop of oil. Both the boy and the bowl were covered with a white
sheet. The hashshir then began to call upon the jinni to communicate
'with the boy and to point out the thief. The I'medium" said that he saw
a picture form in the drop of oil and the description fit that of’a men
who had already been accused of the crime.

Though few villagers can testify that they have ever seen anything
resembling a jinni, almost the entire community is convinced that such
creatures do exist. No experience is sufficient to convince the vil-

lagers otherwise. Tho following episode related to the author by a

villager will serve to illustrate this belief.

-33-

Once, while passing by the mosque around mid-night on a
stormy night, I heard some strange voices. The sounds resembled
those of a group of people talking in anger. I thought that there
‘were some jin in the mosque, and I decided to leave as fast as I
could before any of them saw me.

The villager was asked at this point what he thought would have
happened to him.had he been seen by the Jan? His answer was, ”I do not
know. But they might burn me. They are made of fire, you knew, and we

humans are made of clay. That is what the Holy Qurdin says. Or, I

 

might have become spirited (majnun). only God knows what the outcome

could have been.” He continued with his tale.

.Lfter I left the mosque area I could hear the noises no more.
I began to think, that I had behaved like a coward. I said to
myself that if Iwere a brave man I would go back to have a look
at these in. I had a flashlight in my hand, and the light, I
thought, might scare them away from.me. Iwont back to the mosque.
To tell you the truth, Iwas trembling of fear for the sounds
‘were still there. I began to recite verses from.the Qur'in quietly.
I opened the unlocked door of the mosque with much care so I
wouldn't disturb them. To my surprise I found no one inside. I
discovered, however, that the noise was caused by the'wind blowing
through the broken glass of the windows. ‘lhen I told the people
in the village of my experience the next morning they all told me
I was a‘feol to take such a chance. Everyone also interpreted my
illness the next day as a result of the experience.

'lhen the villager'was asked whether he still believed in the existence
of the jzn or not, his answer was: ”Sure, I believe in them. _Tho Qur'in

says they exist. I was just lucky that none of the jin was in the mosque

that night.”

Saints and Shrines

Although the doctrine of saintheod is completely alien to the spirit

of Islam,16

the Baytin villagers--not unlike Muslims everywhere else--
have developed a saint-cult.17The saints are all male.18They possess the
magical powers of baraka (sacred emanation), and can perform miracles

and bestow gifts upon those who worbhip them. Saints are subservient

to the diety, but they do have the power to intercede on behalf of humans
with Allah. Their wishes are always granted. Although the saints are
humans who died a long time ago, their souls are still alive and they
watch over their fellow men.

The saints (al-awliyi', singular well) can be divided into two
major categories. First, the local saints, whose shrines are located
near the village and are accessible to the villagers at all times.
Secondly, the universal saints who are shared by Muslims everywhere.‘
Those in the latter category may have many shrines scattered through
the Islamic world; have only one shrine; or no shrine at all.

In the area adjacent to Baytin, there are two shrines housing the
tomb of a local saint. The first, is the shrine (M) arm or
Sayidna [Eur Maste§7 Shayban; the second is the shrine of al-Shaykh
5Ammar. The villagers often come to these shrines to seek favors, to
swear oaths to prove their innocence of any crime of which they are

16Alfred Guillaume, Islam (Edinburgh: Penguin Books, 1954),
p. 196; Levy, P. 258.

17Cf. Gibb, Mohammedanisms p. 122; Gaudefroy-Demonbyness,
pp. 56-583 Masse, p. 214.

18An exception to this is thima the daughter of the Prophet
Muhammad. She is revered as a saint and often called upon, expecially
by the women of the village, to perform miracles.

 

-90-

accused, or to bring their gifts of coins, olive oil and wax candles to
gain the saint's 2355!: (blessings).

(Young‘womon from.the village focod with possibility of becoming
spinstors visit the shrine of SIdna Shaybzn to ask his assistance in
getting husbands. Married women who want children may vow a 3:325,
or sacrifice, in the saint's honor if he will help them to become preg-
nant. Others seek the saint's aid to heal their own ills or those of
their sick relatives. some villagers turn to the saint to gain revenge;
they pray that their enemies suffer misfortune.

ta third saint is believed to make his residence in a thorny bush
located along an abandoned road connecting BaytIn with tribe (Jericho).
This saint is callod.Shaykh ZaSrfir. Fow villagers travel this road,
but those that do always stop at the bush, cut a piece of cloth from
their underwear, and tie it to one of the branches. The villagers
believe that all who take such steps acquire the saint's blessing and
will be given a new E2 (wardrobe) within a year.

There are three universal saints, known all through Islam, who are
highly revered and venerated by the Baytin villagers. These are:
al-Ihadir Likhdar, or al-Khadr.Abu al-SAbbis; Ahmad al-Sadewix and
al-Habi Shubayb.

The first two, alpKhadr and al-BadawI, are often called upon, along
with Illi'h, to protect children. Thus, when a child falls down, the
mother may shout "Ya Allih, ya Agggd al-Badewi', or 'O God, 0 Ahmad
al-Badawi [some to his ai_c_l7." a woman may ".1... look at her growing son

and say lovingly: 'al-Khagir yiSnik', or "lay al-Xhadir take you into

-91..

his protection”. These two saints also are often called upon to help
one against his enemies by bringing hardships upon them.

al-Ihadir, who enjoys many shrines through out the world of Islam,
has a shrine in a small town named after him located several miles to
the city of Jerusalem. Hardly a year goes by without one or more vil-
lagers bringing a sheep or a goat to be sacrificed in the honor of this
saint. al-Badawf, on the other hand, has no known shrine in the area.

ShuSayb, who is recognised as a prophet in Islam, is believed to be
buried in the Jordan valley, somewhere between Jericho and al-Salt.

In this general area there is a shrine housing his tomb. Liko the rest
of the saints, Shu3ayb is often called upon for help. He is best known
for his outstanding ability to help the villagers discover and punish
criminals. Thus, no guilty man ever accepts to swear a false oath inside
the shrine of al-Nabi shu3ay'b. It is believed whoever swears falsely
within the shrine stands to suffer great punishment.

In the shrine of ShuSayb, the 223222 oath is administered. Hero,
after an accused person had sworn his innocence, is asked to lick a piece
of iron that has been heated until it glows red. The guilty person, it is
believed, will suffer a burn and great pain. An innocent person will not
be affected by the heat.

The villagers do not seem to know much about the past history of
their saints. All they know is that such saints have been revered for
as long as they can remember, and their fume handed down from generation
to generation. Thus in religion as in other areas, one can see the

importance of oral tradition.

-92-

Chapter V

Government and Pol it i as

The administrative system that prevails in Jordan today is one with
a long tradition. It was derived directly from the administrative organ-
isation of the Ottonn Empire. This system was preserved to a large
degree by the British Mandate authorities and has been continued under
the Hashemito rogimo.1

rm. administrative system 1.. highly centralised. It is headed
and controlled, by and large, by the monarch himself. Under the consti-
tution, the king has been vested with wide powers over the executive,
legislative and judicial branches of the government. He may appoint

2

and dismiss the Prime Minister and cabinet members at will. The Council

of Hinistors, in turn, appoint the mutaIarrifs (governors) , one for each

of the'eight alwiya, or districts, which comprise the organised portions

of the kingdom. The Council of Ministers also appoints the qi'immsqus,

 

lSee Omar Bey Salih al-Barghuthi, ”Local Self-Government [In
Punting-«Jest and Present”, The Annals of the American Acadom of
Politica and Social Science,,veI. 164 (November, 1932), pp. 3135.

ZConstitution .r the Hashomite Kingdom .r Jordan, 1952. Art. 35.

 

8Less than 10 per cent of the entire area of Jordan is organized
under this administrative system. This is the north-west portion of the
kingdom. The rest of the country is a barren desert where a few nomadic
tribes ream. The eight alwi are: 3Ajlfin, with its capital at Irbid;
Balqa, with its capital a a t; lhtagarifiyat al-SAsima (in some respects
a sort of Jordanian District of Columbia), with its capital at SAmm'a'nz
Karak, with its capital at Karakz 'll3i'n with its capital at 'Miiinx
Nablus, with its capital at Nablus; Jerusalem, with its capital at
Jerusalem: and al-Khaln (Hebron), with its capital at al-Khali'l.

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-93-

tho administrative officers who manage the affairs of the different sub-

dietricts of the alwiza called 23231:. or 3135; in the singular. The

a 3' or sub-district is normally composed ef a small city which serves

as the seat of government, and two to four scores of villages and small

municipalities scattered around the urban center.4
Frem.an administrative point of view, villages in Jordan are net

officially recognized as political subdivisions. Instead, they are viewed

as building blocks out of which the larger political units are created.

Thus, government in Jordan is ”a superimposed structure placed on top of

the collection .r villages that happen to fall within the political 11mm."5
The village is run by a number of Nakhtire or soloctmen and a Village

Council (Italic Qarawi) composed of the heads of the several kinships of

 

the village. The ultimate authority, hewever, is superimposed from.abevo
and rests in the hands of the sub-district gi-Imaqam. An attempt will be
made in this chapter to discuss, in some detail, the structure and the

function of the village government in Baytin.

The lhkhtirs

 

Baytin, as has been acted in GhApter II of this study, is a small
village of two major hamfilas. Each of these has its mukhtir or selectg
man, an officer of the lowest political echelon.

‘ 3' literally means ”Judgeship' and is so called perha

s
because each su -district has its ceurt (lahkamat §ulh) and judge {hikim
gulh) to decide disputes arising within the sub-district.

 

sPhillips, p. 8.

In theory, the mukhtir, is to be chosen by the members of one's
hamfila. The choice is subject to approval of the qE'mmaqu of the sub-
district. In reality, however, the mukhtir is often appointed by the
qI‘immaqu without any regard for the wishes of the hgmfilg. The popular
vote has not been officially accepted as the way in which such matters
are to be decided, and the vote is employed to select a'mukhtir only at
the discretion of the qi'immaqim.

The mukhtir therefor, receives his mandate, not from the people he
rules but from the central government through the qi'immaqim. The
mukhtir’s symbol of authority is khitm al—makhtara (the official seal).
The mukhtir is accountable to the qi'immaqim, and all the latter has to
do to deprive the former of his authority is simply to withdraw the
khitm al—makhtara.

If the villagers are outraged by the actions of a certain mukhtir,
they may petition the qi'immaqi'm to dismiss him. Such a petition must
be in writing and signed by a large number of male villagers. The
qi*immaq3m then studies the situation to decide whether the mukhtEr is
to be retained or dismissed.

Under normal circumstances, the mukhtir holds his office for life,
subject to good behavior. He may resign his office because of old age
or ill-health. His successor is chosen by the qi’immaqim after consul-
tation with the outgoing mukhtzr and the leading members of his hamfila.

A mukhtir receives no salary.6 The position he occupies, however,

6During the period of the British Mindate ever Phlestine
(Western Jordan), the mukhtir was paid a token salary depending on the

gives him prestige and power within the village. He is frequently

called upon to perfonm certain tasks which provide an opportunity to

earn money. He may play the role of a marriage broker, judge or surveyor.
Moreover, mukhtirs have been known to endorse or to legalize irregular
documents for a price.

The mukhtir's prestige outside the village depends to a large degree
on his personality and his ability to befriend and gain the support of
the sub-district and district officials. Generally speaking, however,
the mukhtir ranks far below those in the lowest echelons of the sub—
district government. The difference in status between the qE'immaqu
and the village mukhtir is very great, and the relationship between the
two is that of one between a lord and his servant. As a matter of fact,
a mukhtir always addresses the qi’immaqim by calling himl”y§ sidi", or
"my master".

A mukhtir fears his superior and does his best to appease him. He
offers feasts in honor of the qi'immaqim and brings him expensive gifts
from time to time. The mukhtir also travels to the sub-district seat
on religious and national holidays to bring greetings and good wishes
to his superior. Whenever there is a major function in the village, the
mukhtir makes certain that he invites the qi'immaqim.

The official responsibilities of a mukhtzr are numerous and demanding.
It is his duty to receive and play host to all visiting government effi-

oials. Ho assists the sub-district tax collector in the performance of

I

size of his village. This practice was discontinued after the annexation
of Arabic Palestine to Jordan on April 24, 1950.

 

 

-96-

his duty. The mukhtir also helps the sub-district police force to ap—
prehend criminals in the village. It is his duty to see that new deaths
and births in the village are duly recorded in the register, and, at the
same time, reported to the official at the sub-district health center.
The mukhtir is in charge of registering and checking all eligible voters
in the village before a national election. He also possesses the power
of a notary public and is responsible in addition for the dissemination

and execution of all official orders within the village.

The Village Council

In addition to the two mukht'a'rs, there exists! Village Council
(thlis Qarawi) at Baytin. The Council is composed of seven members
representing the seven largest kinships in the village. The two
mukhtirs are ex efficio members of the Council. At the same time they
are considered representatives of their respective kinships. In theory,
the mukhtzrs carry no more weight in decision-making than other Council-
men. In reality, however, a mukhtir's influence on the Council is
heavily felt because of his government connections.

The Village Council is an informal body. The members are not
elected to their posts. They assume leadership by consent of their
kinsmen and recognition by other village leaders. Once accepted as a
spokesman of his kinship group, the member continues to play a role on
the Council until his authority is challenged by his relatives, or he
becomes inactive because of old age or illness. If the authority of a

Council member is challenged by a substantial number of his male kin,

 

 

'-97-

this is construed to be a veto of no confidence by the Council where
and they ignore his presence at their'meetings.

If, on the other hand, a councilman resigns his Council duties on
his own accord, then he may delegate the authority to someone else, after
consultation with the loading members of the kinship. He may also leave
the post vacant and lot various leaders of the kinship argue who his
successor will be. such steps often lead to friction and political
splits within the kinship.

cemmmnity leaders are picked because they possess certain qualities
and characteristics such as: wisdom 9.1.1.!” maturity (M), gained
thrpugh age and native intelligence Q2:3l)3 a degree of wealth £23922),
measured through land ownership) courage (shalisih)3 generosity (5555!):
good moral character; a thorough training in the felkways and the mores
of the community: piety (tadayun): and a generally conservative outlook
on life.7 ‘

.A ceuncilman receives no salary for his work on the villago Council.
But the nature of his status as community leader puts him.in a position
'ehero he is often called upon to perform certain services which bring
remuneration.‘ Like the mukhtir, the Council member may become a mar-
riage broker, negotiator of loans or surveyor of lands. For every one
of those tasks, he is able to charge a fee.

So far as the function of the Village Council is concerned, the
body serves in an administrativo-legislativo-judicial capacity on the

7Afif Tannous, "The.Arab Village Community of the Middle fihst,”
pe 5420

-93-

local level. It may also be called upon by the qf'immaqim.ef the sub-

 

district to advise him.on specific matters pertaining to the village.

The duties of the Council include supervision of public lands and
buildings, street cleaning and repair, maintenance and care of the vil-
lage sdhoel, public morality, water distribution, protection of crops,
regulation of crop harvesting, and the settlement of disputes in accord-
ance with M and _3_a_d_a_h, or comen sense and custom. The Council also
appoints all village employees and raises the money necessary to meet
all the responsibilities listed above.

.L meeting of the Council is called any time one of its members feels
that there is some question worthy of consideration. A quorum consists
of all members of the Council or their representatives. In most instances
meetings are held in public places, such as a coffee house, and may be
attended by any village resident interested in the issue being discussed.
Every citizen has the right to speak and to declare his views publicly.
The problem.at hand is'discussed and debated until a final agreement by
the Council is reached. .5 vote is never taken, and until there is unan-
imous consent to the solution a problem is not considered solved. In
case of a deadlock among the Council members on an important issue, the

matter is referred to the sub-district gi'imnaqim, whose decision is

 

accepted as final.

711 la go Inpl oyees
. One of the major responsibilities of the village Council is to

appoint five employees to carry out certain civic functions. These are:

-99-

a mail man (besteji); a school janitor ('3thin); a crops guard (nitur);

a water distributor (nftfir al-3ayn); and a street cleaner (kannfs).

 

The first two employees, the mail man and the school janitor, are
appointed annually. The crops guard and the water distributor occupy
their posts during appropriate seasons of the year. The fifth, the street
cleaner, is employed only when the two mukht‘rs are pressured by the sub-
district health inspector to do something about the sanitary conditions
in the village or if the Council members decide the services of such an
individual are needed.

The mail man is responsible for fetching the village mail each day
from the sub-district post office at Ramallah and distributing it to the
villagers. He is neither paid a salary nor guaranteed a specific income.
Instead, the mail man charges ton fglfig (singular £ll£)' or about three
cents for every local letter he delivers, twenty fglfig for every letter
from abroad, and fifty EEEEE for each registered letter (msukar) or
check.8 Because letters containing money or other valuable have been
stolen from the mails in the past many villagers who receive a consider-
able ameunt of mail during the year have found it safer to rent a mail
box in the sub-district post office at Ramallah. This has reduced the
income of the mail man considerably in the last few years.

adccording to the villagers, those charges on incoming mail are
exorbitant when compared with the value of stamps necessary for posting
such letters. It costs 15 fglig to mail a letter within the country,
25 fulfis of postage value on letters mailed to neighboring countries and
75'?EIEE on air mail letters sent to distant countries such as the United

States. But because the letters delivered in the village are few in
number, the income of the village mail man remains quite small.

In addition to cleaning and guarding the village school day and
night, the janitor servos also as a messenger boy for school officials.
He is paid a monthly salary of seven and a half dinirs. This amount is
appropriated by the Village Council, but paid out to the janitor by the

Officer of.Aoceunts (Huhfbib) at the Qi‘mmaqim's Department at Ramallah.

 

The EEiEEP or the crops guard is normally hired by the village
Council in early summer and kept on the job through the fall season. He
is put in charge of protecting property rights as well as enforcing all
laws enacted by the Council regarding the crops. it is also his duty to
announce to all villagers the laws pertaining to harvesting crops, tres-
passing on property, and rights to the grazing areas. He makes his
announcemmlts in the early hours of the evening when almost everyone is
at home. He mounts the top of the highest building in the center of the
village and declares in a loud voice the laws regarding such matters and
the penalties carried if the laws are broken. Ho repeats such announce-
mmats three times.

The crops guard is armed with a club and expected to roam the vil-
lage lands during the day, seven days a week. If anyone is found violat-
ing any of the crop or grazing laws, the pitfig seizes some property of
the effendor--clothing, equipment or an animal--until th'.§2§£§£ or fine

is paid.9.Finos are paid either to the ndtfir or to a member of the vil-

 

lage Council. At any rate, the crops guard is entitled to one half of

9The'word 'ta rir' literally means ”to set free". ‘Porhaps this
is to indicate that a ino has to be paid before the confiscated article
or animal is set free by the nijfir.

-101-

all the fines paid for such violations.10

In addition, the 35.23}... is paid
thirty to forty Jordanian m for his services.

The water distributor is hired by the Council during the summer
season when water at the village spring becomes scarce. His duty consists
of enforcing the laws passed by the Village Council regarding the distribu-
tion of water during the period that there is a shortage. Because the
water‘ distributor has to deal only with women in the performance of his
duties, his job is not hold in high repute. But the task is a difficult
one to carry out. The water distributor is always under fire from the
villagers who accuse him of bias and who are quick to report their accu-
sations to the Council members. This often results in one of the two
mukht'drs joiningjtho water distributor to see that he performs his task
fairly.

The water distributor is hired by the Council for a salary of about
thirty 22111. Re charges each family getting water from the village
spring a monthly fee. This is based upon the number of persons in the
family, and the amount is turned over to the Council. It is from this
money that the water distributor's salary is paid. llany village women
have developed the habit of tipping the water distributor at each time
they pay him the monthly fee. As a result, his actual income from this
job is much in excess of the agreed salary.

1"half of all fines are given to the gig; in addition to his

regular salary as an incentive to increase his activities and firmness
in locating and punishing the violators of the law.

-102-

The village fiscalgpcligy

In dealing with financial matters, the Council is guided to a large
degree by three factors: the innate conservatism.of'most villagers; the
somewhat pessimistic attitude most villagers take teward the futures and
the cultural point of view of the village that places mud: greater stress
upon the male members than on the female.

In regard to all its financial obligations, the Council adopts a
”pay-as-you-ge' policy. Such a policy leaves little room for experiment-
ation and limits the number of projects that may be undertaken at any one
time. Only the village projects which are sorely needed and for which the
community may pay cadh are undertaken. This line of thought has been
roinfbrcod by a folk saying that runs: "Stretch your legs only to the
limits of your bedding".

The Council is limited neither by an annual budget nor by a predeter-
mined tax policy. Honey is raised by fizo Council as smny times during the
year as there are projects to be paid for. only native male residents and
native absentee landlords are required to contribute to such projects.

The type of revenue collected by the village Council say then be described
as a multi-projoct head tax.11

If the Council decides to undertake a project, plans are laid to raise

11The word 'ggrlbah”, or ”tax? is never used by villagers in this
regard. Inetead,'they use the word 'lammah', or "collection" to denote
the process by which money is raised W Councimrm 'darfbah"

however, is applied by the villagers only to taxes collected by the central
government.

-103-

the necessary funds. First, the cost of the entire project is estimated.
Thu, this amount is divided by the total number of the sales in the pop--
ulatienol2 Bach Council member is promptly designated to collect the tax
from the sales of his kinship}3 1if more funds are needed to pay for the
same project, then additional sums are collected on the same basis.

In some instances, too much money has been collected and a surplus
has resulted. In this case, the Council sometimes deposits the money with

the officer of‘Accounts (Eghigib) at the qi'innaqin'. Department. 3., in

 

turn, keeps such monies in a special fund known as sand'u'j al-balad or

 

”the village trust”. Boforo any monies my be withdrawn from the trust

for future projects, the two mukht'irs have to petition the Li'inmmq‘m and

 

receive his approval. IThis is not always easy, for the qz'immaqdm may not

 

approve of the project or he may think that other projects in the village
should be given a higher priority. Consequently, the councilmml are usu-

ally reluctant to deposit monies in "the village trust" at the Qa‘immaqim‘s

 

Department. to a result, surpluses are frequently kept in trust by one
or more of the Council members until a need rises for more money. Neod-
leso to say, such a situation often leads to graft and the loss of funds.

It is of importance to note here that this tax structure is accepted

J'zIncluded here are absentee landlords, who may own even less
than one acre of land. Exbludod from such payments are all non-native
residents who may own property in the village, unless by choice, such
members decide to pay their share. But once they declare their readiness
to pay, they cannot change their minds.

13Ivory Council member is held responsible for the males in his
kinship. If any male fails to meet his obligation, the Council member is
expected to make good for him.

.104-

without question by all villagers. Ne ono--not oven the poverty-stricken
residents who have large fumdlios with many sons--advocates a change or
suggests a different tax base. The acceptance of such a tax base stems,
no doubt, from the great value placed upon male children in the village.
Not taxing outsiders who have moved in and settled in the community is a
clear indication that social status within the village is dependent to a

large degree upon membership within a specific kinship.14

rho Villagers and National Pblitics

 

The Hashemito Kingdol.of Jordan'was constituted in June, 1949. It
resulted from.the annexation (formalised in 1950) of a larger portion of
Arab Phlestine,'wost of the Jordan River, to the kingdom.of Transjordgn.
This was accomplished during the reign of King Abdullah.

the assimilation of Palestinians; in the state of Jordan has never
really taksn place on the grass-root level. Even after ten years of
official annoxation to Trans-Jordan, these people still refer to themselves
as Phléstinians' or Arabs--thoy identify themselves very rarely as
Jordanians.151ndood, the Jordanians proper, whom we shall call Transjordan-
ians, are often held in contempt by the Phlostinians, They are, in the

words of one Pulostinian school teacher, ”uneducated nomads".16

I‘Raphael Patai, “The Middle East as . Culture 3-..." The Middle
East Journal, vol. VI, no. 1 (1962), p. 11.
. 15Daniel Lerner, The Pissing of Traditional Societ : Modernizin
‘the Middle lust (Gloncoe,'lllinoisa The Fr.;*FF..., 1958), p. 30;.
16since 1948 many stories originating among the Palestinians have
pictured the average Transjordanian as a naive, ignorant nomad. The term

 

 

-10 5-

Tho Palestinians take an equally scornful view toward the central
government of Jordan. The Palestinians seem to feel that the establishment
of the state of Israel in 1948 and the annexation of Arabic Palestine to
Transjordan in 1950 were the result of a shameful conspiracy between the
late king Abdullah .r Jordan and the Jewish leaders to divide Palestine
between them.

Annexation to Jordan is also resented on the grounds that the Palestinians
fool superior in every respect to their Transjordanian brothers. The
Hasheuite kings of Jordan are generally regarded as being British puppets.
Moreover, the policy followed by young King Eusain since lQBB-«which aims
at maintaining Jordan as an independent entity, instead of accepting a union
with the United Arab Republic under the leadership of President Nzgir-u-is
viewed as a policy of treason toward the Arab cause.

In view of those attitudes, the Palestinians have rejected anything
that smacks at Jordanian nationalism. They prefer to listen to radio

broadcasts from Cairo and Damascus, rather than to those from Amman or

 

' used by the Palestinians to refer to Transjordanian irregulars who entered
the country before, and along with, the Arab Begion (new the Arab Army)

to fight against the Israeli was.ga_l-huffa;l or tharhara-foflet. This derogatory
term has become the label for all ransjordanians ever since. some of the
stories told about the Transjordanians in Palestine run as follows: A
Transjordanian, being unable to read the menu in a Palestinian restaurant,
asked the waiter to tell him what was on the menu for the day. The waiter
named various dishes, and the Transjordanian, hearing of salad (salaja)

for the first time, decided to try it., I'hon it was brought to him, the
Transjordanian was outraged because the salad was raw and insisted that

the vegetables be cooked before he would eat them. Another story concerns
a Transjerdanian soldier who stopped a Palestinian civilian to examine his
identity card. 'hen the civilian handed the soldier his identity card, the
soldier hold it upside down and then complained that the picture did not
correspond with that of the bearer.

~106-

Jerusalem.17They prefer Egyptian and Syrian newspapers and periodicals-
when they can get theme-to those printed in Jordan. Whatever the Jordanian
radio says is automatically regarded as propaganda and hold in contempt.

Even music and cultural programs offered by radio Amman are laughed at and

scorned by the Phlostinians.18

' awt al-3Arab (the Voice of the Arabs) broadcasts only truths
( a i ). It gives only the true news of Jordan, the United Arab
Repub ic, and other parts of the world. Ahmad SaSId (19) is a good
speaker, I like to listen to him and find him very interesting. Be
is the best political commentator I have ever heard. But radio Amman
deals only with propaganda. It never carries the speeches of Pres-
ident Nigir, and it is always trying to discredit the United Arab
Republic. Radio Amman never reveals the shameful news of the king,
his family, or those of his ministers. It hides all of that. The
Voice of the Arabs broadcasts such news. Radio Amman is no good.“

Thus testified one Jordanian villager to this author.

The villagers at Baytin share the same attitudes as the rest of the
Phlostinian Arabs. They regard the central government with resentment and
fear. The central government to them is symbolized by the tax collector
Qgghgliil al-darfbah), the sub-district policeman (al-shurti), the conscription
officer, and members of the secret police (mabihith) who visit the village
only when they want some one or something from the villagers.

Because they resent the central government, Baytin villagers seldom

17Listening to broadcasts originating in the United Arab Republic
is officially prohibited in Jordan. Jordanians, however, tune to such sta-
tions in secret. Quite often they post a man outside the place where they

are listening to give them warning in case some one is approaching.

18Cf. Lerner, p. 344.

laAhmad Sa3id is a popular propagandist and news commentator attached
to the Voice of the Arabs program which originates in Cairo.

 

-lO7-

give accurate information to government officials. This, in part, is the
reason why government agents are unable to collect accurate statistical data.
"The peasant cannot comprehend a census, for example, purely for its own
sake. An ulterior motive must lie behind it. If taxation is suspected, the
enumeration is ridiculously lowg but if there is a rumor of rationing, it is
just as ridiculously high,"20

Still another attitude towards the government stems from the belief that
all government officials must be corrupt and accept bribes. There are many
stories circulating among the villagers to reinforce this stereotype. For
example, there is the story of the Minister of Education who is reported to
have clapped his hands several times when approached by an applicant for a
teaching position in the government school system. He is reported to have
done so in order to indicate to the prospective employee how many dinirs
he--the Minister--expects to get as a bribe for the post. Each hand clap was
,supposed to represent ten Jordanian dinzrs. .

Another story concerns an officer who was in charge of selecting poten—
tial army cadets. Presumably this officer interviewed only those young men
who bore a letter of recommendation from one of the officer‘s henchmen. The
letter, in effect, indicated that the bearer had already paid the bribe for
the position.

A third story circulating in the village pointed out that one high
government official in Ammhn bargained with those who sought jobs through

20Douglas D. Crary, "The Villager," in Social Forces in the Middle

East, ed. by Sydney Nettleton Fisher (Ithaca, N. Y.s Cornell University Press,
1955), p. 54. ”

 

 

 

-108-

him. ‘Aocording to reports, this official would look the candidate in the
eye and shout that he had already interviewed one hundred candidates but had
yet to find the suitable man for the job. He would add that he intended

to interview fifty more applicants if necessary to find the right man for
the job. This statement was taken to mean that the amount the official
wanted as a bribe was one hundred and fifty Jordanian dinirs. The applicant,
if willing to pay the quoted price, would then remark: "Let me be your one
hundred and fiftieth candidate. Examine my qualifications and you need

look no further." If on the other hand, the applicant felt that the job

was worth less, he might reply: ”Don't count on fifty more applicants.
Twenty more is probably all you will be able to get." This was interpreted
as meaning the applicant was willing to pay only one hundred and twenty
dIn‘rs for the post. The two might argue in such terms until they reached
an agreement.

The belief that most government officials are corrupt had led the
villagers to offer bribes whenever they ask for a favor. Theirwillingnoss
to offer bribes has encouraged oven the most insignificant officials, iné
eluding deer keepers in government buildings, to ask for bribes openly.

The villagers tolerate such corruption, and, indeed, seem to envy those who
are in position to receive these bribes. EThoy speak in open envy of the
'woalth acquired by bribery and even encourage their children and friends to
enter government service because they believe it is one way to get rich
quickly.

Because of this cynical attitude toward government, Baytin villagers

frequently rally around any "native son" running for office, irrespective

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of what his politics or party affiliation might be. It is reported, for
example, that every villager in 1956 cast his vote in favor of FI'iq‘Warrid,
a native of Bayti'n and leading member of the Communist Phrty of Jordan.
This was not because the people of Baytin favored the policies of the
Communist Phrty at this time, but rather because many of them hoped that
the election of Mr. Warrzd would enable them to get some governmental
positions.

Because political parties in Jordan are officially outlawed, none
of the inhabitants of Baytin today claim membership in any of the seven
political parties publicly active in 1956.21 However, two self-confessed
members of the Communist Phrty of Jordan, Ff'iq‘lhrrid and SAbdulfattIh
Faris, are serving jail sentences in a political prison located in the
desert called al-Jafr. Jibir Eusayn Jibir, a notorious political propagand-
ist for the Communist Party of Jordan, has spent a considerable part of
his life in jail for political activities but is now at large and said to be
residing in some unknown place in the country.

The vast majority of the residents of Baytin, like most Palestinians,
are sympathetic with the ideas of Arab nationalism, and regard President

Gamil 3Abdu1-stir as their undisputed loader.

21Three out of the seven political parties active in 1956 in Jordan
were legal. Those were: the National Socialist Phrty, the Arab Resuroction
Party (al-Ba3th al-3Arab1)‘, and the Arab Constitutional Party. The other
four were considered officially illegal, but were active nonetheless and
participated in the 1956 ploction unmolostod. These were: the Muslim
Brotherhood, the Islamic Liberation lhvement, the Arab Nationalist Party,
and the National Front, which was a front organization for the Communist
Party.

 

-110-

Chapter VI

Settlement of Disputes

Disputes of a civil nature that arise among the villagers are

referred to a Magistrate's Court (mahkamat gulh) at the sub-district

 

seat, or to a higher court in the district or in the country's capital.1

If the dispute involves a question regarding a religious or personal
matter-emarriage, divorce, guardianship, inheritance, deserticn, and

the like-—it is referred to a Mahkama SharSiyyah, or a muslim religious

 

court.
The inhabitants of Baytin, however, like many Jordanian villagers,
quite often by-pass those official courts of justice and settle their

disputes under tribal law (hukum Sashi'iri). The tribal law is based,

 

in part, upon the Shari‘3a, or Islamic law, and upon common sense and
tradition (Surf and Si'dah). In the following pages, an attempt shall
be made to present the magnitude and function of the tribal law as it

is known and used at Baytin.

ITho Magistrate's courts may handle civil cases where the
amount in contention does not exceed 150 Jordanian dinars. Higher
courts of justice (each comprising three judges) are to be found in
every district. They may deal with all cases not referred to the
magistrato's courts or reserved to al-Ma ama al-Sharsiyyah, or to
the Highor Court of Justice Qgthkamat a1-3adl a1-3u1yi). ‘Thero are
two courts of appeal (each consisting of three or more judges), one
on tho'lost Bank and the other on the East. These courts hear appeals
from.the lower courts. Finally, there is the Court of Cessation,
located in Amman, and listens to appeals from the two lower courts
of appeal in all civil cases in which the amount in diSputo exceeds
500 Jordanian dinzrs, as well as appeals of major criminal offenses
and.any judgment involving an important legal point of general interest.
See George L. Harris, ot. e1., Jordan: Its people, Its society, Its
culture (New Haven, Conn.x HRAF Press, 1958), pp. 91-92.

 

 

 

-111-

Under tribal law, there are several procedures through which it
may be possible to iron out differences between two conflicting parties.
The simplest procedure is one in which the parties concerned meet in
public and agree, with the help of others present, upon a settlement
on the basis of precedents and custom. If the guilty party refuses to
admit his guilt or accept the penalty imposed, the parties concerned
seek out other procedures to settle their dispute.

Tahkim, or arbitration,zis another method through which disputes
are settled under tribal law. In this case, the two sides agree upon
‘.9££3£b or’an arbitrator.3 Both parties agree to submit their disputes
to him and to abide by his decision. The hgkgm is normally chosen by
the defendant, and subject to acceptance by the plaintiff. Th..§1§£§:
may be a resident of the village or from some other place. He is usu-
ally a person who has a wide reputation for being fair and just.

Normally when a dispute is to be settled in this fashion, the two

zArbitration as a means to settle disputes has been suggested

and sanctioned by Islam. The Qur'in, IV: 35 states: “And if yo fear
a breach between them twain (the man and wifi7, appoint an arbiter from
his folk and an arbiter from her folk. If they desire amendment Allah
will_mako them of one mind, lol Allah is ever knower, Aware." The
Sur'an further instructs the faithful who may be called upon to serve
as an arbitratior, a judge or a witness to stand out firmly for justice,
even though the application of justice may be harmful to themselves or
to their relatives. "0 yo who believe] Bo yo staunch in ustice, even
though it be against yourselves or [you37’paronts or [you;}'kindrod,
whether [the case be of a rich man or a poor man, for Al ah is nearer
unto beth.Z$han ye are . So follow not passion lost yo lapse /from
truth and if ye 1.ps;'.r fall away, then lol.A11ah is ever Informed
ef'w at yo do." Qur'an, IV: 135. See also IV: 583 XVI: 90.

3This is not to be popfusod with the hskim or the magistrate
of the civil court, or the qadi or a mahkama SharSiyyah, who both are
government appointees.

 

-112-

parties concerned are accompanied by other men from their own kinship.
The number of men accompanying each litigant depends upon the serious-
ness of the case. One member from each group--usua11y the eldest or
most wise--is selected as a spokesman. The spokesman is charged with
prospnting and arguing the case infront of the 31kgm.

.At the place of arbitration, the two groups usually are seated
opposite each other in the room. If the numbers are large, or if the
situation is so strained that the litigants are not talking to one
another, the two parties may meet in separate places.

The §=k=5_listons to the spokesmen of both sides. The spokesman
for the plaintiff begins first. After both speakers have presented
their cases, the hgkgm proceeds to lecture both groups on the value of
charity and tolerance. Ho invariably suggests that they should attempt
to reach an amicable settlement before a definite 33km_(ruling) is
handed down by him. His statements are usually larded heavily with
traditional sayings and with quotations from th..33§:£9' Ho insists
that 'a settlement based on mutual understanding is [Eustly7 the master

of all judgements," or, "al-qulh sayyid al-ahkim".

 

If one or both of the litigants refuses to negotiate a settlement
and insists upon a definite ruling by the hakam, the arbitrator has no
choice but to heed to their demands. In this case, the hakam requests
the spokesman of each group for the rizqa, or money for the hakam's fee.4

4The rizqa varies from time to time depending on the nature of

the case, the reputation of the hakam, and the social and economic posi-
tion of the two litigants.

-113-

Once paid, the 32322 questions the two parties further. He asks
for the testimony of witnesses and weighs it carefully. After he has
heard the arguments from both sides, the hik§m_hands down his decision.
He also defines the terms of the settlement. The group that has won the
case gets back the £i£q=_money it paid to th’.§i£1§.at the outset of the
case. The looser's money is retained by the arbitrator as his fee for
the services rendered. .

Social pressure and custom usually result in the acceptance of the
hakamds ruling in the case. If the members of one group refuse to accept
the terms of the settlement, they are accused by the villagers of trying
to evade justice. Such accusations are damaging and usually shame the
reluctant group into acceptance of the hakam’s ruling. Moreover, the
winning party, acquires under tribal law a right (3:33), to avenge itself
in any way it sees fit against any losing party that fails to abide by a
hakam’s ruling.

The litigants may also resort to tribal law to reconcile their
differences. In this case, each of the litigants elects a disinterested
person to be its mundwib, or representative. The muniwibs meet and
listen to both sides present their cases. The conciliators (muglihun)
try to identify the source of disagreement, and on this basis offer
proposals for a compromise. In most cases, such compromise proposals
are accepted as rulings for the case. .This is true especially whbn the
litigants realize there must be some compromise eventually, and the use
of outsiders to settle thy dispute results in their accepting the ruling

more gracefully. The conciliators may or may not be paid for their

~114-

servicos. If they are paid, each litigant pays the fee of his muniwib.

It is important to note here that decisions by civil and religious
courts are not always regarded as conclusive by the villagers. In
specific cases, such as homicide and rape, tribal law must be applied
before the case is considered closed. lFor example, a person tried and
convicted for homicide and then released after serving his sentence in
prison for many years, would be tried again by tribal law and forced to
abide by the consequences. If the murderer were executed by the author-
ities for his crime, his living relatives are expected to seek a settle-
ment of his case under tribal law or else they would feel the wrath of
the victim's family.‘ To justify this attitude, the villagers often

quote a traditional saying that runs: "hukm al-sargya ma bimshi fi

 

al-qariyg,” or, "the ruling of a government court is not [Flwayg7
binding in villages”.

If the family of a murdered person or raped woman fails to get
satisfaction under tribal law from the family of the guilty person,
then they are expected to resort to threats or violence to secure their
rights. If they do not, such families suffer shame or £53 for their
complacency. If the family of the victim is weak or unable to exert
pressure on the family of the guilty person, then they must flee to a
new village. Here they will seek to establish new neighborhood asso-
ciations (1:522) and search out the 32552, or help of’a powerful family
to help them gain revenge, secure their rights (£133), and erase their

shame.5

5Tanab in reality is a moral obligation to protect and help

~115-

There are specific procedures for settling accounts under tribal
laww In the case of rape, the woman must prove that she cried out for
help and demonstrate that she tried to resist the advances of her
attacker. The guilty man must usually flee from the village or go
into hiding for fear of assualt by the relatives of his victim. He
usually remains in hiding until his victimls family consent to talk
about settlement under tribal law. In theory, the settlement of mach
a case calls for payment to the victim's family of a number of animals.
The number of animals is supposed to be determined by forming a line of
animals from the spot where the girl was attacked to her father's house.
In reality however, most rape cases are settled by the payment of al-tisas
(the nines), or the nine hundred and ninty-nino piasters (about $28.00)
to the family of the abused girl.

If a rape case is referred to ‘.§=E=E:'r a group of conciliators,
several points are taken into consideration before a decision is reached.
The h=E=!:or conciliators ascertain whether the victim was a married
woman or a virgin, whether she directly or indirectly encouraged her
attacker, and to what degree the defendant was successful in his attempt
to rape her. On the basis of this information, the h=E=E:or conciliators,
rule that the defendant should pay a fine ranging between one third of

al-tisaS, or three hundred and thirty-three piasters, or three times

 

an individual who has requested aid. The person requesting nab
indicates that he desires help by a number of symbolical acts: 1)

he may refuse to accept a cup of coffee from his host until a promise
of help has been given; (2) he may tie the head gear (yuSqud al-hatgah)
of his host to indicate he desires help; or (3) he may clasp the belt
of his host (33m: 'Idah taht ishd'a'dah).

 

 

-116-

al-tisa3 about two thousands and nine hundred and ninty seven piasters.
In addition to paying the fine, it may be ruled that the offender

must offer a jiha wa walahah and raya baydi. This means that the offender

 

 

must bring a number of goods to the victim's father including a sheep,
some rice, coffee, sugar, samin or purified butter, and tobacco. He
must invite all the village notables to accompany him to the victim's

house. The offender carries a white banner (riya baygz) in his hand to

 

indicate his peaceful intentions and his willingness to abide by the
ruling handed down. Upon arriving at the victim's home, the offender
makes his peace ‘with the girl's father and relatives by kissing their
heads and asking their forgiveness.

The girl's father prepares a feast for his guests with the food
brought by the offender. The two groups--the friends of the offender
and those of the victimp-oat and smoke together to indicate that their
differences have been settled once and for all.

The procedure in settling a homicide case is much more complicated.
“As soon as the killer is identified, the victimfs family invariably
attempts to avenge itself by attacking men from.the kinship of the
guilty person. They may also attack and sack the homes and property
of the enemies.6

6Retaliation in case of homicide is sanctioned by Islam.« The
Qur'in, V: 45, states, "and we prescribed for them.therein: The life
or t o life, and the eye for the eye, and the nose for the nose, and
the ear for the ear, and the tooth for the tooth, and for wounds ro-
taliation.' But whose forgeth it [Eh the way of chari it shall be
expiation for him. 'lheso judgoth not by that which A1 ah hath revealed:

such are wrong-doors.” See also Qur'in, II: 178-179. Islam, however,
insists that retaliation should be directed only against the person of

-ll7-

To remain secure, the murderer's family may migrate to another
village and seek refuge. Here they would establish associations in the
new neighborhood (1%) and seek out w, or protection of a power-
ful family. The new ”neighbors” autonatically contact the victim's
family and try to arrange for a truce. The relatives of the murdered
may live in their new village until an agreement is reached.

i truce may be reached if the family of the murdered will pay the
required price known as SaEh to the family of the victim. The Sax-ugh
varies in size depending on the social position and the power of the
families concerned. The normal duration for a truce period is ninety
days and it may be renewed three times in succession. During the truce
period, negotiations between the two families are carried on through
special conciliators who attempt to bring about a peaceful settlement.

The conciliators may be elected by the two families concerned or

 

appointed by the Sa'imaqam of the sub-district. The qi'immaqi'm may
also appoint himself as a mumayis. The mumayis is a coordinator appointed
along with the conciliators to help evaluate and Judge the case. In
case of a deadlock, it is the mumayis who casts the deciding vote.

The conciliators and mumayiz attempt to arrange a settlement
that will be acceptable to both sides. They try to determine the amount
of the M, or the blood money, to be paid as compensation by the one

who has comitted the murder to the family .1? the victim. They specify

 

the criminal. In the words of the Sur'i'n, XVII: 33, "and slay not the
life which Allah had forbidden save with right. Whose is slain wrong-
fully, we havo given power unto his heir, but let him not commit excess
in slaying. Lo 8 he will be helped.”

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and define the items that must be given by the murderor's kinship to
that of the victha. The conciliators also arrange for the day on which
the sulhah, or peace ceremony, is to take place.

At the time of its origin, the diyyah is said to have been fixed
by tho.Prephot Muhammad at one hundred camels, or their equivalent.7
Today, the diyyah is paid in cash and varies from as little as 100
Jordanian dlnzrs to as much as 2,000 Jordanian dinars, depending on
the circumstances under which the murder had occurred and the social
and economic status of the families involved.8 In one case, a man was
killed and robbed by a travelling companion, and the murderer was requir-
ed to pay three di hs amounting to about 1,000 dinirs. In another
case, a man was killed by another accidentally, and only 100 dinirs
was paid. Th'.§££!! money paid earlier to secure a truce may or may
not be considered a part of the giyygh. 'Whether it did or not would
depend upon the kind of agreement made by the conciliators.

On the day before the sulhah, the sheep, rice, flour, sugar, coffee,
purified butter (£1133), salt and tobacco in quantities specified by
the conciliators are delivered by the representatives of the murderer's
kinship to that of the victim. 0n the following day, the sub-district
officials and delegations from all neighboring towns and villages come

to the village to witness the peace ceremony that takes place. At the

7ll'aurico Gaudefroy—Demomobynes, p. 151.

8The di ah for a crime committed against a woman is normally
half that given for a man. ' '

-119-

set hour, the murderer, with his head uncovered as sign of humiliation,
surrounded by members of’his kinship is brought forth to be turned over
to the victim's family. The elder of the murderer's kinship addresses

the victimis family and pushes the offender toward them with the words,
”here he is. Do what ever you wish with him. Kill him, if’yeu so choose.
He is sorry fcr‘what he has done and he is prepared to pay for his crime.
But remember, only these who forgive their enemies and make peace are
rewarded by.411ah'.

The murdered stands still until some one from the victim's kinship
walks up to him, untios the head gear tied around the murderor's waist
and chest, and places it on his head. This act symbolises fergivenoss.
The murderer then kisses the heads of the relatives of his victim to
show his appreciation for their forgiveness. Once these ceremonies are
concluded, the visiting delegations from neighboring villages, government
officials, and members of the two kinships are treated to a big feast
prepared by the family of the victim at the expense of the murderer.
Fremvthis point on, relations between the two kinships are supposed to
return to normal.

If, after the diyyah is paid and th'.33i§1§ is concluded, an un-
satisfied member of the victim's family tries to seek revenge, a stiff
penalty is imposed. The offender is considered doubly guilty under
tribal law and he is required to pay double the amount of the diyyah his
kinship received in the first place.

The diyy=ELmenoy normally is raised by the whole kinship of which

the murderer is . member. It is also'customary for the kinship that

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receives a diyyah to divide the amount among its members with a greater
share going to the immediate relatives of the victim such as the parents,
wife, or children.

If a given kinship fails to avenge itself (ta'khuth bi al-thair),
or to force the criminal's kinship to pay a diyyah and conclude a sulhah,
the former group is put to shame by other members of the village. The
offending kinship is accused of being cowardly and without honor. If
the offending kinship still does not take steps to avenge itself, its
members may be shamed into migrating to another village where they are
not known and therefore can escape criticism.

In addition to rape and homicide, tribal law encompasses many legal
aspects that are not normally handled by civil or religious courts. Tribal
law is the protector of customs and mores that are not covered by civil or
religious law. For example, it is not officially considered a criminal
act to uncover the head of another person in public or to call him by an
undesirable nickname, but under tribal law such behavior may earn the door
a great punishment.

”underwtribal law, if a guest leaves the house of his host without
eating the meal prepared for him, he must pay for the cost of the uncon-
sumed meal.' If a person reveals some information about another which
causes the latter to suffer, the breach of confidence is considered a
crime by tribal law and subject to punishment. To accuse anyone of a
crime unjustly, is a violation of tribal law and also subject to penalties.

It is the duty of the plaintiff, under tribal law, to supply ample

 

-121-

evidence to prove the guilt of the defendant. If the plaintiff cannot
produce such evidence, he looses his case completely if the defendant
testifies under oath that he is innocent of the misdemeanor with which
he is charged.9

The tribal law applied in the village, is rather arbitrary. No
record is kept of the cases and there are no precedents set for cases of
new'type. Tribal law is therefore usually subject to varying interpreta-
tions. However, the Jordanian government tolerates and recognizes tribal
law as a means through which certain disputes between villagers and nomads
may be settled amicably.

Another important role which tribal law performs is that it helps
to maintain local customs and traditions. In effect, tribal law is
tantamount to formalise social pressure that stiffens the social attitudes
of the villagers so that their behavior conforms with the accepted tradi-

tions and customs of the culture.

9This concept is based upon the Shari3a doctrine that states:
'al-bayinatu Sala man idda3a we algyamfnu Sal: man ankar,” or "evidence
is to be supplied by the plaintiff, and an oath is acceptable from a
defendont testifying in his own behalf".

 

-122-

Chapter VII

Making a Living

The basis of the Baytih economy is agriculture. The villagers for
the most part carry on subsistence farming and consume almost all the
crops they grow. The economy as a whole is not self-sufficient and the
villagers find it necessary to import food stuffs from outside the vil-
lage. To make up its unfavorable balance of trade, so to speak, Baytin
depends to a large degree upon cash gifts from native villagers who have
migrated to more affluent places in the world such as the United States
and Brazil.

The farmers are the poorest segment of the village population.

To make ends meet, they find it necessary to get additional income;
they frequently hire themselves out as workers during their off season
to various members of the village community or to business establish-
ments in the near-by town of Ramallah. 'Without this extra income, the
agrarian villagers find it impossible to obtain the barest necessities
of life.

Baytin's peasant economy has many traits that are readily recog-
nisable to the student of‘Wostern rural societies. The important char-
acteristics of its peasant economy include: the concept of private
property; the definition of wealth primarily in terms of land; the
operation of a money economy; the utilization of a limited credit system;
the granting of interest on loans; the functioning of a wage system;

and the renting of land and sharecropping. Side by side with these

-123-

functions one finds such other characteristics as communal land-ownership;
real estate investment and speculation; and a limited barter system.
There is, of course, a close connection between this economy system
and the social behavior of the villagers. In the follwoing pages, an
attempt shall be made to provide an analytical description of the various
phases of the economy and to trace the relationship of this economy to

social behavior.

The villager and the Land

 

‘As in all landed societies, there is a strong attachment between the
villager and the land he owns. The land is much more than just a source
of income: it is a status symbol. The land is also a sacred bond that
links the villager with the past and' the future. H. inherits the land
frmm his ancestors and expects to pass it to his own children. Land
ownership signifys a mystical relationship connecting the individual
'with the nation state. Frem.this new interpretation has sprung the

‘widely quoted saying ”man 1; arga lah, 1: watana lah,” or "he who

 

possesses no land, has no fathorland".

Land is the most coveted kind of property in the community. The
villager, regardless of his occupation or station in life, seldom.hosi-
tatos to invest any money he has or gets in a few more acres of land.
'lenoy can be easily and foolishly spent,“ testifies one villager to
this author, "but this is not true of land. Land is always there when
you need it. He who possesses land is never poor”.

This same attitude is hold even by those villagers who emigrate to

-124-

foreign lands. Since 1903 scores of villagers sought greener pastures
in the United States and in the countries of South America. “any of
them had to sell or mortgage portions of the land they had inherited
from their parents to pay for the trip overseas. Disposing of these
lands was considered a great sacrifice and the emigrants had to promise
their relatives that they would work hard, save and send money back
quickly so that the land may be ropurchased or the mortgages repaid.

The greater majority among the emigrants have kept their promises.
They have sent back money to pay off mortgages, to buy more land and to
build homes. lany of those emigrants decided to settle permanently in
the lands where they have gone, but they retain their lands in the vil—
lage and do not sever their ties with the community.1 In fact, the em-
igrants success is frequently measured in terms of the real estate he
buys in the village with the money he has sent back. The villagers care
little about his accomplishments or career in the country where he has
gone. They ask only how much land he has purchased with the money sent
ba ck "home . "

In a society where land is a status symbol, the transfer of land
carries social implications. Those buying land gain respect and prestige
among the villagers. 0n the other hand, villagers selling land feel a
sense of shame and disgrace. Social controls are so powerful on this

point that many a villager would rather starve then sell any part of his

1Afif Tannous, “The Arab Village Community of the Middle

East," p. 530.

-125-

land.2 Villagers prefer to mortgage their property even at disadvantageous
terms rather than sell it at good price. The mortgage always leaves open
the possibility of regaining clear title to the land in the future.

\

Land Tenure

 

Five kinds of land ownership may be recognized at Baytin.5 Those are:
(l) thew land, or land owned in fee simple: (2) the m3 land, or
permanent endowments of land to religious institutions or for religious
purposes; (3) the mash33, or communal land; (4) the 252:1,or'orchards
available to passers-by; and (5) the £131, or state-owned lands.

Th..§fll§ land, or private property held in fee simple by the vil-
lagers, acbounts for over 90 percent of the landholdings in the village.
The owners of such land are free to do with it what they see fit. They
may cultivate it or not, sell or keep it, rent or mortgage it, or be-
queth it. This land is taxed annually by the central government.

Th..§2i§ type of land ownership in the general area of the Arabic
Middle East, may be traced to two major sources. The first is the 2335
land that was already in existence when the Arabs conquered the region
around the seventh century A. D. By and large, such land was left in
the hands of its native owners. 0wners who never became Muslims were

2"323 1111 khallafla 1th abfih," or "he sold what his father

had bequothed hfli" is one of the insulting and humiliating phrases used
by the villagers to characterize an individual who has disposed of land
he has inherited.

3CfteAfif Tannous, "Land Tenure in the Middle East,“ Foreign
_ggrioulture, Vol. 7, No. 8 (August,_1943),p. 173.

 

 

 

-126-

made to pay a certain tax in kind called khari'j.4 The second source
stems from.the custom that was followed by both Arab and Turkish rulers
of granting land from the public domain to politicians, soldiers, and
tribal chiefs, in order to pacify them or to reward them for their
services.6 This practice of land grants gave rise to a feudal system
in certain parts of the region.

There is no evidence that any one had g‘in’d.EElE rights through
this second means in the village of Baytin. Many villagers can trace
the ownership of their land within their families for generations past.
Some have expanded their landholdings by buying land from the original
owners who live in near-by villages.

The;!=q£ land, or land donated to a religious institution, or for
a religious reason, represents a very small segment of the total land
in the village. It scarcely exceeds a total of twenty acres and this
’ land is administered by the glass department of the Jordanian government,
and leased in perpetuity to villagers who cultivate it as if it were
their own. The proceeds from such land are not used to support any
specific institution or charity in the village itself. Th'.£!3££
department, hoWevor, once in a great while contributes either money or
equipment to the village mosque.

4The tax paid by non-Muslims, called kharaj, is either' (1)
a proportion of the produce, or a fixed amount, but in either event
never less than one-tenth of the total produce. The tax paid by Muslims
is called Sushr, and represents one-tenth of the yeild from the land.

This discrominating practice has been discontinued in recent years.

5Tannous, ”Land Tenure," p. 174.

~127-

Generally speaking, the wiq£_property has been the result of dona-
tions by sovereigns, groups, or individuals. The E=q£_land at Baytin,
however, has been contributed solely by individual villagers who sought
to please God and invoke His blessings. In recent years, however, no
dedicaticns of any kind have been made by Baytin villagers.

The mash‘S, er lands hold in common constitute the third form of
ownership in the village. such areas as the threshing ground, the 3521'
or village square, the grave yard, and the village spring are owned by
the community and used by all the villagers. The threshing ground and
grave yard are divided into several general areas (with no specific
boundaries) among the different kinship of the village. The threshing
ground is further subdivided among the various members of the same kin-
ship. Although each kinship regards a certain area in the cemetry as
its own, the kinship.in no way possesses the right to prevent any other
villager from using parts of this area. In general, however, the vil-
lagers prefer to bury relatives in adjacent graves. As a result, this
practice loads to the preservation of kinship areas within the cemetry.

‘Afif Tannous suggests that the mash§3 system of ownership is
carryover from the Bedouin tribal organization."6 This theory does not
soomito extend to any other than those areas in which community owner-
ship is an absolute necessity. Moreover, the mash;3 system came into

existence at Baytin after the founding fathers of the modern village,

who had been engaged in agriculture for many years, settled down in

6Tannous, "Land Tenure," p. 174.

~128-

Baytin after fleeing from the near-by billage of Burqa.7

The fourth form of tenure, the ngbil,' or "way" property results
from the action of a villager who designates a portion or all of his
orchard land as a garden free to all. Such property is normally located
along a highway or a well-travelled road, so that hungry travelers may
stop at the orchard, eat the fruits, and rest in the shade. By desig-
nating a piece of property a 332:1, the grantor hopes to please God and
to invoke His blessings.8

From a legal point of view, the original donor of the 122:; con-
tinues to hold a 221k right to the property. He or his heirs may re-
claim.full rights to the property at any time. Such a step is considered
sinful by most villagers, and therefore is generally avoided at all costs.

There is one piece of property in the village that does not fit
under any of the first four tenure systems mentioned thus far. This is
the school building and the school grounds. This type of tenure is known
as girl or 2.93:2' which literally speaking means "property owned by a

ruler."9 The Jordanian government at the present time claims ownership

7See below Chapter II, p.37 of this study.

8Islam urges its followers to be kind and helpful to abna'
al-sabil, or travellers, as one of its main teachings.

9There are two types of miri: (1) pure miri, or property that
is absolutely owned _outright by the state, as ing the case of the village
school; and (2) Iabu miri, or state property that is leased out indefinite—
ly to an individual. The cultivator of the jabu miri is virtually the
owner and has the right to cultivate the land which passes automatically
to his heirs upon his death. The cultivator of such land, however, is
not allowed to change it to mulk, donate it for religious or charitable
purposes, or bequeath it through a will, without the consent of the state.
Tabu miri may revert to the state if the land is left uncultivated for
three consecutive years. See Tannous, ”Land Tenure," p. 174.

 

-129-

of Such lands and buildings. Thus, before any major change can be
introduced in the school by the Village Council, written permission
must be secured from tho Qi'immaqim and from the Inspector of Education

in the sub-district.

Problems in Land Cultivation

 

Paradoxically, even though there is prestige associated with the
ownership of land, the cultivation of land is regarded as a degrading
occupation. Consequently, many villagers abandon farming and seek other
occupations. The other factor that discourages the cultivation of one's
own land is that the average villager does not own a plot large enough to
grow crops sufficient to satisfy his basic needs.

As a result of these small land holdings among the villagers, two
systems have developed within Baytin to provide farmers with additional
lands for cultivationn-muribaSa, or sharecropping, and mushiraka or the
'partnership. These terms are used synonymously by the Baytin villagers
and will be so used in this study.

Under the muribaSa system, the sharecropper (al-muribis) provides
his labor and the labor of his animals while the landlord offers his
land. If the two parties agree, the landlord may also provide the seeds
(bithir). If this be the case, the landlord is entitled to two—thirds of
the crops, and the sharecropper receives the remaining third. If, on the
other hand, the sharecropper pays half the cost of the seeds as well as

keeping the rest of his part of the bargain, then the crops are divided

equally.

 

 

-130-

The landlord is responsiblo for certain obligations under this
arrangement. He is responsible for paying all property taxes. He is
also responsible for the cost of any imprevemonts made on the land.

The sharecropper has specific responsibilities for working on the
crops. He is under no obligation to do any extra work fer the landlord,
and expects to be paid for any ether services he may perform. The share-
cropper frequently, however, volunteers to do favors for the landlord,
such as ploughing part of the latter's land or helping harvest his crops.10
such work is called ”Sawnah',er “free help", and is usually rewarded by
the landlord when he offers the sharecropper fruits and vegetables free
of charge at harvest time. I

The arrangement between the landlord and the sharecropper may be
diselved upon the request of either party. In the event of a dispute,
the two may resort to arbitration. The arbitrators must be acceptable
to both parties and so they may or may not be landlords themsleves. On
the whole, the rights of the sharecroppor are respected and protected.

There is one fundamental drawback to this system of muriba3a. The
sharecropper is always fearful that tho landlord may decide to take the
land away from him to give it to another farmer to cultivate. As a
result, the sharecropper does not bother to introduce improvements on
the land lost it become more desirable to other farmers. Furthermore,
the sharecropper seldom wastes time on the less productive portions of

10See 31s3m.3ish§r, ”Nigim al-Mhr‘bafiah'fi Bfiriyy; wa Lubnin

wa Falastin” iflotayage in Syria,'Lebanon anlehlestine), al-Abhith,
yr. 1. vol. 4 December 1948), 47-62.

 

 

-131-

his plot and often allows it to lie fallow. The result has been that
the size of cultivated lands has shrunk every year.

Sharecropping is always in a state of flux in Baytin with landlords
and sharecroppers both attempting to improve their situation. The average
landlord who does not cultivate his own land may have as many as a half-
doson sharecroppers working his land for him during his lifetime.

The crops normally pr educod by Baytin farmers are cereals such as
‘wheat and barloydu'In addition, various members of the pea family are
grown-~lentils, chickpeas, and a type of pea called gig}, or a local
variety of the fave beans. Those are the foods that form a large part
of the basic diet of the villagers.

Host landlords also own orchards and small vegetable gardens.

Those are not given over to the sharecroppers to cultivate. Instead,
the landlord hires some one to work these lands for a daily wage rather
than on a sharecropping basis. Usually he turns to one of his share-
creppers to do this work for him.

In cultivating the land, the Baytin farmer uses primitive methods
some ef“which date back to Biblical days. The village farmer still
depends upon exen,denkeys or mules to plow his land. The plow itself.
(méhr‘th) is usually made of wood except for the sikkah, or share, which
is made of iron. The plow is connected to a wooden yoke by a wooden
beam.oallod yigu_. The farmer carries a massis, or long gead, in one

llBarley is basically used for feeding farm animals, eXpscially
horses, donkeys and mules. The poorer villagers, however, mix it with

woat--twe portions of wheat flour to one portion of barley-~in making
their daily bread.

-132-

hand, and directs the plow with the other. From.timo to time, he throws
his weight on the moldbeard so that it will plow deeper into the ground.
A farmer and a good team of oxen can plow about one acre in a day.lzThe
hand sickle, er qdlfikh, is still used as is the studded threshing board.

The BaytIn farmer follows tho rotation system in cultivating his
land. Thus, a given_cieco of land is cultivated only every other year.
During the year the land lies fallow, the farmer does nothing to it
except to clear any bushes that may have grown. The farmers know very
little about chemical fertilizers and therefore do not use them. As a
result, the land has lost its fertility and therefore yields poor crops.
The lack of water in the area forces the farmer to depend on rain for
little has been done in the way of irrigation. Such primitive farming
methods often result in crop failures and cause famine and suffering
among the villagers.

The system of land inheritance as well as poor agricultural methods
loads to inefficiency in firming. Upon the death of the father, the
family's property is divided among the surviverse-mainly the male Lhil-
dren--in accordance with the Islamic law of inheritanco.13The mystic
attachment the villager has to land causes the survivors to divide each
piece of land equally among themselves, regardless of their numbers or
the size of the tract. The result is a fragmentation in landholding so

12From this situation has resulted the se-callod "rascal" unit
of mzasuroment which is the amount of land that a team of oxen, or
faddan can plow in one day. Today, it is fixed at about 1.038 acres or

2,201 sq. meters.

1chr a discussion on this subject see below chapter VIII, pp. 188-89
of this study.

-133-

that the average villager winds up owning a number of small plots, often
only one-half acre in size. Those plots are typically widely separated
and the farmer wastes a great deal of time going from one of his plots
to another in order to carry on his chores. Moreover, the spliting up
of lands in this manner makes it almost impossible to employ mechanized
farming methods.

Another factor that hinders the improvement of farming methods is
the fIct that firmers frequently are forced to work part-time at other
occupations to make ends meet. Although it is estimated that over 95
percent of the villagers are dependent in whole or in part upon agri-
culture, only 30 percent of the total income of the village comes from
farming. Only during the best of years when crops are good can the
farmer eke out a living on the land. The majority of the time, however,
he finds it necessary to supplement his income by doing other kinds of
work. The result is that he has neither the money nor the inclination
to introduce scientific techniques in his fanning methods.

Over-population in the village likewise retards the application of
science to agriculture. There are so many inhabitants in the village
that every available acre of land must be intonsly cultivated. So little
land is available, however, that the ratio of land under cultivation
never exceeds one-half acre per person. This ratio falls far below the
two and a half acres exports have estimated as required to food and

clothe one individual.14

14See C. Lester'Walkor, "Too Many People,” Harper, vol. 196,
no. 1173 (Ebbruary 194s).

 

 

-154—

(The general state of poverty among the villagers causes them to
adopt a conservative attitude toward experimentation in agriculture.
Mbst farmers are unwilling to invest either their time or money in any
experiment unless it has been tried in the village and has produced
good results. Thus, investment in fertilizers and more modern equipment
is considered a risk even by those landlords who have the money to employ
such techniques and they are reluctant to take such steps. The same
negative attitude is taken toward any changes proposed to shift the
emphasis in Baytin's agriculture from the growing of cereals to the
production of poultry or resort to dairy farming which do not require

as much space or as fertile land.

The Credit System in Baytin

Living the marginal existence that they do, the Baytin villagers
frequently are obliged to borrow money. With a scarcity of capital
available, money is hard to come by. Those villagers who are good credit
risks may borrow money from either of two banks in the near—by town of
Ramallah. But the majority of the villagers cannot qualify for such
loans and they are forced to depend upon local money lenders.

The money lenders in the village are few in number. This is due,
in Part, to the lack of capital. Moreover, some of those who have the
necessary capital prefer to heard their money or buy gold coins or

JIWelry with it.158omo of th3so who are wealthy avoid lending money because

15Hoarding is supposedly forbidden in Islam. The Qur'zn, III: 180
‘t‘t°5n "find let not those who heard up that which Allah hath bestewod upon

 

 

 

-155-

of religious reasons for usury is regarded a major sin in Islam.16

Much of the capital used by the money lenders in Baytin comes from out—
sido the village. All but one of the local money lenders has either lived
or worked in the United States, or has a close relative who is currently in
the Americas and sends back sums of money to the village.

Although the village money lender expects and obtains a high interest
on his money, he is most careful in selecting his customers. He often deals
with them only through a go-between or a HEEEEP The go—botween usually is
a relative of the lender and charges the person seeking the loan a fee for
his services ranging from five to ten percent.

The borrower has many other obligations. He must pay back his loan with
interest varying from between ten percent to forty percent for the first year.
He must also put up collateral for the loan and in many cases the collateral
is land. If he does not repay the debt in time, of course, he is obliged to
give up the collateral.

Limited credit is also available for most villagers at the village stores
and some of the larger stores in near-by Ramallah. To repay these debts, the
villager is expected to make a reasonable monthly payment or to pay the whole
amount within a specific period of time. When the villager does not meet his
'blig&tions, the merchant issues him a warning demanding that payment be made

within a given period of time.’ If the warning is ignored, or if no suitable

 

them Of His bounty think that it is better for them. Nay, it is worse for
them. That which they heard will be their collar on the Day of Resurrection.
Allah's is the heritage of the heavens and the earth, and Allah is informed
'f Whit ye do." See also, Qur'an, IVs 37; 1x: 343 and XLVIIs 38.

163.. Qur'i'n, IV: 1613 Hz 275-280; III: 150 and xxx: 39.

 

 

[_“—__——fi

-136

arrangement can be made between the debtor and creditor, the case may be taken
to the Magistrate Court.

The credit available for one family at any store is generally quite small
and varies between a half a dinir and ten dinirs, or about one dollar and a
half to twenty—eight dollars in terms of $merican money. The amount of credit
permitted to each villager varies with his ability to pay his debt as well as
the reputation he enjoys as a credit risk.

Customers are never told how much of a carrying charge or a handling
fee is added to the original price when they are given credit. In most
cases, however, anyone buying on credit pays a higher price than the one
who pays cash for the same commodities. This is especially true in this
area since the prices of comedities are not fixed and the buyer is expected

to bargain until he obtains the most favorable price possible.

The Diet

One of the factors conditioning the ability of the villagers to work
as farmers and also to earn money to repay their debts is the state of their
health. The villagers' health, in turn, depends upon their diet. Most
Baytin villagers live on a very poor and unbalanced diet.

The villager's food is limited for the most part to what he grows on
his land. The common base for this diet is wheat which is used for broad
making. Although this cereal is the main crop, the villagers never seem to
be able to produce enough to cover their needs.

Bread is literally the staff of life in Baytin. Wheat bread is consumed

with every meal. In some cases, bread is the entire meal. The average

 

 

-l37—

villager consumes from one to two pounds of bread daily.17

Bread itself is considered sacred and any improper handling of it is
considered a sinful act. If a piece of bread is dropped on the floor, it
is picked up, embraced, and raised to the forehead, as a sign of respect.
The offender must also offer an apology to Allah indicating that he did
not drop the broad out of disrespect and that he does not wish to be denied

God's blessings (ypkfur bi al-ni3mah).18

 

Because so much wheat is used by each household, the security of each
family depends in large measure upon its wheat supply. It is a frightening
prospect for a family to exhaust its supply of wheat before the new harvest.
On the other hand, the family that has some wheat still available when the
new harvest rolls around is considered affluent.

Olive oil ranks next to bread on the farmer's list of food necessities.
Bread and olive oil are the two fundamental dietary items in the village.

This fact is aptly illustrated by the common saying "al-khubz wa al-zayt

 

aimarit al-bayt," or ' broad and olive oil are the two necessary items for

 

the maintainonco of a home." Olive oil enters into the preparation of
almost every meal. It is even an essential part of every villagor's
breakfast. In this meal, the farmer dips each mouthful of broad first

into olive oil and then into a dish of powdered wild thyme (za3tar or

17See Tannous, ”The.Arab Village Community", p. 534.

18The traditional érabic phras: used in this apology runs as
follows, fgasha al-Sayshgya Miihaf.A11ah," or "Sacred is the bread, 08
Book (Qur'an) ofdllah:I

 

daqqah).19

Olive oil is used also for hygenic and beautification purposes.
Some villagers drink a cup of it every morning. They believe that
olive oil gives them an added strength and an immunity against many
diseases. ‘An ear ache, for example, is treated with a drop of warm
olive oil. The bodies of babies are still rubbed with some of this
oil. Olive oil is also used as hair tonic, expecially by women. Vila
lagers believe that the olive oil aged for a hundred years, called
tirygq, can cure all diseases including poisoning.

Pickoled olives called 351:1 or zaytfin are also consumed in large
quantities. They are eaten with almost every meal. Indeed, in the
case of families which are very poor, olives, bread, and raw onions
are all one oats for lunch and supper each day. Only the largest
and best olives are selected for pickling purposes. The women sort
out such olives and preserve them in pottery or glass jars, pickling
enough to last the family an entire year. The rest of the olives are
left to mellow under the hot sun for a few days, and then are carted
to an oil press located in one of the near—by villages.2O

Th. olive tree is held in high regard by the villagers. It is,
with'out doubt, the most valuable tree a villager can own. Moreover,

19Wild thyme is used in huge quantities by all villagers and
they believe very strongly in its dietary value as a health food. But
no attempt has been made to domesticato this herb. The villagers
gather the thyme leaves from bushes which grow wild in the open fields
around the village.

20The only olive press in Baytin has been out of commission
since the death of its owner over forty years ago.

 

-139—

this tree has some religious significance because it receives a special
mention in the Qur'an.21

The villager's diet also includes many kinds of peas. Several
types of peas are consumed fresh while they are in season. Two varieties,
lentils, er ggdas and chickpeas, or gummug, are cooked after they have
been dried. Lentiels are consumed in especially large quantities, and
lentil soup is probably served more than any other hot meal in the vil=
lage. Chickpeas are also used in the preparation of several dishes--
especially for making a popular appetizer called mudammas.

Fruits are consumed in large quantities but only when they are in
season because refrigeration is lacking to keep them fresh. Grapes,
pears, apricots, apples, plums and melons are the leading fruits eaten.22
The women, preserve many fruits in jams which are used especially during
the winter seasen. Dried figs and raisins also figure largely in the
diet of the villagers.

So far as vegetables are concerned, the villagers eat tomatoes,
beans, okra, eniens, garlic, squash, cucumbers, eggplant and spinach

during the winter and spring seasons.23The women also dry and preserve

2180. .e go Qur'3n, XCVO

ZZCitrus fruits at one time played an important part in every
villagers diet, but since the partition of Palestine in 1948 such fruits
have become very scarce and costly.

23Dandeliens (Silch) and buqqaylah are both leafy plants of
the spinach family. Although these two plants are consumed heavily when
in season, no attempt has been made to domesticate them. The villagers,
instead, gather the leaves from these plants which grow wild.

 

-140-

many of the summer vegetables for winter consumption.

Dairy products play an important role in the village diet. Few
villagers drink fresh.milk, but these who do boil and sweeten it first.
lost of the milk consumed comes from sheep and goats. Rather than
drinking milk, most villagers make butter from it. This butter is made
by placing cultured milk or, 35232! in a tanned sheepskin container
called ‘.21!1‘ The 3:5: is hung from.three weedenpeste grouped together
in a pyramidical fashion. A.weman sets on a steel pushing and pulling
the 25!: until the butter rises to the surface. The butter is taken eut,
salted, and kept in a pottery jar to be processed in the future.

The residue butter-free sour milk, called £1213, is mixed with
olive oil and eaten with bread. .Egbgg is also used in many forms of
cooking. The sour milk is sometimes dried and made into a hard oval
cake calledngighk, and may be used when freshrlgp=g_becemes unavailable.

The butter is processed by boiling it at a high temperature and
extracting the water and salt from it. The purified butter called
'gggig is preserved in glass jars and used the year round. It is eaten
with bread, used for frying eggs or meat, and also is an ingredient in
the making of certain fancy dishes.

Mbate in general, including poultry, are very expensive and eaten
only on special occasions. Religious holidays or the entertainment of
guests calla fer a meat dish. But the diet of the villagers is by and
large a meatless one; only the well-te-dew can afford to eat meat once
or twice a week.

There is only one butcher in the entire village and he kills about

-141-

twenty to thirty sheep a year. Even for this man, butchering is only

a side occupation. He is employed at the samo time as a shop keeper
and a mason. Villagers who use meat in their diet more often purchase
it from most shops in the near-by town of Ramallah.

The villagers prefer lamb or mutton to any other kind of meat.
Goat's meat and chicken are next in preference. They eat very little
beef because cattle are essentially regarded as work animals. Pigs
are neither raised nor eaten by the villagers because of religious
roasons.24leats are usually prepared in dishes which call for boiled
meat and boiled rice.

Eggs are rarely consumed. The villagers use eggs as a medium of
exchange because storekeepors accept them in lieu of money. The store-
keeper exports tho eggs he has accumulated to the city where they are
sold.

The villagers frequently supplement their diet by gathering certain
plants'that grow wild. Three such plants, wild thyme, dandelions and
a leafy plant called bquaylah, have already been mentioned. To this
list must be added a number of herbs such as qraySa, a tiny plant that
grows abundantly in the area. The yellow flowers and tiny green leaves
of this plant when boiled produce a spicy beverage which.the villagers
conswno in great quantities. Shfinar is another spicy undomesticated
' herb that 1. used in making certain dishes and .15. for preparing the

24'Perkoating is considered a sinful act in Islam. See below
Chapter ,IV, p.82 of this study.

-142-

breakfast meal called dugqah mentioned earlier. During the spring
season, the leaves of several plants such as those of cyclamon are
gethered, stuffed with rice or crushed wheat, rolled and boiled.25

Several other commodities that enter into the villagor's diet are
imported into Baytin from near’and far away places. These include
salt, which is produced domestically, black pepper from India, sugar
and rice from.Egypt, coffee from Aden and Brazil, and tea from South
East Asia.

Tea is consumed in large quantities and is the basic breakfast
drink. It is also, however, served as a refreshment around which a
great body of traditions has grown. It is the symbol of hospitality

throughout the ‘rabic Middle East, and 1. without doubt tho most im-

portant beverage among the Baytin villagers.

Local Industry and Occupational Groups

 

Although the major occupation of most villagers is farming, a
small percentage of the people in Baytin make a living by other means.
The occupations hold by those people may be broken down into two gen-
eral catagories: the first group includes industrial workers, agri-
cultural'workors, and skilled craftsmen; the second group includes
white collar workers and somiprofessional porsons.\

BaytIn's major industry is located in its stone quarries. Build-
ing stones are in great demand in the area, and Baytfh is fortunate

26In this manner also, the villagers stuff many kinds of leaves,
domesticated or otherwise. These include cabbage and tender grape leaves.

 

 

enough to have some quarries located within the town limits. The
industry is owned and operated by two business firmss The first belongs
to a natiVe villager; while the second is run as a family enterprise

by two brothers who migrated to Baytin.26

To work the quarries, the two firms employ about a dozen men between
them for the better part of the year. The workers are not professional
stone cutters but instead are farmers who are using what free time they
have to supplement their income. They come and go on the job without
any set schedule. The farmers may spend a day on the job any time they
like and may take off any day thay like. Sometimes the business firms
let them go when there is no demand for building stones. They are paid
a daily wage for whatever services they do perform.

Primitive operating methods are used in the Baytin quarries. ther
'is used to blast away any boulders that cover the stones that will make
good building materials. There is a great deal of hand laber and the
basic tools used by the workers include shovels, picks, metal levers,
wheel barrows and rubber baskets.

Excavations for building stones are carried on several areas
around the village. Quite often, the open fields alloted for the grow~
ing of crops contain such stones. Business firms ask penmission of the
owner to use his land as a quarry and pay him rent for this purpose.

When they have taken out all the stones they can find, the workers are

26The owners of both quarries are prosperous and live in fine

modern homes in the section of the village called hayy aloAmarkin, or
the fimsrican Quarter. For a description of this area see below Chapter
II. p. 13, 24 .r this study.

#17"

-144

instructed to fill the pits they have opened and the land is smoothed
over and made available for farming once again.

Building stones from Baytin are used throughout Jordan. In recent
years, the bulk of stones quarried in Baytin have been sent to Amman,
the capital of the country. Amman has experienced a polulation explosion
and this resulted in a tremendous building program.

The finish work done on building stones also provides work for some
villagers. This work is called diqigah and consists of chipping the
stones into specific sizes and shapes for building purposes. Only
skilled workmen called ggqqiq can perform such work and intensive train-
ing is required under the expert eye of a master craftsman. These master
craftsmen make no attempt to hide the secrets of their trade and they
teach and encourage young apprentices.

No formal examination, certification, or licensing is required for
In individual to begin work as a daqqiq. They are paid by piece work
rather than'by a daily wage. Whether a daqqiq is offered enough work
to keep him busy the year round or not depends upon the quality of his
work and the reputation he acquires as a craftsman in his field. A
good daquq can earn a decent living and can earn as much as a Jordanian
.EEEEE' or about $2.80 per day. These are top wages compaIed to what
other Jordanian*workmen earn.

There are some twenty-seven daqqiqs at Baytin. They are not or-
ganized into any kind of professional organization and each of them
operates independently. Sometimes these daqqiqs seek work outside of

the village. In this event they return home every evening if their work

-145-

is nearby, or once a week if they are employed some distance from home.
Despite the fact they are skilled workers, the majority of the daquqs
devote at-least part of their time to farming.

Needlework, or titiii, is a household industry for which the whole
sub-district of Ramallah is famous. The women of the village, in their
free time, engage themselves in the making of colorful scarfs, table
clothes, vanity sets, hand bags, and native costumes. Many of those
products are used locally by those who produce them. But a large amount
of these handicraft items are sold to tourists, mostly Americans, for
what are considered to be very high prices. Mhny of Baytin's young
women produce such fine needlework.

During the winter season, many of the women in the village spend
their spare time knitting woolen clothing for the members of their fame
ilies. "any knit such clothes for others who will pay for such services.
The yarn used in knitting clothes may be imported from outside the
country-mestly from.England--or produced domestically.

The local yarn is made from the wool of the village sheep which is
spun by the men of Baytin during their free hours. To spin the yarn,
the villagers use a wooden instrument called a ghaszzla. This instru-
ment is made of two flattened and smooth pieces of wood called Qinhgn,
or wings. The wings are broader at the middle than at either end. Each
is about ten inches in length and about an inch and a quarter wide at
the center. They are made to cross each other at the center where they
are held together by a wooden rod that runs through a hole in each wing

at the crossing point. This red is called 3EmEd. It is normally about

-146-

twelve inches and thicker at the base then at the notdhod top. The

free end .r the thread 1. tied to the ghaszila at the center where the
.EEEES connects the i In. It is then looped around the notch at the
upper end of the EEEES' The thread is then connected to the wool which
is looped around the left wrist of the person doing the spinning. The
spinner lets the wool threads gather in a small but even line between
the fingers of his left hand while he uses his right hand to spin the
ghass‘la and to smooth the line he is spinning. 'Whenever a yard of
yarn has been spun, the spinner rolls it around the center of the ghass‘la
and continues this process until all the yarn has been spun. It is then
that the EEEES is pushed out and the lighin are released so that they
may be taken out easily, leaving a roll of yarn, or 32322:, ready for
use.

Basket'weaving is another household industry performed by the women
of Baytfn. During the summer when the wheat is hervostod, they gather
the straws for the baskets they will weave. The process of gathering
the straws is called tiqshish, and the women interact a great deal as
they carry on this function on the threshing grounds. The straws are
gathered while they are still moist and will not break easily and then
are left to dry until they are used for weaving.

Besides weaving baskets of different sizes and shapes, the women
weave fancy trays of colored straws. Those trays are called sawini
".232§§' Thay are used for decorative as well as functional purposes.
No bride's troussoau is complete without at least half a dozen trays of

this sort.

 

 

Each woman weaves enough baskets and trays to satisfy the needs of
her family. Some villagers, however, sell some of the articles they
produce to women who live in the city and who do not do such handicraft
work. The task of basket weaving nenmally is given to old women.

"Yo11ew clay mixed with qaiwal, or the harsh fragments of wheat
straws, is used by some women in the village in the making of moveable
clay stoves, or mawiqid, fire containers used for heating purposes, or
kaw‘nin, backing places, erojawibin, and beehives, or ajrin nagil. One
Baytin family specializes in producing such commodities for sale in the
village as well as to urban dwellers in neighboring towns and cities.

The raising and care of livestock also provide work for a few of
Baytin villagers. Cattle raising however, has never been an important
industry in the village for a number of reasons. Most of the cattle
are regarded as draft animals rather than being raised for eating.
Mbreever,fthe typography of the village is not conducive to large-scale
cattle raising. The land is mountainous and rocky and what little land
there is in the valleys is used for farming. The dry climate during
the long summer and fall months causes the grass to dry up and reduces
the food supply available for cattle. During the summer months also
there is such a shortage of water to satisfy human wants that little
is left to water the stock that there is.27

Sheep and goats, on the other hand, are raised in greater number

27The lack of rain between 1957 and 1960 resulted in the less

of many animals in the village and in keeping their numbers to a min-
imum e

 

 

 

-148-

in the village. The sheep are of the fat-tailed variety. The fat tail,
or liyygh being analageus to the camel's hump because it enables the
sheep to go without feed for long periods of time. Such sheep are espe—
cially well suited for the village habitat. Black goats are also well
adapted to the terrain and climate of the area. They are hardy animals
and can easily withstand the rigors of great heat and droughts. The
goats food on almost anything they can find in the area including weeds,
bushes, and sticks.

Sheep and goats seem essential for human life in the village. They
supply the vfllhger'with almost all the meat and dairy products he uses.
Wool from the sheep enters in the making of clothing and is used as
stuffing for making mattresses and quilts. Gent's hair is made into
ropes, floor mats, and cushions. The hides of both sheep and goats are
used locally as floor rugs (jaw‘did, sing. gsgid), or sold in the cities
where they serve other purposes. Lambskins are made into fur coats called
1255!: which are worn by both men and women in the village.

The care given to these animals is minimal. Grazing is carried on
in the communal lands and in wheat and barley fields after harvest.
Cattle, sheep, goats, donkeys and mules, hewever, are given fodder during
the black winter months. This fodder consists of dry grass, tree leaves,

fragments of wheat straws or tibia, crushed kirsannahfabarley and garbage.
Sheep, goats and cattle are sometimes sent to warmer places in the Jordan

28This is a grain of the legume family, similar to milo maize
in the United States.

 

-l49-

Valley for grazing purposes.

The care of these animals in Baytin also requires that they be
guarded night and day lest they be stolen or wander into the cultivated
areas and damage the crops. Sheep and goats are watched constantly
by shepherds who drive them to open fields to pasture during the day
and bring them back to the village at night. To guard their animals at
night, the shepherds drive them into a walled yard at home called a
153.3. The three shepherds in Baytin care for about 250 head of sheep
and goats. With the exception of one family that owns about 60 head of
sheep, no other villager owns more than a half dozen sheep or goats.

Heat animals are driven to market in ones and twes as well as in
small groups. The drivers are the owners of such animals and they sell
them directly to butcher shops in neighboring cities and towns.

There are, however, some villagers who serve the role of the
middle-nu (3.9.231) between farmer and butcher. A w reuse the vil-
lages buying and selling sheep and goats. When he has purchased a small
herd, he drives it to a nearby city and sells his animals to local
butchers. The number of villagers so engaged vary from time to time
depending upon the seasoen and availability of capital. None of the
aalla-bs works at trading animals as a full time job because it is almost
impossible to mko a living this way.

In the village itself, there is only one part time butcher. The
operation of killing and skinning the animals takes place in the street
in front of the general store, or dukkan which the butcher owns and

operates as a partner with another villager. Most of the meat is sold

 

 

-150-

to subscribers in advance of the killing. The rest of the carcass hangs
on the wall outside the front door until it is sold.

In addition to the people involved in the crafts and trades mentioned
above, there are a variety of villagers who earn a living by running small
businesses or providing certain services. Two men operate a taxi service
that runs between Baytin and Ramallah. Three other non manage two general
stores and three others operate the two coffee shops in the village.

There is one local police officer who is attached to the central police
force at Ramallah., Eight villagers are professional soldiers, two of
whom are second lieutenants. There are a handful of men engaged in
exporting and selling olive oil to other communities in the country

and to Syria (U. A. R.) and Lebanon. There are two stone masons, a part
time brick mason and five mason aids. Two men, a photographer and a
carpenter, work in establishments at Ramallah but live with their fame
ilies at Baytin. The village itself, however, has neither a blacksmith
shop, barber shop, or carpenter's shop. For those services a villager
must go to Ramallah.

There are also a few white-collar workers in Baytin; a half dozen
teachers who serve in the elementary schools in neighboring villages
but live at Baytin; a surveyor and a telephone operator, both of whom

are government employees.

fyggration: A Historical Sketch
Surprisingly encugh, the first villager to emigrate to the Americas

did not do so until 1905: his destination was the United States. This

 

-151-

emigro came from one of the poorest families of the village and had to
borrow and pawn almost all the 53.1.95. property his family possessed in
order to raise enough money to make the trip. His success soon stimulated
more migration to the Americanzgwithin a decade after 1903, fifty three
young men left for the New World.

The factors that led to this migration were typical of those that
motivated most people to leave the Old World to come to the New World.
First of all, the grinding poverty in the village led many of the in-1
habitants to leave so that they might try to earn money else where. llany
left to escape the obligation of compulsory military training. Still
others left for social reasons to escape the cultural controls imposed
'within the village.30

The economic situation in Baytin was particularly poor because
control of the land was not in the hands of the villagers. As was
previously noted, the village inhabitants had originally migrated to
Baytin after being driven from the village of Burqa in 1841 by the
yamanitos of Dair Dibwi'n.‘ The lands they settled upon were owned by
landlords in the neighboring town of Birah.31The people of Baytin were

”The first emigre returned to the village in .1910. He nrriod
an attractive young girl, who was the daughter of probably the wealthiest
man in the village at that time. The bridegroom was much older than his
young bride. He paid a dowery of 1,000 Turkish golden pounds, and gave
the bride's uncle fifty golden pounds for 'hidm al-khil", er the ”uncle's

suit”. The dowery this returning emigre paid was many times greater
than that which was paid normally.

 

3001'. an: Tannous, ”Emigration, a force of social change in an
Arab Village”, Rural Sociology, vol. 7, no. 1 (March 1942), pp. 63-66.

 

318.. below Chapter II, p. 37 .r this study.

|—'_———_‘—="—‘ _¥‘*

~152—

poverty-stricken because their lands were marginal farming areas in
which it was difficult to make a living and what little they did make
had to be paid out in the form of rent to their Birah landlords.

The second factor that influenced migration at that time was the
compulsory military service required of the villagers. In theory,
every male in the village was subject to the draft and had to serve in
the Turkish army unless he could prove that he was needed at home to
provide for his family. In reality, however, the poor were drafted
while the wealthy males were exempted because they bribed the authorities
in charge of the draft. This injustice based upon economic class diss
tinctions motivated many villagers to emigrate to America. By the time
many of them had returned, they were no longer subject to the draft for
many reasons. Some were too old to qualify for military training, and
those who returned after World er I no longer worried about being
drafted in the Turkish army because the village was now a part of
Palestine which was a mandate under the control of the British Govern—
ment.

Finally, some frustrated villagers emigrated in order to escape the
cultural control imposed upon them in Baytin. In this group could be
found social deviants who resented the village mores or resisted the
rules of religion.

The early migration from the village followed a distinct pattern
for in every case the men deported alone. Wives and children were left
behind in the village. (Most of the emigrants looked upon their trip

to the New World as a lengthy business venture.5 They hoped to get rich

 

~153-

quickly and to return to the village as soon as possible to live a
life of ease with their earnings.

Arrangements fbr the trip to the Americas were made in behalf of
most villagers by an agent from.Rama11ah who was referred to simply as
the "Mheihi," or the "Christian“. The only guarantee this agent gave
was that the emigrant will be placed aboard a ship that would carry
him somewhere in the New'World. The exact destination was not always
specified. The fact that their final destination was unknown did not
seem to trouble the villagers. Mhny of them landed in different ports
in North, Central and South America. But in some cases, the villagers
wound up in some area of the world other than the Americas. Out of the
fifty three emigrants who left the village prior to Wbrld'War I, thirty
seven went to the United States, nine to Mexico, one to Canada, three
to Brazil, two to Spain and one to the Philippines.

The fact that many of the emigrants were able to establish theme
selves in the Now'World and to send money back to the village stimulated
even more emmigration. The status of those who were related to the
immigrants rose as their economic position improved as a result of the
money that was sent to them from the Americas. They were able to pay
their debts, reclaim tho lands they had mortgaged in order to raise
money for the fares of the emigrants they had helped to send abroad,
and to build new homes.

When the early emigrants returned home after a few years in the
New world with large sums of money, they were, in effect, the wealthiest

individuals in the village. They were able to pay the highest dewories

 

 

-154-

end therefere merried the most ettrective women. Beceuse ef their
effluence they held e high seciel stending within the cemmunity. They
'were the envy ef every villeger end mere end mere ef the yeung men
begen te dremn ef geing te the Americes, eerning their fertunes, end
returning te the villege te besk in the edmiretien thet wes eccerded
te the emigrents whe hed returned.

In the peried between'lerld'Wer I end werld Wer II, hewever, emi-
gretien frem the villege te the New‘Werld drepped dresticelly. Only
eight left the villege during this peried: six went te the United
Stetee, end the twe ethers te Mexice. Interestingly eneugh, the number
ef emigrents whe returned te the villege during this pcried exceeds the
number ef these who left Beytin. The leck of emigreticn during this
time may be ettributed te severel fecters. The immigretien lewe written
by the United Stetee in 1921, 1924 end 1927 severeby restricted the
number ef immigrents whe ceuld enter thet ceuntry. The greet depression
ef the 1930'e discoureged emigreticn inte the United Stetes becueee the
chences ef ecenemic success were reduced sherply. Centrel end Seuth
Americe feiled te ettrect meny emigrents frem the villege during this
time beceuse the eerly emigres te these erees hed net been es successful
es these ihe hed gene te the United Stetes.

Fellewing‘Werld‘llr II, meny cf the eld emigrents te the United
Stetee returned te the villege. All who returned et this time hed
preepered es e result ef the wer. This set eff enether weve ef mmi-
gretien frem.the villegp. But the new emigretien wes stimuleted even

mere by peliticel develepments in the region during this time. The

 

 

 

-l55-

pertition of Pelestino into the new stete of Israel and the Arabic
section ennoxod leter by Jerden resulted in the less of the trediticnel
merkot to which the Beytin villegers hed expertod their produce. The
Phlestinien Wer of 1948 created new politicel tensions in the eree
beceuso Beytin was lecetod only ebeut twenty—three miles from the
Jordenien-Isreeli boundry line. Nbroover, the wer resulted in tremen-
dous refugee problems boceuse meny'flrebs lost their homes in the eree
in which the new steto if Isreol wes esteblished. Heving nowhere else
to turn, meny of these refugees flooded numerous of smell villegos in
Jerden, including Beytin. The errivel of these new refugees in the vil-
lege thet wes elroedy overpopuleted end existing under e marginel econ-
emy depressed wages end reisod prices. These new economic herdships
ceusod the Beytin villegers to think once mere in terms of emigretien.
Since the close of World‘Wer II, 129 persons heve left the villege.
Twenty-two of these people hevo migretod to other eroes in Jerden. The
romeindor heve emigreted to six different countries throughout the
world. The following teble shows the geegrephicel distribution of the

Beytin emigrants during the pcstwer period.

 

 

Country» Number of emigrents-
U. S. A. 49
Brezil 28
Kuwait l3
Seudi Arebie 10
Lobenen 5
Venzuele 2

Totel 107

 

 

 

 

 

-156-

One new factor in this postwar migration has been the emigration
of wives end children. 0f the 107 emigrants from Baytin since 1947,
who
there were thirteen female omigros4went to the United States, five to

Kuwait and two to Saudi Arabia.

-Emigration and Change in the Economic Structure of the Village
Emigration probably hes been the most significant force in re-
shaping the socie-ecenomic structure of the village since the inception
of modern Baytin in 1841. Emigration has made it possible for the vil4 i
lagers to increase their landholdings, to detelop a money economy, to
"discover" banking, and even to invest in economic projects of a local

and national vaturo.

A considerable part of the money sent by emigrants to their rel-
atives in Baytin has been used to purchase more land in the area of the
village as has been noted previously. Indeed, many of the sums sent by
the emigrants were earmarked for purchases of land. The interest dem-
onstrated by the emigrants in the acquisition of new property in Baytin
led the native villagers to use the promise of more land purchases to
secure additional sums of money from their emigrant relatives. The not

result of this land—buying has enabled the villagers to triple their

 

llnd holdings since the turn of the century. This has led to a signif-
icant increase in the annual incomes for Baytin villagers.

Another result of the flow of funds into the village has boon the
growth of a money economy to replace the barter system used previously.

In recent years those who resort to barter are locked down upon and

-157-

there is almost a social stigma attaehed to those who continue to trade
in goods because they have no cash. 'The number of commodities that

are acceptable at the village store in lieu of cash has been reduced to
only one item-~eggs. In the past, eggs, wheat, barley, olive oil, and
dried figs were all accepted in such trade. Stores and other establish-
ments in near-by towns with which the villagers deal will no longer take
agricultural commodities in payment for the manufactured goods they sell
or services they render.

fleet of the money sent by the emigrants has arrived in the form.ef
checks and this has made it necessary for the villagers to use local
banks available in larger towns and cities in the area such as Ramallah
and Jerusalem. The result has been that the villagers have discovered
and now make use of the various functions of the bank. Instead of in-
vesting their surplus cash in gold coins and jewwlry as in the past,
many have opened savings and checking accounts.

The returning emigrants who learned to deal with banks while
abroad, also have dodlt with local banks when they have returned to the
village. The bggk has begun to play a more important role in the life
of many villagers. Many from time to time have turned to the bank for
loans as well as for advice on financial matters.

Right after'lerld'war II, the demand for dollars all over the Middle
East grew high. Many merchants who were engaged in importing goods from
the United States and neod‘d dollars to pay for such goods began te'effer
a higher price for the dollar than the bank price which was set by the

government. This resulted in the creation of black market for dollars.

-158-.

A middle man, known as M, or money exchanger purchased the dollars
from those who had some and sold those dollars to merchants who needed
them. To make it possible for him to get negotiable funds, the sarri'f
instructed the villagers to ask their emigrant relatives to send their

suns in cashier checks, or 'chaik banki," because these checks sold at

 

a higher price among the merchants. Four young men from Betyi'n were
engaged as money exchangers at one time...

Some of the emigrants who returned to the village from abroad with
large suns of money during the last decade began to search for industrial
and commercial firms in which to invest. These emigrants were motivated
by several factors. First there was the promise of'dividends and the
possibilities of the increase in the value of stocks. Secondly, these
corporations made personal contact with the returning emigrants and have
appealed to their patriotism. These corporations have succeeded in
capitalizing upon the desire of the returning emigrant to make Baytin
and Jordan a better place in which to live because nany promise to
produce goods and services which will better the lives of the villagers.

Four returning Baytin emigrants, three from.the United States of
America and one from Saudi Arabia are reported to have purchased a
sisable amount of stock in two new corporations that will indirectly
serve Baytin. The first is a government-controlled corporation that
intends to supply a large portion of the Ramallah sub-district with
water, including the village of Baytin. The second is a privately-
ewned power and light company. From 'its base in Baytin, it hopes to

be able to provide the village as well as an area of twenty miles radius

 

 

 

 

-159-

with electricity within a year's time.

investment in such corporaticrs is only the beginning of a new trend
in business. Land and houses are no longer the only two areas of invest-
ment for, the villagers. More and more, villagers are expected to follow
the lead of these business pioneers and invest money in projects that I
will produce income but at the same time bring beneficial results to

Baytin.

 

 

 

 

 

~160-

Chaptor VIII

Marriage Customs

Mhrriage customs among the villagers around Phlestino have many
interesting aspects. The selection of a suitable mate is conditioned
by the fact that boys and girls stop associating with one another after
about the age of ten. It is customary for the young man to initiate the
steps that lead to marriage. ‘lhon a youth wants to get married, he
usually sakes a direct request to his father to procure him a bride.
He may, of course, ask indirectly through his mother or through some
other person close to his father. In certain instances, however, the
nether of’an eligible young men might raise the subject of marriage to
his son. In any event, once the son has indicated some interest in the
idea, and the parents have consented, the search for a wife formally
begins.

Beth father and son have clear-cut responsibilities in the search
for a mate. It is the duty of the father to suggest any number of
prospective brides to his son, and it is the son's duty to accept or
reject each of his father's suggestions. Although parents look forward
to the day when their sons will get married - referring to it as
[yum .1-.:r€h. or the day of joys -- they are often hesitant to consent
to the demands of the son because of the 2:25 or dowry which must be
paid to the bride.

The choice of brides suggested might be wide or narrow in scope,

'but in almost every case the first name proposed is that of bint al-Samm

-161-

(daughter of the father's brother).l Paternal cousins are preferred in
marriage for two reasons: first, the dowry paid would remain in the
family; secondly, it is believed that cousins would be more understand—
ing as future mates than would total strangers. Theoretically, the
potential bridegroom can claim any one of his paternal cousins as his
bride, and, if he chooses to do so, can prevent their marriage to any
one outside the family.

The parents of'bint al-Samm might raise objections to such a match,
in which event a feud probably would develop between the two families.
Three courses of action would then be open to the hint al-Samm. She
might disregard her first cousin's prior claim and marry someone else
in defiance of the long standing tradition. She might remain single for
the rest of her life or wait until all of her cousins are married before
accepting any marriage proposals. 0r, horfather might be tactful enough
to avoid the marriage by demanding an excessively high dowry in order
to discourage the interested cousin from pursuing the match.

If bint al-Samm were rejected for one reason or another, the search
would continue, and other girls from the 3:1’ila (joint family), or
al-himula (the clan), or al-qarya (the village) might be suggested. The

lBint al-Samma (daughter .1? the father's sister), bint al-khil
(daughter 32r7§firifith:?'s brother) and bint al-khila (daught;?_;F7§§r_'
mother's sister) rank below bint sham». The reason the
former have lower priority £3‘Efii¥‘%3:§‘31.. might have paternal first
cousins. Thus ondogamy is the rule rather than the exception. The
only women a men might not marry are his mother, daughter, sister, aunt,
niece, foster mother, milk sister, mother-in-law, stop-daughter, daughter-

éa-law, or wife's sister as long as his wife is still living. See gur'ih,
3 22-24o

 

 

 

-162-

search might even transcend the village boundary and be extended to other
nearby villages.2 At any rate, it would continue until a preliminary
agreement was reached between father and son as to who the future wife
should be.

The next stop is that of alonaqda, or bridal inspection. It is
possible that the groom has seen his prospective bride in the village many
times, for girls do not wear veils in Baytin. But he has had no oppor-
tunity to associate with her since childhood, and an examination of her
background, character, and abilities is warranted. An inspection team
composed of some of his female relatives (e. g., his sister, aunt, or
mother) is formed and sent to meet the proposed bride and to report their
findings to the future groom and to his father. In the event that the
girl comes from an area outside the village, such an examination takes
on an increased importance.

women performing this function usually try to keep their mission a
secret. If the report were a favorable one and the girl is from another
village, she might be pointed out from a distince to the interested young
mAn. At times, al-naqda, as well as the distance examination, might be
conducted with the knowledge of the girl and her family, although such
contacts would be made to appear accidental.5

20nly girls from poor families, or girls attracted by the prestige
of the bridegroom would agree to marry any man from outside the village,
for this would mean accepting the degrading classification of ghariba, er
stranger.

5Cf. Arthur Jeffory, "The Family in Islam," in Ruth Nanda Anshen,

Th0 Family: Its Function and Destiny (New York, revised ed., 1959),
PPe 210-11.

 

 

~163-

If all has gone well up to this point, the groom‘s father and the
groom arrange a meeting with the father and male relatives of the future
bride. Once again, this might be done directly, or indirectly, through
a 323:} or a ge-between.4 The Eiiii' sometimes wisita, is normally an
influential person in the village whom the father of the bride regards
'highlys5 The 32:12 can be either a man or a woman. The role of the go-
botween is usually regarded as an honor and carries no pay° Normally,
the 2:53; is satisfied with the rewards expressed in the old folk sayings
"Happy is the man who brings two heads together on a pillow [in marriagi7."
Sometimes, however, the B:éi§_domands a special fee for the services
rendered.6 \

If, after consultation with other male relatives, the parent or
guardian of the future bride has indicated an interest in the marriage,
the next step is to agree on the amount of the dowry. A number of
factors determine the sum finally paid: the attractiveness of the girl,
the number of suitors for her hand, and the social positions of the

Parties involved.7 If the terms of the dowry seem reasonable to the

 

4The practice of employing ge-botweons for arranging marriage
is not peculiar to this culture. Professor Edward Westermark reports
that such a custom is "extremely widespread both among savages and among
more civilized nations.“ The History of Human Mhrriago,'5 vols. (New
York, 5th ed., 1922), I, p. 426.

 

5In choosing a wasit, the young man's family is guided by a

folk saying: ”To every key hole there is airigh§7 key_Zthat will un-
lock tho doefi7."

6Five to ten dinirs or .14d28 is about an average fee for a waEi .

7Dowrios vary betwebn 100 and 500 dinirs or from taco-1,400.

   

 

~164-

bridegreom's family, they proceed with further arrangements. Otherwise,
they would try to hagglo with the bride's father to reduce the dowry
demanded, often through the ge-between. If a satisfactory settlement
cannot be made, the entire matter is dropped and the search for another
prospective bride is undertaken.

There is one way in which the payment of a dowry is sometimes
eliminated-—that is by an interfamiliar exchange marriage, or what is
known as the badila arrangement. If the young men seeking marriage has
a sister of marriagoablo age he might try to locate another man who also
has a sister of marrying age, and the two men might agree to marry each
other's sister and to cancel the dowry payment. The badila arrangement
is commonly found among the poorer villagers to whom.the raising of a
dowry is a major problem.

There is yet another way in which a young man might acquire a wife,
and that is by al-khajifa, or elopement. A youth attracted to a certain
girl but unable to marry her because of his poverty or low social station
might wee her secretly and persuad; her to slope with him. The couple
might seek refuge at the house of a powerful gentlemen in a neighboring
village. In such cases the bride's family might reconcile themselves

to the inevitable and cooperate with the couple to legalize the marriage.

 

Cases are known where the dowry has ranged as high as 1,000 dinirs.
Realizing that the average annual income per capita in the area does

not exceed 375-100, the problem posed by high dewries readily becomes
apparent. The law books of Islam name no sum as a maximum or a minimum
for a dowry with the exception of the Hanafites who insist upon a minimum
of one dinar. See Reuben Lovy, Ehg Social Structure of Islam (Cambridge,
being 2nd ed. of Eh:_Sociolegy 3f Islam, 19595, pp. 113—114.

 

 

~165-

If not, the father, brother, or paternal cousin of the bride might seek
out the couple and kill them. Elopement is considered a disgrace, and
even forgiveness by the flmily does not completely erase the social
stigma associatod‘with this shamful act. For this reason the khatifa
is not a common method for acquiring a wife.

If arrangements have gone smoothly and the dowry is agreed upon,
an open khujba, or engagement ceremony, is hold. The groom and his
father invite friends and relatives to attend the ceremony at the pro-—
spective bride's house or in the home of one of her relatives. In addi-
tion to bringing handsemm gifts to his bride-te-bo, the groom must provide
all the food and sweets needed for refreshments. After dining, the oldest
and most respected member of the groom's party rises to address the father
of the bride and his male relatives, asking for the hand of the girl.
The girl's father, or the oldest of his group, answers in a solemn tone,
announcing that he is greatly honored by the request and that his daughter
is offered to the greemwwithout any dowry and without any obligations
(2:153:35 “_fifl). This generous offer is accepted with thanks, but
the speaker of’tho groomis party will "insist" upon paying a dowry--an
amount already agreed upon secretly.8 In fact, the money is counted in
public, probably so that every one present may witness the transaction.
Once this has been accomplished, th'.§§£l§5' or the opening chapter of
the M is recited. Only a down payment is necessary at this stage:

8Bomo cases are known where the amount of the dowry announced

in public is much greater than the amount agreed upon and actually paid
to the bride's father. such falsification is done for the sake of pros-

tige.

-166-

the rest of tho dowry may be paid in installments. However, the marriage
can take place only after the dowry has been paid in full.9 The dowry is
not always paid in cash; sometimes a piece of-land or certain services
are rendered to the bride's flther in lieu of money.

Firt of the dowry is used to buy the bride jewelry and a new ward-
robe. The rest may be pocketed by her father, perhaps as a compensation
for his loss of a daughter.100n1y in a very fow cases does the bride
ever have the opportunity to retain her dowry money.11The jewelry is
retained by the bride as a ferm.of insurance, something of value which
can be used in times of economic distress. Her Jewelry is her property,
and even her husband has no right to exchange it or use it without the
'wifo's consent. This point is of particular importance because it shows
that women may own property independently of their husbands.

The Ehuib: and the payment of the dowry is followed by al-imlik,
the legal binding of the marriage. A shaykh or some other person author-

ized by aldma ma al-sharSiyya er the Muslim Canon Court, performs this

 

function.12This official insists upon interviewing the girl about to be

9Levy, p. 114.

10The religion of Islam provides that the dowry should be paid
to the wife as a free gift, and not to her father, and grants the husband
full enjoyment of any portion that the wife may remit. See Qur'dn, IV:
43 L'W, Po 95o ""—

nIt has been noted already that the woll-to-do and Western-
oriented group at Baytin has been following the practice of giving the
whole dowry plus a handsome gift to the bride.

12Marriage is viewed here as a secular rather than a religious
rite.

~167-

marriod to satisfy himself of two facts: first, that she is not a child
(perhaps less than sixteen years old)313and secondly, that she is entering
upon the marriage of her own freo'will. He also tries to get her to name
one of her male relatives as her :Eli, or legal representative, who would
be authorised to sign the marriage contract in her behalf.

There then fbllews th..$§l§£k or the legal part of the marriage
ceremony. The groom and the bride's;:§li sit opposite one another,
holding hands as if they are about to make a hand shake. Each in turn
answers the questions of the shaykh and consents to the marriage. Once
this is completed, the Fitgs 1. 1191:: recited by .11 the people present.
'flhile this ceremony is going on some of the groom’s relatives will keep
an eye on all present to make certain that no one is casting a spell over'
the entire affuir. Custom states that if any one in the group ties seven
knots with some thread and blows his breath on each knot, he can place a
curse on the marriage.14

The shaykh then writes Siqd al-nikgh, or the marriage contract. This

 

document is duly signed by the groom, by the wzli in behalf of the bride,
and by two male witnesses. The contract indicates that each party is of

marriageable age and of sound mind (biligh I! rzshid), and that each has

llt is not the birth certificate which determines the age of
the girl, but rather her size and physical maturity. In certain cases,
especially when the bride-to-bo is small in size, a girl other than the
future bride might be produced to trick the shaykh. At other times, a
few dinarl might persuade an unwilling shaykh to give his consent.

4This custom stems from pro-Islamic days. The Qur':n makes
mention of it and does not deny it. See GKIIs 4.

 

IIlu Illll'lllii

-168-

married through his own desire and choice. It further specifies the amount
of alqmahr alqmuSajjal, or the advanced dowry paid before marriage was

contracted, and stipulates that :l-mahr alqmu'ajjal, or delayed dowry, be

 

paid by the husband to his wife in the event he should divorce her without
legal cause. The contract also indicates whether the bride is a virgin,
a divorcee, or a widow.

marriage ceremonies in the Arabic Middle East tend to be elaborate and
costly affairs. The people in Baytin have been known to celebrate for an
entire week. A few days before the marriage takes place men and women
gothor in separate groups in the g=§=_(village square) each night to dance
and sing around a campfire.

$ho men engage in th.,figflfifi dance, lining up in two opposite rows
facing one another. .Tho men in one line chant a single line of verse, and
this refrain is picked up and repeated by the opposite group. The singing
is accompanied by a rhythmic clapping of hands and a few dance steps. .Se
it goes for hours, introducing a new line of verse once the first one
has been repeated twice by each line of the singing dancers. Between the
two lines stand a man or two with swords in hand, moving from one end of
the line to the other, dancing and singing and whipping up enthusiasm.

Tho_danco is finally interrupted by men from.the groomfis family who
move in with refreshments and cigarettes to entertain the dancers. During
this intermission a group of amateur male entertainers, disguised as
snimala er foolish and fit men and women take the floor and commence
clowning.“ The 31315 is resumed once more after the intermission and con-

tinues for a spell of time. ‘Whan this dance is over, the men form a

 

~169-

circle and a group of dancers appears in the middle, lining up for the
‘dgbk: dance. In addition to the dancers, there are usually a flute
player and a singer in the center. Each of the dancers places his hands
on the shoulders of the dancers on either side. The leader stands at
the head of the line of dancers and carries a handkerchief to signal the
movements that should be made by the group. The singer sings one verse
at a time, usually making up original lines on the spot, and is accemp
panied by the flute player. 'While this singing is going on, the dancers
are standing making very slow and noiseless movement with their feet.
Once the singer is done, the loader gives orders and the dancers begin
moving in a circle, jumping up and down, and kicking the ground in a
rhythmic fashion to the tune of the flute player. The 222k: dance
continues for about half an hour, and then the dancers quit and every
one goes home.

'lhilo the men are dancing, the women will gather in a circle in
a corner of the 2225! Some of the younger ones dance, while the rest
sing. The main theme of their songs deals with men of the village-
each identified by his name indicating how handsome, learned, wise,
brave and generous he is. Once in a while, a woman will raise her voice

above the others and sing a quaternato. When she has finished, the rest

 

of the women join her in a saghrut (a woman cry of joy). thn the women
are tired of singing, they find themselves a high place where they can
sit and watch the men dancing from a distance and listen to their sing-
ing.

The night preceding the wedding day is called laylat al-hinna, or

 

the henna night. A deputation of women from the groom's family comes to
the bride's house to bathe her and to stain the palms of her hands, the
soles of her feet, and her arms, legs, and thighs with henna. The
belief is that if an unmarried girl stains her palms with the same henna,
it will help her get married within a year. The result is that many of
the single girls stain themselves with the same henna.

During the same night, other activities are taking place at the
house of the groom. Several sheep are slaughtered and prepared for
cooking. Those involved in food preparation continue their work through-
out the night and into the next day until they have all the bread, meat,
and rice they need.

Around noon time, the bride is bathed and adorned with ornaments
once more, but this time by her friends and associates. She then sits
at her father's home awaiting the hour when she will be brought to her
bri dal chamber .

The groom is also bathed at his home by his associates and friends.
Many of them also take a bath in the same tub after him, because of the
widely accepted fable that whosoever bathes in the same tub after the
groom shall also be married within the year.

After the groom is bathed and adorned he is prepared for the EEEEE

or the wedding procession.15The young man will be mounted on a horse.

15In other Muslim countries the girl rather than the boy goes

on the wedding precession. See Arthur Jeffery in Ruth N. Anshon, p. 217;
Mahmut Makal, A Village in Anatolia, trans. Sir wyndham Deeds (Longon,.
1954), p. 129.‘ '—

 

 

 

«171-

He is preceded by a line of men. They walk and sing, but step every case
in a while for a short dance. The ladies line up behind him. The prca
cessien starts at the father of the groom’s house and ends at a desig-
nated place outside the village. There the men and wonwn continue to
sing and dance in separate groups for the best part of the afternccn.
A horse race might also take place. The horsemen engage in fsncing snd
demonstrate their skill in manipulating their swords. The bride all this
time stays homo attended by some of her close friends Who spend their
time teasing her and passing on last minute instructions on sex relatisns
and the role she is supposed to play on her first night as a bride.18
Upon their return from the 52:35, the men go to the madifa or
the hospitality house, while the women go to the grocm's house to est.
The food consists of thin layers of unleavonod broad soaked in rich
broth and topped with boiled rice and meat. Sometimes, a thick crsnm
of crushed wheat called Sasida also topped with meat is offered. Such
food is served in big open trays called karzmi—-each of which is large
enough to allow five to ten men to sit around it and eat from.it with
ease. No utensils are used. These dining use their hands, dipping inte
the plate and taking a fistful of food and tossing it into their mouths.
The food is brought to the mad‘fa by a prccossicn of ycung Indies
which is led by the groom, or by the groom‘t‘father; or one sf his
relatives. While the men are feasting the young ladies sit about
16At Baytin these activities normally occur on Sunday so tint

the wedding may take place on Monday night, which is regarded as a.
blessed night (layla mubaraka). Cf. Jeffery in Anshsn, p. 217.

 

 

 

-172-

singing about the generosity of the groom and his father. Ones the
food has been consumed, the ladies carry the empty trays away. In the
meantime, the women and the children are entertained in a less cere-
monious flshion in the courtyard of the groom's father.

After everyone has eaten, the men gather to bring forth gifts to
the groom. Such gifts are called EEEEI and are always in the form of
cash and cash only. Each donor in turn calls upon the announcer, hands
him a certain amount of money, and supplies him with the name of the
person in whose honor the gift is given. In a loud and clear voice
the amount of each gift is announced, the donor is thanked, and the
honored man is asked to stand up and take a bow.

Before the bride is escorted to the house of her husband that
evening, she is visited by her male relatives who give her cash gifts
also. Each of her male relatives asks if she has any wish he may answer
and at the same time informs her that his house will always be open to
her if she is not kindly treated by her husband. A.§£EE (brother of
the bride's father) or a 5&5; (brother of the bride's mother) might
refuse to visit the bride to give her his blessing. Since it is cue-
tomary for the bride to refuse to leave her quarters until she has their
consent to marry, this might cause some delay. In all probability hor
reluctance arises from the fact that she may be forced to seek the
assistance of these relatives after marriage, and unless they have given
their consent they would not be obligated to help her. The men usually
persuade the unwilling relative to consent, while the women chant verses

in front of the bride’s'home honoring those brides who refuse to marry

 

 

 

-l73-

until they have received the blessings of such rolativos. In almost
every case, the unwilling relative withholds his consent until he obtains
a few dinirs from the poor groom.

Custom dictates that the groom make three gifts to various relatives.
A suit is purchased for the eldest brother of the groom's father (£13m
al-Bamm). Another suit is purchased for the brother of the groom's
mother (2135 al-khfl); and a dress is purchased for the grocmis mother
gggtgg al-imm). If the bride is a ghariba, or taken from outside the
village, two additional gifts are required, 331: al-shabib, or a goat
must be given to the young men of the bride's village. Secondly,
‘jgggg al-kilib, or a donkey, must be given to the dogs of the bride's
village. ‘With the exception of the last, all gifts are settled in cesh
payment paid to the designated parties. Such payments are relatively
small and not fixed.l7ln case the bride has no living 2:22 or Epil,
the closest of her kin on that side of the family such as son of the
Eggm er the 535; is .ewardod the gift. The amount paid for 2E5: 3i:
.shabib'is normally added to the general fUnd of the village and quite
often is collected only after some fighting takes place. 33§§£.§l:
33153 is not always collected, but sometimes the groom's party is forced
to kill a donkey in a designated place outside of the village, so that
the dogs may have a feast. In certain cases instead of doing this s
gigig or two is added to the amount paid to the general fund of the

Vill‘g. e

17Fivo to ten dinirs is about what would be paid in each of

these cases.

 

 

 

 

-l74-

Once the bride is visited by all her male relatives and assured
of their consent, a shawl of red or white is thrown over her head and
shoulders and made to cover her faco.183he is then mounted on a horse
and sent on her way to 22X: al-dakhla (the entrance house). This
house is so called perhaps because it is the first time since the
khutba that the groom enters a house where the bride is stationed
without her trying to run away from him.

The horse which the bride rides is led by her brother or by
another close relative. The animal is surrounded by a procession of
girl friends and other female associates who will sing songs in praise
of the father of the bride and her family for their generosity end for
the way they hove roared their daughter. In those songs they also
assure the bride and everyone listening that she is being transfered
to the house of a man who is no less generous and noble than her
father. In their own words, she is leaving the "house of a generous
15957 to go to the house of a prince [3f a moé7z" Upon arriving at
Egyt'al-dakhla, she dismounts and is ushered into a large hall where
she is seated on soft cushions or upon a choir placed on a relatively

high platform. Next to her is an empty scat reserved for the groom,

18The colors white and red indicate whether the girl is marry“

ing a Yamanite or a Qaysito respectively. In case of a ghsribo bride,
'where the people of her village might use a different color than that
of the groom's people, a fight might break out between the two parties
in their effort to determine what the color of the shawl should be.
Often, to avoid violence, a compromise is worked out thus: she will
be covered by a shawl of a color acceptable to the people of her vil-
lage, and mid-way to her husband’s village her shawl is exchanged for
another which is more to the liking of her husband's people.

 

 

 

-l75c

who is expected to make his entrance shortly afterwards.

Although no other men is allowed in 23y: al—dakhln, several
young men will ewait the groom's arrival in the courtyard. On his way
in, the groom is pummeled by his friends who strike him with their
fists or beat him with sticks About the shoulders and beck. There is
no explenetion for such behavior except that some believe that this
treetment is necessary to wake the groom up from the daze of the
occasion.

The groom enters bay: el-dekhla alone with a sword in his hand.
He walks up to his bride end places the swerd herizonally over her
head. She then reaches up to the sword and holds it in both of her
hands. At that moment, the husband uncovers her fhce and places the
shawl ever the sword.

Once this ritual is over he proceeds to offer his bride her nugit.
This usually consists of silver coins and occasionally some old geld
Pieces. The groom Attempts to stick the coins to her face. It is
obvious that such coins will not remain on the bride's face for leng,
end as they fell down, they are collected by one of her attendants
and given to her. The sword is then removed, and the groom takes his
piece next to his bride for the Eifléi' where more dancing and singing
is done in honor of the occasion.

This ceremony is followed by one in which women offer their 235E:
to the bride in the same manner the men had offered theirs to the grecm.
They play many tricks on the newlyweds. For example, the lights are

blown out from time to time in efforts to create chaos, er else the

 

 

-l76-

clethes of the couple are tied to the furniture or sewed to the cushions

upon which they are sitting, so thet, when they are asked to stand up,
they fall down instead.

Once the Egg§t_is offered the women stay around for a short time
entertaining the tired young couple with more songs and more dancing.
This lasts until the groom stands up and asks the women to leave. If
he does not do so, one of his relatives is apt to interfere by asking
the women present to leave the couple alone. The women will try to
ignore the request, but finally they are ferced to yield under the
threat of being thrown eut by force.

The groom and the bride are finally left alone to eat supper. It
is the groom who normally does meet of the eating, for the girl is
expected to show bashfulness by declining to eat anything. At this
point the newlyweds might be interrupted by the friends of the groom,
who stand around the house making noises and disturbing the couple
inside. They refuse to depart until the groom comes out and gives
them meat and sweets to eat.

The bride is expected not only to ignore the advances of the
husband on the first night, but even to resist them. The groom on the
other hand attempts to entice her into undressing by paying her a few
coins for each particle of clothing she takes off. Almost always the
groom has to resort to force using a whip which he has breught along
with him earlier in the evening for such an occasion.

Some of the associates of the groom will hide in strategic places

around the house in which the newlyweds are spending their first night.

 

~177-

Such young fellows try to listen and peek through windows and keyholes
in an effort to discover what the couple inside are saying and doing.
They continue to spy in such a fashion until the couple has had inter-
course, and then they leave and go home. In the morning such spectators
will amuse themselves by telling others what they had witnessed the
night before.

Once the groom succeeds in having intercourse with his wife, he
rushes outside and fires a couple of shots in the air to indicate that
he has accomplished the deed. He then strolls out to where the men
are gathered and receives congratulations. If the groom is unsuccessful
in having intercourse with his wife on the first night, he is ridiculed
and laughed at by his associates. In fact, to avoid such a situation,
the unsuccessful greem.might stay in the house all day until he has
accomplished his purpose. Young men who are accused unjustly of their
inability to have intercourse with their brides are apt to present the
public with a white sheet stained with blood to testify to their success
and to the fact that the bride was a virgin.

On the morning after the marriage, the bride appears to be more
bashful than ever before, an indication of the fact that she had lost
her virginity.19From this day on she is referred to as 'mra'a erm
(a woman). This, of course, is in comparison with the termxbint (girl)
which was applied to her before marriage.

19See Edward'Wostermarok, The History of Human Mirriage, 3vols.,
5th ed., (New York, 1922), I, 434-156.

 

 

-178-

Chapter IX

The Family

Three types of family units are found in the rural areas of the
‘Arabio Middle East.1 The first, and also the most simple, is the nuclear
unit which consists of the father, mother and offspring. The main
purpose of this elementary unit is the fulfillment of the biological
function, and it seldom, if ever, is independent economically or.so-
cially. (This type of family is the least significant in the culture
of'the Arab village.) Except in the case of the'Westernized families
in the community under study,2 this unit is always subordinated to a
larger and more important kinship unit which will be discussed later.

The second type is the Sa'ila, or what Tannous calls the "Joint
family.” It consists of the father, mother, and unwed children as
'well as the wedded sons and their wives and children, unwed paternal
aunts, and sometimes even unwed paternal uncles. In short,'this unit
is composed of blood relatives plus women who were brought into the
kinship through marriage.3 Large as it may be, this unit tends to
occupy one dwelling or a compound of dwellings built close together or
often attached to one another. It is an scenomic as well as a social

1Afif I. Tannous, "The Arab Village Community of the Middle
East,” p. 537.

zBee Chapter II of this work.

3As a matter of fact, once a girl gets married, she refers

to her husband's family as Si'ilati or "my family," and to her father's
family as ahli or Ba'ilat ahlI, "The family of my close relatives".

 

 

-l79-

unit and is governed by the grandfather on the eldest male.4 The joint
family normally disslovos upon the death of the grandfather. The land
which until then had been held by the grandfather is divided among the
heirs, and the male children separate, each to become the nucleus of a
new Si’ila.
The third type of blood kinship unitiis the hamfila or clan. It

regardless of whether they live in the same village. The village com-
munity is normally composed of two hamfilas, and each hamula of several

joint families.

Identification and 'LgLalty

 

From birth until death, the Arab villager is always identified with
other members of the joint family through the composition of his name.
Once a child is born to a young couple, the people of the village stop
referring to the parents by their first names as is customary and begin
calling them after the name of their child. For example, Abu SAli (father
of SAli) and Umm 5Ali (mother of 3Alf) are the names given to the parents
of a newly bbrn child called 5Ali. Such is the case even if the first
Child is a female.5 But, if a son is born after the first daughter, there
is a change. The parents are then called after the first son and drop

4This is not true in case of an old, unmarried uncle staying
With his brother’s family.

 

5Tannous "The Arab Village Community of the Middle East,"
P. 538, who erroneously notes that "parents are named after the first
son, but never after the first daughter."

 

-1 80-

tho identification with their first daughter. Thus a man might be called
Abu Staisa, if the first child happened to be a daughter named SAzIza,
but he assumes the name of.&b5 finsayn as soon as he has a son is born by
that name. In the event the first boy dies during his father's lifetime,
the father is named after the second son. However, if no second son is
born the father retains the name of his deceased son for’tho rest of

his life.

A child adds the name of his father to his own name automatically
and often precedes it with the word fibgr which means ”son of." Thus
Eusayn's name becomes ”gusayn Khalid" er"§usain ibn Khalid," and
fiusayn's brother--Mhng§r becomes “Hansfir (ibn) Khzlid' or "Mansur ibn
abi (sometimes Aha) husayn' (o. g., Mlnsfir the son of, the father of
Eusayn).

In selecting names for their children, fathers are inclined to call
them after the paternal grandparents. But the belief that grandparents
'will die if a newly born child is named after them restricts this practice
until the grandparents have died. The only difference between the names
ef’many a father and his son is that the two names in each case have been
reversed. For example, a boy's name might be Hasan Ahmad, while the
father's name is Ahmad gassan. A fimily name is rarely used; the indi-
vidual is normally identified only by his first name added to that of
his father.

If asked fbr'a more thorough identification, the individual villager
is apt to give in addition to his own name and that of his father the

name of his grandfather, great grandfather, and keeps on adding the names

-181-

ofihia_ancesters.until he finally comes to the name of the founder of
the hamula to which he belongs. Then he might add the name of the village
in which he and his relatives live.

Girls are also related in the same fashionlthrough the patrilineal
line, and they maintain Such identification even after marriage; a gizi
never adds her husband's name to her own.

,All the members of a himfili identify and relate themselves to one
another in a very systematic way. One finds that a young man, for example,
refers to every one of the young men of the hamula as EEEHEEEE! or paternal
first cousin, and to every one of the young ladies ‘3.EEEE.§EEE? or pa-
ternal female first cousin. By the same token, the older men are all
regarded as SEEEE (paternal uncles), and all the ladies are referred to
as Sammzt (paternal aunts).

[Such a system of identification shows that the Arab villager is a
family-oriented individual, and that he is always considered as an integral
part of a much larger family unit than the biological one. (His loyalty
is always greatest to those closest in kin, but it transcends even these
individuals to include the hamfila (clan) and the village to which he
belongs, rather than the place in which he might be living.6 The following
folk sayings illustrate this point: "I [Fhall sidg7'with my brother
against my paternal cousin, and with my paternal cousin against Z;ni7

6This apparently is true ef'all rural areas in this region.
Efforts in recent years to remove the poverty-stricken Egyptian I"'alli'hin
from their villages, and to resettle them in more fertile areas have

failed because .r this 0108. relationship within the hamula and the
strong attachment to the village.

-182-

stranger." And "Help your brother to win victory Egainst other; regard-
less whether he is right or wrong [in his claim7." The feeling of kinship
is so strong that the easiest way to insult an.Arab is to ask God to curse
one of his living relatives. It is even worse to curse relatives who are
deceased.

(In an Arab's eyes, the hambla rather than the individual is held
liable in the event of a feud or a serious conflict. Thus, if one man
kills another,'the relatives of the murdered man seek to avenge themselves
on the hanfila of the murderer rather than upon the individual. As a
matter of fact, if the murderer is a person with little standing in the
community, others in the handle are singled out for purposes of revenge.
By the same token no feuds are settled by individuals. The whole hamula
has to agree to some kind of settlement. In the event that a monetary
settlement, which is often the case, is made with the family of’the murdered
man, the entire hamfila contributes to such a fund.7

Alnakhw;l, or maternal relatives, are also recognized, but to a lesser
degree than al-aSmim or paternal relatives. This is especially true if the
maternal relatives are of a different hamfila or from a different village. An
individual might favor a £13; (maternal uncle) ever a Lang (paternal uncle),
but this only on the basis of a personal relationship. If a feud develops
between two such hamulas, the individual in point has no choice but to side

7Islam, which is basically an urban phenomenon, tried to discourage

and, in fact, forbade loyalty to the clan or the tribe. Apparently such

efforts were not successful in Baytin or in most of the rural and nomadic
areas of this region.

-183-

with his paternal relatives. "The kh;l is left out [declares the folk

 

saying72 and the 3amm is given authority." The wife may try her best
to remain neutral in such feuds, but in the final analysis she has to

8
declare her loyalty to her husband's people.

Mile and Female

 

In a patriarchal, patrilineal, and patrilooal society, such as
the one under study, it is quite clear that the social position of
women is expected to be inferior to that of men.) This is generally
true, although, as we shall see, women in this society are endowed
with certain rights that assure them of some protection against the
tyranny of men.

Preference toward males and discrimination against females in
this culture starts even before birth. The best blessing one can
give, is to wish for another that Allah fill his house with siby-a-n
(boys). 'In fact, when a newlywed couple are congratulated by friends
and relatives, they are wished a future full of ”fl 1: min,”
or happiness and male children. To wish than anyone have a baby girl--
even if the individual has a number of sons at home-—can only be con-
sidered as an insult.

Such is the emphasis on males that a woman considers her life a
complete failure if she does not succeed in bearing a male child for

8One folk saying declares in this respect that "the woman's

goodness is due her husband, and her mistakes reflect only the faults
of her parents.”

-184-

her husband. 'Women finding themselves unable to give birth to a boy
spend tremendous amounts of money on doctors of magic who promise to
help them. The husband, on the other hand, is socially justified in
divorcing his first wife and marrying a second time if his first wife
fails to bear him i son. In fact cases are known where women who have
failed to give birth to male children or who have lost boys in infancy
have encouraged their husbands to marry another woman who is younger.
Some of these wives have even contributed part of their jewelry in
order to help the husband pay the dowry of the new bride. The husband
is never accused of being the one who might be responsible for the
lack of heirs.

No special attention is given to girls in childhood. The boys
are always kept in the foreground of social activities. fihe name of
the boy, rather than that of the girl, is linked to the parents' name,
as has been indicated. Circumcision of baby boys is always a festive
occasion celebrated by all relatives and friends. In many cases such
celebrations are as elaborate and expensive as marriage. Parents are
always wished good luck on the day that their sons will be married

(in_sh§' Allih bi farhitkum bi al-awlid). Such references are never

 

made to girls.

(The girls also learn in early childhood to reconcile themselves
to the fact that boys are much more important.\ Everything around them
reminds them of this fact. “When she grows up, a girl must always carry
packages or other bundles if she is with her brother or a male relative.

She must also walk several paces behind any male accenpanying her. It

 

 

-185-

is a common sight to see a strong, healthy man resting on the back of
a donkey er a horse, while his sister, wife, or daughter walks behind
him carrying heavy loads. There has been a tremendous amount of change
among the Western-oriented groups in Baytin affecting such behavior.
Women in western clothes carry nothing on their heads and walk side

by side when they walk with men. The use of animals to ride on has
been eliminated and replaced by buses and taxis.

(While the men are oating, the women folk who prepare the meal
withdraw to another part of the house and wait for them to finish
eating before eating themselves. This is not true of boys, for example,
who eat with the men regardless of how young they might be.)

The father is generally recognized as the master of the family
as well as the sole owner of its property (Egb_al—B;'ila w: Eghib
al-mulk). He is free to give away any part of the family's property
to whomever he chooses, often at the expense of causing wife and children
to go hungry for days, without expecting the slightest interference from
the "good" wife. It is the man who makes all the important decisions
affecting the family. (He has what amounts to a veto power over all
family decisions made by other members.( This is not to say that in
certain cases, a man does not talk matters over with his wife and older
children before arriving at a decision. The general practice in the
community, however, is expressed in a saying which the villagers attri-
bute to the prophet Muhammad, "Ask [the wome§7 for their opinion and

then go against it."

 

-186-

It is not unusual for a man to beat his wife.9 He may remain out
all night and in no way be accountable to his wife for his absence.

On the other hand, women are held strictly accountable to their hus-
bands for their behavior. In the event of a quarrel, the wife instead
of the husband is thrown out of the house. After all, the house is
the property of the husband as long as he lives.

There is also a double standard of morality in this society.
(Girls are expected to be virgins until marriage, but there are no mores
stipulating that men remain chaste; If a man has an affair with other
women, no harm or shame touches him. But if it is rumored that a
certain woman is seeing a man other than her husband, she and her
paternal relatives are shamed and ostracized by the community, and,

in most cases, she is divorced by her husband.10

9The position of Islamic tradition on this point is not at
; all clear. The Prophet Mhhammad is reported to have ordered his
followers: 'Do not beat the female servants of.Allah.' 'When 3Umar,
later on, the second Caliph, complained that women had become unruly
and were acting with a great deal of independence after hearing of
the Prophet's orders, Muhammad was said to have then changed his orders
and to have given permission for the husbands to beat their wives.
.L deputation of women then gathered around the prophet's family and
complained about the bad treatment shown them by their husbands.
This motivated Muhammad finally to declare to his followers "Those
of you who beat their wives are no good." See Jeffery in Anshen,

Th. Family, p. 219o

1OCustoms among the villagers and the teachings of Islam seam

to differ sharply on this subject. Islam suggests a severe penalty
for both.nen and women if either has been convicted of adultery. In
Sura XXIV, Verse 2, of the an':h the punishment for such an offense
is one hundred lashes for each. In another place, the Qur'an teaches:
If any of your women are guilty of lewdness, take the evidence of four
witnesses and then confine them.itho wemoé7'to houses until death do
claim them." IV: 15. Note that in this verse no mention is made or
men.

 

-187-

Although women have a subservient position in this society, they
also have many rights. Contrary to popular belief, no girl can be
forced into marrying a man for whom she does not have any liking.

She might be tricked or lured into such a marriage, but the fact still
remains that no marriage contract is legal and binding unless it is
signed by the wili of the girl--the person to whom she has given
power of attorney, in front of witnesses, to represent her in marital
matters.110nce married, a woman con held her husband responsible for
providing for her in an adequate manner. This is true regardless of
how much money she might have or how vast a property she may own.12
If the husband fails to fulfill such an obligation, the wife can‘leave
her husband until he meets her demands. In case he refuses to yeild,
the wife can sue for a divorce on the grounds that the husband is not
providing her with bayt sharSf, or a home in specification of the
ShariSa law.15fhus, if the husband wants to avoid divorce, he will

11Islamic tradition insists that no woman should be married
unless she consents to such marriage. The Prophet of Islam is reported
by Abu Hurairah to have said: "The widow shall not be married until
she is consulted, and the virgin shall not be married until her consent
is obtained." Maulana Muhammad Ali, é Mnnual 23 Haidth (Lahore, n.d.),
Po 271o

12This concept seems to be borrowed from Islamic law which
according to Professor Lovy provides that "...a wife is entitled to
be fed and clothed at her husband's expense. She is never asked to
earn for him, nor to spin or weave for the household. If she has been
accustomed to the help of a servant and her husband is able to afford
one, he is required to provide such help for his wife as is necessary.
No one wife is to be favored at the expense of another." Levy, p. 99.

13Such specifications call for a livable house or apartment,‘
separate from that occupied by a father, brother or other relative or

individual. The household must also contain enough of the staples
(Wheat, olive oil, beans, etc.) to last the family for a year.

 

 

 

 

-188-

find himself obligated to rent an apartment or house, to furnish it
adequately, and to demonstrate to the satisfaction of his estranged

wife and that of the inspector appointed by al-Mnhkama al-SharSiyyg

 

that he is able and willing to provide for her and for her children.
As a matter of fnct, many women these days who are not on good terms
with their mothers-in-law resort to such tactics in order to gain
separate living quarters.

linen are also entitled to inherit property from their husbands,
children, parents, or brothers, Legally speaking, such transfer of
property is supposed to follow a complicated formula stated in the
Qur';n. A girl, for example, is entitled to share from her father's
estate equal to half of what her brothers receive. If the deceased
father had more than one daughter, and no sons, then the daughters
have the right to divide among themselves two-thirds of the inheritance.
If only one daughter survives her father, she inherits half of what
he leaves.14

In case the deceased was survived by his parents in addition to
his children, then each of the parents receives a sixth of any inher-
itance left. But if the parents were the only survivors, the mother
'becemos entitled to a third of the estate, while the father receives
the rest. In the event the deceased had brothers and sisters surviving
him.in addition to his parents, then his mother's share of the inher-

itance is reduced to a sixth of the estate.15

14Qur'3n, IV: 11.
153nr'3n, IV: 11.

 

-189-

A wife may inherit one-fourth of her husband's property upon his
death if he leaves no children; otherwise, she is entitled to only
one-eighth. To reverse the situation, a husband is entitled to half
of what his wife leaves, unless she has one or more children; then his
share is limited to one-fourth of the estate. If a man or a woman dies
leaving no ascendants or descendants, the surviving brothers and sisters ,
are entitled to divide among themselves one-third of the estate. The
distribution of the shares in all cases specified above can take place
_only after all legacies and debts are paid off.16

In reality, very few villagers follow this system in settling
inheritance cases. Instead, the estate of the deceased is divided
among his male relatives. If a female claims her share she is given
few dinirs, er a small piece of land hardly equal to the share she is
entitled to under the law. This practice is followed for three basic
reasons. First, because women do not know their legal rights and tend
to accept whatever is given them without question. Secondly, women
in this culture are uneasy about resorting to litigation, especially
agAinst their own relatives. Many will submissivoly accept an unequal
share rather than resort to the courts. Finally, the mores of this
society do not encourage unmarried women to seek an inheritance because
this will deprive their male kin of a larger share of property. In

fact unmarried women are often shamed into giving up‘thoir legitimate

claims to property by being reminded that "they are taking from their

leQur'In, IV: 12.

 

-190-

brothers to give to strangers (i.o., the families of any husband they

might marry)".

Another fact that has some bearing on the rights of women and is
worthy of mention is that women in this society, unlike their sisters
in tho'Western world, keep their maiden names after marriage. They
never add to their names the names of their husbands. This practice
serves as a constant reminder to the husband that his wife's family

or clan are always there to give their daughter protection and assur-

ance against his tyranny.17

Contrary to the practice in the city, and'in defiance of Islamic
tradition, the women in the village are free to see the world directly
and not through a voil.18They also may wear any colors that they choose
in their dresses and decorate themselves with ornaments of their own
choosing. There is no custom.that dictates that the village women

must wear dark dresses (mil‘ya)'whenever they go out. Nor are they

prohibited from.speaking to any of their acquaintances and relatives

17‘1‘his protection is real and not imagined. Many a man finds

himself in a dilemma with his wife's parents if he mistreats their
daughter. In fact, a man often feels obligated to seek the ccnsent

of his wife's parents to marry a second time or to emigrate to a
foreign land.

18The Qur‘znic verse on this subject (XXXIII: 59) reads as

follows: "0 Prophet: Toll Thy wives and daughters, and the believing
women,, that they should cast their outer garments over their persons
when abroaé73 that is most convenient, that they should be known

as sucé7'and not melested. And God is oft-Forgiving, Mbst Merciful."
The interpreters, hewever, differ on the meaning of "they should cast
their outer garments over their persons". Some suggest that it means
they should cover the whole body including face and hands, others
argue that only the forehead need be covered. For more details on
this point, see Levy, pp. 124-29.

 

-191-

in public, as is the case with veiled women in the cities of the Arabic

19

Hiddlo last. The only ago at which the village girls are expected to

appear bashful and reserved is when they have reached the marrying ago.

Then they must stop speaking to all eligible men?o

Children

In Baytin as in In other parts of the Middle East, the motivations
for marriage ny be narrowed down to two basic causes: to fulfill the
box drive and to produce heirs. Since it is only through marriage that
most men and women can satisfy their sexual needs, there is little need
to discuss this point further. 21l‘ho second and more important motive,
that of producing children, is exclusively realized through a legal

union between a man and a woman.” The birth and the care of children-

1'g'lfhe unveiling of women in defiance to the teaching of Islam
might be due to the fact that peoples with a nomadic background have
not been as strongly affected by Islam as these in urban areas. Or
it could be for economic reasons that the villagers do not veil their
women who from necessity have to do hard manual work in the house as
well ao' in the fields.

20 There has been a change in this behavior among the Western
oriented group in Bayt'in. In recent days, it has been observed that
once a couple got engaged they start seeing each other nmre freely and
take walks to points outside’ of the village in the cool afternoons.
Nevertheless, such behavior has not been fully accepted by the villagers,
and those who violate the standing traditions of women's seclusion are
talked about and ridiculed.

2I'llon in this cemmxmity tend to seek other outlets for their
sexual desires. Bomo, for example, do frequent houses of ill-fame
located in urban cenmitios, and almost all experience relationships
with female animals, especially female donkeys.
22The idea of adopting a son has 'never been accepted in Baytin
and no trace of it exists. A man might marry more than one woman, as

-192-

especially males, plays a very important role in this culture and
deserves a detailed treatment in this chapter.

As a general principle, all children born in wedlcck are regarded
as legitimate. They are also viewed as being gifts from.God. That
' marriage is blessed best which produces the nest childrenu-especially
if those children are boys. Consequently, most villagers know little
or nothing about birth control dovices.23They show no interest in them
and despite severe poverty welcome the additisn of more children to
the hmily .

One of the first tasks confronting expectant parents is that
they have to select a name for their child. As noted earlier in the
chapter, there is a tendency to name the children after their paternal
grandparents in the event the latter are deceased. If the grandparents
are still alive then the parents are apt to select a popular name.
They might, if they are very cautious, decide to seek the help ef'a

"specialist". A.mystic religious sha kh, sometimes referred to as

 

has already been indicated, hoping that one of them.might boar him an
heir, and it seems unthinkable for one to give up hope along these
lines and adopt wemeone else's child. Further, no one hears in this
society of any children available for adoption.

25Islamis not clear on whether it is permissible to use birth
control devices. A man called Jabir was reported by al-Bukhiri to
have said: "N. used to resort to Sazl Z; birth control device. Paulo
ante omissionem ( enom suum) oxtraxit, et extra vulvam semen omisit.7
in the time of the ephet, and the Qur'an was then being revealed.“
Since there is no revelation in the;Qur'an prohibiting such practice,
this mi ht be interpreted to mean that there is no religious objection.
A1~Bukhari quotes a man named Abu SaSid who said: "..JNe resorted
to Sazl, then‘we asked the messenger of.Allah, and he said: "Whatl
Do you do it? ‘de said this thrici? There is no soul that is to be
till the day of the Resurection but it will come into life." sees
Ali, pp. 279-280.

 

 

 

 

‘ Hm‘.

 

-193-

a darwish, is consulted to determine what the name should bo.243uch

a mystic, after inquiring into the family names, sits down with a

paper and a pen in his hand and draws certain figures and calculates
certain numbers and finally comes up'with a name for the expected
child. As a matter of fnot, he might suggest two boys' names, leaving
the final ohoice to the parents.251n addition, he writes a charm,
Acallod ‘.§$1§E upon a piece of paper which he folds in a triangular
shape and suggests that the expectant mother carry it with her all the
time to protect her'and her unborn baby from evil spirits.26The darwish

charges a handsome fee for his services.

24There are no such shaykhs found in Baytin. Therefore, a
woman interested in such services has to journey a few miles to a
nearby village. The shaykh.mest consulted along those lines is named
Sdbdulqadir and is said to have inherited the power of cemmunicating
‘with the spirits from his father.

26‘. a general rule, names suggested for boys have some reli-
gious significance, and are of two kinds: names linked to one of the
ninety-nine names of God in Arabic, such as 3Abd-Allah (the servant
of.illah), 3Abd-aliNagir (the servant of the Victorious): or one of
the several names of Prophet Muhammad, such at Taha, Ahmad, and
Muhammad. Girls' names are not of interest to either the parents or
the shaykh, and'normally they worry about naming_gir1s only after they
are born. But a mether consulting with the darwish might try to get
more for her money and ask fbr a girl's name in the event the baby
born is a female. In such cases the darwish might suggest that a
baby girl be named after one of the women that had some connection
with the Prophet, such as, Fatima (the Prophet's daughter) or SA'isha
(one of the Prophet's wives).

26The following diagram.shews a typical picture of a hiaib.
It consists of'a square, the sides of which are made of.Arabic words
than; read: ”In the name .r Allah, the most Gracious, the Most
Merciful.” The area of the square is divided into 16 smaller squares
'with each containing a letter, a number, or a word. The statement

 

I,

 

-194-

Children are born without the aid of professional medical atten-
tionf7and normally a middwife, called daya, skilled in parturition
techniques is in attondance.283he washes and wraps the baby in wann
clothes after birth and places the infant next to its mother. Once
this is done, the 2:1: walks out and discloses to the awaiting father
the news of the child's birth and its sex. If the baby is a boy, the
23y: expects the father to buy her a new dress in addition to the small
fee she normally charges for such service. If the father happens to
be away during the birth of a son, the the first one to come to him
with the news expects to be rewarded with a new suit of clothes.

The daya's work does not end with the delivery. She continues

 

above the outer square is an order directed to the spirit protecting
the hiaab ordering it to guard its carrier from bad spirits and evil

eYes. :S 4;_‘r____* Lfi£ll "J,’J
l r to” cannula»:

b/o‘vfl’w/ ’4’"

.X a} ZJAu/dfd' 4,

bU' J qfi'

Nd» Oil

For another variati’ of the hijah: see ipptndix IV.

27Only two women in the history of the village have ever been

admitted to a hospital to give birth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ti; CM h‘ 1:“

28There are two da as at Baytin. Both of them have had a
little training along these ines, and they are equipped and licensed
by the District government to practice midwifery. Each of the two
dayas comes from a different hamula and tends only the children born

o the people of her own hamula.

~195-

to visit the child daily for a period of about two months. The d=y=_
cleans the infant with a cotton ball dipped in olive oil, exercises

it by stretching its arms and legs, and continues to watch for any
irregular developments that might affect the child's growth. She also
helps the mother in giving her baby its weekly bath. The child's
diapers are changed regularly by the mother and a highly absorbent
soft, rod dirt called samaka (silica), obtained from the open fields
is used as a powder between the infant legso The child is always
wrapped tightly, its hands, legs, and body, except when changed or
cleaned.

Because of the high mortality rate among infants, culturally
proscribed precautions are taken to protect the very young. Thus, the
darwi'sh 1. revisited from time to time and asked to mt. more hi jibe
to protect the infant from bad spirits and evil eyes. Those charms
are normally enveloped in a black cloth and attached to the child's
head gear or directly to his hair and kept there until the baby matures
and passes the danger of dying in infancy.

If the child becomes sick, it is sometimes assumed that it has
been given the evil eye by a jealous neighbor or a stranger. The
evil eyoJmust be cast out before the child can get well againt To
exorcise the evil eye, a fire is built, and the child is placed close
by. .A piece of alwm is then thrown into the flames by the mother or
the woman who is working to destroy the evil eye. She repeats certain
phrases in a low voice while the alum burns, and the child is supposed

to inhale the fumes. 'When the burnt alum has cooled inte solid substance

 

Inns-I

null-u.

 

-196-

it is dug out of the ashes and examined. From the shape of the slum,
the woman pretends that she can reveal the identity of the person with
the evil eyo.29The alum is then crushed under the feet of the child,
and a trace of’it is smeared on the baby's forehead. To guard against
the recurrence of such an incident, a piece of alum and a blue bead
are wrapped in a small piece of black cloth and placed in the child’s
clothing.

In those cases where the parents have lost other children in
infnnoy, one finds them even mere eager to try anything thdt will help
their children to live and reach maturity. Two stories concerning
two different sets of parents give some indication of what measures
have been adopted presumably to protect children. The first concerns
the story of’a man who had a daughter, but whose two male children
died in infnncy. He was told that if he would get his newly-born
children baptised they would live. .Although he was a muslim, and
Muslims do not believe in baptism, he was willing to resort to this
ceremony if it would protect his newborn. 'Whon a baby boy was born,
the infant was duly baptized in a Catholic Church in nearby Ramallah.
Paradoxically, this boy survived and grew to manhood.- The parents,
I'whe‘were happwaith the results, often prescribed the same treatment

to their freinds and acquaintances.30

29Usually, one or two persons in the village are "known" to
possess the evil eye. One of them is invariably accused of being the
cause behind the child's sickness.

3oll'ere recently, this author was informed that a relative of
the man who had this experience also baptized two of his children.
Ebwever, they were baptized in a Protestant church in this case.

-197-

The second story concerns a young couple whe also had lost their
first two children in infancy. They were told that if they allowed
their next child to gp without a bath for seven years, he would live.
Their next child was a boy, and, miraculously enough, he survived
though he did not bathe for seven years.31

A.mere common method practice in this community to help keep
infants alive and well is the nathr. An eager father or mother makes
a promise to sacrifice a calf or a sheep in behalf’ef God or in behalf
of a special saint, if their child lives. In the event the child does
live, the promised animal, which is called simi}, is taken to the saint's
shrine, or slaughtered in front of the house of the person who made the
promise. The meat of the simaj, cooked or otherwise, is distributed
among all of the villagers.32

Although there has been a tendency recently to seek the aid of
medical doctors in treating diseases, the villagers solve many of the
health problems locally, relying on magic and native remedies. This
situation is due to three basic factors. There are no doctors stationed
in Baytin, and so medical assistance 1. not readily available. The

31 ' '

Cf. Lady Ann Blunt, Bedouin Tribes :5 the Euphrates, ed.
lilfrid Scwan Blunt (London, 1879,, .. 223, who reports that the
Bedouins of the Euphrates dress ”their children in black, and keep
them unwashed for fear, they say, of the evil eye.”

32Islamenceurages animal sacrifices along these lines. The
Prophet was reported to have said: "In the case of the boy who is
at ah (born ill), so pour blood for him.and remeve from him the
uncleannoss," and to have suggested that ”in the case of a boy, two
goats, and in the case of'a girl, one goat (should be sacrificed).'
He hhmself was reported to have set the tradition by sacrificing ”a

ram each in the case of s...n and gusayn,' his grandchildren. Ali,
p. 281.

 

 

-l98-

poverty of most of the villagers makes it impossible for than to pay
the fees charged by the doctors, and so they do not call them except
in critical cases. Finally, the superstition and ignorance of many
of the villagers causes them to rely more upon local remedies than
on professional medical advice. The use of herbs to combat some
diseases is widespread. Ailing organs are frequently massaged and in
some cases, especially to cure sick infants, treatment by fire is
prescribed. A sick child is often treated by heating the broad end
of a spike until it is rod-hot and then the spike is applied to one
of several places on the child's body.551t is small wonder, then, that
many a child dies in infancy after having been treated in this manner.

No hard work is expected from a woman who has just given birth.
she is normally allowed to spend the first forty days resting. More-
ever, she is placed on a diet rich with proteins in order that she may
produce enough milk to feed her child and to help her regain her strength.34

Two basic generalizations may be made in connection with child
feeding in this culture: all children are breast fed, and they are
fed on demand. Only in rare cases such as illness or death of the
mother is resert made to the bottle. Even then it is preferred that
a wet nurse be found to breast feed the child.‘ This practice is followed

35The most common places of the infant's body to which the
heated spike is applied are: the summit of the head, the nape, and the
abdomen around the navel.
34Female relatives and friends normally take turns preparing

the mother's dinner in their homes at their own expense. In most

cases, this dinner consists of boiled chicken, a leg of lamb, and
br.tho

 

 

-199-

because of the popular belief that children fed on animals' milk do
not grow up to respect and to love their parents. Moreover, fresh
milk is often unobtainable in this community.‘55

Whenever an infant cries it is offered the breast. In case the
mother is busy at the time or is away for the time being, a rubber
pacifier or a piece of soft candy called 3%, wrapped in a cloth
is placed in the baby's mouth, and the child is rocked until it
goes to sleep or until the nether arrives to nurse it. During feeding
hours, the mother holds the child between her arms or in her lap. She
may also lie on the bed with her child next to her. The child is
gradually introduced to solid foods, but only after it is about six
months old. About the same time, mothers stop wrapping their children
tightly, except when they prepare them for bed.

The period of breast feeding might be shortened or prolonged
depending upon many factors, including the pregnancy of the mother and
the type and amount of work demanded of her. But generally speaking,
infants are given the breast for a period of two years. When a mother
decides to wean her child she places a bitter-tasting liquid, obtained
from a local wild plant, around the breast. The child is then given
solid, sweet-tasting food to eat. Gradually, the infant forgets about
suckling and turns to a solid diet.

The care of children is totally entrusted to women. Fathers
and male relatives usually have nothing to do with child care. From

”A. a matter of fact, fresh milk'from goats and sheep is
generally available only during late spring and early summer.

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time to time, though, the men bounce the children on their knees,
play with them, caress and praise them.

In early childhood,'the infant is trained and disciplined by the
mother, who scolds and spanks it for misbehavior. Threats instill a
fear into the child which is counted upon to keep a youngster from
crying or wandering away from the heme. mythical characters such as

al-Hummimi and al-Ghul and the wicked dabi3 (hyena) are presented as

 

dangers. Mothers do not usually tolerate, and rebel against, the
interference of other women in the disciplining of their children.

The child receives all kinds of encouragement from mother and
other relatives to walk and talk. If a youngster happens to mature
more slowly than is expected, the mother might consult the darwish
and ask him to write ‘.EEQE_' At the age of three, children are
expected to step wetting their pants, and they are promised gifts if
they will cooperate in this matter. If such a promise fails to
produce results, the child is scolded continuously. The mother might
resort to threats, telling the infant that she will apply fire to its
sex organ if such behavior is not stopped. Boys are put to shame if
they cry for any reason after about the age of seven. They are told
that crying befits only girls, not growing young men.

At the age of three, fathers are brought more intimately into the
picture. The mother begins to threaten the diéebedient child, telling
it that she will inform the father about its misconduct. The authority
of the father begins to manifest itself more strongly as the youngster
grows elder. Once the child is about seven years old, it is the fhthor

who becomes the important disciplinarian in its life. As a matter of

 

 

-201-

fact, the child begins to look to its mother for help against an angry
father, and mothers begin to assume the role of’mediator between father
and son.

The love for and the fear of the father becomes mixed together
in the child's self. (The youngster looms early in life to obey the
father's orders without questioning them, and looks at his father
as the mighty giantgwho rules unchallenged in the family's world.LThe
nothgr, in the eyes of the growing youngster, becomes less important--
her authority is very limited, she is physically weak, and cannot
respond to the child's special desires.) Nevertheless, she is all
heart and is easily moved to intervene with the father and use her
influence to obtain for the child what it wants from the father. Thus,
(the youngster learns to seek her help and to make use of her good
offices in many of its dealings with the father. It is at this early
stage, then, that children come to recognize that their world is a
man's world and that they have to respect and obey authority. They
are also introduced to the important role played by the ge-botween in
this culture.

(The children are taught a system of etiquette called_=d£b. This
involves the type of behavior expected from a well-behaved child (52:2).
Under this system children are taught to obey their parents and respect
their elders and always to be polite in their presence. The child is
expected to rise and to offer its seat to an older, to talk in a re-
spectful manner, and to kiss the hand of the elder when introduced

to him. Kissing the hand of an elder may be dropped by boys in their

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mid-teens, but the practice is continued by young girls for a much
longer period of time. The young are taught to assume a subservient
attitude when in the presence of elders. Thus a young man must decline
a cup of coffee until every one present who is older or has higher
prestige has been served. Young men are also expected to enter a door
behind older men. Young women, on the other hand, have an even lower
social standing and can be served only after all men and older women
are served.

Male children are taught to be generous and to invite others to
share their food with them. This is demonstrated to them by the practice
of their elders who insist that road companions, acquaintances and others
drop in for "something to eat." An.1§§§ is not expected to accept such
an invitation until he has been asked several times. Even then he is
expected to accept reluctantly and to insist that the meal be a simple
one. The guest is never supposed to eat all the food offered to him
by the host. Politeness dictates that some of the food served be left
untouched. This is to indicate that the host was generous beyond the
needs of his guest, and perhaps to show some consideration to the women
and other members of the household who normally eat after guests and
the men have finished.

The host servos his guests the best food he can afford, and in
great quantity.36The guest, in turn, regardless of the nature of thy

$6Generosity is such an important custom that a villager may
go in debt in order that he may entertain his guests in style. This
might be a carry over from the desert culture where hospitality is the
product of necessity. To treat a guest well assures the host of a de-

cent treatment in the future. See Westermarck, History of erriago,
1,228. "‘ ' |

 

 

-203-

feed, is expected to praise it. It is considered in bad taste to brag
about one's own generosity in the matter of providing hospitality to
guests.

In the village, an =§§b is expected to salute ceurteeuoly everyone
that he meets regardless of whether he knows him.or not. The phrase
used in this respect is 'al-oalzmu Salazkum', er"peace be upon thee.”
The answer to this greeting 1. h Salaykum al-ufim 2 rahmnzu Allahi
_v_a_ barakatuh,” er “and 5. the peace, the mercy and the blessings
of.£llah be upon thee.“ Males salute males, old women and their ac-
quaintances among younger females. Females salute females, older men,
and their acquaintances among younger males.

Ani:2£§_io expected to cover his head at all times and in all
placeo.37He is expected to mind his business and to be cooperative,
humble, and helpful at all times. He is expected to demonstrate a
high regard for the village culture and traditions. He must learn all
of'the traditional phrases, and use them.to indicate his good will
and appreciation of individuals and circumstances.

Children, male and female, receive no sex education at heme.
They acquire such knowledge from.their playmates, from.eldor children,
and by direct experience. Boys learn to masturbate in groups, but in
seclusion from.othor people. .Altheugh the mores of this culture call

athon‘lestern-educated men and women began to appear in the
streets of the village with their heads uncovered, they encountered a
stubborn opposition from the root of the villagers who nicknamed them

"limfarSIn' or "the head ceverleso," a derogatory term.that carries
a connotation of queerneos.

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for chaotity, ouch group practicoo ofton load somo young mon to practico
homoooxuality in oarly lift. Such bohavior io normally abandonod aftor
marriago. Any malo who play: tho rolo of a fomalo in ouch a rolation-
ohip ia uoually ootracizod, and ho and hio rolativoo aro put to ohamo.
Such an individual rocoivoo no oympathy, and ofton io mictroatod by
hio own kin. Adoloocont boyo aro froquontly tomptod to havo oox rola-
tiono with romalo animalo-oxpocially tomalo donkoyo and horooo.

Tho cox impuloo in womon io otrictly oupprooood boforo marriago.
Only a vory row aggrooaivo and bold woman rooort to loobian practicoo.
Bomo'womon havo oox rolationo oxplainod to thom ohortly boforo marriago.
Tho majority, howovor, got marriod without any inotruction in tho fun-

damontalo of co: rolationo.

Pblygyny
Although Iolam, tho ootabliohod roligion of tho community undor

, 8
otudy, allowo a man to marry ao many aa four wivoo at a timo, only a

tory tow practico plurality in marriago. Pblygyny io tho oxcoption,

38Thio io tho'gonorally accoptod intorprotation in tho oyoo of
moot Muolima. Modorn doctor: of Islam, howovor, ouch ao tho famod
roformor Muhammad SAbdu (ca. 1849-1905) proach monogamyt Tho Qur'3n,
IV: 3 roado: ”If yo roar that yo ahall not bo ablo to doal justly
with tho orphano, marry woman of’your choico, two, or throo, or four;
but if yo roar that o shall not bo ablo to doal juotlylz;ith thompn
thon only ono, or a captité7'that your right hando poooooo. That will
bo moro ouitablo to provont you from doing injuntico.‘ In anothor
placo, tho Qur'in, IV: 129, doclaroox ”Yo aro novor ablo to bo fair
and Juot ao Eotwoon'womon, ovon if it io your ardont dooiro." Thuo;
in Ipito of tradition, it oooma obvious that Ialam.toachoo'monogamy
rathor thon pclygyny.

«205-

not tho rulo, in tho villago.39

Thoro aro fivo basic causos that motivato a man to tako on a
socond wifo during tho lifotimo of his first mato. Tho first, and
probably tho most important causo, is tho'inability of tho first wifa
to produco malo childront As indicatod proviously, such a situaticn
justifios a man, socially, if not morally, in cooking a socond wifb.
Anothor roason is prostigo. It is usually assumod that only a woll-
to-do man can afford to pay a dowry for a soccnd‘wifb and to support
twa uamon at tho samo timo. stirato marriago also oftcn loads to
plurality. ‘A man is oncouragod to marry tho widow of his brothor--
oapocially if sho is tho mathor of malo youngstors--in ordor that sho
might stay in tho ftmily and caro for tho childron sho acquirod during
hor primary marriago. A.man with moans who has marriod his cousin or

othor acquaintanco oarly in lifo, oithor duo to family prossuro or for a

 

any othor roasons might dovolcp an intorost in somo othor woman lator
in.lifo and marry hor for lovo. Finally, a man whoso first wifo
contracts a disoaso that incapacitatos hor for somo timo is apt to

marry anothor woman.

39Only two man, during tho last ton yoars at Baytin, havo
marriod_twc wivos. Tho first, who is tho rocognizod hoadman of a
rolativoly largo sub-hamfila, marriod his soccnd wifo apparontly for
purpoqos of.prostigo. Ho paid a vory small dowry, if any at all, to
tho brido's fathor, who is a rofugoo at tho villago from.tho portion
bf Palostino occupiod by Israol. ~Tho soccnd is a woll-to-do oil
V'Ohnioitn'who «migratod to tho U.S.A. in oarly lifo but roturnod to
tho villago in mid-thirtios. Eb marriod his socond wifo only aftor ho
was advisod by madical doctors that his first with who had borno two
daughtors proviously was not fortilo any longer. His mativo, in
marriago, thon, was a dosiro to havo a malo hoir.

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Thoro aro throo obstaclos, howovor, that dotor plurality. Tho
first consists of stubborn opposticn from tho first wifo. Tho family
of tho wifo's fathor might try to psrsuado the husband to chango his
mind by argumonts or thoy might rosort to throats or violanco. Tho
socond atoms from tho oconomic inability of most villagors to raiso a
dowry to pay for a socond wifo. Tho third obstaclo arisos if tho hus-
band has malo childron who aro of marriagoablo ago. Tho young sons
might opposo thoir fathor's wishos on throo grounds: thoy disliko
sooing thoir mothor mistroatod in this mannor; thoy foar that tho now
marriago might produco now ohildron who would sharo in tho family
proporty; and thoy rocognizo tho fact that if tho father has to raiso
manoy to pay for his own brido, thoy will not havo monoy to got marriod
thomsolvos. In addition to thoso obstaclos, ono whould boar in mind
that only vory tow girls in tho village will accopt a man who is
alroady marriod.

Islam spocifios that no man should marry a sooond timo unloss ho

4OThis

is ablo to maintain a stats of impartiality toward his wivos.
roligious commandmont has boon ignorod by most polygamists in tho vil-
lago of Baytin. Thoy are usually partial not only to tho now wifo but
also toward hor offspring. This is spocially truo if tho sons of tho
formor marriago opposo tho fathor's socond marriago. Thoro havo boon

homo casos in Baytin whoro tho first wifo and childron havo sufforod

tromondously booauso of tho socond marriago. Tho first wifo has boon

409ur'in, IV: 3.

 

 

-20 7-

forood to livo in a shack outsido tho main houso and hor childron havo
boon doniod thoir sharo of tho fithor's proporty.

In othor instancos polygyny works out vory wsll. Iany polygamists
try thsir boot to doal Justly with thoir wivos and childron, and booauso
of thoir wisdom and ability, tho wivos and childron aro ablo to loarn
to livo togothor poacofully. In such casos tho wivss normally dovolop
a systsn whsroby thoy hoop houso togothsr and divido tho housohold
chorss among thou. Tho husband is sharsd squally and sponds a night
with oach wits in hsr prints chanbsr. a. a nattor of fact, an notional
attachmsnt among tho mombors of such a family ofton dovolops to a point
whoro tho wivos start addrsssing oach othor by tho word "sistor,’ and
tho childron call oach of thoir tathsr'o wivos 'mothor.” Tho wivos also
might continuo to kosp houso togothor ovon attor tho doath .r tho husband.

Jsalousy among tho wiwos of -ono man is commonplaco. Tho husband
almost novor oscapos tho accusation of boing partial and unjust. Tho
' half brothors of such marriagos aro known to fight with oach othor so
troquontly that thors is a folk saying which doclaros “tho fight [is

bittorlfl as if thoy wors awlad dara'ir (half brothors‘)."

Divoroo

Two fundamontal gonoralisations may bo ado about divorco. First,
obtaining a divorso is primarily tho man's privilsgo. Socondly, tho
problon of divorso has novor boon as groat as it is- in many othor parts

of tho world. according to Islamic tradition, anon may divorco his

-208-

wits at his own fros will and no justification for his action is
roquirsd.‘lhll that is roquirsd is tlmt tho husband pronounco tho
111:3 (divorco) formula: "Go, you aro divorcod thrico," and tho wifo
is automatically considorod divorcod.“ In a hoatod argumsnt, a sin
may mar: "I am divorcod from my wits thrico if what I say is not
tho truth.” If it happono that such a man knows that tho truth is
difforont from his tostimony thon his wits is considorod divorcsd undor
Islamic law. Ho has no right to rosumo marital rolationships with hor
until sho has first boon taksn in mrriago by anothsr man, divorcod
by him, and thon marriod to hor first husband a socond timo.430n tho
othor hand, a _f_=_t_w_a_ (disponsation) may bo obtainod from a EM
(a Judgo in tho Islamic canon Court), frooing tho husband from tho

offoct of his oath on tho ground that ho did not know tho truth of

“Lovy, p. .121.

42A man may divorco his wifs for a first and a socond tins and
still tako hor back without any formality and without hor pormission it
ho so wishos, providing that ho doos so within thg four months waiting
poriod (Sidda) roquirsd by Islamic law. 8oo Qur'an, 'II: 226. it tho
ond of this waiting poriod, it tho divorcod wits is not roclaimod by
hor husband sho bocomos froo to marry anothsr man. If, howovor, tho
husband ‘pronouncos tho formula of divorco throo timos, sithor at ono
and tho samo tins, or at intorvals, tho wits bocomos absolutoly di-
vorcod. sho is thou .oxpsctod to wait only throo monstrual months
( uru') boforo marrying anothsr man. This waiting poriod is mado
man a ory so that tho woman can loarn if sho is prognant or not, and
to givo tho couplo a chanco to roconcilo and rsmarry, ospociall-y in
tho «so of prognancy. Qur'an, II: 228.

‘BIn this caso it might bo arrangod for a divorcod woman to
bo marriod to an oldor man. 8ho sponds only ono night with him and
tho couplo onjoy 'no marital rolationships. on tho morning of tho
socond day of tho marriags, tho old man divorcss his wifo of ono night
and collocts a too for his rols in tho cass. Tho woman thon is go-
nrriod to hor first husband. Tho namo for this procoss is tahlil,
or "making lawful.”

-209-

what ho had sworn to.“In any ovont, many a man in Batyin has boon
known to mako such an oath ‘troquontly, whilo tostitying to falsohood,
but without oxpocting to suttor tho ponalty 'of divorco.

Womon taco grsat dittiucltios in thoir attompts to obtain a ditorco
from thoir husbands undor Islamic law. A woman can obtain divorco only
it tho husband agroos to grant it to hor. Othorwiso, sho has to bring
a suit against him in frontof a Hagan Sharaim and advanco accspt'ablo
roasons for divorc'o. A common caso in which a worm may bo grantod a
divorco is whon tho husband aftor tho Elfin coromony and boforo tho

dakhla night has not boon ablo to fulfill cortain roquiromonts spoc-

ifiod in Mad al-nilca'h, such as paying al-mahr al-muSajjal in full ."6

Tho marriago might also bo dissolvod upon tho wifo's roquost it sho is
ablo to duonstrato botsro a 3;}! that hor husband is unablo to provido
for hor adoquatoly. Lnnulmont of marriago on tho grounds of physical

importoctions and ;.mia'oprosontation in oithor tho husbandor wits is

_ “Granting a fatwa in this caso is baood on Sur'an, II: 225,
which statosa " God will not call you to account for thoughtlossnoss

in your oaths, but tor tho intontion in your hoarts: and Ho is Ott-
tsrgiving. lost Forboaring.‘ Tho strict Hanafi doctrino, howovor, doos
not allow for mistakos and thoughlossnoss along thoso linos. It dictatos,
as tho Llamgiri puts it, 'a 'talag pronouncod by any husband who is of
nturo ago and possossod of undorstanding is offoctivo, whothor ho ho
froo or in sport or dost, or inadvortontly by moro slip of tho tonguo."
is quotod in Iostormarck, History :3 krriago, III, 310.

“In caso of such a divorco thoro would bo no waiting poriod
Bidda),.and tho divorcod woman is froo to marry anothsr man right away.
o r’an toachos in this rospocto '0 you who boliovoi ‘l'hon you
mrry o bolioving wonon, thon divorco thom bo'toro you touch thom,
you hats in thoir caso no torm [gidda7 which you should rocksn.‘
mun 49o

-210-

providod for in tho law books of Islamm. Thus a woman is grantod a
divorco it sho can provo that hor husband is soxually incapacitatod.
By tho sams tskon, a husband is allowod to divorco and rogain tho dowry
ho has paid if attor marriago ho discovors that hor claim to virginity
is not truo.

Bocauso of such complications, a woman in this community raroly
sooks a divorco from.hor husband, and tho tow divorco casos roportod
aro almost invariably instigatod by tho husbands.

In spits of tho sass with which tho man may obtain a divorco,
vory tow husbands rosort to divorcs. This is so for a numbor of
roasons. Tho roligion of Islam, although pormitting divorco, dis-
couragos it, and toachss that froconciliation is bottor."46Islmm roc-
ommonds to its tbllcwors that if thoy roar a broach botwoon a couplo
thoy ”appoint a judgo from his pooplo and a judgo‘from.hor pooplo;
Agni? it tho two dosiro agroomont, Allah'will otfoct harmony botwoon
thom."47Ths Prophot was roportod to havo said onco: "With.All;h, tho
umot dotostabls .r .11 things pormittod 1. divorco,“48and "Whatsvor
wmman asks for divorco from.hor husband without any harm, tho'swoot
odour .r paradiso shall bo forbiddon t. h.r."49

Non-roligious factors also discourago divorco. Important amcng

469pr'an, IV: 128.

47Qgr'3n, IV: 35.
“aili, p. 284.

49A11’ PO 384.

 

 

 

fl
,

 

-211-

thoso is tho oconomic loss involvod in a divorco caso. It a man divorcos
his wifo without a logal Justification ho has to pay hor al-mahr
aldmu'ajaal, spocifiod for in tho marriagp contract (313d al—nihih).5o
This amount is in addition to any dowry ho may havo to pay for a .now
‘wifo. Tho low oconomic status of tho villago prohibits msst mon from
taking on such a burdon. Binco polygyny is pormittod in Islam, a
rovongotul husband'who dosiros to mistroat tho wifo‘who had givon him

a hard timo may marry again and koop his first wits in contompt. Al-
though such practico is prohibitod and condomnod in Islam,5lit is still
dOHOo

[any a man who rogards his wits as his own privato propsrty is
roluctant to soo hor slip from botwosn his tingors booauso st divorco
to marry anothsr man. Thus, for omotional roasons somo mon in this
socioty profor to romain marriod to tho samo woman rathor than to
divorco hor and allow anothsr man to marry hor.

'Wbmon avoid divorco booauso it is gonorally rogardod as a shamotul
act. Thoy roaliso that, onco divorcsd, a woman has a vory slim.chanco
of romarrying within hor own class.. Tho attitudo of tho socioty toward

601' most casos in tho past, tho marriago contract spocitiod
that tho husband may pay his wits only a nominal amount, normally not
oxcooding tivo dinirs, whon divorcing hor. This has boon considorably
changod in rocont yoars, ospocially among tho oducatod and‘lostorn
oriontod groups in tho villago, who bogan to omphasiso al-mahr a1-
mu'aagal much.moro than al-mahr alqmuSa al (advancod dowry}. Casos

vs 'oon roportsd whoro tho marr ago con ract includod a clauso that
obligos tho husband cooking a divorco to pay his wits tho sum of
1000.00 Jordanian dinirs or approximatoly 02,800 dollars, a vory largo

mmount by Jordanian standards.

513.. 335%. mm 1-2.

-212-

a divorcsd woman is rofloctod in an oft-quotod folk saying that do-
nouncos such a woman: “It sho woro any good, hor husband would not
havs divorcod hor.‘ A woman also rocognisos tho bittor fact that in
tho ovont of divorco sho is apt to loss hor childron.

Dospito thoso obstaclos, divorco and soparation do tako placo
from tims to timo in this comunity. Adultory by tho wits, though
rars, may bo considorod tho groatost causo for divorco. If tho hus-
band loarns about adultorous acts by his wits and doos not divorco
hor, ho must accopt tho shamo and disgraco that normally bofalls tho
cuckold. In tho ovont of a quarrol with his in-laws, tho husband might
oond his wits back in angor to hor fathor's family. In caso of tho
232E?! a man might sond his wits back to hor folks to avort his sistor's
divorco or dismissal by hor husband.

To concludo, divoroos aro raro in Baytin. This should not load
ono to boliovo that family rolations in tho community aro always
harmonious. Intact, it is much closor to tho truth to say that tho
absonco of divorco has croatod many unhappy family situations.

In caso of divorco, tho family's proporty and childron go to tho
tathor. Tho divorcsd woman is ontitlod only to hor privato bolongings
and to tho dolayod dowry (al-mahr al-mu'ajjal), which is opocitiod and
providod for in tho marriago contract (£132 al-niki'h). Bho may rocoivo
no alimony unloso tho divoroo is tho first or a socond divorco but
not a third and final ono. In caso of tho formor, tho wifo may suo
hor husband for support and sho is normally grantod tho rigit to

colloct from him an amount that coincidos with his moans. Tho woman

 

~213-

who has roosivod a final divorco is ontitlod to support by tho firmor

husband it sho is mado to cars for ons of tho infants as a rosult of

a ruling by al~Mhhkama al-sharSiyya that tho baby is too young to bo

asparatod from its mothor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-214-

Chaptor.X

Conclusion I

Pbrhaps bottor than any othor modorn scholar, Profossor Robort
Rodfiold has succosdod in prosonting tho studonts of social anthro-
.pology with a frosh dotiniticn and a workablo framowork of rotoronco
for tho study of "folk.socioty" and "folk oulturo"; In a sorios of
monographs publishod sinco 1930 doaling with difforont culturos,
Rodfiold gradually gropod his way to now working dofiniticns of thoso
two torms.1 By using Rodfiold's dotinitisns, tho study .r folk socioty
and culturo may bo approachod in torms of a oohoront sot of concopts,
which can be ”rosoarchod" and tostod from.an ompirical point of viow.2
This chaptor will apply defiold's concopts to our data concerning
Baytin.

In torms of thoory, Rodfiold dofinss all sociotios and culturos
in torms of cortain idoal polar typos--urban and nonurban or folk
sociotios. Tho idoal folk socioty in Rodfiold's words, is ”a montal
construction,“ and “no known socioty procisoly corrospsnds with it.”
Primiti'vo sociotiss studoid by anthropologists, howovor, "most closoly
approximato it." Tho idoal folk socioty may bo visualizod by "assombling,

in tho imagination, tho charactors which aro logically oppositothoso

which aro to ho found in tho modsrn city." This bocomos possibls, howovor,

1Soo bibliography undor Rodfiold.

2Soo Goorgo M. Fostor, "What is Folk Culturo?" Amorican'
Anthropologist, 55, No. 2, part 1 (AprilaJuno, 1953), p. 159.

 

 

-215-

only whon wo first havo "oomo knowlodgo of nonurban pooplos to pormit
us to dotonmino what, indood, aro tho charactsristic foaturos of modorn
city living.'3

Tho continuum rosulting from this urban-nonurban polar concopt
providss a scalo along which oxisting sociotios may bo arrangod in an
srdor basod upon tho rolativo proportion of urban or folk charactsristics
which thoy possoss.

Tho idoal nonurban socioty is charactsrizod by defiold as boing
"small, isolatod, nonlitorato, and homogonoous [sulturally as woll as
biologicalli7g with a strong sonso of group solidarity."4 Tho folk socioty,
gonorally opoaking, romains in ono placo. ‘Ihoro this is not truo, as
in tho caso of nomadic tribos, thoro is normally littls or no communication
botwoon tho folk socioty and tho pooplo with whom.thoy como into contact.

Group rolationships in a folk socioty aro mainly primary, according
to Rodfiold, and convontional bohavior conforms closoly to ono typo or
norm. Tho pattorno of conduct form.a singlo‘wob of intorrslatod moanings.
‘Broadly spoaking, bohavior may bo doscribod as “traditional, spontanoous,
and uncritical.” Tho knowlodgo dorivod from tho past is not oxaminod
sciontifically and it appoars that "what ono man doos [it such a socioti7
is much tho samo as what anothsr man doos, and tho pattorno of conduct
aro cloar and romain constant throughout tho gonorations.‘ Tho mombor

of tho folk socioty, howovor, is not "strongly awaro that ho is constrainod

311.13.“ Rodfiold, ”Tho Folk 8ocioty,” Tho Amorican Journal .r

Sociology, LII, no. 4 (January, 1947), 294.

 

IRodfiold, 'Tho Folk Socioty,' p. 297.

 

 

-216-

by custom."5
Familial and roligious sanctions firmly govorn bohavior in folk
sociotios. Tho family plays an important rols in social institutions
and in conditioning sno's outlook and conduct. Pioty also is strongly
omphasizod and roligious rituals and coromonios aro highly dovolcpod.
From.an oconomic point of viow, tho folk socioty is noarly always solfb
sutticiont. It usually possossos simplo todhnology and utilizos simplo
tools. Thors is littlo spocialization of labor. .Any division of labor
'which doos oxist is‘bassd largoly upon tho difforont rolos playod by tho
soxos'within tho social structuro of tho community. In folk sociotios
chango is slow and strongly rosistod.6
Tho idoal urban socioty, on tho othor hand, has tho following char-
actsristicss ”Social hotorogonoity, porsonal individuality, socular
rathsr than familial and roligious institutions of control, division of
labor, a monoy oconsmy, and a gonoral imporsonality in intorporsonal
rolationships.”7
‘Using Rodfiold's concoptual framowork of rotoronco, it has boon
domonstratod that Baytin bolongs closor to tho nonurban ond of tho scalo
and may bo catogorizod as a folk socioty. It has boon shown, howovor,
that Baytin today is vulnorablo to now idoas that aro causing groat social

changos in this traditional socioty. Tho old ways aro gradually, but
SRodfiold, “Tho Folk Spcioty," p. 297.

GRodfiold, "Tho Folk socioty," pp. 297-98.

7Soo Fostor, p. 160. Tho charactsristics horo listod aro basod
upon Rodfiold‘c ‘Yucatocan fiold data.

 

-217-

rosontmlly, boing roplacod by tho now ways. This situation calls for
adjustmonts on tho part of tho villago inhabitants. If thoso adjustmonts
aro not ndo, now social probloms will ariso and cultural lag will dovolop.

Until rocontly, tho Baytin villagors, who numbor loss than ono
thousand porsons, havo isolatod thomsolvos physically as woll as culturally
from tho outsido world. This isolation, howovor, was novor comploto at
any tins. For as Rodfiold romarks "probably thoro is no roal socioty
whoso mombors aro in comploto ignoranco of pooplo othor than thomsolvos."8

Prior to tho turn of this contury, most villagors woro born, brought
up, marriod, urkod and diod within tho confinos of tho villago. A
trip to Jorusalom, only thirtoon milos from tho community, was considorod
a novolty. Today, tho automobilo, airplano, nowspapor and radio havo
holpod to roduco tho physical and cultural isolation of most, but not all,
of tho Baytl'n villagors.

Dospito thoso modorn moans of transportation and communication,
howovor, many villagors still oxporionco a high dogroo of isolation.
Povorty provonts tho vory poor from utilizing such moans of travol as tho
car or tho airplano. Illitoracy makos it difficult for many to onjoy tho
uso of a radio or nowspapor. Although most villagors havo a chanco to
liston to tho radio or hoar a nowspapor road in a local coffoo shop, thoy

comprohond littlo of what is said unloso it is intorprotod for thom by a

litorato porson.9 Eton undor thoso circumstan cos, thoro is a basic problom

8Rodfiold, "Tho Folk socioty," p.'296.

9Tho languago omployod in tho nowspapors and by radio broadcastors
is a uni-classical form of Arabic and is far difforont from tho ovoryday
languago of tho villagors.

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of comprohonsian booauso thoy tond to picturo situations in torms of
storootypos thoy havo croatod within thoir limitod onvironmont. In somo
casos, thoro is simply no intorost in tho outsido world and cultural
isolation is solfhimposod.

Thoro arohtwo additional factors that incroaso tho intonsity .r
cultural isolation. Tho first is sogrogaticn. Tho villagor, whon ho
goos to tho city or to placos away from Baytin, fools insocuro, and tonds
to shy away from othor pooplo. His timidity and awkward bohavior makos
othor look down upon him.and ho finds it difficult to minglo.10Tho socond
factor is othnocontrism. Tho villagors boliovo dooply that thoir ways
of doing things aro tho bost. Thoy ofton amuso thomsolvos by mocking
tho poculiar habits of pooplo who aro moro urban than thoy.

Those villagors who broak thrcugh the barriors of isolation may bo
idontifiod in two major catogorios--studonts and omigros. Studonts
whoso oducation oxposos them to now idoas and to porsons from outsido tho
villago somotimos mmko a sharp broak with thoir culturo. Emigros who
loavo Baytin for a rolativoly long poriod of timo to livo and work in a
moro urbanizod community also chango thoir mods of living. Thoso pooplo,
Whom wo shall call "wostornors", havo boon ono major social forco in
bringing cultural changos in Baytin in rocont yoars.

Tho rolativo isolaticn oxporioncod by tho Baytin'villagors is, as
in all folk sociotios, only "ono half of a wholo of which the other half

10Soo Raphail Patai, "Tho Dynamics of“WostorniZation in tho Middlo

East," Tho Middlo East Journal, IX, No. l OWintor, 1955), 8; horinaftor
roforrod to aigihtai,‘“Tho Dynamics of“Wostornization".

 

 

 

 

-219-

is intimato communication among tho mombors of tho socioty.'11EWory'porson
in Baytin knows ovory othor villagor at sight, and oach individual in tho
villago is known as a wholo porson.
Rodfiold concoivos of tho idoal folk socioty as boing nonlitorato.
Tho absonco of books and othor roading matorial, ho suggosts, is just
anothsr aspoct of tho isolation of the folk socioty.12This is truo of
Baytin. The great majority of tho villagors cannot road or writs to any
’groat dogroo. Many of tho mon havo had a chanco to finish tho fourth
grado in tho villago school. But most of thom havo long sinco abandonod
roading and writing oithor booauso of a lack of intorost or tho scarcity
of roading matorial. Tho nunbor of villagors who can road fluontly is
rolativoly small, about ton to fiftoon porcont of tho total population,
and most of thom aro young mon who havo attondod schools in rocont yoars.
Illitoracy and tho lack of writton rocords in tho villago causo tho
inhabitants to roly almost ontiroly upon oral communication. Tho thoughts
and oxporioncos of provious gonorations, as woll as thoso of othor sociotios,
aro convoyod by tho oldor pooplo to youngor gonorations by word of'mouth.
As has boon obsorvod, in Baytin most knowlodgo of tho past has boon roducod

to a sorios of"sayings or provorbs in ordor that thoy might bo transmittod

orally with groator oaso.13Thoso sayings aro accoptod uncritically as

11Rodfiold, ”Tho Folk socioty," p. 296.

1gRo'dfiold, "Tho Folk Socioty,” p. 296.

13lost of tho sayings and provorbs usod by tho villagors aro not
ofton spontanoous or tho product of tho immodiato onvironmont as Rodfiold
("Tho Folk Socioty,I pp. 299-300) and Afif Tannous ("Group Bohavior in
tho Villago Ccnmunity of Lobanon,” Anorican.Journal of Sociology, ILVIII

 

-220-

absoluts truths and littlo offort is mado to tost thoir validity. As
a rosult, tho bohavior pattorns of most villagors aro conditisnod to a
largo dogroo by thoso provorbs. Thoso sayings thoroforo tsnd to rofloct
tho "fundanontal attitudos" of tho villagors.14In addition to thoso say-
ings, myths and logonds tond to dovolop from this uso of oral communication.15
Within tho oxisting folk socioty of Baytin, old mon hold tho highost
positions of social prostigs and authority.161t is assumod that tho longor
ono livos, tho moro sxpsrionco ho accumulatos and tho wissr'ho bocomos.
”Wisdom” hors is dofinod in torms of cognizanco of past oxporioncss and
tho inplsnontation of knowlodgo gainod from.thoso oxporioncos in judgomont-
making and in gsnoral bohavior. Sinco this is basically a nonlitsrato
socioty, knowlodgo gainod from.hooks is not highly rogardod and, indood,
subjoctod to ridiculo.
Tho rulo of tho villago oldors has boon challongod rocontly by thoso
whsnnwo havo proviously roforrod to as ”wootornors." Thoso includs tho
studonts in Baytin who "havo loarnod tho tricks of tho intrusivo civiliza-

tion," i.s.'wostorn civilisation.l78uch studonts dopond basically on tho

 

(1942), 232; horoinaftor roforrod to as Tannous, "Group Bohavior in tho
Villago”. Tannous would assort that tho provorbs in tho rogion aro
spontanoous, but as has boon proviously notod in this study thoso sayings
to a largo dogroo aro handod down from gonsration to gonsration.

14Tannous, "Group Bshavisr in tho villago," p. 232.

15Boo Rodfiold, ”Tho Folk socioty," p. 296.

16Hon aro considorod to bo wisor than wsmsn booauso thoy play a
moro important and divsrsifiod rols in socioty and thoroforo thoir Judgo-
monts aro considorod to bo moro valid.

17Arnold Tsynbso has usod tho tsrm "intolligontsia" in idontifying

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writton word for thoir approciation and undorstanding of tho past. In
addition. thoro aro omigros who wore born in tho villago but who havo
had.soms contact with tho outsido world—-o.g., roturning omigrants from
tho Unitod Statos. Thoso omigros havo gainod a now outlook on lifo which
is difforont from tho tradition-diroctod oriontation of tho rost of tho
villagors.

La sorious strugglo has brokon out botwoon tho oldor mombors of tho
community and tho ‘wostornors.’ Tho "wostornors' aro boginning to undormino
and woakon tho social structuro of Baytin as it has oxistod. To dofond
thoir social position, tho tradition-oriontod loadors in tho community
havo dovolopod a nativist spirit and havo donouncod tho ”wostornors' as
irroligious, quoor, and lacking in tho right moral valuos.

In this war botwoon tho old and tho now, tho traditionalist loadors
havo boon forcod to mako ssmo concossions and to adopt sons of tho viows
and bohavior pattorno of tho “wootornors.” Tho chango has rosultod largsly
from two factors: tho growing oconomic powor of tho "wootornors," who
havo boon ablo to gain control ovor much of tho landglsand tho rscsgnitisn
that has boon accordod to tho "wostornors" outsido tho villago, ospocially
in official circlos.

Ono of tho most rocont striking concossions that tho traditionalist
loadors havo mado is to agroo to moro oducation for tho boys in tho commu-

nity. Almost svory villagor ssnds his boys to tho villago school for

 

thoso who "havo loarnod tho tricks of tho intrusivo civilisation.” Soo
his work: A Study ofIHists§y7(Abridgod od., Now York & London, Oxford,
1947), p. _377.

18

 

Boo Phtai, "Tho Dynamics of‘lostornization," p. 12.

-222-

elementary education, which now goes through the sixth grade. A small
number of villagers even go so far as to send their children to schools
in nearby towns for secondary education. The traditionalists are hoping
that, even though their youngsters are educated in secular schools, these
young people will continue to follow the old patterns of thought and
behavior.

Although they have been willing to concede to the idea of secular
“education for the bcys, the traditionalists have resisted any efforts
to extend similar educational Opportunities for girls. Women, they feel,
must continue in the traditional, religious-oriented roles played by their
mothers. (Secular education is apt to change the values of'the girls to
the point where they might'rebel against the subservient position they
occupy in the social structure.) They might begin to demand equality with
males or axgreater degree of independence. Thus far, despite pressure
from the Central Government of Jordan and from the "westerners" in the
community, the traditionalists have been able to prevent the building of
a girls' school in Baytin.19

Redfield remarks that "the people who make up a folk society are
much alike. ...They...form a single biological type."29This is certainly

19In the summer of 1960, the Ministry of Education in gordan

appointed two women teachers to run a school for girls in Baytin. At the
same time, immigrants in the United States from the village got together
and raised a sum of money for building a girls' school in the village.
In the summer of 1961, another immigrant contributed to the village a
piece of land to be used as a site for the proposed girls' school. But
so far, the village elders have not agreed to build a permanent school

building. They have rented two rooms in one of the village dwellings to
house the new girls' school that was forced upon them.

zoRedfield, "The Folk Society," p. 297.

-223-

very true of the inhabitants of Baytin. The preference of these villagers
to endcgamous rather than excgamous marriages has helped to preserve their
biological homogeneity.21This is true to the point where if a woman gives
Ibirthgfio a blue-eyed child, the whole village questions the fidelity of the
mothertzaTwo families with physical characteristics that vary from the norm
have heen singled out and their individual differences labeled: one small
family in the village whose members have blond hair have been nicknamed
"the fair family," another family with members having red hair is commenly
known as "the red family."

~'fThe villagers are also homogeneous from a cultural point of view. To
be sure, there are some deviants among them, such as the "westerners." But i/
for the most part the villagers are very much alike in their ways of behavior

and thought.)

The proverbs and sayings used by the villagers reflect their awarness

of this homogeneity. Among these sayings are the following: “Thulthayn

_glfiwalad lakhalah,” or "The boy is two-thirds his maternal uncle." This

 

is said to indicate that children look like and behave like their uncles.

 

Another such saying is "Al-Sirq dassas," meaning, "Roots travel," indicating
that both physical and behavioral characteristics of ancestors are to be
found in their off-spring. .Aieo, "Itha biddak”ti$rif al-shajarah ibhath

_§gn shrushha,” or'“If you want to know a tree search for its roots," and

 

21The biological homogenity of such groups in similar areas of the
Islamic Middle East are apparent even to the most casual observer. e.g. see
Ann Sinclair Mehdevi, Persian Adventure (New Yorkt Alfred A. Knoph, 1953),

pp. 28‘290

 

22Thiswas actually the case in a recent episode in the village.

 

 

-224-

"Al-naqah bint immha,” meaning, "The she camel is the daughter of her mother."

 

(is in all folk societies, the villagers at Baytin have a strong feeling
of belonging to each other, as well as to their village. They all elaim.the
same ancestral origin and in their daily interaction they tend to relate
themselves to one another. "we are all cousins,” is a remark often made to
a stranger who may ask a villager if he were related to someone in the vil-
lage who is not a close relative. The villagers refer to themselves as "we," ‘w-
as against all others, who are *they." This community feeling stems from
the biological as well as cultural resemblance that the villagers bear to
one another.z€

Identification with the village community is likewise reflected in the
sayings of the Bayti'n villagers. These sayings include, 'Lakul balad sibirha,”
or ”Every village has its own customs.” This is the usual when a villager
discovers for the first time that peOple outside his community do things in

a way different from those he has known. Another such saying is ”Sabat

al-3irah ma bitdaffi,” or "The borrowed cloak is never'warme" This saying

 

is used to point out that alien customs are never suitable. A third saying

is ”figsak'ibladak ahsanlak min qamhpal-ghurba," or "The tare of your community

 

are better for you than foreign wheat." and ”Khuth min tin ibladak‘wultum

 

'Sala khdadak.” meaning “Take from the mudlzscmé7'cf your community and smear

 

your cheeks [because ultimately this will prove to be more suitablé7.” This
last proverb is used to discourage anyone who might be interested in marrying

a person from outside the village community.

23Redfield, "The Folk Society," p. 297.

~225-

(With the feeling of belonging, there comes a feeling of pride in
the village.) Thus, when someone from Baytin commits a misdemeanor or
minor crime in the presence of outsiders, he is apt to be rebuked by
his fellow villagers thus: (QBy your behavior you have blackened the
reputation of the village.';)lhen a villager misbehaves himself, or
ignores the customs and traditions of the village he may be asked
"Are we steeping to the level of other villages?" or "Are we becoming
like the people of such and such a village?" {It is assumed in these
remarks that Baytin enjoys a better reputation and is on a higher
moral level than other villages.24 >

In discussing the family in folk society, Redfield observes that
"...where a somewhat large [Eblg7'group remains together, either in
a village or in a migratory band, there often, although by no means
always, is found an emphasis upon one line of consanguine connection
rather than the other, with subordination of'the conjugal connection.
There results a segmentation of the society into equivalent kinship
units. These may take the form of extended domestic groups or joint
families (as in China) or may include many households of persons related
in part through recognized genealogical connection and in part through
the sharing of the same name or other symbolic designation: in the latter
case we speak of the groups as clans.”251n the case of Baytin,'the

nuclear family unit is the least significant. It is subordinated to

24See Tannous, "Group Behavior in the Village," p. 239.

zaRedfield, ”The Folk Society," p. 302. See also Ralph Linton,
The Study of Society (New York: Century 00., 1936), p. 159.

~226—

the Sg’ila, the joint family which is the basic socio-economic unit in
the village. Family life is largely patriarchal. The grandfather, or,
in some cases, the eldest male, rules over the Sa'ila. The joint family,
in turn, is part of a larger blood kinship unit called hgmélg or clan.
This larger unit consists of all those who claim descent from the same
paternal ancestor.

The hamfila unit plays an important role in the life of the village.
The individual learns to identify himself with this large kinship group
from.birth and his behavior is patterned accordingly. This cultural
phenomenon is represented in many of the proverbs and folk sayings.
For example: '3umr al-dam.m5 bisir mayyg.” or "Blood can never turn
into water." This proverb is usually employed in situations where one
abandons his friends to support his relatives. Another saying runs
'Illi mala gahir mala ghir,” or ”Be who has no backing has no backbone."
The Arabic word for "backing," as used here, means "kin.” A third

saying that stresses family loyalty is "An: wa alchiiya salE ibin Sammi

 

wa ana wa ibinfiSammi 3a1a al-gharib," meaning, "I [shall sidg7 with nw
'brother against my paternal cousin, and with my paternal cousin against
the stranger." This proverb not only emphasises the family group but
shows precisely the order of Toyalty or allegiance within the clan and
family.26
Loyalty to relatives is expected at all times and under all circum-

stances. This philosophy is aptly stated in the saying that runs ”Unsur

26Tannous, "Group Behavior in the Village," p. 232.

 

   

 

-227-

akhaka_galiman kana aw'magluma," or "Help your brother to win a victory
[against other_s_7 regardless whether he is right or wrong fin his claim ."
This saying is attributed by the villagers to the Prophet Muhammad. The
Arabic word for brother "akh' in this case meant any one of the Mhslim
faith. But to the villagers at Baytin, the word 'akh' denotes ' a close
relative."

Loyalty to one's kin is stressed especially in matters dealing with
matrimony. 'Uhen a girl is told that her paternal cousin is asking for
her hand in marriage, she normally responds with the traditional saying,
"surmfiyit ibin Sammi ahsanli. min is al-gharib,” which means ”The shoes”)
of my paternal cousin are better for me than the head of the stranger.” >
‘Another saying which reflects family loyalty and is often quoted to
encourage boys to pay attention to their marriageable female cousins is
'3alayk ibbint Sammak walau 33rah,‘ or ”Pay attention to your paternal-
female cousin even though she has only one eye.“

Another example of kinship loyalty is to be found in the expressions
of profanity used by the villagers. Swearing among the inhabitants of
Baytin, as is true of villagers throughout the Arabic Middle‘ East, is
an indication of a "conflict situation." The villager resorts to pro-
fanity when frustrated or'emotionally upset, and short of physical
attack this is this is the worse thing he can do to hurt the feelings
27

of another.

In mild conflict situations, a person may call another such names

27Tannous, "Group Behavior in the Village," p. 233.

-228-

as "You dog,“ "You donkey,” "You pig," and "You idiot." He also may
use the following expressions, "may God curse you," "Get lost,” '60
to hell,” and “Go bury yourself." It should be noted that in all of
these phrases the insult is directed against the individual himself and
not against those things or persons he holds "sacred.”
In a conflict situation of a more serious nature, terms which.are
far more violent may be used, such as "You son of a donkey,” ”You son
of a harlot,” or “May God curse your grandfather," and "may God curse
the fathers of your grandparents.” In contrast to the more mild conflict
situation, where the individual was subjected to abuse, the emphasis
has shifted to his ancestors. This demonstrates clearly the point that
the status and reputation of one's kin group is viewed as more important
than the individua1_.him.self.z8
The loyalty to the kinship unit is further demonstrated by the
structure of one's name. Children are named after their parents and
grandparents. Parents, on the other hand, change their names to incor-
porate the name of their first child.29
The relationship between the individual and the extended kinship
might be compared to the relationship of the human body to its various
limbs. They function together, suffer together, and exist for the
benefit of one another. ”The clan," remark Edwin'l. Smith and Andrew
Hurray Dale in their analysis of the Ila-speaking peoples of Northern
28For detailed analysis of this point see Tannous, "Group Behavior

in the Village," pp. 232-33.

29800 under chapter VIII(Ths Family) of this study.

-229-

Rhodesia, "is a natural mutual aid society. . . . A member belongs to
the clan, he is not his own: if he is wrong, they will right him: if
he does wrong the responsibility is shared by them.”3olhat is true of
those people in Northern Rhodesia applies equally in Baytin.

Within the village, responsibility for wrongs committed and for
claims arising from wrongs suffered, is the concern of the entire
hamfila. Inidividuality plays a small role in the village scene. The
social position of the villager is largely dependent upon the status
of the larger kinship to which he belongs.31

Tillagers who are not related to a specific kinship are always
regarded as guests or aliens. )Normally they are not taxed by the
Village Council or asked to perform any services for the community.
They are not represented on the Village Council and have no voice in
village affairs.32They are constantly reminded that they do notfltbelong'
by the folk saying 'al-gharib lisimyibqi adib,” or "the stranger'must
behave himself.”

analties for crimes committed by non-native residents are far
more harsh than that for members of the clan. One person who had-lived
in the village for twenty-five years but who had not been born there

30Edwin N. Smith and Andrew Murray Dale, The Ila-Speaking
Pbcples of.lorthern Rhodesia (London! Macmillan'and_53., 1920), I,
296. As quoted mm "The Folk Society," p. 303.

31Raphael Phtai, "The Middle East as a Culture Area,” The
Middle East Journal, VI, No. 1 (Winter, 1962), p. 11: Bernard 5:—
W‘Iillage in Palestine,” Palestine Affairs, I, No. 10

(November 1946), p. 3. This is a publication of the Emeriean Zionist
Council.

 

 

32See under Chapter V(chernment and Politics) of this study.

-250—

was caught stealing from the crops of another villager. The village
Council ruled that the thief must leave Baytin forever. Such a harsh
judgement would never have been imposed upon a native villager.33

In recent years, however, the conjugal unit rather than the clan
membership has been increasingly emphasised by the “westerners." Con-
jugal families are beginning to separate themselves from the extended
kin group.34Many of them are living in homes far removed from other
members of the clan. Many have shown a reluctance to share their
fortunes with their lineage--even brothers and sister, and have spent
their money instead upon their own wives and children. Moreover, the
“westerners" are no longer conforming to the custom of endogamous
marriages.

Among the “westerners," women are beginning to achieve a greater
degree of freedom. The wife of an emigre, for example, manages family
affairs by herself. During the prolonged absence of her husband, the
'wife manages her own home and family property instead of leaving this
to be done by the father-in-law or some other male relative as is the
custom.of the clan. She may hire and fire workers, sign contracts, and
buy or sell property. Because she acquires experience in such matters,
it is not unusual for the husband upon his return home to ask her to

share in the making of decisions. Because of this situation, independent,

'33Indggd, if any villager threatens to drive another villager

from Baytin, this is considered to be a violation of tribal law and the
offender's family would be called upon to appear befbre the Village
Council or an impartial referee to answer for his threats

34Patai, ”The Middle East As a Culture Area,” p. 6.

-231-

egalitarian type of family is beginning to emerge among the western-
oriented villagers in Baytin.

Another facet of family life evolving among the “westerners” is
the dating system. A boy now may call on the girl he is engaged to
marry, and take her out for a walk, a picnic, or to see a movie. A1-
thcugh in theory the couple may be alone and unchaperoned, the eyes
of the entire village are usually focused upon the courting couple
and they are expected to be home before dark on all occasions.

Such behavior in courting, of course, has been strongly condemned
by the traditionalists as shameful and immoral. They feel that any boy
who showers his attention on a single girl and spends all of his time
with her instead of‘with the older men of his kinship-~the source of
all wisdcn.and learning-—is not only going to grow up lacking in wisdma,
but that his behavior proves that he cares more about his girl friend
than his relationship with the men in his kinship.

{fihis breakdown in tradition, which is leading the nuclear family
unit to emancipate itself from the tradition bound gamma, has brought
about a number of significant sodio-economic changes that are listed
below:

l.’THE ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE OF THE ”WESTERN" NUCLEAR FANELY UNIT:
Host of the ‘westerners" have earned a major portion of their incomes
in the more urbanized areas of the world where they have been paid in
cash. Consequently they tend to control the money economy in Baytin.
Their income is normally larger than that of the average villager who

is dependent upon his share of the crops from the Sa'ila-held land.

-232-

Thus, the “westerner” finds it to his advantage to retain his personal
income instead of sharing it with the extended kinship and receiving
in turn only his share from the family-produced crops.

2. THE DESIRE FOR.A HIGHER STANDARD OF LIVING: Because the hus-
band has had contact with the western world, the westernised nuclear
family unit becomes accustomed to many of the modern appliances.35These
goods can be acquired only by cash purchases normally and therefore
the "westerner' keeps his cash income to provide for the needs of his
own family rather than sharing his capital with the clan.

3. THE IMPACT OF CASE ECONOMY ON ECONOMIC INTERDEPENDENCE IN THE
KINSHIP: The existence of the joint family relationship was based from
the beginning upon the social and economic dependency of the members
of the kinship upon one another. Since none of the members individually
could produce all the economic commodities he needed to satisfy his
'wants, all the clan members worked collectivly, each contributing his
talent and effort, to achieve the commonly desired goals. But with.the
development of cash economy, the villagers discovered they can buy any
goods or services they need to satisfy their wants as long as they have
the money.

4.. morscnon or INDIVIDUAL 121st AND PROPERTY BY THE CENTRAL
GOVERNMENT: In the 1920's, the British authorities in Palestine began
organizing an effective police system which would maintain law and order

throughout the area. Police stations were erected in the larger towns

3sPatai, "The Dynamics of‘lesternization,” p. 5.

-233-

and cities-e.g. district and sub-district seats--and police officers
were made available to all the villages located within the sub-districts.

This police system, at first, was ineffective for’many reasons.

The villagers distrusted the police officials and preferred to settle
their disputes according to the traditional ways under tribal law.
Because of’the lack of transportation and communication, the police
‘were slow in taking action or in apprehending criminals. Moreover,
the size of the police force was too small for the task at hand.

In recent years, however, expecially after the annexation of Arabic
Palestine to Jordan, the situation has changed drastically. For political
reasons the police force throughout the country has been strengthened
considerably. The number of policemen as well as the number of police
stations has increased. Road conditions during the last three decades
have improved tremendously. Cars have replaced horses as the means of
transportation, permitting the wheels of justice to move more swiftly.,

The development of a strong police force in the country has weakened
the function of the hamfila as an agency of security. The individual vil-
lager, more and more, is beginning to look to the central government for
the protection of his rights and property.) The ”westerners" whose ties
to the larger kinship are already looser tend to rely more heavily upon
the police and legal systems for protection and justice.

5. SELF VALIDATION THROUGH PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENTS: Since the
"westerners" are persons who have validated themselves in the community
through their personal achievements and without any direct support from

the blood kinship to which they belong, their attachment to the kinship

unit is much.weaker than that of the villagers whose social status
depends upon the rise or decline of the kinship as a whole.

6. THE DEVELOPMENT OF A.”CLASS'-CONSCIOUSNESS ON THE RKRT OF THE
'WESTERIEORIENTED GROUP! The ‘westerners‘ are emerging in the village
as the new economic and social elite. Members of this group have larger
cash incomes than the rest of the village inhabitants and are able to
increase their landholdings. They live in better and more modern homes,
and they enjoy a higher standard of living. They are the ones who have
money to lend. Nor do they labor in the fields--the kind of work that
is considered degrading in this culture. Because of the “westerners'”
advantageous positions, the villagers look up to themnwithwgnvy. By
the same token, the "westerners” have begun to look down upon all those
who are not like them and have developed a 'olass'-conscicusness.

This "class" feeling is accentuated by the fact that most “west-
erners' live apart in the'lestern Hire, or American Quarter. They tend
to associate with each other more than with any other group in the vil-
lage. Although they may from.time to time still side in a major dispute
with the members of their kinship against others-~including members of
their own "class" and neighborhood--the "westerners” are becoming more
indifferent in such matters. Mere and more they are adopting the policy
of remaining neutral in village disputes.

7. THE IMPACT OF‘NESTERN THOUGHT UPON SOCIAL BEHIVIOR IN THE
VILLAGE: Since the “westerners" regard western culture as superior to
their own, they have tended to subscribe to some degree to its ideology.

They emphasize "individualism? more and take great pride in being

-235-

"self-made men." They stress their own achievements and place less

reliance upon their kinship relationships.

Along with the familial sanctions, religion in Baytin, as in all
folk societies, plays an important role in conditioning behavior and
developing attitudes. It has been shown in chapters III and IV of this
study that religious sanctions tend to govern conduct'in this folk
community. Piety is strongly emphasized and those who enjoy a reputation
for being religious are highky respected. As has been pointed out,
religion and tradition are in many ways analogous and complement each
other. Religious rituals and ceremonies play a major role in the vil-
lage life and express vividly the wishes and fears of the inhabitants. 36

The prevailing religious complex in the village, however, is not
the product of the "folk mind" as Redfield seems to imply in his sketch
of an "ideal" folk society.375y the same token, one cannot say that the
religious complex is absolutely Islamic. It is more correct to say that
the existing religion is a combination of both folk and Islamic interpreta-
tions of life. The teachings of Islam have modified in many instances to
conform with pro-existing patterns in this village.“

For example, the doctrine of sainthocd is completely alien to the

teachings of Islamo Yet, the folk mentality of the villagers has

36See Redfield, "The Folk Society," p.'3033 and Foster, p. 160.
37See Redfield, ”The Folk Society," pp. 299-300.

38See'Poster, p. 166.

-236-

developed a saint cult. such saints are men whose human qualities have
enabled them to understand the needs and sufferings of'man on earth
perhaps far better than a distant and remote deity. Although the gur'an
specifically emphasizes the fact that knowledge about the future is
solely an attribute of God, the folk mentality has been willing to develop
and to accept the idea that certain men do possess supernatural powers
that enable them to foresee into the future, to communicate with spirits
and to perform supernatural miracles.39

Many of the religious patterns in Baytih, on the other hand, are
firmly rooted in the past and owe their existence “to the theological
and philosophical reflections of'many of the best minds of history
over a period of centuries."4930me of the taboos, rituals, and religious
holidays observed by the villagers at Baytih are the result of direct
prescriptions by church and state. Such activities have been reorganized
through the centuries as essential for the maintenance of an Islamic
community and a distinct Islamic way of life. The daily prayers held
five times a day, the observance of the fast during the month of Ramadan,
the annual pilgrimage to fleece, and the holding of two religious §£§3_
(festivals) were deliberately designed by the founder of the faith to
instill in the members of the Islamic community a sense of solidarity

and identity.41

39 See under chapter IV (Popular Religion and Rituals) of this study.

‘0 See Foster, p. 166.

41 Such feeling is to be experienced on the local as well as on

the Islamic supranational level.

-237-

Khamis al-Amwat (the dead [remembrancé7'Thursday) and al-Ziyarah

 

(the Visit) festivals, though commonly regarded as religious holidays,
'were actually the creation of the celebrated Muslim.fighter--Saladin.
As it has been explained, the timing of these holidays coincides with
the Christian and Jewish holidays of Easter and Passover. The original
purpose of these festivals was to enable Muslims to congregate in the
area of Jerusalem in order to guard against any attempt by either of
these two religious minorities to rebel against Muslim rule. Then the
Mufti of Jerusalem began using these religious holidays for political
purposes to strengthen his own cause. In recent years, the Hashemite
family now ruling in Jordan has discontinued this holiday in an effort
to reduce the influence of the deposed Mufti which still persists.42

In characterizing the economy of the folk society, Redfield writes:
"I. may conceive . . . of the ideal folk society as a group economically
independent of all others: the people produce what they consume and
consume what they produce.43This is not true of the village under study,
for in Baytin a completely self-sufficient economy does not exist.

As has been already pointed out, Baytin is an agricultural community
and all its inhabitants are engaged, directly or indirectly, in farming.
The agricultural surplus-dwhich normally amounts to very little after
the villagers have taken out their food supply--is sold on the open

market for cash. The money received is then used by the villagers to

42
See under chapter IV (Popular Religion and Rituals), of this

study.

3
4 Redfield, "The Folk Society," p. 298.

~238-

purchase agricultural and manufactured goods which are not produced in
the village.

The agrarian economy prevalent in Baytin is supplemented by incomes
from three other sources: (1) money that comes into Baytin from vil-
lagers who have emigrated to more urbanized and industrialized parts of
the world; (2) villagers who supplement their income from farming by
seeking temporary employment outside Baytin, engaging themselves in
special services, or by producing nonagrioultural artifacts such as
building stones for sale; (3) and by gathering certain food crops from
plants which are neither domesticated nor cultivated.

As in the case of’many folk societies existing under similar cir-
cumstances, the‘ecarcity of land available for cultivation has affected
the familial and social institutions. <Hndogamous marriages are inspired,
partially at least, by the desire to keep landholdings within the same
family? (Social status and political position within the community are
also affected to a large degree by the amount of land an individual owns.)

As had been noted, there is not much division of labor in Baytin.
According to Redfield, this seems to be a characteristic common to most
folk societieso44The majority of the Baytin inhabitants are agrarian:

44Redfield, "The Folk Society,” p. 2973 See also Alfred R.
Radcliffe-Browne, The AndamanIIslanders (Cambridge: The University Press,
1936), p. 43. Radcliffe-Brown says of the Islanders: "Within the local
group there is no such thing as a division of labour save as between the
two sexes. In the coastal groups every man is expected to be able to
hunt pig, to harpoon turtle and to catch fis, and also to out a canoe, to
make bows and arrows and all the other objects that are made by men. It
happens that some men are more skilful in certain pursuits than in others.
A skilful turtle-hunter, for example, may be an indifferent pig-hunter,

and such a man will naturally prefer to devote himself to the pursuit in
‘which he appears to most advantage.”

 

 

 

-239~

and they are still using farming methods and primitive tools that date
back to the time before the birth of Christ. There has been almost no
trend to a division of labor or specialization. What division of labor

does exist seems to depend, as Redfield says, upon "the differences

between what men do and know and what women do and know. These differences

are clear and unexceptional (as compared with our modern urban society
where they are less 50)."45

In conclusion, therefore, it appears that, in general, Baytin fits
Redfields ideal model of a village close to the “folk" end of the folk-
urban continuum. ‘we may add that, while it is true that this study is .
concerned with one agricultural village in Jordan, the fact remains that
what has been said of Baytin would apply to a large degree to most vil—
lages in the Arabic Middle East.( The introduction of western ideas and
techniques, the decline of the larger kinship and the concomitant rise
of the nuclear family unit, the gradual emancipation of women, the grow-
ing acceptance of endogamous marriages as contrasted with exogenous
marriages, the change in courting behavior, the replacement of barter
economy by a money economy, the increasing secularization of education
for both boys and girls, and the declining influence of religion upon

the lives of the villagers are affecting the entire Middle East)) Indeed,

these revolutionary and dynamic changes are perhaps even more significant ~"

than the political forces that are shaping the future destiny of the area.

4

5Redfield, WThe Folk Society," p. 297.

 

 

 

 

Sabd

abnE' al-sabIl
abu

Sada, 3adah, Sadat
adab

Sadas

adfb

ahkam

ahl

Si'ila

ajrih nahl

alwiya

3amm

Sammat

sihfid
aqdiya

5aqiqah
3aql
aqribi'
Bar
are;

ashibu al-mash'ama

 

Glossary

slave, servant.
lit. "children of the road": travellers.
father

tradition, custom.

'a system of etiquettes'literature.

lentils.

polite, well-behaved; a writer.

p1. of 23km; collectively, judgements.
one's immediate family.

subclan, an extended family group.

bee hives.

p1. of liwfi'; collectively, adminis-
strative districts.

 

uncle on the father's side.

p1. of Sammas collectively, paternal
aunts.

rode, post, column.

pl. of qada'; an administrative sub-
district in Jordan.

one who is born ill.

native intelligence: brain.
relatives; those who are near.
shame.

land.

companions of agony, sinners.

 

 

 

ashabu al-maymana

ashEbu al-shamal
Sagida
atbaq
'Ethin

Satwah

"lid

awlid dari'ir

awliyi'
Sawnah

awqaf

Saysh

badIla

bal; Jaza'wala wafa

biligh
banfn
bank

barakzt

-241-

companions of the right, the
righteous.

companions of the left.

cream of crushed wheat.

p1. of tabaq; collectively, trays.
janitor.

a fee paid by the family of a
killer to the survivors of the one
he had killed in order that a
period of truce may be declared
between the two concerned families.

pl. of walad; collectively, boys.

sometimes awlad dariyir: p1. of
ibingdurra; collectively, half

 

 

brothers, children‘cf contemporary
wives.

p1. of wall: collectively, saints.

free help.

.the department in charge of the

wagf lands.

bread.

exchange of sisters in marriage
to a avoid payment of dowery;
also the girl who was exchanged.

a phrase that means "with no
obligation".

of age, mature.
male children.
bank

pl. of baraka; collectively,
blessings.

 

 

 

 

bashSa

bayadir

baydha
bayinah, bayinat

bayt
bayfihh

bint

bithar

bostadi
buqaylah
buzugh al-shams
chibba

dabis

dabka

dahiyya
dakhla, dakhlah
daquq

dzr
dara'ir, darayir

daribah

-242-

lit. "ugly"; an ordeal where an
accused person is asked to lick
a piece of heated iron to prove
his innocence.

p1. of baydarz collectively,
threshing grounds.

white; egg.
evidence.

house.

'lit. "whitish": a name given to

white clay soil and to white
animals 0

girl, virgin.

seeds.

mmil man.

a leafy plant of the spinach family.
sunrise.

a roll of yarn.

hyena.

a native dance.

sacrifice, an animal killed as
a sacrifice.

11s. "entrance": the first night
on which the newly wed meet.

a skilled workman who prepares
building stones.

house.
contemporary wives of one man.

all taxes collected by the central
government.

 

 

 

darwish
days

al-Diffah al-Gharbiyyah

al-Diffah al-Sharqiyyah

dinar

diqaqah

diyyah

du3;'

duqqah

faddzn

falldhin
farah

farg'id

fitiha
fatwa
r131

tirit

r631

ghariba

-243-

darvish; a mystic religious man.
MiddW1fOe

lit. "The West Bank”; The Arabic

. part of Phlestine annexed to Jordan

in 19500

lit. "The East Bank"; Transjordan
proper.

Jordanian pound, about 82.8.
the art of cutting and building
stones into specific shapes and
sizes.

blood money.

prayer to-ask fulfillment of one's
desires.

powdered wild thyme.

a team of oxen; the land that a
team of oxen may plow in one day
now fixed.at about 1.038 acres or
2,210 sq. meters.

f‘fflflrfle

joy.

pl. of farida: collectively,
fundamental obligations in Islam.

the opening chapter of the gur'an.
dispensation.
deed.

pl. of farwa: collectively, coats
made of lamb skins.

a local variety of fava beans.

a woman married outside of her
native village; a stranger.

ghazzala

ghul
ghusl
hadith

U‘JJ
hakam
hakim
hamla
nanfila
haqq
hire
harzm
hasanat

'hashshzr

hapida

battah
hawakir

bayy
hidzd
O
hidm

hijzba

-244-

a spinning instrument made of wood.

a mythical character that eats
human‘beings.

the rite of washing the dead in
preparation for burial.

lit. "talk"; sayings attributed to
Prophet Muhammad.

pilgrimage.

arbitrator, referee.

majistrate.

a load: a bundle.

clan.

right, just.

street, quarter.

forbidden, sinful.

good deeds, good works.

a person who gains control over a
jinni and uses him.for his own
purposes.

grain harvest.

a scarf, normallyiwhite, worn by
men on their heads and fastgned by
a rope-like band called 3igal.

p1. of haknra; collectively,

'vegetable gardens.

a quarter; living.

mourning.

a suit of clothes for men.

lit. 9a veil”: a charm written on

a piece of paper to protect barer
from evil.

 

 

 

hilm
Q
hinna
O

hisdb

huffa

e

hukum, hukm
hukm Sashi'iri

hummami

hummus
iblis
3id

sid alngga

Sidda

silch

imgm

Imlak

3iqd nikah
Sirq dassas

jahsh

 

-245-

wisdom.
henna.

lit. "arithmatic"; the Day of
Judgement.

pl. of sari; barefooted.
a legal decision.
tribal laww

a mythical character that is
supposed to eat human beings.

chickpeas.

the devil.

' holiday; feast.

the festival of sacrifice commemo-
rating the day on which Abraham was
about to sacrifice his son in ac-
cordance with a devine command
according to Islamic tradition.

the holiday following the last day
of the month of Ramadan.

a three months waiting period before
divorce is considered final in’Islam.
The party seeking divorce may change
his mind during this period and
reconcile with his wife.

dandelions.

leader; prayer leader.

the writing of the marriage contract.
marriage contract.

roots travel.

donkey.

 

 

jallab
jannah

Jawiaid

jih‘n

Jinn, Jzn
jfrah

jirin
kabir
kafan
kaffzra
kEfir
karam

karzmi

karim

kawanin

khil

khEliq

khallaf

khamis al-amwat

kharaj

khatifa

khirba , khi rbat

-246—

a sheep tradesman.
lit. "garden", paradise.

p1. of JESidz collectively, sheep
skins made into floor rugs.

p1. of janahz collectively, wings.

pl. of jinni: collectively, under-
ground spirits.

neighbcrhood: a neighborhood
association.

pl. of 1&5} collectively, neighbors.
large, great.

grave clothes.

atonement.

unbeliever.

generosity.

pl. of karmiyyaz collectively, big
open trays.

' generous.

p1. of kahunz fire containers made
of clay.

maternal uncle.

creator

lit. "left"; bequeathed.

the dead rememberance Thursday.

a tax in kind collected by a Muslim
government from Christian subjects.

elopment; also the girl who elopes.

old ruines.

khubz
khutba
kilab
kishk
kiswa
khitm
laban

lahd
lammah

layla, laylat

laysh ha al-ghalaba

limrarsih
liyyah

mabEhith

magira

madrasa

mahkama

mahkama sharSiyya
mahkamat sulh

mahr mu‘ajjal

mahr muSajjal

~247-

bread.

engagement ceremony; a speech.

pl. of Ealb} collectively, dogs.
hard oval cakes of dried sour milk.
wardrobe.

seal.

butter-free sour milk.

a rectangular trench used for burial
purposes.

lit. "a collection"; any tax levied
by village government.

evening.

an idiom means: why bother, or
don’t bother.

those with uncovered heads.
the fat tail of a sheep.

lit. "research"; the secret police
in Jordan.

a hospitality house in the village.
school.

court.

a Muslim canon court.

MRgistrate's court.

delayed dowery payable only in case
of divorce by a husband to his
divorced wife.

advanced dowery payable to the bride
before marriage could take place.

 

 

majlis qarawi
majnun

makrfih

mala'ika, malaych
mazmfir, maSmfira
maqim

mara, 'mra'a
masbaha

mashES

masIhi

MISS“!

mawzqid

mawzzin
mmwt

milzya

miri, amiri

mirzabbah
mishaf
mihrzth

mithrah

.248-

a village council in Jordan.

one who is possessed by a jinni.
lit. ”hated"; reprehensible actions.
angels.

a haunted place.

shrine.

a woman, normally a married woman.
rosary.

a communal land.

Christian.

a long gcad used in plowing.

p1. of mawqidag movable stoves made
of clay.

p1. of misan; collectively scales.
death.
a dark outer garment worn by some

Muslim women city dwellers) before
they go outside their homes.

'lit. "the property of the prince":

government owned land.

a heavy club made of iron or wood.

I
(

lit. "book"; the Qur'an.

a wooden plow.

a wooden fork with four wide fingers
used to separate wheat from softly
crushed chaft.

insuredg'registered mail.

permissible behavior.

-249-

mubaraka

mudammas

muddaSi

muhE s ib

mun'a'wib

muhassil al-daribah
mukhtir

mulk

mumayis

mu'minfn, mu'minun
mur‘baSa
murfbia

muglihuh, muglihin
muqarrabuh

mutagarrif
najasah
nzqah
naqda

an

nathr

natish

blessed, holy.

an appetizer made of chickpeas.
plaintiff.

officer of accounts, an accountant.
representative.

tax collector.

a village selectman'in Jordan.
private property held in fee simple.

an aribtrator appointed to cast the
deciding vote in case of a deadlock.

believers.
sharecrcpping.
sharecrOpper.

p1. of muglih; collectively concil-
iators.

lit. "the nearest"; those who are
favored by God.

a district governcr in Jordan.

a state of uncleanness.

she camel.

bridal inspection.

lit. "fire"; fire of hell.

a promise to sacrifice an animal in
behalf of God or a saint if a certain
'wish is fulfilled.

thorny bushes that grow uncultivated

in the open fields. It is gathered
by women and used as fuel.

natur
O
natur al-3ayn

niSmah

qa’3 al-bayt

qidi
qi'immaqim
qzlush
qarya

qagwal

qraySa

quds
quru'
rafzh
rahma
r231

raqib

~250-

crops guard.

a water distributor.

blessing.

system,

maturity.

wedding gift, often given in cash.
light; guidance.

lit. "spreading"; resurrection.
lamentations.

a lower story of a house where
animals are normally kept.

a judge at an Islamic canon court.

a subdistrict administrative official.
a hand sickle.

village.

the harsh fragments of chaft. It
is used as fuel in the backing place.

a wild plant. The yellow flowers
and tiny‘green leaves of this plant
are boiled and sweetened and used
as a refreshing drink.

the Arabic name for Jerusalem.
menstural months.

happiness.

mercy.

a shepherd, a professional herdman.

‘lit. "watcher"; one of two guardian

angels assigned every man to record
both good and bad deeds.

 

 

 

rashid
rasfs
rays
rayib

rizqa

rub

sabil

sadaqah, sadaqa
saha
O
saub
O O
sahja
shaja3a
sahl

sahliyya

sahra

saka

salEh, ealEt

salam

al-salamu 5alaykum
salat al-janaza

samda
O

samin

-251-

a sound mind, sane.

pickled olives.

flag, banner.‘

cultured milk.

lit. "livelyhood"; the amount paid
to a judge under tribal law by the
party found in wrong.

owner; master; God.

lit. "way"; orchards available for
passers-by.

a voluntary contribution to the poor.
town square.

owner; friend.

a native dance accompanied by singing.
courage.

plain, easy.

a wooden container used to carry the
dead to the grave yard.

a night gathering.

a tanned sheepskin container used to
shake cultured milk to separate

butter from milk.

prayer.

peace.

lit. "peace'be upon thee"; a greeting.
prayer for the dead.

a dance in the presence of the newly-
wed.

purified'butter.

 

sandfiq
O

sarraf
O

samaka

sawm
sawani
sayi'Et
sayyid

shabEb

shah, shat

shahadah
shariSa

shaykh
shumar
sibr, sibir
sibyan

sija

sikkah

simat
0 O
sirah
sirah
O

siyah

su'El

~252-

bOXe
money exchanger.

silica; a highly absorbent soft
red dirt.

fasting.

pl. of siniyah; straw trays.
bad deeds, bad marks.
master

pl. of shah; collectively, young
men.

a female goat.

lit. "testimony"; the testimonial
creed.

lit. "a straight path"; Muslim
canon law.

an old man; a chief.

a spicy wild herb.

custom.~

pl. of fiabi; collectively, boys.
a game similar to checkers.

a plow share, sometimes the whole
plow.

an animal sacrificed.
biography.

a walled yard around a house.
a cry.

question.

 

sulh
O

sulhah
O O

sunnah

fir

ibin

.d'

tadayun
tahzrah
tathn
tahlil

tahrfr

ta'khuth bi al-tha'r
talaq

taquh

tanab
O

taqa
taqrir
tha'r

tashtif

thafih

tibin

-253-

a settlement based on mutual under-
standing.

a peace ceremony.

the way pointed out by the prophet
Huhammad in his sayings, deeds and
silent approval.

trumpet.

a family bakery in Jordan.

piety.

a state of cleanliness.
arbitration.

making lawful.

lit. "to set free"; a fine; a
letter.

to avenge one's self.
divorce.

the ritual as instructing the dead
on how to behave in the other world.

a moral obligation to protect and
help an individual who has requested
filde'

small window; energy.

silent approval.

revenge.

the ritual of washing the body after
a sexual intercourse in order to
regain a state of cleanliness.

native dress for women.

the softly crushed chaft used as
fodder for animals.

tiqshish

tiryaq

al-tisaS

titrfz
umm

Surf
3ushr
'ustfith
wad
ijib
wgli
waliyyah

walwala

waqf

wasft
wasita
watan
O
wudi'
Yakfur, yukfur

yamin

———_—i
, -254-

 

the process of gathering wheat
straws for the purpose of basket
weaving.

a miraculous drug obtained from
olive oil aged for one hundred
years.

lit. "the nines"; the 999 piasters
paid as a fine by the defendant
who attempted rape.

the art of needlework.

mother.

common sense; custom.

lit. "one tenth"; tithe.
professor, school teacher.
valley.

obligation.

a guardian; ruler.

a close female relative.

a'cry indicating death or great
loss.

permanent endowment to a religious
institution or for a religious
cause.

a go-between.

a go-between.

father'land.

ablution.

to deny God.

right; oath.

 

yawn, yum
saffa

sakah, sakat
saghrut
saqqfih
sa3tar

sayt

“yes.

sibil

siyarah

suwar

-255-

a wooden beam used to connect
the plow with the yoke.

day.

a wedding procession.
payment of the tithe.

a womans cry of joy.

a cursed tree in the Qpr'an.

wild thyme.

oil; olive oil.

pl. of zayfunahj collectively,
olive tree; pickeled olives.

dried animal dung used as fuel.
lit. ”visit"; a special festival.

p1. sa’ir, collectively, visitors.

 

 

-256-

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