Of Jinn Theories and Germ Theories

Translating Microbes, Bacteriological Medicine, and Islamic Law in Algeria

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3924941
AutoresHannah-Louise Clark (0000-0002-0856-6549, I AM ALS, autor de correspondencia)
Año2021
Volumen36
Páginas64-85
Fecha de publicación2021-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaOsiris (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0369-7827 • E-ISSN: 1933-8287
EditorialUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/713657
OpenAlexW3009541174
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas28

Focusing on colonial Algeria ca. 1890 to 1940, this article explores what Muslim intellectuals and ordinary people learned about microbes and how they responded to bacteriological medicine. Many Algerians feared invisible spirits (jinn) and sought the healing powers of saints and exorcists. Was it then permitted for Muslims to use French treatments and follow Pasteurian rules of hygiene? Specialists in Islamic law, other intellectuals, and unlettered villagers showed a persistent concern with these and other questions in the wake of colonial conquest and violence in Algeria, as novel techniques, therapeutics, and forms of epistemic authority were introduced, and new visions of religious orthodoxy and national revival were formulated. Examining writings across a range of genres and formats—including a treatise of independent juristic reasoning (ijtihad), questions and answers prepared by a mufti, popular petitions, newspaper articles, advertisements, poetry, and a cartoon—this article argues that Islamic tradition and law were integral to the emerging science and culture of microbes in early twentieth-century Algeria. While Islamic reformists sought to displace jinn theories of illness, other Algerian intellectuals and colonial officials found it convenient to explain germs in terms of jinn. Both French and Muslim elite men sought to combine religious law with hygienic advice to advance competing hegemonic projects targeted at the Muslim family, thereby attempting to displace women’s jinn-based practices

Colonialism · Hegemony · Islam · Orthodoxy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Theology · Historical and Scientific Studies · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies