introduction to Muhammadan influences, the only ones of importance

are angels (Mala'ikat), prophets (Nabi), and headmen (Sheikh). I will take them in this order. Of the angels, unquestionably the most important are Azrael (`Azra'il or `Ijrail), Michael (Mika'il), Israfel (Israfil, Ijrafil, or Serafil), and Gabriel (Jibra'il or 'Jabra'il, often corrupted into Raja Brahil). There can be no doubt that the foregoing are meant for the names of a group of four archangels, the name of Israfel corresponding to Abdiel, who generally occupies the fourth place in our own angelic hierarchy. Their customary duties are apportioned among the four great angels as follows:-- Azrael is, as with us, the angel of death, who "carries off the lives of all creatures"; Israfel is "lord of all the different airs" in our body; Michael is the "giver of daily bread"; and Gabriel is a messenger or "bringer of news." Sometimes, again, a White Angel (Mala'ikat Puteh) is mentioned, e.g. as being in "charge of all things in the jungle," but what his specific duties are in this connection does not transpire. In an invocation addressed to the Sea-spirit, however, we find four more such angels mentioned, all of whom hold similar charges:-- Chitar Ali is the angel's name, who is lord of the whirlpool; Sabur Ali is the angel's name, who is lord of the winds; Sir Ali is the angel's name, who is lord of the waters of the sea; Putar Ali is the angel's name, who is lord of the rainbow. No doubt the names of many more of the subordinate angels might be collected, as we are repeatedly told that they are forty-four in number. Of the prophets (Nabi) there are an indefinite number, the title being applied to many of the more prominent characters who figure in our own Old Testament (as well as in the Koran), but who would not by ourselves be considered to possess any special qualifications for prophetic office. Among the more famous of these I may mention (after Muhammad and his immediate compeers) the prophet Solomon (sometimes considered--no doubt owing to his unrivalled reputation for magical skill--as the king of the Genii, whose assistance the hunter or trapper is continually invoking); the prophet David, celebrated for the beauty of his voice; and the prophet Joseph, celebrated for the beauty of his countenance. Besides these (and others of the same type), there is a group of minor prophets whose assistance is continually invoked in charms; these are the prophet Tap (Tetap or Ketap?), "lord of the earth;" the prophet Khailir (Khaithir or Khizr), "lord of water;" the prophet Noah, "lord of trees;" and the prophet Elias, "planter of trees." Khizr is often confounded with Elias. He discovered and drank of the fountain of life (whence his connection with water), and will consequently not die till the last trump. Next to the prophets comes the "Sultan" (Sultan), or "King" (Malik), both of which Arabic titles, however, are somewhat rarely used by Malay magicians. Still we find such expressions as Sa-Raja (Sang-Raja?) Malik (King of Kings) applied to Batara Guru. Next to these royal honorifics comes the title of "Headman" or "Sheikh." There are, it is usually stated, four of these Sheikhs who are "penned" (di-kandang) in the Four Corners of the Earth respectively, and whose names are `Abdul Kadir, `Abdul Muri, a third whose name is not mentioned, and `Abdul `Ali. [172] Sometimes they are called "Sheikh `Alam" (or Si Putar `Alam), and are each said to reside "within a ring-fence of white iron." Hence we obtain a perfectly intelligible meaning for the expression, "Ask pardon of the Four Corners of the World," i.e. of the Sheikhs who reside therein, though the phrase sounds ridiculous enough without such explanation. The only other Arabic title which is perhaps worth noticing here [173] is that of "Priest" (Imam), which we find somewhat curiously used in an invocation addressed to the sea-spirit. "Imam An Jalil is the name of the 'Priest of the Sea.'" In the invocation addressed to the Sea-spirit we find the expression:-- "Jungle-chief of the World is the name of the Old Man of the Sea." There can, however, be little doubt that this "Old Man of the Sea" is a mere synonym for Batara Guru. A set of expressions to which special reference should perhaps be made consists of the titles used by the wild jungle tribes (Sakais), the use of which is important as confirming the principle that the "Autochthones" are more influential with the spirits residing in their land than any later arrivals can be, whatever skill the latter may have acquired in the magic arts of the country from whence they came. "Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir, Munshi, in his Autobiography, has an interesting passage on the beliefs of the Malays on the subject of spirits and demons, beliefs which are much more deeply-rooted than is generally supposed. He does not, however, differentiate between national customs and beliefs, and those which have come in with the Muhammadan religion. And indeed it is not easy to do so. Here, everything is classed under the generic term sheitan, which is Arabic, and we find the rakshasa of Hindu romances and the jin and `efrit of the Arabian Nights in the company of a lot of Indo-Chinese spirits and goblins, who have not come from the West like the others:-- "I explained to Mr. M. clearly the names of all the sheitan believed in by Chinese and Malays; all ignorance and folly which have come down from their ancestors in former times, and exist up to the present day, much more than I could relate or explain. I merely enumerated the varieties, such as hantu, sheitan, [174] polong, [175] pontianak, penanggalan, [176] jin, [177] pelisit, [178] mambang, [179] hantu pemburu, [180] hantu rimba, jadi-jadian, [181] hantu bengkus, [182] bota, gargasi, raksaksa, [183] nenek kabayan, [184] himbasan, [185] sawan, [186] hantu mati di-bunoh, [187] bajang, [188] katagoran, sempak-kan, puput-kan, [189] `efrit, [190] jemalang, [191] terkena, [192] ubat guna. [193] Besides all these there are ever so many ilmu-ilmu (branches of secret knowledge), all of which I could not remember, such as gagak, [194] penundok, [195] pengasih, [196] kebal, [197] kasaktian, [198] tuju, [199] `alimun, [200] penderas, [201] perahuh, [202] chucha, [203] pelali, [204] perangsang, [205] and a quantity of others. All these are firmly believed in by the people. Some of these arts have their professors (guru) from whom instruction may be got. Others have their doctors, who can say this is such and such a disease, and this is the remedy for it, and besides these there are all those arts which are able to cause evil to man. When Mr. M. heard all this he was astonished and wondered, and said, 'Do you know the stories of all these?' I replied, 'If I were to explain all about them it would fill a large book, and the contents of the book would be all ignorance and nonsense without any worth, and sensible persons would not like to listen to it, they would merely laugh at it.'" [206] To the foregoing the following list of spirits and ghosts may be added. The Hantu Kubor (Grave Demons) are the spirits of the dead, who are believed to prey upon the living whenever they get an opportunity. With them may be classed the "Hantu orang mati di-bunoh," or "spirits of murdered men." "The Hantu Ribut is the storm-fiend that howls in the blast and revels in the whirlwind." [207] The Hantu Ayer and Hantu Laut are Water and Sea-spirits, and the Hantu Bandan is the Spirit of the Waterfall, which "may often be seen lying prone on the water, with head like an inverted copper (kawah)," where the water rushes down the fall between the rocks. The Hantu Longgak [208] is continually looking up in the air. Those who are attacked by him foam at the mouth. The Hantu Rimba (Deep-forest Demon), Hantu Raya [209] ("Great" Demon), Hantu Denei (Demon of Wild-beast-tracks), the Hantu-hantuan (Echo-spirits), and I think the Hantu Bakal, are all spirits of the jungle, but are perhaps somewhat less localised than the large class of spirits (such as the Malacca-cane, gharu, gutta, and camphor-tree spirits) which are specially associated with particular trees. The Hantu B'rok is the Baboon Demon (the B'rok being what is generally called the "cocoa-nut monkey," a sort of big baboon); it is sometimes supposed to take possession of dancers, and enable them, whilst unconscious, to perform wonderful climbing feats. The Hantu Belian, according to many Selangor Malays, is a tiger-spirit which takes the form of a bird. This bird is said to be not unlike the raquet-tailed king-crow (chenchawi), and to sit on the tiger's back; whence it plucks out the tiger's fur and swallows it, never allowing it to fall to the ground. [210] The Hantu Songkei [211] is the spirit who so often interferes with the toils for catching wild animals and snares for wildfowl (yang kachau jaring dan rachik). He is described as being invisible below the breast, with a nose of enormous length, and eye-sockets stretched sideways to such an extent that he can see all round him. The following charm is recited in order to "neutralise" his evil influence:-- Peace be with you, grandson of the Spectre Huntsman, Whose Dwelling-place is a solitary patch of primeval forest, Whose Chair is the nook between the buttresses (of trees), Whose Leaning-post the wild Areca-palm, Whose Roof the (leaves of the) Tukas, Whose Body-hairs are leaves of the Resam, Whose Mattress leaves of the Lerek, Whose Swing the (tree) Medang Jelawei, And whose Swing-ropes are Malacca-cane-plants The Gift of His Highness Sultan Berumbongan, Who dwelt at Pagar Ruyong, In the House whose posts were heart of the Tree-nettle, Whose threshold a stem of Spinach, Strewn over with stems of the Purut-purut, Whose Body-hairs were inverted, And whose Breasts were four in number, To whom belonged the Casting-net for Flies, And whose drum was "headed" with the skins of lice. Break not faith with me, (Or) you shall be killed by the Impact of the Sanctity of the Four Corners of the World, Killed by the Impact of the Forty-four Angels, Killed by the Impact of the Pillar of the Ka`bah, Killed by the Thrust of the sacred Lump of Iron, Killed by the Shaft of the Thunderbolt, Killed by the Pounce of Twilight Lightning, Killed by the Impact of the Thirty Sections of the Koran, Killed by the Impact of the Saying, "There is no god but God," etc. Giants are called Bota (Bhuta), Raksasa, and Gargasi (gasi-gasi or gegasi), or sometimes Hantu Tinggi ("Tall Demons"), the first two of these names being clearly derivable from a Sanskrit origin. In addition to those enumerated we may add the various classes of "good people," such as the Bidadari (or Bediadari) or Peri (fairies and elves), which are of foreign origin, and the "Orang Bunyian," a class of Malay spirits about whom very little seems known. The latter appear to be a race of good fairies, who are so simple-minded that they can be very easily cheated. Thus it is always said of them, that whenever they come into a hamlet, as they may occasionally do, to buy anything, they always pay without bargaining whatever price is asked, however exorbitant it may be. I have been told of their existence at Kapar village (near Klang in Selangor), at Jugra, where it was said they might formerly be heard paddling their boats upon the river when no boat was visible, and elsewhere. Besides these there are several kinds of bloodsucking (vampire) demons, which are mostly Birth-spirits; and also certain incubi, such as the Hantu Kopek, which is the Malay equivalent of our own "night-mare."