I also found out two day's earlier that so-called bomoh are a conglomerate of a shaman, a herbalist, a diviner, a curer and a psychiatrist. As a shaman he can communicate with the spirit world; as a herbalist he has a knowledge of the material medica; as a diviner he not only diagnoses the cause of illness but is also able to fortell the past/future course of events (e.g. in matters of marriage, finding lost or stolen objects) as a curer he cures the sick; and as a psychiatrist he helps to overcome one's emotional disorder.
In Sabah, it seems when one talks about the traditional medical specialist among the Malays, one is referring to the bomoh (people in the Kota Kinabalu region rarely use the term pawang or dukun). In the Peninsula Malaysia, however, the terms pawang andbomohare used interchangeably. The former seems applied to the shaman who is able to communicate with the spirit world and who conducts such ceremonies as opening virgin land, propitiating the spirits of the sea for the fishermen, whereas the latter refers to the specialist who tends the sick and cures illnesses. No such distinction between types of healers exists in Kota Kinabalu.
In fact Bomoh in Kota Kinabalu are very unique in the sense that they are involved with both curing illnesses, and interacting and trafficking with the spirit world, as well as dealing with the power (kuasa) of ilmu hitam (a knowledge to afflict pain on someone)- a power that is forbidden by God (tidak ifirestui Tuhan) and is outside the teaching of Islam (keluar dari ajaran agama Islam). A bomoh derives his/her power through two mediumsa non-physical entity that usually takes the form of a large human (jin) and the inner power (kuasa dalaman) or the "unseen power" (kuasa ghaib). When afin is sought during times of illness, the role of a bomoh is reduced to an intermediary because thefin does the work. Jin varies in power, and the more potent and powerful ones will be able to override the fin of those with lesser power.
Before a ritual can be performed, the bomoh usually demands a chicken (it is usually ayam kampung- a special breed of chicken that eats only organic food) as a payment, depending on the illness and the difficulty of the ritual. A mirror (cermin), needles (jarum), nails (paku), bowl (mangkuk), and eggs (telur) are usually used by the bomoh as tools to comunicate with the spirits-. A bomoh who employs hitam to afflict others usually uses a bit of the person's hair (rambut), unwashed clothing (pakaian yang belum dicud), or a photograph (gambar). These items will be presented to thefin and can cause severe suffering and even death to the afflicted individual. The only way the targeted person can be healed is to negotiate a settlement with the bomoh, or find and employ another bomoh whose is more powerfull than that of the bomoh who caused the affliction.
In a Malay community in the region of Kota Kinabalu, the bomoh exists side by side with the leader of the Muslim community (imam) or the head of the village (ketua kampung) and what the bomoh stands for coexists with the Muslim code of belief and practice (mengikut ajaran dan kepercayaan Islam). Nevertheless, conflicting ideas between the bomoh and the imam may arise but may be overcome by reinterpretations, although the more religious members (orang alim) of the community would not normally associate themselves with the practice of a bomoh who uses ilmu hitam. In a Malay village setting (perkampungan orang Melayu), however, the practiceof a bomoh is fluid because he/she may turn out to be a respected individual recognized for his/her piety and religious knowledge. This type of bomoh would always claim that his/her practice is consonant with the Islamic teachings.
Unlike the bomoh who employs jinns, the other kind of bamoh, whom I like to refer to as the "medicine person" or healer (tukang ubat atau pengubat) who practices his/her healing ritual according to the strict teachings of Islam, does not solicit with supernatural beings like jinn.They divide creatures into two basic kinds: unseen (ghaib) or spiritual (rohani), and visible (shahada) or corporeal (jasmani). The healer who possesses this kind of batin rest everything they do on tawhid, that is, tying everything to God. To them, everything in the universe reflects God's attributes in differing degrees.
The more a thing reflects the divine, the more real it is. To these healers, light (cahaya) is considered a good omen and is fimdamentally a divine attribute. Light takes away darkness, ignorance, unconsciousness, stupidity and dullness. Light, to these healers, is intelligence, consciousness, awakening, life. The Quran is light Thus, one of the rationales used by this kind of healer is to recite verses from the Quran for the cure of certain specific diseases besides following the ritualistic and medical knowledge: the use of certain materia, medica, the hot and cold syndrome, the harmonious balance of water, wind, earth, fire and so forth. These practices make the bomoh a practitioner of esoteric skills that can involve the use of texts as well as memorized passages.
According to Sabah Malays, one's Soul or as some call it, "powerful inner spirit/will" (semangat), may wander into spirit worlds that lie outside the usual waking experience of human beings. It is cornmon to hear a healer say, "He has a strong will" (semangatnya kuat). The temporary absence of the semangat from the body usually occurs when one is sleeping but it also can occur when one is fully conscious. For instance, the semangat may depart the body when a person is shocked or frightened suddenly and this cause the semangat to "fly" (terbang semangat) for a very brief moment. In order to bring it back, one has to "call" it (kus semangat). The Sabah Malays classify semangat into two main categories - semangat orang mati (spirits of those who have passed away) and semangat orang masih hidup (spirits of those who are still alive). The latter can be further divided into semangat orang fidur (those who are asleep) and semangat orang bangun (those who are awake). According to Abang Rahim, a semangat, however, will never die (tidakpandai mwt) but it will "wander" or "walk" (pandai jalan).
The Malays view hilang semangat as one of the single most important causes of illness in Kota Kinabalu. It is also the most frequently cited, the most likely to cause fatal outcome, and the one for which more than one healer is involved in the process of curing the patient. Harm does not necessarily result from a temporary absence of the semangat from the body. However, Malays believe that the semangat should return promptly to its owner because if it is intercepted by other evil spirit (terkena), then illness results. In most cases, the healer is able, by the assistance of spirit helpers likefin, to discover the whereabouts of thesufferee semangat,what is detaining it and why it is detained. The healer may be able to recover it and so restore the patient to secure heath. In some rare occasions, the detainer is too strong for the healer and it refims to let thesemangat free. Subsequently, it is common to see two healers conducting the healing process simultaneously and it usually goes on for several nights in a row.
In Kota Kinabalu, panggil semangat,the summoning of thesemangat,"the term given to a number of formulae for recalling one'ssemangal"can also be performed by an ustaz (Islamic religious teacher). It is usually done by a group of people (between 5-10), headed by the ustaz, and they recite Surah Ya Sin for several nights (preferably every Friday night).
In the case of Nyawa, a common saying is "He/she is still alive"(dia masih hidup/ada nyawa atau bernafas). All living things have nyawa and semangat. However, roh which is usually confused with the other two terms mentioned above(nyawaandsemangat)strictly belongs to human beings. Pacik Mohammad points out that the human physical body is associated with nyawa (badan yang bernyawa) butonce we die thenyawais gone, and therohand thesemangatare still "alive" and subsequently detach themselves from the dead body and make a j ourney to another "world." Roh has nonyawa butit hassemangat.One will usually hear the word mentioned in a healing process amongst the Malays in Kota Kinabalu- nyawa-nyawa ikan which literally means (in healing terms) someone who will have a fifty-fifty chance to be healed. Pacik Mohammad argues that human beings are created from thirteen components that are related to nyawa and they are as follows:
1. Four parts
from the father (bapa) which includes bones (tulang), veins (urat), skin
(Wit) and brain (otak).
2. Four parts
from the mother (ibu) which include hair (rambut), flesh (daging), color
(warna), and blood (darah).
3. Four from
God (kudrat Tuhan) which is conversing (percakapan), hearing (pendengaran),
sight (pengelihatan) and smell (perasq).
4. One from
God (bendaharaan Tuhan) which is our "life" (nyawa).
Pacik Mohammad also believes that our nyawa is specifically positioned at a certain time of the day, and it is as follows:
In subuh which is early in the morning, our nyawa is situated at our bottom (sulbilbuntut). During zohor which is in the early afternoon our nyawa is located at our navel (pusat), while during ashar (late afternoon) our nyawa positioning is at our liver (hati), and during maghrib (in the evening), our nyawa is at our heart 6antung), and lastly, during isyak (at night), our nyawa is situated at our brain (otak). While nyawawillnot stay at the same position at all times, it also has different colors. According to Pacik Mohammad it (nyawa) is white in color in subuh, located at the sulbi of Prophet Adam; in zohor, it is yellow color and located at the navel of Prophet Ibrahim; in asar, its location is at the heart of Prophet Yusof and its color is red; in ntaghrib, its location is on the chest of Prophet Isa and its color is blue; lastly, in isyak, its (nyawa) location is at the brain of Prophet Musa, and its color is black.
He further argues that:
In fact our "life" is our "body" and "liver" (sebenarnya nyawaitulah tubuh dan hati). The "liver" is the "light" and the "light" is God's food (hati itu ialah nurdannur itu adalah zat Allah). What we refer to as "light" is our secret (apa yang dikatakan nur itu adalah rahsia kita). La Ha-aha Allah - La is our body (tubuh), Ha is our "liver"(hati), Maha is our "life"(nyawa) andAllah is our secret (rahsia).
I have spoken to different healers the past two days about the issues of tubuh, nyawa, and so forth and most of them shared similar information. However, this information is not available to all Muslim healers in Kota Kinabalu unless one is pursuing both ilmu zahir and batin. The different ideas about nyawa and tubuh are very important in the healing process for a healer like Pacik Mohammad because his healing focuses on both to cure the body aswell as the soul.
Thus the medical hadiths from the prophet are considerred to encourages medical treatment in case of sickness, whether it is through modem medicines, village medicine, ritual specialist, healer, Chinese practitioner (sinsang) or even living saint (keramal hidup). However, despite this, the healer is a Muslim practitioner who is also engaged in curing the sick yet he does not properly belong to the band of curers in traditional Malay medicine. He is in the mainstream because curing is only a part of his "repertoire'. In fact the keramat hidup is an individual emerging from the popular religion: he is more or less a "living saint" who is endowed with extraordinary powers, one of which is the ability to cure illnesses.
However, the existence of keramal hidup is rare and far between, for unlike the bomoh over whom no religious restriction has been known to be applied thoroughly, the keramat hidup is not allowed to thrive by the religious authorities, for his presence is skeptically looked upon as a deviation from the true teaching of Islam. At one extreme, there are people who come and visit graves of keramat hidup for treatment of illness, luck, wealth and so forth. Moreover, umat Islam forbids one to worship the sun or the moon but must worship God (Tuhan) who created them.
Keramat men/women, animals or even rocks (batu) are not considercd ghosts (hantu) in the region of Kota Kinabalu. They are just frightening creatures. Many Malays in Kota Kinabalu believe that a keramat person will never eat nor die, like the wali suci. A Malay stated that "a kramat never dies, and kramat animals "do not really die, though their bodies may appear to do so.
From an Islamic point of view, it is imperative to believe that one will not give up easily without trying (usaha) for the right ubat. Furthermore, the idea of "Allah will not ordain an illness unless He provides a cure for if'(Tidaklah Allah menurunkan penyakit, melainkan Diajuga menurunkan ubainya) is so embedded in one's mind (a Muslim patient) that he/she will select from the "medical menu" available to them the appropriate diagnosis and cure for any ailments or afflictions. The people in the region of Kota Kinabalu are generally pragmatic, responding in many different ways, from complete acceptance to total rejection with all varieties of adaptation in between. They also engage in different treatments sequentially, or even concurrently, until one works.
In addition, faith (yakin) plays a pivotal role in the healing process. As Pacik Mohammad stressed, 'Nothing will be effective without faith but with ample faith one can be healed with plain water.' (kalau tidakyakin semua tidak akanjaiA tetapi dengan penuh keyakinan air biasapun bolehiadi ubat). A healer such as Pacik Mohammad always asserted to his patient that he cures in the 'name of God' (mengubat dengan nama Tuhan) and only if the patient has sufficient faith in Him. The principles of faith (yakin) and trust (percaya) must be securely rooted in one's heart (hati), otherwise the healing "power" could not be activated and transmitted.
The languages native to Sabah which consist of the closely-related Dusunic, Murutic, and Paitanic Families of Bornean Stock of the West Austronesian Superstock of Austronesian languages. The largest of these languages appears to be the Dusunic Family which contains 14 dialects including the main Kadazan/Dusun language, Kwijau, Labuk Kinabatangan (Eastern) Kadazan, Rungus, Lotud, Tatana, Bisaya, Kimaragang, Sonsogon and others.
Sabah's population largely from the neighbouring country, Brunei, others are recent converts to Islam, whose children often speak only Malay. The Brunei Malay have settled mostly in the southwest of Sabah, while there is also a small community of Than settling down in Tawau, they form (Sea Dayak) the largest non-Malay Burniputera, as well as the largest ethnic group in Sarawak. The others are the Bidayuh (Land Dayak), Malanau, Kenyah and Bisayah. The Malays are traditionally a rural people and they still represent the majority of the agriculturally dependent population. They are mainly paddy planters, rubber smallholders, and fishermen.
The Dusunic people live mostly in the interior plains as well as in the westem and northem coastal areas of Sabah. Most of the Dusunic people, particularly the elders speak very little Malay but the younger generation speak both Malay and at least one of the other languages mentioned above.
Sabah exhibits wide cultural diversity. Variation can be found not only betweencultures but also within languages. A Dusun and a Brunei people who are both fluent inMalay can be easily recognized because each one of them uses a different Malay"dialect" when addressing another person. For example, a Brunei person would use the term awang/dayang or kita "you" to address to the second person and a Dusun personwould employ the term kamurang "you". It is also interesting to note that some Malayterms used by the Malays in Sabah either have another meaning or are totally unheard ofin the Peninsula.
In addition, names too tend to reflect the ethnic diversity that exists more than their religious affliations. For example a common Malay name such as Ranilidoes not guarantee that this person is a Muslim and an English name like Jimmy does notmean that he is not a Muslim and so forth. ft is common to hear a story that a name of aparticular individual is 'modified' not bytheparents but by the person who registers it. Today, many of the Dusun/Kadazan, Bajau as well as the Murut have gone intothe main-stream. of public service working as accountant's lawyers, and so forth.
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