The "hideous" method of Egyptian nomads to detect liars

Abdullah Al-Masri-Cairo

Have you ever imagined that licking your tongue a bar of iron that just came out of the fire and turned red to heat by the enormous heat? This is what you may have to do if you are a resident of some nomadic areas of Egypt and you have suspicions or accusations around you!

It combines a mixture of excitement and horror, and here are some details.

Inside a Bedouin house in the village of Sarbiom in Ismailia, east of Cairo, Mahmoud, 38, sits with five others waiting for their tongues to "iron and fire" to judge them for stealing a car.

Believe it or not, although in the twenty-first century, some still believe in primitive ways to identify the accused in any crime, there is no need for physical evidence or eyewitnesses, all it takes is "iron and fire" to detect the accused, or the separation of the contestants and opponents In crimes such as theft, fraud and crimes, in one session without appeal or veto, which is the way spread among the Bedouins of Egypt in several provinces, including Ismailia and Eastern.

The confidence of the Bedouins in this way is evident in some of the proverbs that have been made on their tongues in this regard, including "Beyond the Fire of the Standard".

Mahmoud and his companions decided to go to the "hideous" to be charged with stealing his car inside the Mansoura market north of Cairo, despite the distance of Mansoura more than two hundred kilometers and travel about three hours, after convinced by the stolen car owner fair justice customary known practice of the Bedouins "Sarbium" His confidence in the ordinary judiciary, which takes time and drains large amounts of money, he said.

The mechanism of customary trial
The trial of Mahmud and the other five defendants began after they agreed to the conditions of recording their statements on the case and then reading and reciting some of the du'aa 'prayers behind the judge, in particular the most famous du'aa' in this case.

Immediately afterwards, an inflamed handle is extracted from the iron after being heated by charcoal fire. A person called "the infamous sheikh" puts the fiery handle on the defendants' lips, eventually finding Mahmoud and two others guilty and acquitting the other defendants, which was recorded in the trial record.

Ahmad al-Saadi, the "ugly" and the customary judge, said that he inherited the "ugly" profession through time very seriously. It is usually an old one dating back hundreds of years, pointing out that he works as an "ugly" judge to face various issues such as theft and adultery. It comes to him, and the case is for a fee ranging from 300 to 2000 pounds (the dollar is about 18 pounds) depending on the nature of the case, where the issues of blood and large thefts are the highest price.

Speaking to al-Jazeera Net, Al-Saadi adds, "Before the defendant has to put the hot iron handle on his tongue, the accused should extend his tongue to the audience to show that there is no wound or defect in his tongue. They can distinguish between the two cases before the heinous and then say to the accused: The knob is placed on the defendant's tongue three times, and afterwards the defendant is bathed in water so that his tongue does not bite into his teeth and then his tongue comes out. "

He explains that if the accused is innocent, the burning iron handle will not injure his tongue with envy, and if he is a criminal, the knob will injure his tongue with burns. "And here he has to comply with the sentence that varies with the accusation. The thief must return what he stole, Shall be fined by the accused to the plaintiff, away from incarceration or customary penalties. "

On customary law
The customary law has different laws that differ from the laws of the state. It relies on custom, customs and traditions, and some Egyptians - such as the Bedouin and groups that do not reach the state's laws - resort to its speed of sentencing, unlike the official judiciary, and "despite its reaction and mistakes, To be wise, "according to statements by the expert on heritage and the Bedouin issue, adviser Salim Balawi.

Al-Balawi added that the "ugly" is a customary court that still exists in some tribes in Egypt, most notably the tribe of "Ayayda" which is used as a means of separating the clan tribes, away from the recognized Islamic Shari'a based on the evidence and the witnesses in determining the crime.

He described the "ugly" provisions as "public" and "dubious." He added that "the tongues of the accused - whether criminal or innocent - will not be tolerated despite their disparity."

Among those who believe in this way nomadic in the detection of lies and those who reject it, there are those who try to explain the matter at an angle understood by the mind or supported by modern science, where it is believed that the matter is the psychological state of the person, the honest is confident of himself and then does not dry dribbling, and therefore not affected by the heat of the penis The iron, while the liar is disturbed and dries his tongue and then burns his tongue.

According to one of the "ugly" judges, in many cases it is a means to intimidate and intimidate criminals, noting that many of those involved prefer to recognize moments before being subject to the ugly test because they realized that it would end with the addition of pain burning the tongue to the scandal of conviction.