`Fakir' and `Fakirni', Muslim Beggars in Rural Bangladesh : the cultural background which creates and accepts beggars

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Other Title
  • バングラデシュの農村のムスリムの物乞,「フォキール」・「フォルキルニ」
  • バングラデシュの農村のムスリムの物乞,「フォキール」・「フォキルニ」
  • バングラデシュ ノ ノウソン ノ ムスリム ノ モノゴイ フォキール フォキ

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Abstract

This paper treats the subject of Muslim beggars and the custom of giving alms in rural Bangladesh. It is based on findings from a field survey which was conducted during my stay in M village in Madhapur Upazia, a sub-divlsion of Tangail District. The village is located about 180 km north-west of the capital, Dhaka. In this location were to be found a variety of customs and rules concerning alms and begging, permitting those who have no other means for llving to subsist by abiding by accepted conventions. In this paper I attempt to present the cultural factors and the system which creates and accepts beggars in the rural society of Bangladesh. In Bengali in Bangladesh, a muslim male beggar is called a fakir, and a female beggar a fakirni. Fakir comes from the Arabic word, 'faqlr' which denotes a sufi or dervish, a mystic ascetlc in Islam. In ethnographlc writings on rural Bangladesh a fakir has been described as a mendicant ascetic, a muslim holy man, a muslim spiritual leader, or a religious beggar, all of these are clearly distinguished from worldly beggars. However the term fakir is in fact used not only for a rellgious beggar, but also for a worldly beggar in present-day Bangladesh, and the number of the latter Is much greater than the former. In Madhapur Upazlla and neighboring areas, each village has a fixed day of the week for giving alms to the people who come begging. I researched the subject In 102 other villages around M village, whlch had a total population of 99,093, 96% muslim and most of the rest Hindu. The day for giving alms varies from village to village. For example, in M village and its neighboring 6 vlllages, the day is Monday, while in H village immediately west of M village and its surrounding 3 villages it Is Tuesday, and for the seven vlllages south of this H village it is Sunday. As a result of this, beggars can make their rounds each day, and return to their own home village with the alms that they have recelved. Alms given on a fixed day of the week are termed bar-bhikha (bar: day of the week, bhikha: alms). The amount of bar-bhikha glven by a vlllager to a beggar is small, Iess than a handful of rice, but a beggar can get enough rice In one day to 1lve on by going around to several villages.

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