The Dabistan, thought to have been composed in the 17th century, records a fascinating account of Muhammad’s alleged introduction to cannabis, and the association of its use with his hereditary clan, the Hashim: There is a class among the Hindus who give themselves the term of Musslman-Sofis [Muslim-Sufis] and really agree in several tenets and opinions with the Sufis... they relate that one day the Prophet was taking a pleasure-walk under the guidance of Jabril [The Muslim angel Gabriel] and came to a place where a great tumult was heard. Jabril said ‘This is the threshold of pleasure; enter into the house.’ The Prophet consented to go in and there he saw sitting forty persons naked as they came from their mother and a band busy serving; but whatever service the Prophet requested them... to do, they did not comply, until the moment to grind bhang arrived. When they had ground it, they had no cloth through which they could strain and purify it; then the Prophet, having taken his turban from his hand, purified through it the juice of bhang, the color [green] of which [the bhang] remained on the turban; whence the garment [heraldry] of the Bini Hashem [Muhammad’s sub-tribe] is green. When the Prophet rendered them this service, they were glad and said among themselves, ‘Let us give to this messenger of God, who is always running to the door of the ignorant, a little of the bhang, that he may obtain the secrets of the Almighty power.’ So they gave the remains of the juice to the Prophet. When he had drunk it he became possessed of the secrets of the Angel of Destiny, and whatever men heard from him came through the means of this bounty. (Dabistan, 1655) Browne, writing in the 19th century noted that in his time one of the secret names of cannabis was “‘Master Seyyid’... from a fancied resemblance between its green color and the green turbans worn by reputed descendants of the Prophet” (Browne, 1897), so this was clearly a lasting traditon. Although the Dabistan is clearly a late addition to the Muslim tradition, earlier accounts of cannabis use, such as that of the Assassins, Isma’ilis and Sufi groups, gives clear indications that such practices were known very early in the Islamic world and, as the research in this volume has clearly shown, predated Islam by millennia. Moreover, these “heretical” Islamic sects, considered themselves part of an authentic tradition, passed down by the Prophet through his descendants and their closest devotees, in much the same way as heretical Gnostic sects thought of themselves as the authentic “Christians” through association with Mary and other apostalistic figures. For more on the islamic use of cannabis see amazon/Cannabis-Soma-Solution-Chris-Bennett/dp/0984185801/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402001352&sr=8-1&keywords=cannabis+soma
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 20:50:11 +0000
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