Allah is the scientist of the scientists: Modern medicine and religious healing among British Bangladeshis

Abstract

In anthropological fieldwork between 2005 and 2007 on genetically-related illness among British Bangladeshi Muslims, I was struck by the absolute faith which people expressed in Allah in relation to whatever healing and medical options they might adopt. Whether the problem was regarded as an upri (jinn, i.e. spirit-related) or daktari (biomedical) problem, the families were insistent that the ultimate responsibility for both the illness and the cure was with the all-powerful Allah. Doctors, imams or other healers are mere mediums through whom Allah might decide to cure. Such assertions can of course be found in other religions as well as Islam. However, it is worth asking why the idea of Allah's ultimate responsibility carried so much conviction. In saying this, I do not mean to demean or dismiss the religious convictions of the families I studied, but to contextualise a little the situation in which they made these statements about Allah. In this paper I draw on my case study material to discuss how families negotiated between medical and religious healing, and often rejected biomedical healing in favour of remaining a 'good' Muslim and accepting whatever Allah decides.

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