Cursed coconuts on Fuvahmulah allegedly used to disrupt elections

Additional reporting by Ahmed Nazeer

Coconuts with black magic spells are allegedly being used to sway voters’ political party allegiance and incite confrontations between Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters and police on Fuvahmulah, ahead of Saturday’s Presidential Election.

A ‘kurumba’ (young coconut) suspected to have a ‘fanditha’ (black magic) curse, with Arabic writing and suspicious symbols burned into the husk, was found in the garden of a home located in Fuvahmulah’s Dhiguvaadu ward yesterday (September 4), a source from Dhiguvaadu ward told Minivan News today.

The woman who found the suspicious coconut in the early hours of the morning intended to inform the police, however the homeowners – “hard core” Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) supporters – told her not to do anything until an expert investigated the coconut first, said the source.

“Neighbors supporting President Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Ihthihad Party (GIP) live in the area, so they heard about the fanditha coconut and wanted to create problems, so they contacted the police,” the source continued.

“MDP and PPM have been running strong campaigns and have many supporters in the area, however GIP only has about 15 members,” the source noted.

“Since GIP has very few supporters, they are trying to redirect attention away from the other political parties to gain votes,” alleged the source. “GIP has told PPM that MDP planted the fanditha coconut, however they are telling MDP that PPM is responsible.”

“Neighbors a few houses away were awake around 3:00am that night and did not notice any suspicious activity,” said the source.

The source believes that GIP, PPM and Jumhoree Party (JP) supporters are trying incite unrest among MDP activists on Fuvahmulah – especially GIP by involving the police in the fanditha coconut incident.

MDP supporters on Fuvahmulah remain very upset about the violent police crackdown that happened after the controversial transition of power in February 2012, according to the source.

“When MDP activists see local police they are not good with them, they do not keep calm, there is always a huge scene, shouting, etc.,” the source explained.

“[However,] these days MDP [Island] Councilors are trying to the max to keep supporters calm,” the source continued.

“And the situation is very calm right now. It [the fanditha coconut incident] was nothing huge, just a very simple thing,” the source said. “There won’t be any impact on voting.”

Fuvahmulah police did not want to get involved in the black magic incident, instead they preferred to allow the family to take action independently, a police source told Minivan News today.

“If we get involved, it will turn into a big thing,” said the police source, in reference to inciting unrest among MDP supporters.

However, local media reported that police took possession of the black magic coconut.

The Maldives Police Service was not responding to calls at time of press.

Black magic sabotage

A black magic practitioner from Fuvahmulah allegedly cast spells on five yellow young coconuts – kurumba can also be green or orange – and gave them to another man to deliver to a specific key location, a Fuvahmulah island council source told Minivan News today.

The island council source alleged a person named *Easa cast a spell on five coconuts and gave them to *Moosa to deliver. However, Moosa left the coconuts on his bed covered with a sheet before going to work.

“Moosa’s wife was not told about the cursed coconuts, so she was shocked to find coconuts on their bed and called the police immediately,” said the island council source. “The police went over to the house and took the coconuts.”

“She thought MDP had cast the black magic spells because the coconuts were yellow,’’ the island council source explained. “Once Moosa found out what his wife had done, he told her it was very bad that she had reported it to police.’’

Moosa and his wife then went to get the cursed coconuts back from the police, but police refused to return them, according to the island council source.

The island council source noted that Easa made a typographical error when cursing the coconuts. The coconut curse says to “get rid of [PPM presidential candidate Abdulla] Yameen”, but was supposed to read “get benefits from Yameen”.

Furthermore, during the 2008 presidential election Easa also started practicing black magic a month before the election day, noted the island council source.

“Every day after dawn prayer he went to the beach and did black magic stuff. He also went near the polling station and threw cursed objects at people,’’ said the island council source. “[But] Easa’s spells did not work the last time.”

“This hasn’t been taken too seriously by the islanders, but the MDP supporters are very concerned,’’ the island council source said.

No arrests have been made in connection with the case, the source added.

Earlier this week, police summoned a white magic practitioner to evaluate a young coconut believed to have been cursed by a black magic spell, after it was found near the Guraidhoo Island presidential election polling station in Kaafu Atoll.

*Names have been changed

Spiritual healing

This is the second cursed coconut incident reported in as many days, related to the presidential election. To better understand this “very common practice”, Minivan News spoke with Spiritual Healers of the Maldives President and Exorcist, Ajnaadh Ali.

“During elections black magic is used to gain votes and make people ill,” explained Ali.

Ali suspects a spell was read over the Fuvahmulah fanditha coconut instead of inscribed, because the coconut reads “May Allah protect us from Abdulla Yameen”.

The black magic spell cast to influence voting “is a spell of separation. It’s the same idea as a love spell. It can either bring people together or split them apart,” Ali noted. “The black magic will attack them mentally, by demanding the individual think a certain way even if they would normally know something is bad. It makes them blind in the mind.”

“While any object can be used, because coconuts represent a life structure (like eggs) they use those objects to make the spell powerful, with the advice of the devil,” noted Ali.

“There is a long history of the practice in the Maldives, but it is still very common nowadays on every island,” he continued. “There is a lack of knowledge regarding the religion. Some people who do black magic think it’s right because the Quran is used.”

“In Dhivehi, fanditha means magic – black or white – but the way it is practiced is what makes it good or bad. Black magic is when people worship or invoke jins or devils to cause harm to others,” Ali explained.

“Black magic is practiced by misusing the Quran, chanting or writing verses and the names of devils or jins (spirits) to summon their help. It cannot be done unless someone has some disbelief of Allah,” he continued. “It it also disrespectful of the Quran.”

The best protection against black magic is reading Quranic verses, particularly the last two chapters of the Quran, said Ali. ‘Ruqyah’ is a form of white magic, specifically an Islamic exorcism where Quranic verses are read and prayers recited to heal.”

“Ruqyah will neutralise black magic to rid of the evil eye or any other spiritual matter, like jin possessions or mental illness,” he explained.

It can also be conducted for the benefit of worshipping Allah, he added.

“Any Muslim can practice ruqyah by themselves, however its more effective if they have knowledge of jins and the Quran. Also, they must be following the religion,” he noted.

The five pillars of Islam are prayer, fasting, alms for the poor, pilgrimage to Mecca, and declaring belief in one God, Allah.

A 1979 law requires persons wishing to practice fanditha to “write and seek approval from the Ministry of Health.”

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17 thoughts on “Cursed coconuts on Fuvahmulah allegedly used to disrupt elections”

  1. Once more, these incidents reflect the condition of our electorate. Issue-based campaigning and constructive debate is almost impossible.

    Discussions are almost always vertical, with a person afforded some sort of respect relating his/her version on any subject while others listen. Then whatever is learned is discussed among the listeners later on. This system is easy to exploit because a lot of things other democratic societies take for granted is brand new to us.

    So let us all remember what state we are in and be patient with what is going on in our country. We must also be vigilant and work against those who might try exploit our weakness and gullibility.

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  2. Cursed coconuts! What?

    What century are we living in? I had to double check that this article was in fact referring to current affairs and not some hocus-pocus in ancient times.

    I'm telling you, all the fish in the sea are cursed. Don't eat them.

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  3. This is what happens when you don't have "Defence Against the Coconut Arts" in your school curriculum.

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  4. As my mother would say, if black magic works, then fanditha practioners would be the richest and most powerful people on earth - but since it doesn't, they're just another bunch of snakeoil salemen out to con gullible people.

    National television should have a Spelling Match - to expose these conmen. Or a test by fire like that of Savoranola.

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  5. This was fun when done before football games. It is not uncommon in many countries to believe in charms and talismans of good luck.

    But never have I heard of a police force actually paying attention to such things. This shows the true standards of our police, especially the commanding officers.

    An institution which already is in a crisis and lacking the confidence of the sane majority, further exacerbates the situation by making a joke of themselves.

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  6. I hope these police people realize how utterly stupid they're making themselves out to be.

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  7. Ah yes, the usual Islamic technology. I guess this is what Muslims mean when they say they are much more technologically advanced than the kuffar. MAGICAL COCONUTS!

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  8. Don't everyone ..... I think you can download an App to get rid of the curse and it will soon be available on Android too..

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  9. Dear all idiots, police has to go there because if they do not u all will point our finger at them.

    Lots of Islanders still believe fanditha/ sihuru.. we have previously seen violence in different districts of fuvahmulah due to so called sihuru drama..

    Police has to be there to ensure calm and peace is maintained before the whole thing escalates to a fight between two parties over such a stupid thing!

    I don't see a difference between the commentators here and the islanders who believe the magic coconut!

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  10. Dear all unaware ppl. Islam is for all the centuries , and those who do not believe anything or something mentioned in Quran , will not be a muslim.
    Black magic is not a power of a magician by which they can make their wish true like getting rich. Here is the reality of it. You must see it before you speak or joke about the reality.َ

    "And they followed [instead] what the devils had recited during the reign of Solomon. It was not Solomon who disbelieved, but the devils disbelieved, teaching people magic and that which was revealed to the two angels at Babylon, Harut and Marut. But the two angels do not teach anyone unless they say, "We are a trial, so do not disbelieve [by practicing magic]." And [yet] they learn from them that by which they cause separation between a man and his wife. But they do not harm anyone through it except by permission of Allah . And the people learn what harms them and does not benefit them. But the Children of Israel certainly knew that whoever purchased the magic would not have in the Hereafter any share. And wretched is that for which they sold themselves, if they only knew. " (Quran:2:102)

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  11. the Police should sent the coconut to PG's office for prosecution. Perhaps judge Ali Fahmy will verdict the coconut for 6 months of imprisonment following 50 lashes "hadhdhu".

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  12. @Ahmed on Fri, 6th Sep 2013 1:49 AM

    Caveman rubbish. Exactly.

    Just like ALL of the religions.

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  13. i have seen this story being written in foreign newswebsites. actually i hate black magic, but i feel that the articles on those foreign newspapers are written in a mocking way. do they wonder about their UFO craziness? i have seen plenty of movies and cartoons showing obsession on such things in those countries also.

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  14. Dawkins has caught our attention - finally!!

    http://www.richarddawkins.net/news_articles/2013/9/6/-coconut-detained-in-maldives-over-vote-rigging-claims#

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  15. mohamed, they consider ufos and such to be hoaxes. And I have yet to see UFOs arrested.

    The reason why they mock us is because we believe that such superstitious things are true.

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