Village Black Magic Stories: The Shing Fish and the Cremation Ground

My name is Farhad Sakib. I live in Bakhrabad village in Adarsha Sadar upazila of Comilla district. This is one of the village black magic stories I heard from an older brother of mine, Naim, and his family. It happened about ten years ago, when he was close to twenty-two. He was then living in a village called Chilonia in Laksam, in Comilla district. Let me describe their home. Probably a tin-shed house. In front of the house was a courtyard, in front of the courtyard a pond, and in front of the pond a wide field of rice paddy. On one side of the courtyard was a tubewell, right beside the pond, and next to it a tin-shed toilet. I should say that his uncle’s house was right next to theirs. Between his uncle’s house and theirs there was only a fence of betel-nut palm branches. I heard this from Naim bhai himself, so I am telling it the way Naim bhai would.

The Fish in the Courtyard

I was in class eight then. My mother suddenly came down with a high fever one day, for seven days straight. When the fever eased a little, Mother went to the kitchen to cook. In villages the kitchen is usually outside, next to the living rooms. There was no gas, so cooking was done on a clay stove with firewood. Our kitchen was beside the courtyard, a little away from my room. One afternoon my mother went to cook. I should say that I have a younger sister, who was nine then. From the kitchen, my mother suddenly saw a shing catfish leaping in the courtyard of the house. My sister saw it too. When Mother went toward it to catch it, the fish kept moving toward the pond. At last, when the fish came close to the pond, Mother came to the pond bank too. And then someone seemed to give my mother a push, and she fell into the pond. It was winter and there was not much water in the pond. Mother fell face down, her head and waist pressed into the water, her legs above the water. My sister was very young and could do nothing, she only began to scream. Hearing her scream, a man who was cutting grass in the neighbouring paddy field came running and pulled Mother out of the water. By then it was too late. My mother died. Strange as it was, the people of the village put it down to an accident and forgot it.

This is where the story begins.

The Black Shape at the Tubewell

About a week after Mother’s death, my father’s health suddenly went bad. He had a high fever, just as Mother had. One night, very late, he crossed the courtyard to the toilet by the pond bank. For water he had to go to the tubewell, so he went there to fetch some. Just then he suddenly felt that in front of the tubewell ghat, by the pond, some black shape was standing. The shape said to my father in my mother’s voice, “Come, take me with you. I am so afraid here, so alone.” Saying this, the shape began to stretch its hands out toward my father. He began reciting dua and durood. My father was a devout man, so because of his dua and kalam the shape could not even touch him. In a moment the black shape vanished. My father understood that my mother’s death had not been a natural one.

When the Fajr adhan sounded he went to the mosque to speak to the hujur (Islamic scholar). But that day the hujur was not there. The muazzin was, but the muazzin would not understand all this, so he did not tell him, and decided that he could manage a lot himself, there was no reason to worry. Later at Isha time, when the imam came, he told him nothing either, thinking perhaps nothing would happen that day. But who knew how terrible the consequence of not telling the imam that day would be.

The Cremation Ground at Night

Everyone, myself, my father Farid Mia and my sister, ate dinner and went to bed. That night something blood-chilling happened. My father had a dream. I am telling it as I heard it from my father.

Father said, “I saw in a dream that someone was dragging Naim across a field. When they stopped, I understood it was a cremation ground. Some shape suddenly gave Naim’s head a jerk and twisted and tore it from his neck. In the dream I could not bear this horror any more. I woke up. Rubbing my eyes, I looked at the bed and for a moment I was shocked. What is this! Naim is not in bed! And the door of the room was open too. My throat dried up with fear. Then I called Naim’s uncle Idris Mia, who lives in the next house, his wife, and my nephew, who is about twenty-five, and we went out to look for Naim. We searched in everyone’s rooms, around the pond, in a few places in the neighbourhood. No trace anywhere. Only the paddy field was left. The paddy field is very big, so it was not possible to search there at three in the night. Suddenly I remembered my dream. I thought maybe my son Naim is at the cremation ground.”

About a kilometre from our village there is a Hindu neighbourhood. There is a temple there, which many people know as the “Malibari temple”. A little behind it was the cremation ghat. Father said, “When I told my brother and nephew that we would go to the cremation ghat, that Naim was there, Idris said, ‘What are you saying, brother? You will go there at this hour? And how do you know Naim is there?’ I said, ‘There is no time to explain now, come first.’ Saying this I told them to make wudu and seal their bodies. Taking a Quran and three tasbih, one in each of our hands, we set off for the cremation ground.”

“When we reached the front of the temple, some dogs, facing the cremation ground, were howling in an unnatural way. We three took Allah’s name, sealed our bodies again and reached the cremation ghat. I had the Quran in my hand, so I was in front, the other two behind. The moment we entered the cremation ghat, it felt as if people were running all over it. There was a sound of scuffling too. Meanwhile Sohan said, ‘I am very afraid. We should have brought some people, only three of us have come.’ I comforted him and gave him courage, saying, ‘Allah is our trust. Keep faith in Allah, nothing will happen.’ By torchlight we searched the whole cremation ground, but Naim was nowhere. Meanwhile I opened the Quran and by torchlight began reciting some verses of Surah Baqarah. Then the noise all around and the sound of scuffling stopped. All around was a vast silence, as if even one drop of water falling could be heard.”

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“Then I heard from the unseen someone say in a very tired voice, ‘Naim is under the thick koroi tree on the eastern side of the cremation ground. Rescue him.’ Then the voice stopped. We hurriedly looked by torchlight and saw a tree, very big. Right beneath it lay Naim. We all quickly lifted him, but could not bring him round. So we put him on the shoulders of Sohan and Idris and set off. Just as we reached the gate of the cremation ghat, it felt as if from far away many mixed voices were saying together, ‘Do no harm, give him over. Give us our property, or we will burn all of you on the pyre.’ All three of us could hear this together. Meanwhile Naim lay unconscious on Sohan’s shoulder. As we crossed the gate of the cremation ground, a melodious voice said, ‘Touch the Quran in your hand to Naim bhai’s head, recite Surah Fatiha and leave here quickly.’ As told, so done. As soon as I touched the Quran to Naim’s head and began reciting Surah Fatiha, Naim woke with a start and began to cry. He began to say, ‘They killed her too. Where am I? Why here? Take me away.’ Who was Naim talking about, whom had they killed, we could not understand at all. We came back home quickly. Naim was told to seal his body, and with dhikr we finally arrived home.”

What Naim Saw

With this, Naim bhai’s father finished speaking. What Naim bhai said after returning home made everyone turn stiff with fear. Naim bhai said, “When I came out to go to the toilet, I saw something white and furry come and stand in front of me, and say, ‘Do not be afraid, Allah is there, keep trust.’ Seeing this, in fear I ran into the house. As soon as I entered, what is this! Where are Father and my sister? These two were real monsters, in the form of Father and my sister. Their eyes were just like fire, their faces pale, their hair wild, and blood was dripping from their mouths. The two called out in hideous voices. In fear I ran toward my uncle’s house. Then that white furry shape came and stood in front of me in the middle of the courtyard. And then the monsters in the form of my father and sister left me and went after the white shape. They disappeared toward the paddy field. I could not bear this horror any more, and I fainted. And when I regained consciousness, I found myself at that cremation ground, in front of my father.”

The Kabiraj and the Jinn Named Yahia

The next day, in a great hurry, everyone started looking for a good kabiraj. In the end they found one, through my uncle. He brought that kabiraj to our house. When the kabiraj asked, everything was told to him. Then he said, “I have to do some ruqyah, and for it you will have to give me some incense sticks, candles, rose water and a Chinese fish.” Everything was given and the kabiraj sat down to do ruqyah. After about thirty to forty minutes of ruqyah the kabiraj came out and there was a deep mark of worry on his face. He sealed the house and gave some blessed water, saying, “You must drink this water and mix it into your bath water. I have some work to do, which I will do tonight at my place. Tomorrow I will tell you exactly what the problem is. I will come again tomorrow. And yes, nobody must go out of the house after dusk.” Saying this the kabiraj left.

In the daytime everything was fine, but the level of fear seemed to rise. That night nobody in my uncle’s family came out of the house in fear, besides which the kabiraj had forbidden it. We even did our toilet needs in the living room. That night it felt as if all the water in the pond was being thrown into the air and dropped back onto the earth. The whole pond sounded like the crash of waves in a stormy sea. Our bones went cold. It felt as if some people were seething with rage and anger, and might tear someone apart at any moment. In fear we sat huddled all night. My little sister could not understand anything. She heard the noises, but when she asked my father, he said, “A storm is going on outside, it is nothing, you sleep.” All night this uproar did not stop for even a moment. We all kept reciting dua and durood. At last the Fajr adhan was heard, and at once everything went silent.

In the morning the kabiraj came to our house. What he said left us all speechless. The kabiraj said to my father, “A group of jinn has been called in to kill your family. Black magic has been done on your son, your wife and you, but not on your daughter. It was done with earth carrying the bathing water of a recently dead body, and the earth of his grave, together with the sacrifice of fifty ducks, a goat and a calf. With it were pieces of your worn clothes and hair. With all of these, the livers, hearts and bones of the animals were bound into a sack, and the black magic was done at that same cremation ground, in that place. Because of this a group of jinn have set themselves to kill you. And among those jinn there is one powerful, pious Muslim jinn.”

“When I sat down again at my place for ruqyah, that jinn asked permission to speak with me. When I gave permission, he began to speak. ‘Assalamu alaikum. My name is Yahya. I have a younger son, named Riyad, five years old. A tantrik caught my son over some mistake of his, and as ransom said that three people of this family must be killed. I was not willing at all, but I lost to the cruel joke of fate. The tantrik said that if I did not do it, he would kill my child. Because the tantrik had many wicked, obedient jinn, he was very powerful. So, with no other way, I agreed, but I set a condition: not three, I would kill any one. After a great deal of argument the tantrik agreed, and through a shing fish he made the jinn’s place in that house firm. Then one day, finding a chance, I killed Naim’s mother. When my son was freed by this, I resolved in my heart that I would let no harm come to the other three of this family. If I had not killed Naim’s mother, the jinn called up with the ducks, calf and goat would have killed all of them together, in whatever state and wherever they were. That day it was I who saved Naim at the cremation ghat. It was I who showed Farid Mia in the dream that his son Naim was there. And all the directions at the cremation ghat were from me. The whispering voice that Farid heard was mine. The sounds of scuffling that he heard at the cremation ghat were my fight with those jinn. They were more in number, so I tried to keep them busy somehow, so that some time would be gained and Naim’s father and uncles could come and rescue Naim. Now I will teach you some methods of dua, do just that. I hope by Allah’s mercy all will be well. Now I go. Assalamu alaikum.’ Saying this the jinn left.”

That day, with some materials, following what Yahya Sahib had said, the kabiraj did ruqyah for a while and drew a white circle. In one dive he brought up a fish from that pond. When he lifted it, it was a shing fish with a taweez tied around its neck. He placed the fish inside that white circle. The astonishing thing happened then: black smoke began to come from inside the fish, and the fish began to thrash to get out of the circle. But the fish could not get out of there in any way. Everyone present watched the scene. After a while the fish died. Then the kabiraj said, “The jinn have now become much weaker. Now this object must be recovered from the cremation ghat and burned.”

The Sack in the Cremation Ground

That night at exactly one o’clock, you know what a village night at one o’clock can be like, Naim bhai, his father, uncle, cousin, some elders of the village, the imam and muazzin of the mosque, and the kabiraj entered the cremation ground. Everyone had sealed bodies and had made wudu. The moment they entered, each of them had some small feelings. I do not want to say much because the story would become too long, but nothing very bad happened. The kabiraj discovered the sack at the very end of the cremation ground, in a hole among some bushes. Together they carried the sack, with no problem, out of the cremation ground. In a field, following the dua Yahya Sahib had taught, everyone present with the kabiraj burned the sack. A strange stench filled the air. When the burning was done, the kabiraj told everyone to pray in thanks. After the prayer at the mosque, when everyone was waiting on the mosque veranda, it was half past three. The kabiraj came and said, “By Allah’s endless mercy, the effect of the black magic on you is completely finished, and from now on you are quite well. But there is one piece of bad news and one piece of good news for you.”

The Truth About the Uncle’s Wife

Everyone eagerly asked about the bad news. Dear listeners, you too have understood by now what the villagers wanted to know. Yes, who had done this black magic. But the kabiraj said he would tell the bad news only to Naim bhai’s father and uncle, because many people of the village were present, and he did not want to say it in front of everyone. He said, “Who did this, I could never have known if Yahya Sahib had not told me. It was he who told me where in the cremation ground the sack was, what duas had to be recited, and who it was who had called up this vile shadow of black magic.” The kabiraj said to everyone present, “I will not say the bad news in front of you. But the good news, which Yahya Sahib asked me to tell all of you when he left, is this: he had come before Naim that night mainly to express his sorrow. But seeing him, Naim got frightened. Then he understood that Naim bhai was frightened. So he did not show himself to Naim again.”

There is one question here. Then why did he not show himself to Naim’s father? Yahya Sahib was very fond of Naim, and liked him. And jinn feel comfortable appearing before those they like. Yahya Sahib said that he would protect Naim’s generation and several generations after. No evil force would even touch them. Even if someone tried to do black magic, Yahya Sahib would protect them from it. With this the kabiraj stopped.

Later the kabiraj took Naim bhai’s father and uncle to a quiet place. Addressing Naim bhai’s uncle in particular, he said, “Who caused this? Can you guess or do you know anything?” The uncle burst out, “What are you saying? How would I know? I know nothing. And if I find out who did such great harm to my brother, sister-in-law and nephew, I will tear them limb from limb.” Then the kabiraj said, “I can only show you who the person is. But why he or she did this, neither I nor Yahya Sahib knows. It is for you to find out, and I have nothing to gain by knowing. But promise me that you will forgive that person.” Then, addressing Naim bhai’s uncle, the kabiraj said, “The one who had this vile black magic done is none other than your wife, Naim bhai’s chachi.”

Hearing this, Naim bhai’s father could not hold himself back and wept. Naim bhai’s uncle flared with rage. Seeing this, the kabiraj said again, “You have promised me, you will do nothing to her, you will forgive her.” Afterwards the kabiraj was given a good sum of money and sent off.

At home they asked the chachi. First she denied it, but afterwards she admitted it and asked for forgiveness. When asked why, she said, “I could never get along with my sister-in-law. There was always a quarrel over some reason. Once over firewood, another time over the fish of the pond. When I told my husband, he would blame me instead. He respected Naim’s father like a father, more than his own elder brother. He loved Naim like his own son. I could not bear any of this. So I planned in my mind how they could be finished off. If all of them were killed, only the girl would be left, that is, Naim’s sister. We would keep her with us and raise her. In time we would become owners of the property too.” She had saved a lot of money for five or six months. With it she went to a tantrik. As he told her, she bought ducks, a goat and a calf and gave them to the tantrik, asked him to do black magic, and that was the reason for all this. Saying this she kept weeping and asking forgiveness.

Some days later, one way or another Sohan, the chachi’s son, learned of his mother’s misdeed, and a fierce hatred for his mother was born in him too. He stopped speaking to his mother. And although everyone forgave her, in the wake of this incident about a year later Naim bhai’s chacha’s marriage with the chachi broke down, and the chacha divorced her. Later Naim bhai’s chacha married again. Five years after the divorce, suddenly one day he heard that she had now gone mad and wandered the roads. It sounds sad, but what can be done.

This was the story.