The idea that Muslims spit on food is now spreading virally across Indian social media. It is seen as some kind of Islamic practice to contaminate Hindu food, the claim is made by people with a long history of trying to demonise the Muslim community and therefore needs to be taken with a large dose of salt.
All the Islamic scriptures say is that spit is halal, which means it does not contaminate food. In many religions, Hinduism for example, spit is considered a source of impurity. In ancient Mesopotamia, people had to cover their mouths when talking to the kings and the priests, to avoid spit from contaminating the air of the royal presence. In mediaeval India, ‘untouchables’ had to carry a pot around their neck and spit in it, so that their body fluid did not contaminate the village street.
That being said, the idea of spitting to remove the evil eye is fairly common in cultures around the world, even in India. Many Hindus know of mothers pretending to spit or making the gesture of spitting on their head to remove the evil eye or ‘nazar’. This happens during birthdays, especially with little babies.
Getting rid of ‘nazar’
Nazar means when someone looks at a child and the child suddenly feels weak, tired, keeps yawning and lacks energy. It is seen as someone stealing the aura or energy of a person and is a common folk belief. Therefore many things are done to protect the child from an evil eye, one of them is spitting, the other is putting a big black mark on their face which we normally see in little babies.
Children are usually prone to it as it is almost seen as they have not yet developed an immune system to protect themselves from this eye. This is not a scientific concept of course, but a widespread occult belief.
The word evil eye is translated as ‘nazar’ which is a Persian word for ‘sight’ or ‘glance’. This belief in the evil eye is also found across the Persian word, even in ancient Rome. In fact, one notices in many Italian films where old women keep saying, “I spit on your grave or I spit on you.”
This idea of spitting to ward off evil and the demons and the machiavellian spirits was clearly a part of ancient Greece and ancient Rome. It was found in many tribal communities.
The best known symbol to ward off the evil eye
The Nazar eye of Turkey is a series of concentric circles in blue colour and it reminds us how the eye was often drawn on the prow of ships to protect it from the evil eye. Amulets and medallions shaped like the eye were used to protect. This was often circular as it reminded one of the fish eye. The fish never blinks and the fish’s eye was supposed to have magical powers. It is always wet.
In traditional societies dryness desiccation was associated with evil. Evil was seen as the heat which takes away the water and causes drought and makes the body warm. And therefore, the filling up of the body with fat and fluid was considered to be a sign of good health, since fish is always located in water the fish eye becomes the symbol of protection.
It is believed that the priest king of Harappa has an inlay on his head which looks like a fish eye and it was not just a decorative motive but perhaps an amulet created to protect the person from the evil eye.
Blue Lapis Lazuli was used in Sumeria and Mesopotamia imported from Afghanistan via the Indus valley cities probably because it was seen as a protection from evil eye. Maybe while giving it to children the mothers would spit on this to make it wet, and so lubricated with love and concern and care, and so additionally powerful.
Therefore, we realise how while we see spitting as something gross and unhygienic, spittle has many cultural implications as a symbol of protection.
For centuries, Hindus have been going to faraway pilgrim spots such as Vaishno-devi, Amarnath, Kedarnath, even Hinglaj Mata in Pakistan, where logistical support is provided by local Muslim communities. This collaboration at ground level is organic. The virulence based on contradictory religious doctrine is usually manufactured by power-seeking elite politicians.
