Aysha Akram

Professor Nauman Faizi

Religion 212- Religion After Modernity

14 May, 2023

Response Paper

Evans-Pritchard's approach to the study of religion was that of an "insider," as he was deeply

committed to comprehending religious beliefs and practices within their specific cultural,

political, and historical contexts. He promoted a “nuanced” understanding of religious

phenomena without placing any external judgements on them where these practices can be

understood in their own terms, without reducing them to any reductionist explanations. So to

fulfill the requirements of being a “participant observer”, he went out in the field and had to

make complete observations by studying their culture, religion, law and economics. After

studying all these aspects, he had to weave all these beads into a single strand so that it could

become a beautiful necklace. To write his book “Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the

Azande”, he spent many years of his life living among people of Azande. He studied their

beliefs in witchcraft and explained how it contributed to their misfortunes and illnesses.

However, apart from his scientific approach to worldly affairs, Pritchard found it illogical to

Azande people “irrational” and “childish”. And he was “evidently” right as observed by him,

Azande people were very “logical” beings who were also “clever” and “perceptive” in their

social affairs. Then how come did they believe in something as mystical as “occult magic”? So
to explain the absurdity of magic in Azande people, Evans Pritchard put himself in their shoes

and explained the logic in the absurdity. In his work, he says that they had an assorted system of

medicines which they apply to discard the effects of magic. Instead of putting his “western

notions “ on these practices, Evans used the method of “scientific ethnography” to show how the

“seemingly” absurd practices of Zande form an absolute “coherent” and “rational” system from

their perspective. When seen through their lenses, this system gives a “plausible reason” for all

misfortunes. For them, this “absurd” system seems to work parallel with science with no tussle

between them. What makes no sense from the outside world, appeared to be a natural philosophy

for the people of Azande where it lays the foundation of not only their legal system but also

regulates their human conduct. As he writes in his work which goes as “From our perspective the

Azande people may be wrong, but from theirs it is clear that they think quite rationally within

the limits their culture chooses to allow”.

In his other book “The Nuer”, Evans Pritchard made a series of visits to make astute

observations of people living in the north of Azande. He learned their languages and over a

period of more than six years, he did extensive research in the form of observations and long

interviews. In his six years at the land of Near, he explored the meaning of cattle in their lives as

well as looked for different interpretations of the ideas of time and space in their lives.

Evans-Pritchard's scholarly contributions are characterized by his meticulous attention to detail,

which enabled him to unravel the intricacies of the cultures he studied and make groundbreaking

discoveries. For instance, in his study of the Azande people's belief in magic, he meticulously

examined the micro-details of their everyday life. This approach facilitated his ability to arrive at
a fruitful conclusion by documenting their everyday "market" life and observing their daily

interactions, thus comprehensively understanding the relationship between magic and the

Azande as a whole. It is noteworthy that Evans-Pritchard's interest in magic practices was not

merely an end in itself, but a means of uncovering the underlying principles and practices that

inform the Azande's culture. In his other work on Nuer religion, Evans-Pritchard demonstrated a

similarly assiduous approach in meticulously comprehending the complex hierarchies of God

and the central role of cattle in their economy to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the

Nuer's religious practices.

In addition to his unique perspective provided by his distinct lenses through which he views the

world, Evan's takes on supernatural forces and their impact on our daily lives are quite thought-

provoking. He suggests that magic is the belief in such forces, a concept that resonates with

Muslims who also believe in Allah's control over our lives and the influence of forces beyond

our control. The Islamic belief in destiny, in particular, reinforces the notion of supernatural

forces. It is noteworthy that modern psychology acknowledges similar concepts such as the

subconscious mind, synchronicity, and quantum forces. Carl Jung's famous quote highlights the

importance of bringing the contents of our subconscious mind to conscious awareness to avoid

being bound by fate. The modern-day teachings of gurus and life coaches advocating the "law of

attraction" advise individuals to think positively and vibrate on a high frequency to attract good

things into their lives. While these concepts may seem disparate at first, they converge to the

point that Evans made regarding the Azande people's belief in supernatural forces.
Moreover, the way Azande people refer to the black substance found in the small intestine as

“witchcraft” which according to Evans is nothing more than undigested food. The equating of a

physical, biological phenomena to “supernatural forces” is also not unfounded in our culture.

Even in these modern times, mental diseases such as schizophrenia or having hallucinations is

equated to being “possessed” by a “djinn” or a “ghost”. Now forgetting about the Azande people

for a second, for, we might be tempted to think of them as “dim-witted” or “uncultured” but what

about the people living in a country like Pakistan , surrounded by gadgets and technology,

having the intelligence, keenness and the wisdom to deal with the matters of the world otherwise,

can believe in a belief such as “possession by a djinn”? Evans answers this by saying that the

intellectual abilities of people are not entirely independent of their cultural backgrounds but

rather they are “shaped” by them. The people of Azande or people of any culture can reason

fairly well within their own cultural traditions but they mostly lack the ability to do so outside of

their culture, mainly because of the lack of the availability of tools or in the words of Evans

“idioms”.

Also, the quarrel between husband and wife, blight hitting crops or missing an animal hunt- all

these misfortunes are not attributed to God in our culture but they are attributed to other forces

at times. For examples, in Islam, we have reference that a fight between husband and wife occurs

because of the mutterings of Shaytan or the occurence of the other calamities may be attributed

to evil eye or simply the consequence of one’s sins

Moreover , the poison oracle and the proceedings of witchcraft in general are quite synonymous

to “evil eye” in our religion and culture. When a person is said to be affected by evil eye, there

are mutterings said by a cleric which makes him realize the name of the person who affected the

person with evil eye and then the water of ablution is taken from that person so that the said
person can be relieved from the evil eye. In some old parts of Punjab, matters such as vengeance

are still undertaken by religious clerics or a “buzurg” who by some procedure, determines the

name of the person who brought bad luck to the said family and without any concrete evidence,

His words are taken as absolute. In other cases of “evil eye” in Pakistan or “kala jadu”, people

go to “peers' ' to get themselves treated. These “peers' ' are like the witchcraft doctors who

apply good magic (Quran) to ward off the evil effects of evil eye or kala jadu.

Comparing Ann Taves work with Evan Pritchard,we can safely conclude that both these

scholars have “distinct” ideas corresponding to specific cultural contexts that are totally

unrelated to Western interpretation. According to Ann Taves, things are identified as “special”

“if they are set apart and protected by taboos' ' can be applied to Nuer Religion. Ideal and

anomalous things tend to be “singularized” by people in socio religious settings. In Nuer

religion, they believe in the hierarchy of spirits where God has ultimate control over all great

events in the world. They had given their God (“Kwoth'') the characteristics of an ideal being in

an “absolute” sense. The language they use for their Gods had all markers for “specialness” as he
is the “creator”, “invisible”,“omnipresent” and “sustainer” as well. Being the ultimate authority

on all events, his decree must be accepted by “complete submission. Moreover, the lesser wrongs

in their lives are also protected by the stauch belief that things go wrong on their own and if

that’s not the case, these misfortunes happen as a consequence of our own wrong actions.

For Nuers, the value they ascribe to God cannot be specified in relation to other deities, things

or relationships. God holds an absolutely singular place in their lives.

Comparing Ann Taves work with Evan Pritchard,we can safely conclude that both these

scholars have “distinct” ideas corresponding to specific cultural contexts that are totally

unrelated to Western interpretation. According to Ann Taves, things are identified as “special”

“if they are set apart and protected by taboos' ' can be applied to Nuer Religion. Ideal and

anomalous things tend to be “singularized” by people in socio religious settings. In Nuer

religion, they believe in the hierarchy of spirits where God has ultimate control over all great

events in the world. They had given their God (“Kwoth'') the characteristics of an ideal being in

an “absolute” sense. The language they use for their Gods had all markers for “specialness” as he

is the “creator”, “invisible”,“omnipresent” and “sustainer” as well. Being the ultimate authority

on all events, his decree must be accepted by “complete submission. Moreover, the lesser wrongs

in their lives are also protected by the stauch belief that things go wrong on their own and if

that’s not the case, these misfortunes happen as a consequence of our own wrong actions.

For Nuers, the value they ascribe to God cannot be specified in relation to other deities, things

or relationships. God holds an absolutely singular place in their lives.