[Sca-cooks] Khlii

[Lilinah]

>"Medievales", No 33 - Automne 1997
>Cultures et nourritures de l'occident musulman
>Essais dedies a Bernard Rosenberger
>
>in the article
>"Furgalite soufie et banquets de zaouyas : l'eclairage des sources 
>hagiographiques"
>Halim Ferhat
>pp. 69-79

I've tried to track down a date for the mention of khali' in the 
article above. While the author starts the article with the mention 
of "the first Muslim ascetics, such as Ibrahim ibn al-Adham in the 
8th century" (p. 69), she specifically focuses on the development the 
diet of Moroccan Sufis during the 12th-16th centuries. In the 12th 
and 13th centuries there is extreme asceticism and extreme fasting of 
particular holy men. But by the 14th century there are the first 
large banquets, and by the 16th at feasts served by zawyas there is 
an unequal distribution of food to attendees, with the elite getting 
a sumptuous repast and the masses getting only barley bread and 
fruit. She concludes by saying that during this whole time there were 
no rules defining the diet of Sufis until the qasida called "Ra'ya" 
by al-Sarisy in 1729 (p. 79).

The association in the text of the khlii is with Aghmat, home to 
several important Sufis. Specifically mentioned are 'abu al-'Aziz 
al-Tunsi (p.71) and Abu 'Abdallah al-Hazmiri (pp. 70, 72) but no 
dates are given - the source is a Moroccan text, Itmad al-'Aynayn, by 
Ibn Tiguillat, which i have no way of checking. A famine occurred at 
Aghmat in January-June 1275 while al-Hazmiri was there (p. 73). 
Al-Tunsi is mentioned again, with no date on p. 75. On the same page, 
the 13th century is mentioned as the time al-Hazmirir founded a zawia 
(sort of a home, place of worship, and place of pilgrimage for Sufis) 
at Aghmat.

Then on p. 77, in a discussion of fishing and hunting, is the passage 
i quoted in part. After saying the hunting is rarely mentioned (in 
the hagiographic texts) the author begins discuss the relationship of 
the ascetic Sufis to hunting. First she mentions that these holy men 
tended to protect gazelles, hares, quails, hedgehogs, and other wild 
beasts from hunters. Then she specifies particular mentions of Sufi 
saints hunting or eating wild meat. In this paragraph she says, "A 
Aghmat il est question de hali' (viande sechee conservee dans de la 
graisse) faite avec de la viande de mouflon" (there's a mark under 
the "h" to indicate it has a sound that is represented in other 
romanizations by "kh"). There's no footnote, but it is likely this 
information comes from Ibn Tiguillat.

So, to sum up, the khlii (khali') reference is probably from the 
second half of the 13th century.
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita

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