This is a typical boogieman-like story that must have helped parents keep their children, especially young women, away from trouble for fear of being kidnapped and ravished by the frightening creature “khattaf,” which means the “snatcher” or better known as “khattaf rafai”. Khattaf is said to be a demon that assumes the shape of a sailboat, though it has limbs and it sails on land. It appears to people, especially young women, when they go out at night to relieve themselves in coastal areas. The creature swings a long rope trying to catch one of the women, but it fails in its attempt once the women start reciting verses from the Quran. The creature fears men, especially when they are in groups.

Several tales have been woven around the Khattaf Rafai demon. Among the most widely known of these is that a group of women walking out in the evening were intercepted by a dark spectre which instantly turned into a boat. As the creature tried to capture the women they started screaming and running until they approached nearby houses. Their call for help was heard by a man who came out of his house and grabbed the creature’s rope. The man was strong and was able to keep a firm grasp on the rope, but the creature managed to run away, leaving the rope behind. Not being able to survive without the rope, the creature came to the man’s house and implored him to give it back. Upon receiving solemn promises from Khattaf Rafai that it would never return to town, the man gave the creature its rope. The creature was not seen ever since.

 

 

Baba Darya is a demon whose tales of horror and mischief were well known to UAE communities that lived by the sea, especially to seafarers, fishermen and pearl divers. The name means “father of the sea” in Persian, which denotes the origin of the myth. There are two versions of this folktale. The first narrates that Baba Darya used to sneak unto boats and ships between the evening prayer and the call for dawn prayer to snatch one of the sailors or fishermen while they sleep. The jinni would then devour the victim and sink the boat. So, it became a common practice to keep two or three sailors up at night to guard the boat against the jinni. When a sailor sighted or heard Baba Darya’s voice he would yell to his mates “hatou al-mishara wal-jaddoum,” which means bring the sword and axe (al-mishara is a kind of a small sword or broad knife while al-jaddoum is a kind of a long, broad axe). Upon hearing the guard’s shout the jinni would disappear. The myth describes Baba Darya as tall, big and strong, whose facial features are never discernible since he always appears in the dark.

The other version of the Baba Darya myth describes the jinni as a sea creature which assumes the shape of a very ugly and terrifying man when it spots ships cruising by. The jinni would then call for help, pretending that it was drowning. If the sailors rescue the jinni it would steal their food and occasionally tamper with the ship.

The Baba Darya folktale might have been concocted to keep ship workers, especially apprentice sailors, alert. It might also have been made up to deter children from straying away to the seafront in the evening after supper.

  

Salama and Daughters

 

Salama is said to be a giant jinni that resides, along with her daughters, at the bottom of the sea in the Hormuz Strait area. When Salama spotted a ship she would turn around herself, creating big waves and a giant whirlpool that would sink the ship so that Salama and her daughters could devour the sailors. Fear f Salama’s appetite led sailors in the past to take livestock on board, such as sheep and goats, when they headed to the Strait of Hormuz. Whenever they spotted a whirlpool they would throw the sheep and goats into the water in hope that Salama and her daughters’ appetite would be satiated with the livestock and she would let them pass.

This folktale has roots in reality in the sense that the Strait of Hormuz, being a narrow and the only passage between two larges bodies of water (the Gulf and the Indian Ocean) and bordered by high cliffs and mountains, it is the site of tidal waves which often cause turbulence and whirlpools that threaten the safety of passing ships. While the turbulent waters of Hormuz might have stirred the imagination of a superstitious sailor to come up with the Salama story, the folktale was most probably inspired by a real-life incident that involved a passenger ship which was sailing from an Arab port to India. Faced with high waves and whirlpools, the captain of that ship is said to have resorted to a jinni tale to save the ship. He told the passengers that the rough waters were caused by a hungry giant jinni who might be appeased if they threw to her their luggage. Fearing for their lives the passengers followed his advice and threw away their belongings, which made the ship lighter and easier to manoeuvre though the waves. The ship succeeded in crossing the strait into the Indian Ocean, which confirmed the jinni tale to those who might have suspected the captain’s version.

 

 

This is the UAE folk version of the ultimate temptress which turns out to be nothing but a repulsive old demon that lures men to their death. Um Al Duwais is portrayed as an extremely attractive and graceful-looking, tall and lithe young woman with long hair and captivating beauty. Her body exudes sensuous fragrance of musk and amber from head to toe and her voice is soft and seductive. She is dressed in gold, and those who see her are spell-bound by her enchanting beauty. She lures unsuspecting men into adultery then reveals her true obnoxious and terrifying nature before killing them.

This stereotype fairytale character is one of the oldest and most enduring in any society as it reflects wives’ apprehension of extremely attractive women as well as the time-old notion of external beauty that may hide internal wickedness, when a deceptive woman uses her physical beauty to reach her concealed goals. Thus, the name of Um Al Duwais is used even today to refer to a woman who, for instance, uses a heavy makeup or seen to be suggestive to men. Additionally, Um Al Duwais’ equally legendary ugliness and wickedness is sure to bring fear to misbehaving children in the UAE today.

 

 

This folk character stands for the “evil eye” or the “eye of envy”, which is an old, common belief among Middle Eastern cultures, as well as Europe and to a lesser extent in North America and other parts of the world. This is the belief that the evil power of envy that some people possess can turn the good luck of fortunate people into misfortune – similar to a curse. The object of envy may be material richness and possessions as well as beauty, health, fame, intelligence or the love and respect an individual may elicit from other people – it can virtually be anything that may be coveted by those who possess the power of envy. This power may be strong enough to instantly inflict harm and misfortune on victims. It can also divide people and sow animosity between them.

 

While Um Al Helaan is often portrayed as a demon or jinni, reference is also made to real people, usually elderly women, who lived and were part of the UAE society. Some folk sources refer to Um Al Helaan as woman with a deformed face that was possessed by demons which made her do harm to others, while another version of the folktale describes her as a wicked and deceitful witch whose deep and sharp evil eyes never missed to cause harm.

 

Typically, Um Al Helaan is a jinni that assumes the form of an old woman who makes false pretences to enter people’s houses. Once inside a home she would carefully observe the hosts for signs of fortune and examine their home and possessions before leaving them with a curse from her evil eye.

 

One of the more recent narratives relate a local woman’s first-hand experience or encounter with the infamous Um Al Helaan few decades ago. The woman used to meet every morning with her friends at a neighbour’s house to pass the time and discuss various issues and interests. One morning as they were busy chatting an old woman mysteriously appeared at the entrance of the living room. They first thought she was a beggar who found the door open and made her way through, but she said that she had come from a distant village to shop in their market. She told them that she was tired from the shopping and she was passing by their house when she felt thirsty. She thought they might be kind enough to give her a glass of water. The narrator of the event said the host made her sit to rest for a while, but the old woman was acting in a strange manner. She started talking about a lot of things that didn’t make much sense, jumping from one topic to the other; meanwhile she had her cold, piercing eyes erratically scanning the room and the women. As unexpectedly as she appeared to the woman she excused herself and hurriedly left the house as if she was running away from something. The narrator said the women were bewildered by the old woman and her strange behaviour. She said many things about the old woman did not make sense. For instance, she did not drink the water she had asked for; nor did she carry with her any shopping. Also, the friend’s house was nowhere near the marketplace nor was it on a route accessible from the market. However, the stranger thing that followed the same day at night was the unexplained severe sickness that kept the host bedridden for two days until she passed away. “We knew then that the strange visitor was none but Um Al Helaan,” said the narrator.