Musk in Islam: Olfactory Sensuality as Spirituality

DANIAL TAJWER

The unmistakable odor of musk — sometimes pungently animalistic in spirit, at other junctures almost effervescently sweet, or even still a rousing mélange of the two — has served as a traditional object of both veneration and infatuation within Islamicate societies, a distinction that arguably harkens back to the very genesis of the Islamic world-system itself in the seventh century (Al Shindagha). This should not be taken to insinuate that the recognition, appreciation, and cultivation of musk can, by any means, be deemed an exclusive feature of Dar al-Islam. The natural spatial distribution of the musk deer1 from which one extracts the aromatic substance is centered, both presently and historically, not in the Islamic heartlands of the Middle East and North Africa, but in a geographic range stretching from the Tibetan Plateau to the easternmost extremities of Eurasia (Mudasir-Ali 137). It comes as no surprise, therefore, that musk figures prominently in the panoply of curatives upon which the folk remedies of the latter region frequently depend. Contemporary practitioners of traditional medicine from Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese backgrounds all continue to ascribe immense importance to the purportedly salutary uses of musk in treatment, indeed to such an extent that “there are at least 884 [documented] traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions and 347 products that use musk in China” (Feng).

Although medieval Arabic pharmacologists proved no less enthusiastic about harnessing musk’s restorative properties, I argue that what truly differentiates Islamicate civilization’s preoccupation with musk from its counterparts elsewhere is its articulation of a unique conjugation of smell’s spiritual and secular applications. Far from propounding a rigid dichotomy between two mutually exclusive categories of eroticism and self-abnegation, musk in Islamicate societies owes its position of prominence precisely to its cultural

1 Although the exact species delimitation of musk deer has been subject to dispute, a common estimate suggests that there are approximately eight identifiable species, all sharing the genus Moschus (Mudasir-Ali).

ubiquity — a preponderance that is in large part sustained by the Islamic coupling of sensory pleasures with connotations of the divine. Moreover, by virtue of its valence in profane and sacred contexts alike as the epitome of perfection, the invocation of musk frequently carries a unifying motif of longing, which typically entails desires of rapture that are not immediately fulfillable due to the metaphysical limitations of temporal existence. Moreover, when analyzed through the lens of the odorant’s enduring scarcity, the Islamic perception of musk illustrates the faith’s broader emphasis on moderation in practice: good scents, like other fine things in life, should actively be encouraged in pursuit of the greater goal of beautification, but not without taking into consideration and controlling the morally pernicious hazards of overindulgence.

The duality between spirituality and sensuality that characterizes references to musk in the Islamic tradition is extensively documented. Most prominently, the prestigious pedigree of musk emanates from none other than the two most authoritative founts of Islamic jurisprudence: the Quran and the Hadith themselves. Perhaps the most straightforward acclamation of musk’s primacy in Islam comes from the Sunan An-Nasa’i compilation of Hadith. In one instance, the narrator Abu Sa’eed rather matter-of-factually recounts that “the Messenger of Allah said: The best of perfume is musk” (An-Nasa’i). Surah Al-Mutaffifin from the Quran testifies to a similar end, going as far as to explicitly identify the pleasant fragrance of musk as one of the bounties granted unto the residents of Jannah2. Whilst celebrating the eternal contentment of those Muslims who have become denizens of Jannah, the Quran elaborates, “Thou wilt recognize in their faces the beaming brightness of Bliss / Their thirst will be slaked with Pure Wine sealed / The seal thereof will be musk: And for this let those aspire, who have aspirations” (86:24-26). While endorsements from Islam’s preeminent religious texts endow musk with an aura of spiritual legitimacy, the belief in the olfactory supremacy of musk equally translates into significantly more carnal manifestations. Love poems brimming with decidedly sexual undertones furnish a particularly instructive example of the rhetorical power of musk. Umar ibn Abi Rabi’ah, one of the progenitors of the ghazal genre, utilizes the sexually charged imagery of redolent musk effusing from his beloved’s breast to convey the sheer intensity of the attraction he feels for her: “Strong musk and ambergris mixed

2 The Arabic-language word used to indicate the Islamic concept of paradise.

with camphor diffuse from her breast” (King 297). The seventh-century Arab poet’s appropriation of musk — a scent intimately bound to its deeply religious origins in the Quran and the Hadith — as a channel to instead express lust sheds a light on the immense, multifaceted flexibility of musk when wielded as a symbol of meaning within Islamicate societies. As such, it becomes apparent that, at least when dealing with Islam, understandings of musk cannot easily be confined to strictly binary spiritual-or-profane interpretations. What bridges the gap between the ostensibly antagonistic spiritual and secular applications of musk within Islamicate contexts is the aromatic substance’s common function: to stimulate momentary bliss, while also summoning a profound yearning for greater pleasures that, for whatever reason, remain starkly outside of an individual’s immediate reach. That the predominant perception of musk within medieval Islamicate societies was overwhelmingly positive is undeniable. Clergymen and drunkards coincide in their praise for musk: the Sufi scholar “Al-Suyuti [assigns] musk primacy [over alternatives like ambergris, saffron, and civet] for both religious and worldly reasons,” whereas one of the khamriyyat3 of the legendary Abu Nuwas extols a bottle of wine for giving unto its imbibers “a perfume in [their] breath like a diffusion of musk when the pod is slit open and crumbled” (King 327, 319). While providing for obvious instantaneous gratification upon being smelled, the critical factor enabling musk’s service as a vehicle that communicates longing for greater, inaccessible pleasures is the physical ephemerality of all scents. Medieval Arabs were keenly aware of how rapidly the potency of a scent dissipates following exposure to the atmosphere. A vernacular expression dating back to the Abbasid period relates, “the Arabs say of a thing that is to be held tenaciously because of its preciousness that it is like musk . . . if you set it out it becomes exhausted,” in effect amounting to a lamentation of the inability of good things — including pleasing scents — to endure for as long as humans wish they would (King 327). Frustrations with the ephemerality of musk are further compounded by its paradisiacal associations. Although tales abounded in the medieval Islamic world of musk’s having in actuality “[arrived] in this world from the original Eden,” commentators along the likes of Al-Ghazali tend to “[emphasize] the completely otherworldly character of the aromas of paradise; they can only

3 Usually translated as “wine songs.” (Galer)

be compared with musk, the best aromatic in this world, but they still excel it by far” (King 367, 353). Bluntly stated, musk as experienced in the temporal realm qualifies, at least in the eyes of Al-Ghazali, as nothing more than a pale reflection of its eternal equivalents in the afterlife. Consequently, the mounds upon mounds of musk historically consecrated to the task of incensing places of worship — for instance the “hundred mithqals of Tibetan musk” that regularly went into perfuming the Dome of the Rock during the Abbasid Caliphate — not only gained practical currency as a welcoming “sign of [the space’s] availability for prayer,” , but also as a constant reminder of the exponentially superior and immortal fragrances that await believers in paradise, if only they resist the temptations of this world (King 346, 347). Even in far more secular milieus, such as the “Tale of Aziz and Azizah” from The Book of the Thousand and One Nights, the use of musk continues to correspond with the motif of yearning remaining unsatiated. In the story, the splendidly handsome Prince Taj al-Muluk’s dashing looks and beguiling charm prove to be so irresistible that “they were the main theme of the most loving verses of the poets, while the chastest of philosophers felt their livers confounded by the seduction of his presence” (Mardrus and Mathers 482). One particularly love-stricken poet among the Prince’s litany of admirers decides to give voice to his affections in verse: “Musk kisses / To faint under musk / To feel his body bend like a wet branch / Beauty looked into his mirror at morning / And turned from her own shadow / That has eaten of the west wind and drunk dew / Musk kisses / To love the musk, musk, musk of his nakedness!” (Mardrus and Mathers 482). Here, again, while the speaker delves into remarkable detail (e.g. “bend like a wet branch”) to indicate the ardor of his homoerotic intentions, the repeated comparisons of the youth to musk underline the degree to which the Prince Taj ul-Muluk’s beauty, like the unfathomable musks of paradise, seems almost hopelessly out of reach in the present moment. It is precisely musk’s symbolism and foreshadowing of the eternal joys of paradise that renders its ephemerality within this world all the more painful.

Among the various roles played by musk within Islamicate societies, another important consideration is the extent to which the social norms governing the uses of musk reproduce the broader dynamics of the Islamic faith’s selfprofessed moderation vis-à-vis the pursuit of worldly pleasures. In commenting

upon Mary Thurkll’s Sacred Scents in Early Christianity and Islam, Professor of English and Medieval Studies at Arizona State University Richard Newshauer voices a common scholarly consensus that “early Islamic traditions emphasize a much more opulent materialism in imagining paradise than do Jewish or Christian traditions: Islamic paradise is a “‘feast of physical pleasures,’ ([Thurkll] 157) which may include sensory and sexual fulfillment” (Newhauser 589). Surah Al-Mutaffifin’s coupling of musk with alcohol as among the luxuries afforded to the dwellers of Jannah is representative of this approach; the “pure smell, pure pleasure” of houris mentioned elsewhere in the Quran, who are “not merely perfumed,” but rather “are made entirely of sandalwood” constitute another olfactory example (Ackerman 63). According to Islamic tradition, “paradise is the idealized mirror of the real world, where all of the negative aspects of this world are transformed. Within this world, the base and ignoble dominate” (King 367). Critically, what this moral framework entails is that, whereas the consummation of pleasures within the temporal realm almost always comes attached with a price tag of negative consequences, in Jannah, these pleasures are untethered from their worldly negative consequences—allowing for limitless hedonism in abandon. Applying these theoretical principles to musk permits us to comprehend their operation more clearly. Firstly, Islamic teachings do not discourage wholesale the acquisition and appreciation of material pleasures within the temporal world. This understanding provides the basis for a revealing divergence between early Christian and early Islamic attitudes on the acceptability of donning elaborate perfumes. Where “with [the advent of] Christianity [to Europe] came a Spartan devotion to restraint, a fear of seeming self-indulgent,” and the subsequent result of men no longer “wearing scents for a while,” in the Islamicate world, “musk remained lawful . . . in fact, its use was encouraged” (Ackerman 61, King 368). Indeed, the relentless enthusiasm for musk within Islamicate quarters arose not despite, but with full awareness of musk’s erotic potential as an aphrodisiac — elite women were expected to “wear a perfume, even one containing musk, before going to [their husbands]” in a society where an incense burner “carried by a woman was a sign of readiness for sex” (King 312, 292-293). Alternatively, “women could be condemned as prostitutes for wearing perfume that could be smelled by others” when outside of the house (King 293). Indulging in pleasures along the lines of

sex and perfume was actually encouraged within these Islamicate societies, but only when an individual would uphold a self-restraint that was respectful of the ethical boundaries delineated by the prevailing socio-religious norms.

Medieval Islamic medical literature on musk and its potential pharmacological applications exposits another way to conceptualize Islamic injunctions on moderation. Musk was hailed as a panacea for all sorts of debilitating ailments: colic, quartan fever, vomiting, phlegm, heart palpitations, joint pain, gout, abdominal disorder, epilepsy, apoplexy, vertigo, migraines, period pains, and hemorrhages in women, among many others (King 312). Anya King arrives at a similar conclusion, arguing that “as can be seen by the great range of uses to which musk was put, it approaches being a universal remedy” (312). It is important to notice, however, that musk was never prescribed in its raw, unadulterated form, but rather always administered in medieval Islamicate medical recipe books (e.g. the Aqrabadhin by the Gundeshapur physicist Sabur ibn Sahl) as part of a predefined formula compounded with other ingredients (King 310). This dilution was necessary because exposure to raw musk could prove seriously injurious to an individual’s health; Islamicate physicians belonging to the Ibn Mandawayh-Ibn Kaysan tradition “[warn] that musk can be quite dangerous,” with Ibn Kaysan himself observing that “every perfumer or person in his presence who opens this musk gets a nosebleed from the potency of its scent” (King 308). Islamic beliefs about moderation in religious practice align strikingly with these aforementioned beliefs regarding the medical uses of musk — that which is considered perilous in extreme quantities (i.e. musk and religiosity) is perceived as a one-size-fits-all solution to the many ills one has to confront in life. Surah al-Baqarah offers one of the Quran’s most transparent claims to wasatiyyah, or moderation, at the beginning of its one-hundred and forty-third verse: “Thus we have made of you an Ummat4 justly balanced” (Hanapi 51-52). When perceived through the lens of musk’s medical applications, the Islamic principle of wasatiyyah can be understood to intend an even-handed mixing of the sacred (i.e. musk) with the profane (i.e. the other compounds) in order to arrive at a veritably balanced lifestyle.

4 Nation, usually understood as the collective community of Muslim believers.

One final wrinkle that can introduce additional nuance on the subjects of musks, moderation, and Islam is the ecological depredations associated with the perpetuation of the musk trade. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) designates the wild musk deer as an endangered species , a protection that has resulted in the prohibition of musk deer hunting in both the People’s Republic of China and India (Feng, Mudasir-Ali 138). Though King contends that “nowhere has any indication of a long-lasting shortage of musk been found within the Islamic world; it seems to have always been available for the right price”, this should not be misconstrued to mean that the Islamic world was immune to diminution of the global population of musk deer (367). igh prices for musk, which even in the presentday occupies the dubious distinction of being the world’s most expensive medical resource (fetching approximately $250 per gram) , were a direct consequence of the increasing rarity of the material (Feng). Even the caliphs of the Abbasid royal court mourned the astronomical costs of procuring musk — the courtesan Safi al-Hurami lamented how a previous supply of musk had been depleted only a few years into the profligate caliphate of Al-Muqtadi and how “he had to have more prepared at a high cost” (King 288). Surah Al-Baqarah from the Quran designates humanity as “a vicegerent on earth,” environmentallyminded Muslims can interpret this vicegerency status as also entailing a responsibility to shepherd the earth with a keen environmental consciousness (2:30). Bearing this interpretation in mind, the parameters of Islamic pleasureseeking once more become transparent — humanity is encouraged to pursue the finer things in life, but only if it can successfully do so without jeopardizing the lives and interests of others, in this case the exhaustion of the musk deer population. This is in contrast with existence in the afterlife, where all luxuries are supplied in infinite quantities. In sum, the fact that musk, a word etymologically derived from the Sanskrit word for testicle, could end up occupying such a distinguished position within the Islamic worldview exposes much of the internal tensions within the religion between the spiritual and the profane (King 15). Applied in both sanitized, religious applications and erotic poetry, musk unites these disparate realms in its longing for pleasures that are not immediately achievable. Moreover, be it through medical or ecological considerations, an understanding of musk allows

one to better conceptualize Islamic principles of wasatiyyah in action. Ultimately, by paying greater attention to neglected areas of inquiry such as scent, we can break traditionally Eurocentric conceptions of the world—perhaps even breaking the binary between the spiritual and the secular altogether.

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