IDIOTS Arabic majnun مجنون pl. majanin. Mr. Lane, in his Modern Egyptians, vol. i. p. 288, says:- “An idiot or a fool is vulgarly regarded by them as a being whose mind…
IDIOTS Arabic majnun مجنون
pl. majanin. Mr. Lane, in his Modern Egyptians, vol. i. p. 288, says:-
“An idiot or a fool is vulgarly regarded by them as a being whose mind is in heaven, while his grosser part mingles among ordinary mortals; consequently he is considered an especial favorite of heaven. Whatever enormities a reputed saint may commit (and there are many who are constantly infringing precepts of their religion), such acts do not affect his fame for sanctity; for they are considered as the results of the abstraction of his mind from worldly things; his soul, or reasoning faculties, being wholly absorbed in devotion, so that his passions are left without control. Lunatics who are dangerous to society are kept in confinement; but those who are harmless are generally regarded as saints. Most of the reputed saints of Egypt are either lunatics, or idiots, or imposters.”
Based on Hughes, Dictionary of Islam