Article

Ilm Al-raml: A Case The Oriental Anthropologist

21(1) 30­–48, 2021

Study in Mathematizing © 2020 Oriental Institute of Cultural and

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Using Modular DOI: 10.1177/0972558X20975648
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Arithmetic

Iman C. Chahine1,2

Abstract
The study of divination and divination systems, particularly in non-technological
societies, presents a set of unusual problems that challenge the core of rational
and epistemic thought. Notwithstanding the bulk of research on cultural
genres such as religion, magic, and myth, efforts fall short of distinguishing the
constituent theoretical and ontological underpinnings of divinatory practices.
Employing modular arithmetic principles, this study proposes a case for situating
mathematical concepts within atypical cultural and historical contexts that
essentialize mathematical thought as embodied expressions of human endeavors.
This article presents an investigation into the mathematical structures underlying
an ancient historical and cultural divination practice known as ilm al-raml (Arabic
translation of sand science). Principled by sociohistorical and sociocultural
lenses, the study employs an ethnomathematical methodology. Coined by
D’Ambrosio (1985, 1999) and Knijnik’s (2000) seminal ethnographic research,
ethnomathematical methodology can be interpreted as delineating a way to track
and analyze the processes of generation, transmission, diffusion, and formalization
of mathematical knowledge in diverse cultural systems. By reflecting on the
concepts of synchronicity and acausal events, I show that ilm al-raml presents
an algorithmic divination system that is based on fundamental computational
rules based on Boolean algebra laws with a probabilistic time ordering of events
specifically designed to predict future outcomes.

Keywords
Divination systems, modular arithmetic, ilm al-raml, geomancy

1
 niversity of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell MA, USA.
U
2
SDL Research Unit, North West University, South Africa.

Corresponding author:
Iman C. Chahine, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 61 Wilder Street, Lowell, MA 01852, USA.
E-mail: [email protected]
Chahine31

Introduction
Throughout history, humans sought the intervention of divine powers to understand
their fate and to procure answers to universal dilemmas. In its simplest connotation,
the term “divination” describes efforts to augur future events or to unearth
concealed knowledge (LaGamma, 2000). However, at its heart, divinatory
practices reflect the most basic impulses, aspirations, and sensibilities of human
nature to gain insights into future circumstances, thereby minimizing uncertainty
by accruing control over expected events.
The study of divination and divination systems, particularly in non-
technological societies, presents a set of unusual problems that challenge the core
of rational and epistemic thought. Notwithstanding the bulk of research on cultural
genres such as religion, magic, and myth, efforts fall short of distinguishing the
constituent theoretical and ontological underpinnings of divinatory practices.
However, the discernible resemblances between certain types of divination and
sociocultural phenomena frame how the field is defined. To illustrate, Guinan
(2002) argues that divination is often associated with revelation or prophesy when
a deity communicates through a mediator by intercepting his cognitive faculties.
Additionally, Turner (1975) explains that divinatory readings solicited through
oracles and ritual actions are cast as magic. Nonetheless, observational divination
is often described as admittedly pseudoscientific, a form of cryptic or esoteric
knowledge that is systemically structured according to a predefined set of laws
(Ascher, 2002).
Although a division between manifestations of empirical physical phenomena
and the relationship between humans and the divine does not necessarily apply in
the context of divination, I hasten to say that synergizing mathematics with
divination systems and religious practices that transcend the realm of lucid
thought may seem an impossible endeavor. To get a clear understanding of the
relationship between one of the most prominent occult sciences and mathematics,
one has to delve into the epistemological and ontological roots of mathematical
knowledge. Contrary to mainstream perceptions that commonly describe
divinatory practices as “supra-rational” devoid of any structured or disciplined
system of knowledge, I argue that employing an ethnomathematical methodology
to decipher and explain some of the most prominent cryptic sciences, that is,
geomancy, reveals the acumen of convoluted epistemic indigenous systems with
inherent syntactical configurations that have been thriving in some indigenous
societies since the end of the first millennium ce. Tedlock (2006) argues “Wherever
a theory of divination has been elicited from diviners, there is a clear recognition
of the overlapping of inductive, intuitive, and interpretive techniques and ways of
knowing” (p. 62). Nested within the family of geomantic divination systems, a
science of interest is ilm al-raml (Arabic translation of sand science), which
constitutes an omnipresent divination system in the Arabic and Islamic cultures.
The purpose of this article is to examine ilm al-raml as an inductive algorithmic
system with underlying mathematical principles to inform a decision-making
32 The Oriental Anthropologist 21(1)

process empirically configured to invoke the omniscience of unworldly powers.

Principled by sociohistorical and sociocultural lenses, the study employs an
ethnomathematics approach that is coined by D’Ambrosio (1985, 1997), which
delineates a way to track and analyze the processes of generation, transmission,
diffusion, and formalization of mathematical knowledge in diverse cultural
systems. An ethnomathematical approach was also contemplated in Knijnik’s
(2000) seminal ethnographic research that interrogates the associations among
culture, pedagogy, curriculum, and oral mathematics to shed some light on the
sociocultural practice of the field. Knijnik (2000) conceptualized an
ethnomathematics approach as

the research of mathematics traditions, practices and conceptions of a social group and
the educational work that is developed, aiming for the group to interpret and decode its
knowledge, acquire knowledge produced by academic mathematics, make comparisons
between its knowledge and academic knowledge, analyzing the power relations
involved in the use of these two knowledges. (Knijnik, 2000, p. 178)

By the same token, Chahine (2011) contends that an ethnomathematical

methodology highlights the role of social contexts in the production and
dissemination of embedded, embodied, shared, and distributed indigenous
knowledge. Implicit in this methodological framework is an inherent recognition
of how communities collectively construct appropriate knowledge systems to
understand, analyze, and model real-life phenomena in the cause of survival. In
adopting the ethnomathematics framework, I argue that a close examination of
such a corpus of knowledge systems unpacks mystical aspects that relinquish
peoples’ mundane desire to gaze into the future to obtain counsel and direction, to
identify perpetrators of evil, to cure, and to protect. My overarching goal is to
present a case for situating mathematical concepts within atypical cultural and
historical contexts that essentialize mathematical thought as embodied expressions
of human endeavors. The basic objective of this article then is to propose a first-
hand outlook that broadens the conceptualization of what counts as mathematical
knowledge by epitomizing the role that such knowledge plays in examining the
dilemmas of elemental human experiences. By mathematizing ilm al-raml, I
advance a case for algorithmizing divination systems by emphasizing their
implicit mathematical systems of signs, classifications, and permutations. As Tjon
Sie Fat (1998) notes in his analysis of Dravidian and Iroquois kin classifications,
“Mathematics is about structure. It is effective because it captures the abstract
form underlying the many dissimilar patterns exhibited in the physical or social
world” (p. 59). In so doing, therefore, I argue for a need to step outside the
contextual landscape and look more carefully and generally at the inherent
structures of ilm al-raml as a system of divination manifested in an algorithmized
symbol manipulating model. Admittedly, this article conjectures that ilm al-raml
employs specific isomorphisms, which map underlying algebraically structured
representations to specific standardized meanings and interpretations to identify
and select satisfactory outcomes from alternative potential possibilities within the
divinatory decision-making process.
Chahine33

Social Historical Background

The literature attributes the Arabic term ilm al-raml or ilm al-khutut to “geomancy”
(Ascher, 2002; Al-Tokhi, 1991). Historically, geomancy constituted a family of
divination systems, including many notable branches such as Ifa, Fa, Sixteen
Cowries (Nigeria and West Africa in general) (Eglash, 1999), Sikidy (Madagascar
and Comoro Island) (Ascher, 2002), Ramalasastra (India), I Ching (China) (Yan,
2014), Hakata (Southern Africa), and ilm al-raml or khutut al-raml (North Africa)
(Al-Tokhi, 1991).
Melvin-Koushki and Pickett (2016) maintained that the seminal works of
Maḥmūd Khwāja, a late 19th-century Bukharan scholar-occultist, which were
uncovered in 1931, were egregiously regrouped by well-trained, Soviet orientalist
archivists who collapsed all occult sciences into “astrology.” Such a deviation in
classification resulted in reducing the occult sciences “to either magic or divination
and conflating elite occultist practice with the popular perversity of extremist
Sufis, psychics and soothsayers” (p. 237). In doing so, Melvin-Koushki and
Pickett (2016) argued, the Russian archivists broke the Arabo-Persian encyclopedic
tradition that lasted until the 18th century which classified occult sciences as
natural sciences. They further noted that unlike the Arabic, the Persian encyclopedic
tradition “mathematicalized” occult sciences like ilm al-raml from the 12th
century onward.
According to the most recent historical reenactments, the Hellenic, Jewish,
Persian, African, Indian, and Chinese borrowings into the Arabic body of
geomancy point to a drafting of the classic, strongly astrological geomantic
system in Southern Mesopotamia in an Isma’ili context in 10th century ce (van
Binsbergen, 1997). To illustrate, Steinschneider (1877 as cited in van Binsbergen,
1996) explains that the designation of Malagasy geomantic shapes “sikidy” is
derived from Arabic word shakl which means “shape.” Subsequently, van
Binsbergen (1996) explained that treatises on ilm al-raml divination system have
been preserved and broadly disseminated across the Islamic and Jewish regions,
as well as into Europe, Africa, and India. Two of the seminal treatises on ilm
al-raml include the Kitaab al-fasl fi usul ’ilm al-raml by the Berber sheikh
Muhammad al-Zanati (1298 Hijri) and a treatise in ilm al-raml by Shamsuddine
Al-Iskandari (1301 Hijri). Melvin-Koushki (2018) avers that geomancy practices
and knowledge reached the Christianate world in 6th/12th century with Latin
translations of Arabic works. He further explained

Intellectual genealogies of the science in Arabic and Persian works on the subject thus
presuppose a pre-Islamic Near Eastern or Indian origin, as well as an early Berber
connection; the otherwise unknown Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad al-Zanātī (fl. before
629/1230), presumably of the Berber Zanāta tribe, is acclaimed as the first major Arabic
exponent of geomancy. (Melvin-Koushki, 2018, p. 153)

In a similar vein, van Binsbergen (1996) argues that a careful examination of the
binary mathematical structure underlying the Southern African 4-tablet divination
system, and the more directly Arabian-derived forms of geomancy found in the
34 The Oriental Anthropologist 21(1)

Indian Ocean region, led many historians and researchers to hypothesize a series
of historical connections that substantiated the spread of ilm al-raml across several
continents.
According to Al-Zanati treatise, ilm al-raml or “sand science” is attributed to
Idrīs, the Egyptian third Islamic prophet of Allah who came between the prophets
Adam and Noah and who resided in Egypt during which he undertook the mission
to show people how to write, to sew, to build cities, and to use sand science
(Al-Tokhi, 1991).
The story narrative tells that an angel sent by Allah taught prophet Idrīs this
science who in turn taught it to his disciples who were practicing Tanjjim or
astrology.
However, Islamic law or Sharia law condemns the use of any form of magic or
fortune-telling to predict future outcomes as all these acts are dubbed as
manifestations of disbelief (kufr). It is key to mention that the main focus of this
article is not the supernatural, divinatory aspect of ilm al-raml, but rather the
emphasis is on the interpretation of mathematical structures inherent in this
knowledge system and the underlying connection with probabilistic events.

Ilm Al-raml: Core Description and Interpretations

One of the basic ideas underlying the structure of ilm al-raml divination system is
that of knowledge representations (KRs). Brachman and Levesque (2004) assert
that KR relies on the hypothesis that thinking can be understood using
representative elements through mechanical operations. On the other hand, Davis
et al. (1993) contend that KR implicates the creation of some form of expression
or a language in which we say things about the world. Davis et al. (1993) further
argue that “representations function as surrogates for abstract notions such as
actions, processes, beliefs, causality, and categories” (p. 18). In this sense, KR
replaces the elements being the object of representation allowing an agent to
establish consequences by reasoning rather than acting and predicting states rather
than taking real risks.
Therefore, KR is a surrogate, which stands in for things or events that exist or
happen in the world. Under this view then, reasoning itself is a surrogate for an
action in the world, where we cannot or do not want to take action yet, and,
therefore, the surrogate can be used as a predictor. Also, it is clear that there must
be some equivalence between the surrogate and its intended referent in the world.
While such surrogate depends on the elements that are considered relevant,
nonetheless, the essential issue is not the form of this representation but the
content or the set of concepts exemplifying a way of thinking about the world.
Employing this outlook then, it can be assumed that any real-life phenomenon or
event is given in a mixture of presence and absence, what is and what might be.
Thus, making a decision implies the existence of a presence (current state) and an
absence (desired state). The process of decision-making involves optimally
Chahine35

evaluating the current state and deciding which actions are necessary to achieve
the desired state.
Within the context of KR, ilm al-raml can be characterized as a symbol-
manipulating model implementing the machinery of KRs with certain production
rules to build decisions related to the prophesized events. More specifically, ilm
al-raml techniques employ isomorphic rules, mapping algebraically structured
representations to specific meanings and interpretations. As a symbol-manipulation
model, ilm al-raml is based on three separable hypotheses:
1. The model inherently represents abstract relationships between occurrences
of events and syntactical representations;
2. The model has a system of recursively structured representations; and
3. The model is built on integrative orderliness as the primary underlying
structure.
According to the principles of Idrīs laws, the number 4 has a fundamental
metaphysical significance as it explains particular intricacies prevalent in the
cosmos (Al-Tokhi, 1991). In his famous treatise on ilm al-raml, Al-Zanati
explained that all living creatures emerged of four elements of nature: fire, air,
water, and earth; four outcomes: heat, cold, moist, and dry; and four directions,
east, west, south, and north. Additionally, analyzing people’s everyday activities,
Al-Zanati described four major techniques undertaken by people in their daily
practices: weighing, counting, measuring, and planting (van Binsbergen, 1996).
Al-Zanati further concluded that since every existential entity balances on four
corners, four shapes, four extremities (e.g. the human body), and four elements on
which they have built unlimited configurations, the number 4 constitutes the basis
of ilm al-raml as an inductive divination system.
Al-Tokhi (1991) explained that the origin of ilm al-raml is the dot and its secret
is the odd number. Each of the four basic natural elements has a dot representation.
Knowing that the element fire is lighter than the element air and that air is lighter
than water, which is lighter than sand and since heavy elements carry the lighter
ones, the natural elements in ilm al-raml are ordered as follows: fire, air, water,
then sand. Moreover, within the ilm al-raml system, each of the four natural
elements (fire, air, water, and sand) is assigned specific alphabetical, numerical,
and symbolic representations (see Table 1).

Table 1. Alphabetical, Numerical, and Symbolic Representations of Natural Elements in

Ilm Al-raml
Fire(naar) Air (hawa’) Water (maa’) Sand (torab)
‫( ن‬noun) ‫( ـه‬haa’) ‫( م‬meem) ‫( ت‬taa’)
2 7 4 8

Source: The author’s Arabic transliteration of natural elements. Symbols adopted from van
binsbergen (1996).
36 The Oriental Anthropologist 21(1)

Figure 1. Sixteen Divination Shapes of Ilm Al-raml Using the Dot and Bar Notations.
Source: Adopted from van Binsbergen (1996).

Similar to other divination systems (e.g., Sikidy in Madagascar), ilm al-raml

divination techniques target the evasion of uncertainty by quantifying everyday
events using a teleological (i.e., purposeful) system of signs and ciphers (Ascher,
2002). Inquiries posed by clients are investigated by the diviner (al-darib, in
Arabic) who is the decision-maker and who acts as an intercessor with the divine
inspiration. van Binsbergen (1996) argues that ilm al-raml is considered as one of
the most thoroughly detailed types of divination established on a set of 16 simple
divinatory shapes whose configurations and numerical relationships correlate
with predictive and ordained connotations (see Figure 1).
Smith (1979) also proposed yet another syntax to depict the 16 configurations
that incorporated numerical symbols such as numeral “2” to represent two dots
and numeral “1” to represent one dot. Using this numerical morphology, the
aforementioned 16 configurations can be represented as follows:
2 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 1
2 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 1
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1
1 2 1 2 2 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 2
Designed on basic chance strategies and arbitrary procedures (like hitting the
sand), ilm al-raml is described as a binary system of 16 shapes. Each shape
comprises four rows and each row consists of either one dot or a bar (denoting two
dots). The shapes are determined through various methods, both ancient and
modern. The Arabic name for the procedure is darb al-raml, “hitting the sand” or
randomly leaving marks on the sand (see Figure 2).
With every act of hitting the sand, the hitter (al-darib) counts the marks
eliminating every two marks; for example, if the outcome of hitting the sand is an
odd number of marks, al-darib then counts by 2s and the last mark remaining is
represented by a dot. If the number of marks is even, then the outcome is a bar (or
two dots). As a result of this process, 4 shapes are created; these are the root
shapes (or mothers) from which 12 other shapes are generated using logical-
mathematical operations. The meanings associated with each of the 16 shapes,
and which are depicted in a chart (see Figure 10), establish the basis of a naturalistic
decision-making process that the fortune-tellers intuitively developed by fitting
the situation to the patterns they have learned and experienced over time as a
result of their divinatory practice (Klein et al., 1993). The four binary elements of
Chahine37

Figure 2. An Illustration of the Process of Hitting the Sand.

Source: Photograph taken by the author.

each shape allow for 24 or 16 different combinations. As there are 4 root shapes in
each chart, the total number of possible charts equals 16 × 16 × 16 × 16 or 65,536.
After extracting the 16 shapes, al-darib then examines the patterns of shapes,
deciphers the configuration, and eventually gives an answer or forecast for his
client. Ascribed to the different patterns of shapes are different meanings and
interpretations that can be associated with specific events and outcomes related to
the signs of the zodiac, with the four elements of nature, and with various body
parts. A written or memorized key (the catalog) provides the interpretation of each
generated symbol and their combinations.

Synchronicity and Ilm Al-raml

The basic principle guiding the successful practice of ilm al-raml is the infamous
unconscious notion of synchronicity (Williams, 2010). Jung (1955) defined
synchronicity as “the simultaneous occurrence of two meaningfully but not
causally connected events [wherein] an unexpected (mental) content (A), which
directly or indirectly connected with some objective external event (A′) coincides
with the ordinary psychic state” (p. 36). He further emphasized the role of
subjective meanings and simultaneity in the concurrent occurrence of events. In a
similar vein, Jung (1981) delineated several factors that determine the probabilistic
synchronicity of events. Arguably, one of the factors that elicit synchronistic
experiences in Jung’s (1981) view involves the presence of a vested interest and
heightened affect in the mind of the observer. An interesting connection with ilm
al-raml practice is the idea that “acausal” events are not necessarily limited by
space and time but rather extend to encompass reality in its physical and spiritual
38 The Oriental Anthropologist 21(1)

realms. Furthermore, Von Franz (1980) explained that synchronistic events that
are not causally related are thought to be part of a “field thinking” approach or
unus mundus (i.e., one world) where reality is unitarian (p. 98).

Divinatory Process: Prerequisite Conditions

In preparation for the execution of the divination routine, it is necessary to ensure
that a set of predesignated conditions are satisfied. Before hitting the sand, the
hitter or geomancer (al-darib) performs ablution by washing his face, arms to the
elbow, wipes his head, and then sits facing AL Qibla (a place in Mecca where
Muslims make a pilgrimage). Al-darib then prays, reads certain verses from the
holy book, and places intentions to hit the sand seeking an answer to a question in
mind. In ancient traditions, hitting the sand was not favored during storms or rain
nor at sunset or sunrise. However, it was preferable to be conducted between
sunset and dawn, the optimal time being during the night. Moreover, the hitter
should remain silent, not speak with others while engaged in the act of divination.
Exhibiting joyfulness and good spirit, al-darib starts by hitting the sand from left
to right saying these words: Tash 4 torbash 4 shaqoor 4 tazan 4 (Al-Tokhi, 1992).

The Divination Procedure

The divinatory procedure is administered inductively through a predetermined
and systematic series of steps embellished by the diviner’s skill to intensify and
epitomize the importance of the act. The successive series of steps constitutes a
decision-making algorithm that, upon execution, results in an outcome interpreted
by the diviner as either good or bad. Coded messages from a transcendent divinity
are seemingly associated with primary motivations: trust, hope, faith, intentionality,
and persistence. It is worth noting that extensive and perpetual practice with
divinatory routines has produced in the diviners an epitomized sense of fluency to
perform certain algorithmic computations rapidly and efficiently. Arguably then,
a mathematical investigation of the rapid and efficient algorithms that the diviner
employs to decide the outcome of the expected prophecy could have some
relevance to divination science. What is intriguing during a divinatory act is the
incidental manipulation of the different search strategies that culminate with a
decision regarding the prophesized event. A divination routine is illustrated in the
following example:
Step 1: A customer comes to al-darib (the diviner or the person hitting the
sand), seeking answers to a certain question or advice on a major future
undertaking. The questions could be related to any type of day-to-day affairs such
as marriage/divorce, life/death, finding a thief, pregnancy, happiness, profit/loss,
etc. (see Figure 3).
Chahine39

a b

Figure 3. (a) An Illustration of the Stick and Sandboard (takht) Used in Ilm Al-raml
Divination Practice and (b) A Close Look at takht.
Source: Photographs taken by the author.

Figure 4. The Procedure of Hitting the Sand with 4 Rows of Random Number of Dots.
Source: Photograph taken by the author.

Step 2: To find the answer, al-darib, after fulfilling the preparatory requisite
conditions, makes four horizontal lines on the sandboard designating four rows of
random number of hits or dots per line in such a way that each row has less
number of dots than its precedent (see Figure 4).
Then al-darib eliminates the dots two by two so that if the remaining is a single
dot, he puts a dot otherwise he puts a dash sign, in other words counting modulo
2 using modular arithmetic terminology (see Figure 5).
40 The Oriental Anthropologist 21(1)

Figure 5. A Demonstration of Hitting the Sand Procedure to Extract the 4 Root Shapes.
Source: Depiction by the author.

Table 2. The Dot and Bar Depiction of a Set of Four Mothers Configurations Extracted
from the Takht in Figure 5.

Mother 4 Mother 3 Mother 2 Mother 1 Body Part Element

Head Fire
Chest Air
Waist Water
Legs Sand
Source: Depiction by the author.

In any given shape in the above board, the four parts designate from top to
bottom: head, chest, waist, and legs, and the four natural elements: fire, air, water,
and sand. The above takht produced from right to left, a set of four mothers’
configurations, is shown in Table 2.
The depiction in Figure 5 is called al-takht (the board, in Arabic) and the first
4 resulting shapes or configurations are called the “mothers” from which the other
12 shapes (4 daughters, 4 granddaughters, 2 offsprings, 1 arbitrator, 1 judge) are
generated (Al-Tokhi, 1992). Each of the 16 possible configurations is identified
by a name, and for each, several standard interpretations are given in a catalog or
a written manual. These configurations are derived by a special form of
juxtaposition, based on the following computational rules:
Chahine 41

dual × single = single, i.e. × = ; single x dual = single, i.e., × =

dual × dual = dual, i.e. × = ; single x single = dual, i.e., × =
Step 3: From the four shapes that constitute the “mothers’” configuration, four
other shapes are generated by taking one symbol from the mothers’ heads, another
from their chests, a third from their waists, and a fourth from their legs. The
resulting four configurations constitute the four “daughters” (see Figure 6).
Juxtaposing the first two mothers with the second two mothers and the first
two daughters and the second two daughters generates the four “granddaughters.”
The same procedure is repeated with every two granddaughters to get the two
configurations, which are called “offsprings.” Juxtaposing the two offsprings
together gives another configuration called “arbitrator.” To generate the 16th and
last configuration, al-darib cross multiplies the last shape with the first mother
shape to get the “judge.” The 16 configurations generated are shown in Figure 7.

Figure 6. Ilm Al-raml Board: Generating the Four Daughters’ Shapes from the Mothers’.
Source: Depiction by the author.

Figure 7. Constructing the 12 Shapes from the 4 Root Shapes (Mothers) and 4 Daughters.
Source: Depiction by the author.
42 The Oriental Anthropologist 21(1)

It is worth noting that when hitting the sand, the client has to give the name of
his mother and not the father when consulting with the diviner (Al-Tokhi, 1991).
This, in turn, suggests that the descent series mothers/daughters/offsprings is
clearly matriarchal. However, and as others have highlighted (Ascher, 2002; van
Binsbergen, 1996), the labeling of the shapes as mothers or daughters might not
necessarily represent a form of kinship relation.

Outcome Interpretation
In interpreting the meanings of each of the 16 configurations, al-darib basically
designates a “house” that associates a meaning with the displayed shapes. The
houses are different from the configurations. While the configuration or shape is
the piling up of four rows of dots and bars, the houses are the locations in which
these configurations fall (Al-Tokhi, 1992); for example, the 1st house represents
the self, the life of the client, the 2nd house is the house of wealth, the 3rd for the
siblings, and the 4th for the parents. Also, the 5th house is designated for the
children, while the 6th for disease, the 7th for marriage, the 8th for death, the 9th
for travel, the 10th for luxury and fame, the 11th for hope. For the last four shapes,
the 12th is retained for enemies, the 13th for intentions, the 14th for nature of what
is being asked, the 15th for balance and equilibrium, and the 16th and last shape
is for judgment. The shapes in the sand speak to al-darib who, based on the pattern
of configurations, announces either a negative or a positive outcome. A mixed
configuration indicates a mediocre outcome with equal chances of success or
failure. The 16 shapes or configurations are divided among the days, weeks,
months, and years. For the days of the week, the shapes are distributed as shown
in Table 3.
Additionally, the first 12 of these 16 configurations are identified with the 12
astrological houses and are interpreted accordingly, taking into account the usual
correspondences and conventional meanings of the 12 houses, the planets, and the
zodiacal signs. van Binsbergen (1996, p. 43) presents the planetary and zodiacal
associations of each of the 16 names (see Table 4).

Table 3. The 16 Shapes Representing the Days of the Week.

Sunday and Friday and Wednesday Wednesday Saturday and Thursday Tuesday and Saturday
Thursday Tuesday and Saturday and Friday Wednesday and Monday Saturday and Rest
Night Night Night Night Night Night Night of Days

Source: Adopted from Al-Tokhi (1992). Al-usul wa al-wosoul fi ilm al-raml (translated from Arabic).
Chahine 43

Table 4. Ilm Al-raml Planetary and Zodiacal Associations of Each of the 16 Names.

Source: Adapted from Van Binsbergen (1996, p. 43).

Situating Ilm Al-raml Within an Ethnomathematics

Narrative
Unequivocally, numerous complex issues about the nature of mathematical
thinking across cultures are not yet resolved. Until the beginning of the 20th
44 The Oriental Anthropologist 21(1)

century and after the end of World War I, forms of thought foreign to Eurocentric
rationalism had been largely dismissed (D’Ambrosio, 2001). However, the
epistemological revitalization of indigenous societies has challenged the aura of
universality that has long stamped scientific and mathematical thought (Chahine
& Kinuthia, 2013). While a plethora of anthropological studies have provided
compelling evidence of the complexity of cognitive processes underlying
indigenous practices (Levi-Strauss, 1969; Turner, 1975; Zaslavsky, 1973), such
findings have been reaffirmed with the emergence of ethnomathematics.
D’Ambrosio, who coined the field, defines ethnomathematics as “the mathematics
[that is] practiced by cultural groups, such as urban and rural communities, groups
of workers, professional classes, children in a given age group, indigenous
societies and so many other groups that are identified by the objectives and
traditions common to these groups” (2002, p. 1). Being politically charged toward
the empowerment of marginalized societies (Chahine, 2011), ethnomathematics
discourse has provoked controversies and skepticism in mainstream science as it
appeals for new approaches to conceptualizing mathematics knowledge.
Nevertheless, the multidimensionality of the field, drawing on methodologies
from multiple disciplines including anthropology, history, and mathematics
education, has enriched our understanding of the different cycles of mathematical
ideas inherent in cultural practices across sociohistorical contexts. I contend that
ilm al-raml is one such practice that embodies mathematical structures embedded
in a sociocultural context. As explained during the detailed examination of ilm
al-raml practice, several mathematical ideas and concepts are remarkably evident
in ilm al-raml divinatory algorithm. The striking observation noted during
algorithm analysis is evidence of the isomorphism principle by establishing one-
to-one correspondences between the set of 16 shapes constituting the outcome of
the divinatory process and a set of standard interpretations that provided meaning
to the indisputable decision (see Figure 8). In its basic definition, isomorphism is
considered a mapping between two sets or mathematical groups that preserves
binary relationships between elements of the sets. Because an isomorphism
preserves some structural aspects of a set or a mathematical group, it is often used
to map a complicated set onto a simpler or a better-known set in order to establish
properties of the original set.
Chahine 45

Figure 8. The Isomorphism Principle Depicting a One-to-One Correspondence

Between the 16 Shapes and Their Respective Standard Interpretations.
Source: Depiction by the author.

Another mathematical idea that transpired during an algorithmic analysis of

the ilm al-raml divinatory practice is related to specific computational rules often
discussed in Boolean algebra. Such rules are commonly used in constructing
digital systems represented by configurations of 0s and 1s or what is referred to as
logic states (Gooroochurn, 2018). The two states, 1 and 0, can be thought of as
truth values, that is, either true (1) or false (0) statements or by circuit gates, that
is, an ON (1) or OFF (0) switches. The basic logical operations performed on
these logical states include: AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, XOR, and XNOR,
which can be illustrated using logic tables (see Table 5).
If we employ the same basic operations using the 2 dots (0) and 1 dot (1)
parity in lieu of logical states 0 and 1, it is clear that the outcomes still hold true
(see Table 6).
Of particular interest is the behavior of the XNOR operator, which does the
opposite of XOR operator returning an even output when either of its inputs is
odd. The XNOR operator is precisely the logical operator al-darib unknowingly
employs as he extracts 12 of the 16 shapes in a divinatory séance.
46 The Oriental Anthropologist 21(1)

Table 5. Outcome of Basic Operations on Logic States.

XOR XNOR
NAND (NOT NOR (Exclusive (Exclusive
Logical States AND OR AND) (NOT OR) OR) NOR)
0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1
1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0
0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0
1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1
Source: Developed by the author.

Table 6. Outcome of Basic Operations on Parity.

XOR XNOR
NAND NOR (Exclusive (Exclusive
Parity AND OR (NOT AND) (NOT OR) OR) NOR)
oo oo oo oo o o oo o
o oo oo o o oo o oo
oo o oo o o oo o oo
o o o o oo oo oo o
Source: Designed by the author.

The intent of highlighting the sequences of epistemic actions undertaken by the

users of this divinatory science, and deciphering rules of computation and
representation implicit in its design, is to offer concrete examples that provide a
novel appeal for an entirely new way of exploring mathematical concepts that
cultivate creative thought. Unpacking the mathematical ideas embedded within
ilm al-raml divinatory practice affords a more humanistic outlook on the nature of
mathematical knowledge, which is socially negotiated and culturally constructed
as a means of survival and empowerment.

Conclusion
Ilm al-raml is a complex cosmological tradition that is still practiced in various
countries today. Broadly, speaking this divinatory practice is contextual and
prevalent among affluent as well as underprivileged and poverty-stricken
communities. The system employs an advanced systematic set of procedures that
underlies its implementation and interpretation. As a representation system, ilm
al-raml encompasses a range of mathematical ideas that are embedded in the daily
life of peoples and that play an unprecedented role in impacting the decisions they
Chahine47

undertake in their everyday encounters. Arguably, such an inductive, semiotic

system is based on mathematical and decision-making principles that are vital in
the mathematics school curricula. This article calls for introducing students to
unconventional cultural practices that situate mathematical ideas in meaningful
and innovative contexts thus supporting an enthusiastic view of mathematics as a
prime human endeavor.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, author-
ship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication
of this article.

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