Pigeons and Superstitions in Maldives.

Pigeons have been connected to many superstitious believes of Maldivians.May be it is because of their close connection, love and affection towards pigeons.Pigeons are very common domestic birds in Maldives.And i believe that our ancestors have worked hard to make the pigeons' stay in their houses were very comfortable.For example, they used to say..."if a tear drop of a pigeon falls in to a house,that house will surely be abandoned one day and will be haunted (falhuve, naamaanvaane)". Pigeons are considered some what sacred or atleast good beings.Maybe it has the roots in the old story of how Prophet Mohamed and Abu Bakr were saved by God while hiding in the Cave of Mount Thawr(sauru farubadhaige hohalha ) .If you dont know the story, here it is :

"When the people of Mecca knew Prophet Mohamed was migrating to Medina the swordsmen followed their (Mohamed and Abubakr's) tracks until they reached their hiding place (Cave of Mount Thawr) ,and one of them said 'Its entrance is covered with cobwebs, and there is a pair of wild pigeons on the threshold. Obviously, no one could have gone in without disturbing the pigeons and destroying the cobwebs.'

(note: i dunno about the authenticity of the story in islam,it is a story our parents narrated to us(and read it in an islam book at skool),....most maldvians must have heard of it.It is included in Muhammad Husayn Haykal's "The life of Mohamed"[read the page from here].It is also mention by Ibn Katheer in al-Bidaayah wa’l-Nihaayah....so there is a disagreement over its authenticity.for details see this salafi Q&A article.)

and sometimes... something about a gecko is added to the story.its like; when some one said "they could be hiding here" the gecko made the sound it makes.. (tut-tut- tuttut)...thoththoh thalhaalee in dhivehi...it is believed that by this soud...a gecko is saying "yes,yes"....now also if one says something and in the same moment a house gecko makes the sound...he will quickly say..."see,i was telling the truth.the gecko also agreed".It is said that after the gecko told the truth about the prophet and abubakr that day..it was cursed, and now it can never lie (and yes,that could really be a curse right?).

so gecko is considered a bad thing.I think gecko is always considered as something bad in islam.Prophet Mohamed is quoted as Saying:""Kill gecko, for it blew fire on our father Ibrâhîm.(Ahmad)"[source]....whatever it is.... what is important here is the part about pigeons.so lets get back to the topic.

Pigeons are also used in the traditional fanditha black magic.since fanditha is somehwhat about islamic texts and religion.Pigeons are used for different purposes in fanditha.here is one story about it.it was use to make magic to win a football match (this type of magic is called as boogal):

"At the start of the second half, three pigeons flew into the ground. All of the birds were coloured red and yellow — Victory(Sports Club)'s team colours. One of the pigeons went towards the Valencia(Sports Club) bench, and team officials caught it.When the referee went onto the field, the second pigeon was sitting on the centre line. The referee caught it and gave it to the Commissioner of the Match, Mohamed Ameez. Ameez took the bird to the referees' room.The other pigeon sat on the Victory team's penalty line until the end of the game. Although it remained still, no one dared to touch it.This is believed to be a psychological tactic used by Victory supporters to unnerve Valencia. Such tactics have been used before here in a culture where people still believe in the power of superstition and black magic.[source]".....

That's All Folks!