Folklore Exhibit at the Sharjah Heritage Museum

Sharjah is one of the seven emirates of United Arab Emirates, a neighbor to the more famous Dubai. It holds many museums within its sole city, focusing on Islamic culture and art. One of them is the Sharjah Heritage Museum, a six-gallery museum established in 2005 and housed in a pearl merchant’s former home.

While most of the galleries explore local history and Emirati tradition, one easily-overlooked section gives visitors a glimpse into a darker, spookier side of Sharjah’s folklore. Encased in glass are miniature models of strange phenomena, ghosts and monsters known in the area, a rare depiction that cannot be found elsewhere.

One such creature of Sharjah folklore is Um Karba wa Leef, or the “Mother of Tribulations and Trouble,” a living palm tree possessed by a djinn. It is said to haunt desert villages, menacing and frightening people, if not intrinsically harmful. Reading verses from the Qur’an prevents an encounter with this fearsome tree.

Um Al Helaan is a more mysterious figure, taking the form of an unclean, elderly woman with a disfigured face and evil eyes. She suddenly appears at the door and demands to be invited inside, then judging the home by its owner’s wealth, and cursing them with death upon leaving.

There are also legends concerning the sea, fit for a coastal city such as Sharjah. Khataf Ra’faey, for one, is an enormous white creature resembling the sail of a ship. It brings certain death to sailors who find it and, though less dangerous on land, it can also hover over the town spreading sickness. In the Strait of Hormuz, on the other hand, there is a massive jenneia in the form of a rock called Salama, who, with her many daughters, cause big waves and wreck the passing ships.