Duʿāʾ-niwīsī (lit. ‘prayer writing’ or, more idiomatically, ‘amulet making’) refers to a particular method of using written supplications in order to ward off evil, fulfil wishes and cure illnesses.

As a practice, the production and use of these amulets can be conceived of in terms of a kind of ‘faith healing’ or ‘supplication’ that rests on the belief that God’s will and other spiritual forces play a direct role in the everyday life of human being…