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Volume 4: Number 2: Article 4
Moslem Cases of The Reincarnation Type in Northern India: A Test of the Hypothesis of Imposed Identification. Part I: Analysis of 26 Cases
Antonia Mills, Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry and
Department of Anthropology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville,
VA 22908
The author describes the features of 26 Moslem (or half-Moslem) cases
of the reincarnation type in India. In eight of these cases a Moslem
child is said to have recalled a life as a Hindu, and in 11 cases a
Hindu child is said to have recalled the life of a Moslem (these are
referred to as half-Moslem cases). Most Moslems in India do not officially
endorse the concept of human earthly reincarnation. In some instances
the absence of the doctrine in Islam made Moslems hostile to investigation
of the cases. However, the cases are generally very similar to the more
common Hindu cases, except that in solved Moslem and half-Moslem cases
a higher proportion of previous personalities died violently, and the
subjects in the half-Moslem cases showed behavior and (in two instances)
birthmarks appropriate for the other religious community. Both Hindu
and Moslem parents found it troubling to have a child recall a past
life in a different religion. Such cases are unlikely to be the result
of subtle clues given the child to adopt an envied identity.
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