Bisha: The Awesome Fire Test

Abed al-Aziz from the Judean Desert is suspected of turning his tribe over to the Israeli Secret Service; Aql al-Atrash from the Negev wants to be cleared of a charge of murder; Sa’ed from the Egyptian village of Fanara is accused of committing adultery – the lives of these three people now depend on the ordeal of the Bisha. The Bisha is a test to detect the truth and it stands at the forefront of the Bedouin legal system, the haq al-orfi (the law of knowledge).During this test, all the accused lick a piece of white-hot metal. A burnt tongue is proof that they are lying; a clean tongue will serve as incontrovertible evidence that the suspects are blameless.