Editing Khat (section)

==History==
[[File:Qat man.jpg|thumb|right|Man chewing khat in [[Sanaa]], Yemen (January 2009)]]

The inhabitants of [[Ifat Sultanate]] were the first to be recorded using khat in the 14th century by [[Arab]] historian [[Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Braukhamper |first1=Ulrich |title=Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia |year=2002 |publisher=LitVerlag |page=25 |isbn=978-3-8258-5671-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGnyk8Pg9NgC&dq=the+sacred+plant+of+the+east+ethiopian+and+yemenite+muslims+is+described&pg=PA25}}</ref> The khat plant likely originated in the [[Horn of Africa]] specifically Ethiopia-Somali area, from there it spread to [[Kenya]] and the [[Arabian Peninsula]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Everything about Qat/khat/kat |url=https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Hornet/qat.html |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=www.africa.upenn.edu}}</ref> According to nineteenth century British explorer [[Richard Francis Burton|Richard Burton]], khat originated in the [[Emirate of Harar]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Admassie |first1=Yeraswork |title=The Khat Conundrum in Ethiopia Socioeconomic Impact and Policy Directions |date=5 November 2018 |publisher=Forum for Social Studies |isbn=978-99944-50-63-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r6x7DwAAQBAJ&dq=birthplace+of+the+kat+plant&pg=PA49}}</ref>

[[Sufism|Muslim Sufis]] in the surrounding areas also used it to intensify their [[Mysticism#Union with the Divine or Absolute and mystical experience|mystical experience]] and to facilitate a sense of union with God.<ref>[http://oceanindien.revues.org/851 "Khat in the Western Indian Ocean – Regional Linkages and Disjunctures"] Neil Carrier et Lisa Gezon, 42–43 | 2009 : ''Plantes et Sociétés'', pp. 271–97.</ref>

The earliest known documented description of khat is found in the ''Kitab al-Saidala fi al-Tibb'' {{lang|ar|كتاب الصيدلة في الطب}}, an 11th-century work on [[pharmacy]] and [[materia medica]] written by [[Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī]], a [[Islamic science|Persian scientist]] and [[Islamic medicine|biologist]]. Unaware of its origins, al-Bīrūnī wrote that khat is:<ref>{{Cite book|first1=Kenneth F. |last1=Kiple |first2=Kriemhild Coneè |last2=Ornelas |year=2001 |title=The Cambridge World History of Food |pages=672–73 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-40216-3 |oclc=174647831}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|[A] commodity from [[Turkestan]]. It is sour to taste and slenderly made in the manner of ''batan-alu''. But ''khat'' is reddish with a slight blackish tinge. It is believed that ''batan-alu'' is red, coolant, relieves biliousness, and is a refrigerant for the stomach and the liver.}}

It is mentioned again in a 13th-century publication by the physician Naguib Ad-Din.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Giannini |first1=A.J. |last2=Burge |first2=H. |last3=Shaheen |first3=J.M. |last4=Price |first4=W.A. |title=Khat: another drug of abuse? |journal=Journal of Psychoactive Drugs |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=155–58 |year=1986 |pmid=3734955|doi=10.1080/02791072.1986.10471395|s2cid=1804158 }}</ref>

In 1854, [[Malaysia|Malay]] author [[Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir]] noted that the custom of chewing khat was prevalent in [[Al Hudaydah]] in Yemen:<ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.1080/713672763 |title=Munshi Abdullah's voyage to Mecca: A preliminary introduction and annotated translation |year=2000 |last1=Ché-Ross |first1=Raimy |journal=Indonesia and the Malay World |volume=28 |issue=81 |pages=173–213|s2cid=162579224 }}</ref>

{{Blockquote|You observed a new peculiarity in this city&nbsp;– everyone chewed leaves as goats chew the [[cud]]. There is a type of leaf, rather wide and about two fingers in length, which is widely sold, as people would consume these leaves just as they are; unlike [[betel]] leaves, which need certain condiments to go with them, these leaves were just stuffed fully into the mouth and munched. Thus when people gathered around, the remnants from these leaves would pile up in front of them. When they spat, their [[saliva]] was green. I then queried them on this matter: 'What benefits are there to be gained from eating these leaves?' To which they replied, 'None whatsoever, it's just another expense for us as we've grown accustomed to it.' Those who consume these leaves have to eat lots of [[ghee]] and [[honey]], for they would fall ill otherwise. The leaves are known as ''Kad''."}}

In 1856, English writer [[Charles Dickens]] also described the custom of khat chewing in the Horn region and the adjacent Gulf territories, likening it to drinking strong [[green tea]]:<ref name="Tooea"/>

{{Blockquote|And one may sleep well if, during the day, too much kat has not been chewed. The leaves of the drug called kat are the chief source of pleasurable excitement in these districts of East Africa. Botanists, taking the native name for the plant, turn it into Catha edulis, eatable kat. It is much used by the Arabs, to whom it is sent in camel loads, consisting of a number of small parcels, each containing about forty slender twigs, with the leaves attached, carefully, wrapped so as to avoid exposure to the air. These leaves are chewed, and act upon the spirits of those using them, much as a strong dose of green tea acts upon us in Europe, when it acts agreeably. Europeans used to stronger stimulants, are little affected by the use of kat, but among the more temperate Arabs it is so welcome a provocative to good humour, that about two hundred and eighty camel-loads of it are used every year in Aden only.}}

[[File:HarariMen.jpg|thumb|[[Harari people|Harari]] men consuming khat in the street of [[Harar]], Ethiopia]]
Nowadays khat consumption is limited to [[East Africa]] and South Western [[Arabia]]. These countries include [[Djibouti]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Kenya]], [[Somalia]] (includes [[Somaliland]]), [[Uganda]], and [[Yemen]]. The author Yousif Al Zarouni writes in his book:<ref name=AlZarouni />{{rp|4}}

{{Blockquote|The plant is native to the [[Arabian Peninsula]] and the [[Horn of Africa]], despite its native grounds it is only legal in one of the several countries of the [[Arabian Peninsula]], [[Yemen]]. The plant however is widely available and legal in [[East Africa]], some [[Africa]]n nations on the other hand such as [[South Africa]] consider it as a [[protected species]].

The plant is mostly used by East Africans and South West Arabians, rarely by people from other places.}}

Following a ban on khat in the British-governed [[Aden Protectorate]], the Qāt Commission of Inquiry in Aden concluded: "Qāt does not create an addiction, like opium or hashish, in that those who are suddenly deprived of it, do not suffer physical consequences."<ref name="HehmeyerSchönig2012">{{cite book|author1=Ingrid Hehmeyer|author2=Hannelore Schönig|author3=Hanne Schönig|title=Herbal Medicine in Yemen: Traditional Knowledge and Practice, and Their Value for Today's World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gm-bCFRcMHoC&pg=PA92|year=2012|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-22150-5|pages=92–}}</ref>