Among the more unusual entries in Islamic heritage literature is the mention of a strange sea being known as the Water Man (الإنسان المائي). Classical sources refer to it by several names, including Sheikh al-Bahr (the Elder of the Sea), the Jewish Sheikh, and the Sea Shaykh.
Alongside this figure, Arab and Islamic texts also mention the Daughters of Water(بنات الماء), female-like sea creatures said to have been seen by sailors and fishermen in earlier centuries.
But what exactly were these beings?
Were they mythical creatures, symbolic descriptions, sailor folklore, misunderstood marine animals, or remnants of a wider pre-modern attempt to classify the unknown world of the sea?
This article explores how classical Muslim scholars and travellers recorded these accounts, how jurists discussed them, and why such reports continue to fascinate readers of Islamic heritage today.
Historical Accounts of the Water Man in Islamic Literature
One of the well-known references appears in Hayat al-Hayawan al-Kubra (The Great Book of Animal Life) by Kamal al-Din al-Damiri (d. 808 AH). In his discussion of unusual creatures, he writes:
“The Water Man: He resembles the human being, except that he has a tail.”
The description is brief, but it is striking. Al-Damiri does not present the Water Man as a fantasy figure from entertainment literature, but as one of the curious beings transmitted in the wider zoological and heritage tradition of Muslim scholars.
Zakariya al-Qazwini (d. 682 AH), the famous author of ʿAjāʾib al-Makhlūqāt (Marvels of Creatures), also records reports of such a being. He writes:
“A man brought one of them during our time. In the Sea of the Levant, he sometimes appears as a human, with a white beard. They call him Sheikh al-Bahr. When people see him, they take it as a good omen for fertility and blessings.”
This report shows that the Water Man was not only described as a creature of the sea, but was also surrounded by popular beliefs. Seeing him was treated by some as a sign of blessing, fertility and good fortune.
Another famous narrative tells of a ruler who ordered that one of these beings be brought before him. Curious about its nature, the ruler arranged for the Water Man to marry a woman. They had a son who could understand both his father and mother.
When the boy was asked what his father was saying, he replied:
“He says: All the tails of the animals are behind them. What is wrong with these creatures who have tails on their faces?”
The strange statement appears to refer to human beards. Whether the story is read literally, symbolically or as a piece of sea folklore, it reflects how early writers used such accounts to explore the boundaries between the human world and the unknown creatures of the sea.
Daughters of Water: The Female Counterpart
Al-Damiri also mentions the Daughters of Water in the same heritage tradition, quoting Ibn Abi al-Ashʿath:
“They are sea creatures in the Roman Sea that resemble women, with braided hair and tanned skin. They utter unclear words, laugh and giggle, and sometimes fall into the hands of boatmen.”
These beings were described as female-like sea creatures, carrying features that made them seem human while still belonging to the mysterious realm of the ocean.
Al-Ruyani, a sailor and chronicler, also narrates that some fishermen encountered fish in the form of women. The fishermen reportedly swore under oath that they had not touched them. This detail is revealing. It shows that such creatures were not treated merely as curiosities, but as beings surrounded by fear, restraint and moral unease.
For sailors, the sea was not simply a body of water. It was a vast world of danger, signs, wonders and the unknown. Stories of the Daughters of Water belonged to that atmosphere, where religious imagination, eyewitness testimony and maritime folklore often overlapped.
Arab Descriptions of the Water Man’s Origins
The Persian-Arab traveller Bazrakh bin Shahriyar al-Ramhormuzi, writing in the 4th century AH in ʿAjāʾib al-Hind (Wonders of India), records accounts from travellers who visited Abyssinia and the Zanj coast.
He writes:
“Some who traveled through Zalaa and Abyssinia told me that in the Sea of Abyssinia, there are fish with faces like human children, and bodies with arms and legs. Poor and celibate fishermen, isolated in deserted coastal areas and reefs, sometimes mate with these beings, producing offspring resembling humans who live in both water and air.”
This passage is one of the more dramatic accounts. It reflects themes that appear in maritime folklore across many cultures: hybrid beings, isolated sailors, remote coasts and creatures that seem to stand between two worlds.
From a modern point of view, the report may appear impossible. But in the context of classical travel writing, it belongs to a broader genre where geography, wonder, oral testimony and natural observation were woven together.
Early Muslim scholars and travellers often preserved such reports not necessarily as final scientific claims, but as records of what people had seen, heard or believed. Their works functioned as encyclopaedias of the known and unknown world.
The Water Man in Islamic Jurisprudence
Perhaps the most fascinating part of this subject is that the Water Man was not only mentioned in books of wonders. It also entered discussions of Islamic jurisprudence.
The legal question was simple: if such a being existed, would it be permissible to eat?
Ibn Wahb (d. 197 AH), a student of Imam Malik, asked Imam al-Layth ibn Saʿd (d. 175 AH) about the permissibility of eating different aquatic creatures. He asked:
“What about the water pig, water dog, and water man?”
Al-Layth replied:
“As for the water man, he is not to be eaten under any circumstance. The pig, if people call it a pig, is also impermissible, as Allah has made it haram.”
This answer shows that some scholars treated the issue seriously enough to apply legal reasoning to it. The Water Man, due to its human-like form, was not treated like ordinary sea food.
Other early scholars took a broader approach. They held that anything living solely in water was permissible to consume, regardless of its shape or name. They relied on the general meaning of Qur’anic verses such as:
“The two seas are not alike, one is fresh and sweet, and one is salty and bitter, yet from both you eat tender flesh…” (Surat Fatir 35:12)
And:
“Lawful to you is the game of the sea and its food as provision for you and for travelers…” (Surat al-Ma’idah 5:96)
This broader position, adopted by scholars such as the Zahiris and some early Malikis, treated sea creatures as generally permissible unless a specific proof excluded them.
The Hanafi school, however, was more restrictive. Ibn Abidin (d. 1252 AH), in Radd al-Muhtar (6/307), states:
“Except for types that do not fall under the category of fish, such as the water human and water pig, these remain under the prohibition.”
This shows how Islamic jurisprudence did not simply ignore strange reports. Scholars considered classification, form, habitat, names and legal principles when discussing unusual creatures.
Myth, Misidentification or Lost Maritime Memory?
Modern science has not identified a creature matching the full descriptions found in these classical texts: a being with human-like features, speech-like sounds, hybrid offspring and a life between sea and land.
That does not make the reports meaningless.
Many researchers suggest that some ancient and medieval sightings of “human-like” sea creatures may have come from encounters with marine animals such as dugongs, manatees, seals, or unusual fish seen from a distance. Under poor visibility, during long voyages, or through the lens of local folklore, such animals could easily be transformed into stories of sea men and sea women.
There is also the psychological world of sailors to consider. Long journeys, isolation, fear of storms, hunger, spiritual reflection and limited knowledge of marine biology all shaped how people interpreted what they saw.
The sea has always produced stories because the sea has always resisted full human control.
For Muslim writers, these accounts were often preserved as part of the literature of wonders. They reflected curiosity about creation, not blind superstition. The world was viewed as vast, layered and filled with signs, some understood and others hidden.
Why These Reports Still Matter
The accounts of the Water Man and the Daughters of Water remind us that Islamic civilisation had a deep interest in the natural world, the unseen edges of creation and the testimony of travellers.
Muslim scholars recorded animals, plants, minerals, lands, seas, customs and strange reports from across the world. Some reports were accurate. Others were exaggerated. Some were symbolic. Others remain difficult to explain.
But together, they show a civilisation that was intellectually alive.
It asked questions.
It preserved testimony.
It debated law.
It classified creation.
It connected observation with theology, travel with scholarship, and wonder with moral reflection.
The Water Man may not live in the oceans as described in old manuscripts. But he continues to live in the pages of Islamic heritage, where the sea remains a place of mystery, fear, possibility and reflection.
Conclusion: Between Heritage, Law and Wonder
Whether the Water Man and the Daughters of Water were real creatures, misunderstood marine animals, sailor folklore or symbolic figures, their presence in Islamic literature is significant.
They appear in works of natural history, books of wonders, travel narratives and even discussions of fiqh. That alone makes them part of the rich intellectual memory of Muslim civilisation.
These accounts do not require the modern reader to accept every detail literally. But they do invite us to appreciate how earlier Muslim scholars approached the unknown: with curiosity, caution, classification and reference to Islamic legal principles.
In the end, the Water Man stands at the meeting point of sea legend, scholarly transmission and juristic imagination.
He is mysterious.
He is unsettling.
He is difficult to classify.
And that may be precisely why he has survived for centuries in the heritage of Islam.
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