A group of Moroccans performing the opening rituals of an Islamic lila.

The lila is a rich ceremony of song, music, dance, costume, and incense that takes place over the course of an entire night, ending around dawn. An explicit goal of the lila is to allow participants to negotiate relationships with their melk (pl. mluk). The melk is an abstract entity that gathers a number of similar jnun (genie spirits). The ritual enables participants to enter the trance state of jadba, in which they may perform startling and sometimes spectacular dances. It is by means of these dances that participants negotiate their relationships with the mluk either placating them if they have been offended or strengthening an existing relationship. (info on the lila from http://www.sonispheric.net/the_gnawa_and_their_lila.htm)