When it comes to the topic of Jinn possesion we've seen it all before.
The frightening voices, the horrific looks and the superhuman strength that comes out of people
under the influence of demonic spirits.
It's a terrifying topic.
Yet it somehow manages to arouse the interest of Muslims
and non-Muslims around the world with videos and amassing millions of views online.
The practice of removing such evil spirits and treating those who are affected is known as Ruqya
and it's an Islamic form of spiritual healing.
It's based on an authentic tradition of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ himself whereby verses of the Quran would be used to heal
those afflicted with sickness, black magic and evil spirits.
However despite the noble origins of this prophetic Sunnah,
the practice has recently found its way into the hands of fraudulent spiritual healers.
– Definitely there's a lot of exaggeration,
there's a lot of people that claim knowledge of things
that they have no foundation of,
there is a lot of use and abuse of people's ignorance
and weakness and lack of connection with Allah Azza Wa Jal.
– The issue was recently the subject of a press release by the Australian National Imam’s Council,
warning the wider public to be cautious of corrupt spiritual healers feigning religious authority.
OnePath Network has undertaken an investigation into the malpractice of the Ruqya industry,
and what we have uncovered will not only shock you but leave you deeply disturbed.
Our first victim claims to have been set up with a spiritual healer
after her sister suspected she was possessed by an evil spirit.
She herself denied such suspicions but nevertheless met with the spiritual healer.
This is what she says happened on her first meeting.
– He introduced himself with his name and asked for my name,
and said, "Sister, would you lie down for me just so I can, you know, start my work on you straight away,
so we don't have to waste any time".
And I laid down on the couch, I asked my sister to bring me a blanket
because I felt uncomfortable the fact that I was lying down on the couch,
and he was sitting right on top of my head.
With his own bare hand he put it on my neck and he gently pressed,
then I felt like he needed to press harder to make it look like something is wrong for me to react.
So he choked me and he choked me hard,
but I remember that's how much he choked me,
I reached the point where I couldn't eat or even drink water.
– Video footage obtained by the victim confirms she was indeed physically abused and choked,
the video footage is too distressing to show.
Our second victim also claims to have been set up to meet with a spiritual healer, this is what happened.
– He was saying to my husband, that he was convinced that I have Jinn in me,
so we need to take him out.
We thought that the next thing he was going to do, he was going to read Quran,
so he did.
He put his hand on my head and he started to read Quran,
even my husband's face went a bit confused about how is the sheikh touching me.
And then we thought, okay he is a Raqi, so it's okay.
Slowly slowly his hands started going down, he started banging my shoulders
like really really hard.
He started really really hitting my back,
when he started hitting me I was like in pain obviously,
so I was screaming.
So then he grabbed his hands and he started choking me like full-on like choking,
my face changed colour, like I felt like I was gonna pass out.
– Our third victim details a story that happened when she was 12 years old at the hands of a spiritual healer,
her account unveiled horrific details of both psychological and physical abuse.
A word of warning, some may find the following interview extremely distressing.
– First he started to read Quran, and then I don't know what happened,
he told me to go lie down on the couch, tied me up and he began to choke me
and using his hand as a knife on my neck to get something to come out
and then he began to bang, hit me on my knees,
I was trapped in a house screaming and begging for someone to come and help me.
and he was trying to get it out of me,
and I became psychologically unstable for 2 weeks.
He would instructed me to drink oil and this oil used to burn inside of me,
and I used to scream from pain because it's burning me,
and he would say that it's good, it's dying.
And then..
he...
he made them shower me, and he was always hitting me,
at 12 year old I was getting abused by someone I didn't know.
– The abuse she endured so long ago still deeply effects her until this very day.
– After that day I used to have severe anxiety attacks,
I used to go to the hospital every week from anxiety attacks,
I'm on medication now to stop my anxiety because until this day I get them.
It led to, that I would be on the highway and wanted jump out, I just wanted to die.
– This condition called post-traumatic stress disorder,
it relates to the trauma the person has experienced that can put them at risk of losing the life
or experience someone else losing their life.
It can impact on person's life in the future as well,
they can continue to have high anxiety level with flashbacks,
nightmares related to the experience in the past
that significantly impacted normal functioning.
– Account after account revealed horrific stories of abuse at the hands of spiritual healers.
Throughout the course of our interviews, a common theme kept recurring – and that was the naivety
of family members in placing their unconditional trust in spiritual healers.
It was as though the appearance of the spiritual healer,
who dressed in Islamic garb and spoke a few words of Arabic,
was enough to convince family members that he was a person of religious authority
– despite his clear, grievous violations of Islamic law.
Sheikh, what is the Islamic ruling on hitting your patient during Ruqya treatment?
Another malicious practice employed by these corrupt individuals
was to convince family members that the victim was not in pain while they operated,
and rather that it was the demon or evil spirit that was suffering.
This deceptive technique further manipulated family members, and led to the victim feeling abandoned
and helpless at the hands of their abuser.
– I didn't know what was happening around,
I was exhausted of him choking me when it literally my jaw popped out of the place.
"I'm not hurting you, sister. It's Jinn inside of you"
And he would take honey and shoved it down my throat and he is like,
"Look, she is reacting because Shaitan doesn't like honey "
No, if he shoved it in anyone's mouth the way you're shoving in my mouth
anyone's gonna react in the same way.
– I used to beg him to stop and he won't, he said, "It's not her"
and I used to believe it wasn't me
but I know it was me, he said you would not to feel anything
but I did,
I felt everything and nobody believed me.
He made me doubt my own words.
–To make matters worse, in some instances the spiritual healer would be in seclusion
with the female patient without the presence of any Mahram or male relative.
This not only contravenes Islamic guidelines, but in this context also opens the door to potential sexual harassment.
– For a female to go to a male Raqi that's mentioned in Fiqh.
It's not just an open ground like that.
If there's a female Raqi, a female sister that does this,
then it becomes unlawful for you to go to (a male),
especially if he's going to, unfortunately many of them, they may touch you,
I dare say hundreds of stories I personally face of people that felt abused and used,
but it's very very embarrassing to reveal.
– Another common theme amongst all victims was the absence of any medical evaluation prior to spiritual treatment.
There is no doubt within Islam that people are susceptible
to being affected by evil spirits and black magic, however by the same token,
we do not deny the importance and necessity of first evaluating whether or not one has a valid medical condition
that can explain one’s sickness.
– A lot of people that work in this field they don't even
know how to actually differentiate between the different sicknesses.
So if someone is mentally ill is actually mentally ill,
the Raqi does not know how to differentiate so everything now became Jinn possesion
to the extent that everyone around us now is claiming or actually considering maybe I am possessed.
– Mental illness is more common than we think it is in the community
and often people don't seek help,
it's important to find out more about it and if you think you are suffering from it
and you're functioning is being affected by it it's important to seek help.
– The truth is, there is nothing new about what is happening today.
For centuries, corrupt individuals have manipulated and abused religion to achieve their own corrupt personal agenda.
It’s an old business that is marketed upon the vulnerabilities of people.
– It's becoming ridiculous and it's getting out of hand, especially when we know that
for some it's becoming lucrative, this financial gain behind the Raqi doing whatever he is doing
and it comes in different formats and some people ask for money directly and it's not cheap
and some people they say, "I don't take money",
but then he sells you the water, they read Fatiha on two hundred times
and he makes a gain or a profit from it.
– But he doesn't ask for money,
he's like, "You can donate as much as you want, whatever you want",
but I'm paying for the honey and it's not cheap,
I'm paying for this, he's asking inderict, but then he tells you,
"I don't take money, I'm doing it for Allah",
I'm not stupid, you are asking for more than money.
– Roughly per session we worked out well whatever we put in the donation box was a couple of hundred dollars
and every single time we would walk out with at least $360 worth of things.
– It was devastating to realize that what was once used to heal is now being used to harm.
However what matters today is that we raise enough awareness to bring such tainted practices to an end
and revive the true Prophetic Sunnah of Ruqya
that befits its noble purposes of achieving spiritual healing for those that are affected.
– Muslims should never forget that the strength of Ruqya
will always stem from the Quran itself and not from the one reciting it.
In fact by constantly surrounding ourselves with the book of Allah
and reciting the Prophetic supplications against evil,
we will ensure that we are sufficiently protected from the harms of any Jinn or evil spirit.
– The strength is not in the Raqi, the strength is in the actual Ruqya,
there's no difference between the Raqi reading Quran on you
and you reading Quran for yourself or your husband been reading it for you
or your wife reading it for you or your mother for your children.
The Prophet ﷺ taught us read Surah Al Baqarah in your house,
do the Athkar of the morning and the evening,
things like reading Ayatul Kursi before you sleep
they're very very effective.
– Healing will always come from Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la
and we shouldn't place too much reliance upon the spiritual healer
to the point that they're able to take advantage of vulnerable members of the community.
May Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la protect our community from all those who have brought harm
and may the Sunnah of our beloved Messenger of Allah Muhammad ﷺ be safeguarded and protected
from all those who have abused it.
Until next time. Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatu Allahi Wabarakatuh.