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In Islam, the belief that spiritual entities—particularly,
jinn Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...
—can possess a person, (or a thing or location), is widespread; as is the belief that the jinn and devils can be expelled from the possessed person (or thing/location) through
exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...
. This practice is called ''al-'azm''Magic and Divination in Early Islam. (2021). Vereinigtes Königreich: Taylor & Francis. or ''ruqya'' and exorcists are called ''raqi''. Belief in the supernatural --
witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...
, sorcery,
magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
, ghosts, and demons—in the Muslim world is not marginalized as eccentric or a product of ignorance, but is pervasive among all social classes. Belief in the supernatural creatures known as ''
Jinn Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...
'' is both an integral part of Islamic belief, and a common explanations in society "for evil, illness, health, wealth, and position in society as well as all mundane and inexplicable phenomena in between". Jinn are thought to be able to enter and possess people, with evil jinn causing various maladies in the humans they possess. In the contemporary Muslim world (as of 2013), "throughout the Middle East and among Western Muslims", professional exorcism has developed into an industry. Qur'anic healing is advertised on Facebook and Twitter, and "thousands" of videos have been posted on YouTube. Thousands of Islamic exorcisms are also reportedly performed each year (as of 2018) in one country (the United Kingdom) alone.


Spirit possession in Islam

Possession by spirits is usually defined as an unusual or
altered state of consciousness An altered state of consciousness (ASC), also called altered state of mind or mind alteration, is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking state. By 1892, the expression was in use in relation to hypnosis, though there ...
and associated behaviors purportedly caused by the control of a human body by
spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...
s, ghosts, demons, or
gods A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greater ...
. In the Islamic context, such entities are referred to as '' marrid'' (demons), ''bhut'' (evil spirits), jinn (spirits or "lesser deities"), ''shaytaan'' (satanic beings). The whispering of demons (''waswās'') is conceptually different from demonic possession in Islamic thought.


Symptoms of possession

Symptoms of a need for exorcism in Islam may range from "yipping and howling", or "fits and screaming" by the possessed victim, to "vomiting, pain in the womb, insomnia, headaches and back-pain, and poor memory", seizures and speaking "in an incomprehensible language", to much less obvious behavior, such as anything from "poor health to bad relationships", including homosexuality.


Possessing spirits or beings


Jinn

''Jinn'' is an Arabic collective noun deriving from the Semitic root jinn (
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
: , , singular ''jinni''), also romanized as ''djinn'' or
anglicized Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influenc ...
as ''genie''. The primary meaning of jinn is "to hide". Some authors interpret the word to mean, literally, "beings that are concealed from the senses". In Islamic belief jinn—depending on source/context—may be described as supernatural creatures with specific traits and characteristics or have a broader meaning of spirit or
daemon Daimon or Daemon (Ancient Greek: , "god", "godlike", "power", "fate") originally referred to a lesser deity or guiding spirit such as the daimons of ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology and of later Hellenistic religion and Hell ...
. Some authors use of the word ''jinn'' in the Quran is for all supernatural creatures invisible (to humans). This includes
angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles incl ...
,
devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...
s, and the interior of human beings. Accordingly, every devil and every angel is also a ''jinn'', but not every ''jinn'' is an angel or a devil.Teuma, E. (1984). More on Qur'anic jinn. ''Melita Theologica'', 35(1-2), 37-45.
Al-Jahiz Abū ʿUthman ʿAmr ibn Baḥr al-Kinānī al-Baṣrī ( ar, أبو عثمان عمرو بن بحر الكناني البصري), commonly known as al-Jāḥiẓ ( ar, links=no, الجاحظ, ''The Bug Eyed'', born 776 – died December 868/Jan ...
categorizes the jinn in his work '' Kitab al-Hayawan'' as follows: "If he is pure, clean, untouched by any defilement, being entirely good, he is an angel, if he is faithless, dishonest, hostile, wicked, he is devil, if he succeeds in supporting an edifice, lifting a heavy weight and listening at the doors of Heaven he is a
marid ''Marid'' ( ar, مارد ') is a type of devil in Islamic traditions. The Arabic word meaning ''rebellious'' is applied to such supernatural beings. In Arabic sources Etymology The word ''mārid'' is an active participle of the root ''m-r-d'' ...
and if he more than this, he is an ifrit." More specifically described, jinn are a creature on their own and have both similarities to humans and differences from them. Like people they are not immortal, they eat, drink, and procreate. They have free will to choose between good and evil,Joseph P. Laycock ''Spirit Possession around the World: Possession, Communion, and Demon Expulsion across Cultures'' ABC-CLIO 2015 page 166 may be Muslims or unbelievers, have received messengers and prophets from God, and will face judgement day. Unlike humans, according to the Quran and hadith, jinn are created from fire () or "smokeless fire"; they are invisible to humans, but humans are not invisible to them,Quran, verse Al-A'raf 27, quoted in can also be visible and have the power to take on different shapes, may be able to travel extremely rapidly and lift great weights. Their food is bones, rotting flesh, their animal's food is excrement, and their dwelling places are "ruins or unclean places like bathrooms, dunghills, garbage dumps and graveyards". They are able to possess animate and inanimate objects. One hadith divides them into three groups, with one type of jinn flying through the air; another type being snakes and dogs; and a third moving from place to place like human. Jinn are not supernatural in the sense of being purely spiritual and transcendent to nature; while they are believed to be invisible (or often invisible) they also eat, drink, sleep, breed with the opposite sex, and produce offspring that resemble their parents. Intercourse is not limited to jinn alone, but is also possible between human and jinn. According to Pierre Lory, some jinn tend to have sexual intercourse with humans. There are some ''
hadiths Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
'', considered faricated (''maudhu'') by some Sunni
hadith scholars Hadith studies ( ar, علم الحديث ''ʻilm al-ḥadīth'' "science of hadith", also science of hadith, or science of hadith criticism or hadith criticism) consists of several religious scholarly disciplines used by Muslim scholars in th ...
(''muhaddith''), in support of this view.: Lory states that, in Islamic belief, love is one of the most frequent causes of relationships between humans and jinn Sylvaine Camelin, in her study of exorcism in the Yemeni province of Hadramawt, states:


Other beings

Although most accounts of possession and exorcism in Islam involve Jinn, Muslim cosmology features more creatures capable of possession, such as ''marrid'' (demons), ''bhut'' (evil spirits), and ''shaytaan'' (satanic beings). demons. * '' ʻafarit''—underworld demons— are said to grant the possessed some supernatural powers, but also to drive them insane. * '' shayatin''—devils—are inherently evil, lacking the free will that jinn and humans have to choose between good and evil. Iblis, the leader of the ''shayatin'', tempts humans into sin by following the lower ''
nafs ''Nafs'' () is an Arabic word occurring in the Quran, literally meaning "self", and has been translated as "psyche", " ego" or " soul".Nurdeen Deuraseh and Mansor Abu Talib (2005), "Mental health in Islamic medical tradition", ''The Internati ...
'' (ego or soul) of the human, whispering temptation (
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
: ''waswās'' وَسْوَاس) to them
Hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...
s suggest that the demons/devils whisper from within the human body, within or next to the
heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide to t ...
, so it is sometimes thought of as a kind of possession, but of the soul and not the body. * Spirits neither fitting to ghosts, devils or jinn (''
Zār In the cultures of the Horn of Africa and adjacent regions of the Middle East, ''Zār'' ( ar, زار, gez, ዛር) is the term for a demon or spirit assumed to possess individuals, mostly women, and to cause discomfort or illness. The so-cal ...
'' ("red wind") and '' div'' (fiends)) are other spirits that exorcists check for. The Quran and hadith indicate demons and devils infect the metaphorical heart (), turning the soul and thoughts away from that which is good. They are believed to engage in devilish whisperings to tempt humans that is compared to devil-possession.


Scriptural basis

Most Muslim scholars accept that jinn can possess people. A few argue jinn can not physically possess someone, but only influence people. According to the conservative fatwa site Islam-web, the "ability of the jinn to possess humans is unanimously agreed upon by Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jamaa'ah" he_formal_name_for_Sunni_Muslims.html" ;"title="Sunni.html" ;"title="he formal name for Sunni">he formal name for Sunni Muslims">Sunni.html" ;"title="he formal name for Sunni">he formal name for Sunni Muslims It gives as evidence the verse * "Those who consume Riba (interest or usury) cannot stand except as one whom the devil has driven to madness by his touch..." [Quran 2:275] adding the commentary of Al-Qurtubi: "This verse serves as evidence of the falseness of the view held by those who deny jinn possession and claim that it is the work of human dispositions and that the devil does not flow within the human body and cannot possess him." The fatwa also cites Ibn Taymiyyah, who wrote, "The entrance of the jinn into the human body is confirmed by the consensus of the Imaams of Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jamaa'ah."


Reasons for possession

According to traditional Islamic sources, possession by a jinni can happen for various reasons. Ibn Taymiyyah asserted a Jinni might sometimes haunt an individual, because the person had harmed the jinni—urinating or throwing hot water on it, or even killing a related jinni—without intending to or even realizing it.ʻUmar Sulaymān Ashqar ''The World of the Jinn and Devils'' Islamic Books 1998 page 204 In this case the jinni will try to take revenge on the person. Another cause for jinn possession, according to Moiz Ansari, is that a jinni falls in love with a human and thereupon possesses the human.Moiz Ansari ''Islam And the Paranormal: What Does Islam Says About the Supernatural in the Light of Qur'an, Sunnah And Hadith'' iUniverse 2006 page 55 Some women have reported that during the time (they believed) they were being possessed by a jinn, the jinn tried to have sexual intercourse from inside their bodies.Kelly Bulkeley, Kate Adams, Patricia M. Davis ''Dreaming in Christianity and Islam: Culture, Conflict, and Creativity''Rutgers University Press 2009 page 148 Thirdly, it occurs when a jinni, who is evil, simply wants to harm a human for no specific reason, according to Moiz Ansari. Such a jinn will possess that person, if it gets the opportunity, while the human is in a very emotional state or unconsciousness. In his book ''Rahe Belayet'', Abdullah Zahangir states that, evil jinn get chances to influence human mind, when it is in a sinful (or bodily impure) state or in deep emotions such as deep joy, deep sorrow, deep anger, deep frustration, deep obsession and deep sexual urge, but they avoid people who ere extremely pious. Alizeh Kohari, in a story about UK-based internet Raqi Abu Tharr, writes that "a jinn can take over our mind or body for a number of reasons: it may be evil or infatuated, or simply bored." There are even, according to some sources, "intended possessions", were there is a covenant with the ''jinn''. Since not all ''jinn'' intend to do harm, they are distinguished from cultural concepts of possession by devils/demons.


Possession and religion

;Talisman To protect against jinn possession some people have employed
talisman A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...
s to prevent possession (and other supernatural harm). Pew Research Center states that "Islamic tradition also holds that Muslims should rely on God alone to keep them safe from sorcery and malicious spirits rather than resorting to talismans, which are charms or amulets bearing symbols or precious stones believed to have magical powers, or other means of protection". Scholars differ in opinion on this issue and some maintaining amulets are permitted, provided they are composed of verses from the Quran. Their prohibition in Islam comes from being considered '' shirk''—the sin of practicing idolatry or polytheism— arguing the amulet wearer is asking help from the amulet and not God.


Doubts about possession

Da'wah activist and scholar of religious studies Shabir Ally, who claim not doubt the traditional belief of jinn as invisible beings, questions the scriptural support for jinn possession and exorcism, stating, "as far as I can see there is nothing in the Quran that says that jinn possess people". Q.2:275, the verse quoted to support belief in possession, does state "Those who consume Riba (interest) cannot stand except as one whom the devil has driven to madness by his touch. That is because they say, 'Trade is no different than interest' ...." However there is a big difference between knocking someone to the ground, and possessing a person, speaking through their voice, moving through and using their body. Furthermore, the verse is talking about the effect of charging interest, not a danger of the devil, or jinn, inhabiting a person.


''Ruqya'' (exorcism) practices

( ), according to its proponents, summons jinn and demons by invoking the names of God, and commands them to abandon their mischief, and is believed to repair damage believed to have been caused by
jinn Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...
possession,
witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...
() or the
evil eye The Evil Eye ( grc, ὀφθαλμὸς βάσκανος; grc-koi, ὀφθαλμὸς πονηρός; el, (κακό) μάτι; he, עַיִן הָרָע, ; Romanian: ''Deochi''; it, malocchio; es, mal de ojo; pt, mau-olhado, olho gordo; ar ...
. One kind of Islamic exorcism is ''al-ruqya al-sharʿiyya''. Academic Christian Suhr describes a successful result of it as providing "healing, not in the sense of immediate 'well-being' or 'relief from pain' but in the sense of moral witnessing". ''Ruqya'' is part of a wider body of Islamic medicine called " prophetic medicine". ;Interfaith exorcism At least a few Muslim exorcists have claimed to treat non-Muslims—Imam Ayoub Sayed in Sheffield England: ('Most of our patients come from the Islamic faith. However we have also helped Christians, Sikhs, Hindus and atheists'); "Ali" in Glasgow ('I work with Muslims and non-Muslims alike ... More and more people are getting into alternative healing'). And at least one Christian priest exorcist (as of 2014) has been frequented by Muslims—Father Sama'an Ibrahim at Cairo's St. Sama'an Cathedral in Egypt.


Appropriate qualities for exorcists

Al-Jzari (1987) and Al-Daramdash (1991) list several characteristics for a Quranic-Healer of possession. These include belief in God, following the prophet Muhammad's practice as personified by Islamic saints, belief that the Quran can influence evil spirits, must be a righteous person and doing nothing that is forbidden, have knowledge of the world of evil spirits, know which Surahs to use for specific types of spirits, have a sense of good-will to help people attacked by evil spirits, resistance to any distraction from sexual dynamics during the process, and mindfulness of God during throughout the process in order to avoid infiltration by evil spirits.


Examples of exorcist procedure

Alizeh Kohari writes that "in a typical exorcism, you lie down, while the raqi places their palm on your head and recites verses." Najat Khalifa and Tim Hardie write that there are three ways for a therapist to expell jinn: *"remembrance of God and recitation of the Quran"; *"blowing into the possessed person's mouth, cursing and commanding the jinn to leave"; *"seeking refuge with Allah by calling upon Allah, remembering him and addressing his creatures". According to a study by Alean Al-Krenawi and John Graham, the process of Quranic healing in order to exorcise spirits can be divided into three stages. # Removing any (
haram ''Haram'' (; ar, حَرَام, , ) is an Arabic term meaning 'Forbidden'. This may refer to either something sacred to which access is not allowed to the people who are not in a state of purity or who are not initiated into the sacred knowle ...
) distractions, such as music instruments and golden jewelry. All pictures in the room that (it is believed) would allow
angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles incl ...
to enter are removed. The healer then tells the client and the family that everything happens by God's will and that he is merely a mediator, also mentioning that other forms of healing, such as by sorcery, are not acceptable to Islam. # The healer determines if the client is possessed or not and tries to enter a dialogue with the spirit. The healer might ask the spirit about type (''Zar'' ("red wind"), ghosts (''Arwah''), jinn (genii), ''samum'' (devils), div), religion, sex or reason for possession. He also asks the client, not the spirit, about dreams and feelings involved in the dream. After that, the healer cleans himself, the room, and asks the people in the room to do the same. # The actual exorcism begins by reciting Quranic verses such as Al-Fatiha, Al Baqara, Al-Baqara 255, the last two verses of
Al-Baqara Al-Baqara, alternatively transliterated Al-Baqarah ( ar, الْبَقَرَة, ; "The Heifer" or "The Cow"), is the second and longest chapter ('' surah'') of the Quran. It consists of 286 verses ('' āyāt'') which begin with the "mysterio ...
, Al-Jinn and three Qul (
Al-Ikhlas Al-Ikhlāṣ ( ar, الْإِخْلَاص, "Sincerity"), also known as the Declaration of God's Unity and al- Tawhid ( ar, التوحيد, "Monotheism"), is the 112th chapter ('' sūrah'') of the Quran. According to George Sale, this chapter ...
,
An-Nas Al-Nās or Mankind ( ar, الناس, ''an-nās'') is the 114th and last chapter (''sūrah'') of the Qur'an. It is a short six- verse invocation. : ۝ Say, "I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind, :۝ The Sovereign of mankind. :۝ The God of manki ...
and
Al-Falaq Al-Falaq or The Daybreak ( ar, اَلْفَلَق, ''al-falaq'') is the 113th chapter ('' sūrah'') of the Qur'an. It is a brief five ayat (verse) surah, asking God for protection from the evil: : ۝ Say, "I seek refuge in the Lord of daybrea ...
), depending on the type of spirit. Other treatments include using honey and water, as a purification ritual to clean the soul and body from sins. At an exorcism at Masjid Mohammed mosque in Sheffield, South Yorkshire by Imam Ayoub Sayed, a young woman sought help to rid herself of what she believed were spirits caused by black magic. The woman, dressed in a burqa with a face covering, blamed possession by spirits for symptoms of vomiting, pain in the womb, insomnia, headaches and back-pain, and poor memory, and for inability to find a husband. During the exorcism the woman rocked backwards and forwards shouting and screaming while the exorcist, Imam Ayoub Sayed used a microphone to amplify recitation of Quran and shouts in English of 'can you find God, can you find him?' to banish the jinni. The woman "screams out uncontrollably while thrashing around on a couch before picking up a nearby table", at which point the exorcist spits in her face. (The article did not indicate whether the exorcism was successful.)


Fatalities

Exorcisms that did not end successfully were those of Latifa Hachmi (found dead on 5 August 2004), and Naila Mumtaz (found dead 8 July 2009). Hachmi's body was "covered with bruises and her lungs filled with water". She had undergone "month-long sessions" of exorcism in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
involving beatings, swallowing "dozens of liters of 'holy' water, "according to Belgian media reports". She was "fed two spoons of yogurt every day and always had earphones playing verses from the Quran." She was thought to be possessed at least in part because she could not become pregnant. (The exorcist, Abdelkrim Aznagui, and five others were charged in the killing.) In Naila Mumtaz's case, three of her inlaws and her husband were found guilty of murder. The judge believed the most likely reason for the killing of the 21-year-old Pakistani brought to England in an arranged marriage was that "the defendants believed that Naila had been possessed by a djinn, which had been sent from Pakistan by Naila's parents, and that they ... smothered her in order to get rid of the djinn." The exorcist or "healer" is thought to have been "in the room" when Mumtaz died, but has "never been traced", something that "has happened in other cases". Shabir Ally states that deaths from beatings administered to people in the belief that this would drive the jinn out of the possessee, have become so frequent as to no longer be big news.


Treatment of mentally ill at shrines

In one Muslim country, Afghanistan, a common exorcism practice as of 2013 that has been criticized as inhumane, was to secure
the mentally ill to eligiousshrines for forty days to ritually exorcise the jinn "possessing" them. Patients are fed a strict diet of bread and black pepper, do not have a change of clothing, and sleep on the ground. Those who do not survive the treatments are buried in earthen mounds around the shrine.


Doubts about exorcism


Religious questions

Some Muslims find "no scriptural support" for exorcism. According to one source (the modernist site alhakam), there is "no trace" of support for exorcism in the Quran, and among the traditions of Muhammad (
hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...
) there is only one story of exorcism, and it is classified as ''da'eef'', (i.e. "weak", it was narrated by an untrusted narrator). ;Domestic abuse questions The BBC quotes a woman (Yasmin Ishaq) who "became a healer herself because she saw peoples' beliefs being exploited", and complaints of domestic abuse being dismissed as the rantings of a possessing spirit,
"If somebody was saying I was being abused, or I'm living in horrific conditions, they would automatically silence them by saying 'she's possessed'. I'm talking from personal experiences - family members, neighbours, community members - where women were beaten on the premise that they were possessed when really it was just violence against women."


Confusion with mental illness

Secularists note that mental illness "has been attributed to demonic possession" throughout history, the oldest known attribution coming from the Sumerians, "who believed that all diseases of the body and mind were caused by 'sickness demons' called ''gidim'' or ''gid-dim''". According to some Islamic sources, cases of 'pseudopossession', where the origin of someone's seizure or speaking in tongues is "physical or psychological", greatly outnumber cases of true spiritual possession, and it is unfortunate that faith healers have taken money to treat such cases. (A concern shared by Shabir Ally.) A study of why patients from "ethnic minority backgrounds" in Britain, "particularly Pakistanis", "were often reaching mental health services in a more severely ill state than the rest of the population", found ethnic families first sought help "through the mosque," when confronted with a member who was hearing voices, suffering from delusions or some other serious mental illness. A paper published in 2015 by Elspeth Guthrie, Seri Abraham, Shahzada Nawaz, noted a review "of 47 case reports of patients presenting with symptoms they attributed to jinn found that a biomedical diagnosis was provided in 66% of cases, of which schizophrenia was the most common (45.2%)"; and asks whether belief in jinn sometimes leads to a delay in "appropriate treatment", a delay meaning not only unnecessary suffering but opportunity for the mental illness to progress and worsen. Another study, of university educated school teachers and undergraduates in Saudi Arabia, found "jinn possession is still believed to be a cause of epilepsy in Saudi society, even among fairly well-educated people". 40% of the teachers and half the students surveyed believed possession to be the cause of epilepsy. (A number of medical journals have urged practitioners to seek greater understanding of possession states "through a combination of biological, anthropological, sociological, psychopathological and experimental perspectives"; "increase awareness among physicians about the possible association of delirious mania with jinn possession by conducting training, continuing medical education, workshops, and the like"; develop "collaborative working relationships
ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...
Islamic religious professionals ...", etc.) In reply, one Raqi (Abou Mohammed) reverses the charge, alleging that "some illnesses are unnecessarily dealt with by doctors when they are actually spiritual problems", and that "some people have operations they do not need because the Jinn has tricked doctors".


See also

* Spirit possession#Islam * Islam and magic *
Outline of Islam Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion teaching that there is only one God (Allah) and that Muhammad is His last Messenger. The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Islam. Beliefs Aqidah :Allah : ...
*
Glossary of Islam The following list consists of notable concepts that are derived from Islamic and associated cultural (Arab, Persian, Turkish) traditions, which are expressed as words in Arabic or Persian language. The main purpose of this list is to disambi ...
* Index of Islam-related articles *
Devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...
* Demonic possession *
Al-Mu'awwidhatayn Verses of Refuge (Arabic: المعوذتان) (romanized: Al-Mu'awwidhatayn), sometimes translated as " Verses of Refuge", is an Arabic term referring to the last two suras (chapters) of the Qur'an, viz. Daybreak (ch. 113), and Mankind (ch. 114), ...


References


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * {{cite book , last1= Westermarck , first1=Edward , title=Ritual and Belief in Morocco , volume=1 , series=Routledge Revivals , publisher=Routledge , date=23 Apr 2014 , year=2014 , isbn=9781317912682 , pages=263–264 Medicine in the medieval Islamic world Occultism (Islam) Jinn