{"id":11836,"date":"2018-10-31T19:48:58","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T19:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onepathnetwork.com\/?p=11836"},"modified":"2021-07-16T10:48:31","modified_gmt":"2021-07-16T10:48:31","slug":"possessed-fraud-deception-and-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onepathnetwork.com\/au\/society\/possessed-fraud-deception-and-abuse\/","title":{"rendered":"Possessed (Fraud, Deception and Abuse)"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/amp-jwplayer>\n

Possessed (Fraud, Deception and Abuse)<\/span><\/h1>\nWhen it comes to the topic of <\/span>Jinn <\/span><\/i>possession – we\u2019ve seen it all before.<\/span>\n\nThe frightening voices, the horrific looks and the superhuman strength that comes out of people under the influence of demonic spirits; all while they are being treated with verses of the Holy Quran.<\/span>\n\nIt\u2019s a terrifying topic, yet it somehow manages to arouse the interest of Muslims and non-Muslims around the world; with videos amassing millions of views online.<\/span>\n\nThe practice of removing such evil spirits and treating those who are affected is known as <\/span>Ruqya<\/span><\/i> and it is an Islamic form of spiritual healing. It is based on an authentic tradition of the Prophet Muhammad \ufdfa himself; whereby verses of the Quran would be used to heal those afflicted with sickness, black magic and evil spirits.<\/span>\n\nAbu Sai\u2019d Al Khudri narrates:<\/span><\/i>\n
Some of the companions of the Prophet \ufdfa went on a journey till they reached some of the ‘Arab tribes (at night). They asked the latter to treat them as their guests but they refused. The chief of that tribe was then bitten by a snake (or stung by a scorpion) and they tried their best to cure him but in vain. Some of them said (to the others), “Nothing has benefited him, will you go to the people who resided here at night, it may be that some of them might possess something (as treatment),” They went to the group of the companions (of the Prophet (\ufdfa) ) and said, “Our chief has been bitten by a snake (or stung by a scorpion) and we have tried everything but he has not benefited. Have you got anything (useful)?” One of them replied, “Yes, by Allah! I can recite a Ruqya, but as you have refused to accept us as your guests, I will not recite the Ruqya for you unless you fix for us some wages for it.” They agreed to pay them a flock of sheep. One of them then went and recited (Surat-ul-Fatiha): ‘All the praises are for the Lord of the Worlds’ and puffed over the chief who became all right as if he was released from a chain, and got up and started walking, showing no signs of sickness. They paid them what they agreed to pay.<\/span><\/i>\n\nSome of them (i.e. the companions) then suggested to divide their earnings among themselves, but the one who performed the recitation said, “Do not divide them till we go to the Prophet \ufdfa and narrate the whole story to him, and wait for his order.” <\/span><\/i>\n\nSo, they went to Allah’s Messenger \ufdfa and narrated the story. Allah’s Messenger \ufdfa asked,<\/span><\/i> “How did you come to know that Suratul- Fatiha was recited as Ruqya?” <\/i><\/b>\n\nSahih Al Bukhar<\/span><\/i><\/blockquote>\nThe practice has continued to be upheld in the Muslim world for centuries on end, whereby a person suffering would employ a <\/span>Raqi <\/span><\/i>or a spiritual healer to read over them in the hopes that they would be cured.<\/span>\n\nHowever, despite the noble origins of this Prophetic Sunnah, the practice has recently found its way into the hands of fraudulent spiritual healers, as a tool of abuse and corruption.<\/span>\n\nThe issue has in fact found itself the subject of a <\/span>recent press release<\/span><\/a> by the <\/span>Australian National Imam\u2019s Council<\/b>, warning the wider public to be cautious of corrupt spiritual healers feigning religious authority.<\/span>\n\nOnePath Network has recently undergone an investigation into the malpractice of the Ruqya industry, and what we have uncovered will not only shock you but leave you deeply disturbed. Viewer discretion is advised.<\/span>\n\nOur investigation reveals stories of physical violence, financial exploitation and psychological abuse towards the most vulnerable members of our community.<\/span>\n\nWe interviewed three separate women on their experiences with fraudulent spiritual healers. Their accounts revealed painful and horrifying stories of abuse and exploitation.<\/span>\n\nThroughout 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.<\/span>\n\nAnother 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.<\/span>To make matters worse, in some instances the spiritual healer would be in seclusion with the female patient without the presence of any <\/span>Mahram<\/span><\/i> or male relative. This not only contravenes Islamic guidelines, but also opens the door to potential sexual harassment.<\/span>\n\nAnother 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\u2019s sickness.<\/span>\n\nThe 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\u2019s an old business that is marketed upon the vulnerabilities of people. In fact, many of our interviews proved that these fake spiritual healers were nothing more than businessmen, seeking to make a profit off of vulnerable individuals.<\/span>\n\nHowever what matters today is that we raise enough awareness to bring such tainted practices to an end and revive the true Prophetic Sunnah of <\/span>Ruqya <\/span><\/i>that befits its noble purposes of achieving spiritual healing for those that are affected.<\/span>\n\nNeedless to say, Muslims should never forget that the strength of <\/span>Ruqya <\/span><\/i>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 <\/span>Jinn <\/span><\/i>or evil spirit.<\/span>\n\nIt was narrated that Abu Sa\u2019id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said: <\/span><\/i>\n
\u201cThe Messenger of Allah \ufdfa used to seek refuge with Allah from the Jinn and from the evil eye until the Mu\u2019awwidhatayn were revealed, and when they were revealed he started to recite them and not anything else.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\n\n(Al-Tirmidhi) <\/span><\/i><\/blockquote>\nWe should never undermine the importance of reciting the appointed supplications for leaving the home, entering the bathroom, upon waking up, prior to sleeping, prior to intimacy etc. All these supplications play a major role in protecting us without the need of going to see a Raqi to begin with.<\/span>\n\nOther specific ways one may protect himself or herself from evil spirits include:<\/span>\n
    \n \t
  1. Seeking refuge in Allah from Satan <\/span>(Al-Bukhari and Muslim)<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n \t
  2. Reciting Surah Al Falaq and Al-Nas <\/span>(Al-Tirmidhi)<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n \t
  3. Reciting Ayat Al Kursy <\/span>(Al Bukhari)<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n \t
  4. Reciting the last two verses of Surah Al Baqarah<\/span> (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n \t
  5. Calling the Athaan (Muslim)<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\"\"<\/span>\n\nMuslim families must remain vigilant when employing the services of a spiritual healer and only do so when absolutely necessary. Scrutiny must be applied and we all have a duty to equip ourselves with the appropriate knowledge to deal with such matters. Healing will always come from Allah \ufdfb and we shouldn\u2019t place too much reliance upon spiritual healers to the point that they are able to take advantage of vulnerable members of the community.<\/span>\n\nMay Allah protect our community from all those who have brought harm and may the Sunnah of our beloved Messenger of Allah \ufdfa be safeguarded and protected from all those who have abused it.<\/span>\n\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Possessed (Fraud, Deception and Abuse) When it comes to the topic of Jinn possession – we\u2019ve 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; all while they are being treated with verses of the Holy Quran. It\u2019s a […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11839,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow4-bBDA:productID":"","content-type":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":["https:\/\/news-api.apple.com\/sections\/f1402f44-8994-4c23-83de-48d0d766f08f"],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[137],"tags":[77],"series":[],"speaker":[],"coauthors":[140],"class_list":["post-11836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society","tag-latest","post_format-post-format-video","entry"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/onepathnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Possessed.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/onepathnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Mums-on-the-RunV3.jpg?fit=2160%2C2160&ssl=1","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":[],"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/onepathnetwork.com\/au\/feed\/podcast\/mums-on-the-run","embedCode":"

    Possessed (Fraud, Deception and Abuse)<\/a><\/blockquote>