Deadly exorcism and our collective demons of ignorance
For exorcisms, there is no standard operating procedure and no documented evidence of success.
Yesterday, the police found a body that had been pierced by needles over a hundred times. The girl’s bones were fractured by repeated blows to her limbs, and then burned with a hot iron rod.
The police claim the it was exorcism, but no one is sure about what really happened to her.
Earlier last year many cases were reported. In one, a girl named Salma, who was just 13 died of exorcism. According to The Express Tribune,
The girl’s breathing was hampered by blocking her nostrils with cotton buds and holding her mouth shut.
I find it unbearable that such incidents should be news stories, rather than a gruesome movie you challenge your mild-hearted friends to watch.
Yet it’s a reality that we may very well, to our collective horror, have to look square in the eye, and question the superstitious beliefs we so strongly hold.
According to the The Express Tribune’s own survey , over 55% of those who voted believe in magic. There are many among us who regard demonic possessions and witchcraft as legitimate threats to our security. Surely, one’s personal beliefs are none of my concern, and in themselves these beliefs minimally affect people’s lives.
The problem arises when opportunists begin crawling out of the woodwork. They recognise our general ignorance of psychiatric disorders, and our disillusionment with the limitations of medical science. And within it, they see a lucrative industry based on fleecing the gullible and the desperate.
For medical procedures, there are universally accepted methods of performing them, all based on an abundance of scientific evidence. A surgeon cannot get away with making an incision on your neck, and claiming that he was trying to remove your cancerous kidney.
For exorcisms, there is no standard operating procedure and no documented evidence of success. You can have 50 different exorcists performing 50 different rituals to vanquish the same jinn, and not one of them will offer you any more evidence than the other for the validity of his method.
I witnessed this several years ago when I approached various pirs and babas with a fictitious problem (I’ve been told I’m a good actor!) Each of them asked me for a different set of items. One of them peculiarly requested 1.5 kg of saffron for a ritual, an amount I don’t think I’ve seen in my life!
This means that even if you do believe in the existence of jinns and their ability to commonly possess humans, there’s virtually no way of objectively determining which exorcist will do the right job.
I doubt these con-artists have conducted any double-blind studies to prove the accuracy of their ways.
Young Salma’s death is the tip of the iceberg, and we’re fortunate (an odd word to use in this grievous circumstance) to have apprehended the culprit. There are many more that have been swindled into poverty, faced unimaginable psychological and physical torment, and even lost their lives in their attempts to have their demons warded off or curses removed.
Our responsibility extends further than quietly condemning and arresting these heartless scammers. We must cease being a petri dish of dangerous convictions in which these scammers thrive.
Correction: An earlier version of this post stated 55% of Pakistanis believe in magic. This has been changed.
Read more by Faraz here, or follow him on Twitter @FarazTalat.
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of The Express Tribune.
Jinns are reality that’s was Holy Qur’an says. As Muslim we strongly believe in all what Almighty ALLAH says in Holy Qur’an.Recommend
Sane,
And what, according to Islam, is the standard operating procedure for exorcising these jinns? Is there a special ritual mentioned anywhere in the Quran to remove a jinn possessing a child’s body?
Undoubtedly, the only thing we have been possessed by is stupidity.Recommend
This is absolutely disgusting. In this day and age, when we have had science reveal SO MUCH to us, when we have Psychology and Psychiatry offering HUMANE treatments for mental health problems, going to “pirs” and “hakeems” is indicative of ignorance, desperation, and just plain gullibility. How NAIVE does one have to be to put their trust, their child’s LIFE in the hands of callous idiots who have absolutely NOTHING to show for their “expertise”?!
Also @Sane, A LOT of things in the Quran are INCREDIBLY self contradictory, incorrect, and just plain inhumane. The book also mentions keeping SLAVES and beating ones wife if she “disobeys”. I should hope you don’t follow THOSE verses to the tee?
I have no problem with people following Islam, but why not translate the book through conscientious, kind and SENSIBLE eyes. BLIND FAITH HURTS EVERYONE, and it NEVER just stays “personal”.Recommend
@Sane,? Way to miss the point! The author is NOT debating the existence of jinns. He’s telling us we as a society need to root out the fraudsters who prey on people’s beliefs.Recommend
@Sane:
Belief without even bothering to question the age-old myths means that you can be easily duped to NOT think for yourself and let other people and their interests decide your own irrational fears.Recommend
@author:
Interesting topic to write about. I myself have heard of such rituals and it scares the bejeezus out of me to be frank. To think people still think putting the human body through a form of torture will rid them of the so called demon shudder. But apparently it isn’t confined to one country. Exorcism is, after all, a popular topic for even Hollywood screen writers to base movies on. And you’d be surprised, while the vast majority understand it’s a movie and the concept of exorcism is totally bogus to them, there are always a few smatterings of people here who believe in it to some degree. Even scarier.Recommend
@Sane: With all due respect, is it not conceivable that some sort of neurological problems may underlie the majority of such cases? It is now irrefutably established that many ‘strange’ symptoms, often confused with possession, are easily explained by neurological deficits – a simple MRI scan may suggest if there are abnormalities with the patient’s brain. Other factors can include psychological problems etc.
But, of course, this is Pakistan, where science has no bearing and is often treated with distrust (perceiving it to clash with religious beliefs).
Did this girl have a Jinn possessing her? Maybe, But it is equally (if not more) likely that if she was afforded the appropriate medical tests and treatments, an underlying neurological cause may have been found. It doesn’t justify this insane technique of piercing her with needles and beating her –
This country would have been a great place, were it not for such an ignorant, illiterate majority, and governments that have siphoned off the nation’s wealth, or spent it on weapons. It is cases like these that make me terribly ashamed to be Pakistani, but equally wary of the ridiculous challenges we face – education, extremism, foreign and domestic threats, terrorism, health crises. What a difficult country.Recommend
@Sane:’Jinns are a reality‘.
No doubting that. So is ignorance and stupidity.Recommend
@Sane:
Wizards are a reality. That’s what Harry Potter books say and as a Potterist, it is my deeply held belief.Recommend
Of course demons are real.Recommend
Wizards are a reality. That’s what Harry Potter books say and as a Potterist, it is my deeply held belief.
ladies and gentlemen here is the example of what @PostMan: is saying..!!
as far as the topic goes…educated people try to find the solution rationally..while illiterates use pins and blows..!!Recommend
shuja ul islam said: Wizards are a reality. That’s what Harry Potter books say and as a Potterist, it is my deeply held belief.
ladies and gentlemen here is the example of what @PostMan: is saying..!!
as far as the topic goes…educated people try to find the solution rationally..while illiterates use pins and blows..!!
And here ladies and gentleman is a lack of understanding of satire!Recommend
@Sane
I’m with you on this!Recommend
drastic measures are needed to create awareness among people…these orthodox beliefs are hampering the way of progress.I think these stupid evenrd make their room where there’s lack of education.. education is the only solution of these problems. if there is only one educated member in the family, this exploitation doesn’t nurture there..Recommend
Assuming Jinns are real and they have possessed some body, why torture the body to get rid of these ‘souls’ ?Recommend
@Sane: What you think about this?
http://islamgreatreligion.wordpress.com/2008/10/23/who-are-jinn-miracles-of-almighty-allah/
Question 10: Can human beings and jinn inter-marry?
Yes and no. It depends upon how one looks at it. It is a known fact in the Qur’an in Surah Al-Israa’ (17:64) that jinn may share with us our wealth and our children. The Hadith of the Prophet (pbuh) reconfirms this concept when he says that when a man has marital relationship with his wife, he should mention the name of Allah (swt). He should seek refuge in Allah (swt) from the outcast shaitan.*
Moreover, when a man goes to his wife while she is in her menses, shaitan precedes him. She will conceive and will bring forth a sterile person (Mukhannath). Such a sterile person is considered to be child of the jinn.Recommend
@stranger:
Assuming Jinns are real and they have possessed some body, why torture the body to get rid of these ‘souls’ ?
What is exorcism an expert can comment. Personally I do not agree exorcism through torturing the body.Recommend
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a woman in Pakistan being diagnosed with a mental illness. I HAVE however, heard of women being possessed by “demons”. People who indulge in such superstitions need to get their heads out of the oven and uncover these “hakeems” for the frauds they truly are. I wish there was a cure for ignorance.Recommend
Hi just want to point out that “55% of Pakistanis” is a misleading statement since tribune could not have survyed the entire population of Pakistan to come up with that statistic but a sample.Recommend
@Loneliberal PK: There is no direct procedure to fight exorcism in Quran but there are thousand of other ways which stops us to go beyond our limits which can save us from this. I don’t believe in people who claim to capture jinn and evil spirits but there are evil spirits in this world. You haven’t heard of a Quran Hafiz or a guy who perform his 5 time pray daily is affected with these evil spirits. But a guy or a girl denies this reality are most affect people attacked by these spirits. I have seen some of the cases from my own eyes and doctors were unable to treat them because they don’t believe this but If you have to cure this then you have to believe this. Another thing shows like Sahir Lodhi is conducting on live TV and tries to remove spirits from peoples body is one of the worse shows I have ever seen in my entire life. Not only in Pakistan but all across the globe there are people who suffering from this and there are people who are helping them for free and without any fee, which gives this case a strong believe.Recommend
Watch program KUCH TOU HAY on Saturday at 08:05 PM at CNBC to have some learning about the subject.Recommend
Thank you ET for once again butchering a comment that had NOTHING offensive whatsoever. Ridiculous. How about making some guidelines and sticking to the same standard as opposed to picking and choosing? Oops. I said the b word. Must censor me now.
My orignal comment was in response to the very first comment under this blog. I stated jinns are a reality, beating someone in an ‘exorcism’ Holy heavens, so vulgar of me…Recommend
this could be a good topic of research. there is a need for having standard procedure for excorsism.Recommend
@PostMan:
For you its “ignorance is bliss”. For most exorcism, possession, magic cases, it happens on individuals and not observable. There was one case especially reported on National Geographic about an Indian girl, who had blood leaking from her eyes and other parts. She was held in a hospital for research with special care under a specialist doctor from US.
For non-believers like you, these programs may help :)Recommend
You guys need to watch Diaries of an exorcist by RuqyaSharia on youtube. He exposes all the fake pirs and actually educate you in this regard.Recommend