Saturday, 30 July 2011

Exorcism and Exorcists: Is It Real ?



The Demon's Trap.


Few days back I was watching the movie -" The Exorcism of Emily Rose" and "The Omen" . At the same time I've read Wanda Pratnicka's "Possessed by Ghosts - Exorcisms in the 21st Century and I agree with her findings of which she claimed that :
  1. The sicknesses of the ghost pass over to the person possessed;
  2. The presence of ghosts brings about powerful mood swings from strong negative emotional outbursts through to profound depression. Ghosts can provoke the possessed person to forms of behavior which are not in the person's character, e.g. aggression, violence etc. If a trait like that already exists in a person it will be intensified considerably by the ghost;
  3. Ghosts frequently persuade the possessed to commit suicide or murder;
  4. Ghosts have a powerful influence on the psyche, provoking mental illnesses. I dare say that the majority of mental illnesses is caused by the presence of ghosts in a person;
  5. Ghosts can influence behavior and lead people to dependence on alcohol, drugs as well as to many other unwanted acts.
By the way, what is Exorcism ? According to Supernatural Wiki -Exorcism is the act of driving out or warding off demons from persons, places or things that are possessed or infested by them, or are liable to become victims or instruments of their malice. During the exorcism ritual, a solemn and authoritative adjuration of the demon is applied in the name of God or any of the higher powers to which the demon is subject.

But in Islam, exorcism is already part of Islamic beliefs since its beginning. Islamic clergy caution against the overuse of exorcism, citing that most cases are due to psychological and physical causes mistaken for possession. Real cases of possession are rare and the faithful are warned to watch out for exorcists who encourage a diagnosis of possession too quickly, as they may merely be seeking profit.



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There is a few tips offered before contacting an Exorcist:

It is better to make Ruqiah for yourself without contacting any exorcists however if you choose to contact an exorcist, please be advised that not everybody who claims to cure using the Quran is a righteous Sheikh, some are sorcerers who seek worldly benefits by their lies, here is how you could tell if they are sorcerers:

- If they ask for your mother's name, then definitely avoid them, only sorcerers ask for that
- If they say they have righteous Jinn helping them, then leave them, there is absolutely no way to know if a Jinn is righteous or devil, it would be a devil tricking the exorcists or more common he is a sorcerer seeking devils help
- If they write any symbols or unreadable text with or without some verses of the Quran, then leave them
- If they use sands in anyway (writing on it, hitting it, walking over it, etc.)
- If they ask you to do weird things like slaughtering a black animal or carrying some talismans with you all the time or hiding them in far places
- If they don't attend the regular prayers at the Masjid, usually sorcerers like to be alone, so please ask about them in the Masjid before contacting them.
- If they demand lots of money for their service, then leave them, usually righteous exorcists do this service for free and don't accept gifts in exchange, some of them however charge reasonable amount of money for their time to be able to help others