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Saturday, March 08, 2008

Demonic possession in Islam

Islam has told so many stories about evil spirits that dwell in places such as wastelands, and unclean places like bathrooms. It also told us stories about how those evil demonic spirits posses our bodies and make do things beyond our control.

So what is an evil spirit? In religious definition; an evil spirit (or any spirit) is a creature that “God” created from fire, this creature is invisible to humans, and has super natural abilities. One of those abilities is possessing humans (obviously).

Points of weakness: Evil spirits are claimed to be powerful creatures, but just like any other creature they have weakness points. The most great weakness those evil spirits have is when someone repeats certain verses from the Holly Qur’an, and when praising God’s name when someone feels the presence of an evil spirits.

When do evil spirits possess humans? There are so many scenarios for an evil spirit to possess a human such as when you enter a bathroom (un-clean places) without praising God’s name (Thank God for Jeff the powerful bath cleaner), or when you’re walking in a complete wasteland where all evil spirits dwell, Not believing in God’s existence, urinating or defecating on the holly Qur’an, and lastly when you go to sleep without saying your prayers.

Of course, everything mentioned above is a huge load of nonsense. And of course there is no such thing as evil spirit or demonic possession. And if you’re a religious person, you must be asking yourself, “If it’s nonsense, then why do millions of people believe in it?”

In all my discussion about religion, I find myself returning to the very same argument that sparked the beginning of religion and everything else that we take and take not for granted. The Brain, it is the one organ in our body that makes us know that we exist, our brain naturally needs to ask questions and find answers as part of its natural role to gather information that can best serve us in our every day struggle to survive in our man-made-jungle.

So what does demonic possession has to do with our brain? Well, surely you must’ve gone out in to the dark woods one day, and felt un-easy as if a presence of something watching you and out to get you. The reason you feel fear when walking alone in dark places is the natural reaction of the mind to that kind of place, it is a defense mechanism as if you’re brain is telling you to be careful. Our brain is always keeping us on full alert when we’re in a place that looks like is filled with danger or in a place that a predator could be lurking in the shadows.

Islam exploits our fears of unknown danger, it tells us stories about evil creature that watch us from other worlds waiting for a chance to possess us and control our bodies and brains. And yes Islam benefits a lot from making you feel afraid. For a very simple reason; when we’re feeling week and afraid we wish that there is someone powerful that can take away our fears and make us feel relieved, This is when Islam tells us to turn to a holly delusion to rid ourselves of a fear that Islam itself has planted in our minds, a person who keeps counting on a delusion to put his/her mind at ease, is at risk of losing his/her sanity to that very same delusion.

Counting on an imaginary God to save us from evil spirits is as depending on Spiderman to save us from the green goblin. Neither of them exists, so why are we so afraid? The basic reason for our fear is because of all the stories that we hear from early ages, it’s not any different from when a child learns not to touch hot objects, the experience can be excruciating and prints a trigger in the mind that makes a child afraid of getting near hot objects in the future. In our everyday life we are exposed to graphic violence on television, even at an early age, not to mention that we find ourselves drawn in to watching horror films that has an indirect impact on our way of thinking.

The point is; that our fear of evil spirits does not make them real, as long as we can understand the reason and history behind such an idea, the fear will go away. Islam was not the first ideology to come up with such mythical creatures; they are also mentioned to exist in all other religions such as Buddhism, Christianity, and Hinduism … etc. It seems like using the “demonic possession” propaganda is Islam’s way of making a person dependent on a illusionary God to save him/her from a predator that does not exist in the first place.

Many people of this day and age have wised-up, and decided not to believe in such superstitions yet millions and millions more in 3rd world nations believe in the existence of those creatures, even though they have never seen it or felt it. The fact of the matter is that people who are not willing to probe deep to find answers find themselves accepting superstitions as facts.

There are people suffering from unknown psychological problems that make them act and behave abusively to others or to themselves, thousands of years ago, those psychological illnesses were considered demonic possessions, and were treated by strapping down the sick person and beating them with torture tools as to expel the evil spirit inside them. Since then science has advanced and realized that religion was wrong about demonic possession, as it turns out that the human brain is a very complex thing, and most of the time it confuses between fact and fiction, because there is a very thin line between sanity and insanity.

Living and working in Saudi Arabia for more than five years, has given me a chance to closely observe the fear of that, which does not exist, even though were living in the twenty first century there are millions of people here swapping stories about demonic possessions, a colleague of mine at work is always concerned about his father’s psychological state, he claims that his father is possessed by an evil spirit, that makes him behave hysterically, so instead of taking him to a professional psychologist, he admitted his father to an Imam, naturally the Imam declared that his father is possessed by an evil spirit, and that he would have to expel the evil spirit by using the traditional methods, not only his father’s condition got worse but now he is also beaten up by superstitious person who believes that he has the knowledge of curing people and giving fake hope to them. Taking that in to consideration, my colleague hasn’t learned from that experience and took his father to real doctor; instead he took his friend’s advice and admitted his father again to other Imams.

What it all comes down to in the end is this, that our ignorance and unwillingness to accept science as a fact, and the willingness to accept religion’s mythology is the main reason why we are in danger of hurting ourselves and the people around us. The universe is vast enough and filled with so much mysteries that science may not be able to explain at this point, but that doesn’t mean that it is not capable of finding the answers eventually. Religion was wrong about so many things, it was wrong about the earth’s movement, and believing that physical sickness was caused by demonic possession, Religion was wrong then, and it’s still wrong now, and it will still be wrong in the future.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Assalamualykum (Peace unto you)

Islam is a very modern religion. Please go and read the book "Quran and Modern Science" by Dr Maurice Bucaille or by Dr Zakir Naik.

Discoveries made in the 21rst century has been mentioned in the Quran in much more detail than the recent dicoveries.

Why do you think so many scientist are converting to Islam from US, Germany and other countries. Because one they read the Quran. They find that it is the real world of God. Islam says only one thing, there is only One God.

If you believe in him with your heart nothing will happen, unless its written in your destiny.

Demonic forces are not only mentioned in Islam, but in Christianity, Judaism and other religions as well. Its called real majic or black. And people who use it are bad people.

So brother come and live in the 21rst century, more than 80% scientific discoveries in the Quran are true with science and inshAllah I believe the next 20% will become true somewhere soon as cience advances!!

May God Guide Us to the Right Path.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand why people such as yourself are so condescending and hypocrytical. You judge peoples beliefs, misrepresent them(beating "possessed" people is a more christian tradition), you ridicule the fact that they believe in things which do not exist yet you have your own paradigm in which you disbelieve in concepts that have not been disproven. You laugh that people are unscientific and believe in things they cannot see so I assume you don't believe in atoms and subatomic particles because even those were considered unscientific not so long ago. I invite you to research the scientific concepts of entropy and anti-matter because apparently the majority of the world we inhabit is made up of intangible material. Just maybe, science has not yet progressed far enough to prove the concept of spirits or perhaps we can only believe. You say islam exploits people with spirits. Maybe you should ask yourself: does a religion really gain anything from making you pray? Its not like islam has a pope that benefits from vatican city and its wealth and power. Islam is not a corporation that gains from prayer. And prayer really doesn't harm anyone even if its just a psychological blanket for people. You reference the fact that possessions could be "psychological" conditions which can be treated, perhaps you should look in to the history of physchology to see how these conditions were originally treated, psychology as it is a new is still a very recent phenomenon or "science". Look into medical studies on the power of prayer. Maybe you ought to lool at your own beliefs and wonder why you are spending time attacking peoples religion with no evidence...maybe you should be seeking the truth and not telling it. Perhaps you should be less quick to judge and quicker to research further...become a little more agnostic. A fool thinks he knows when a wise man realizes he knows nothing.

Anonymous said...

Stagfar Allah,

There is no dummy but you. You do not deserve to have come near the holy land of Saudia Arabia. If it were the middle-ages I would have been the first to light the torch and burn you to hell!!!!!!!

beind possessed is a painful and agonising pain, which I wouldnt wish on my worst enemy. I do not wish it on you because you are already part of the demonic world. I wish it on your most loved one!!!then you will wake up from ure hell gone existence and run to the nearest Sheikh!!!

Stagfar Allah im a very peaceful woman, but hearing ure ignorance makes me crave cutting you to shreds!!!

Anonymous said...

how do you call your self a peaceful woman after every thing you said?

Anonymous said...

That essay about demonic posssession in Islam is laughable.

There is NO demonic possession in Islam. That essay was poorly written and without any type of factual base or reference points made.

You are doing a disservice to aethiesm by poorly articulating your argument. No one with a brain can take this seriously.

The author refers so much to the workings of the brain, meanwhile his brain seems to be the one that needs to be checked out.

You've obviously chosen Islam as an opponent, but you will never make any progress attacking a learned religion with this 3rd grade literature.

Go get a colleg degree and come back and make some criticisms.

Anonymous said...

I am so shocked "peaceful woman", at your response. How can you consider yourself a religious person when you have so much hate in your heart? If you feel this person is wrong, you should pity them for being misguided, not desire to rip them to shreds. I feel sorry for you

Vajrasiddha said...

Why does everyone assume that Buddhism is just like all the other religions? There is no gods in Buddhism, nor is there any Demonic possessions.

Anonymous said...

Try being POSSESSED FOR 15 YEARS THEN LETS SEE URE ANSWER!!!!!!!!! Id love to hear how peacefully you would answer some-one with such lack of Iman and supposedly an "intellectual" Whatever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!A person who's hand is in the fire is different then someone who's talking with 0 experience in the matter!!!! Quit being judgmental - Talk to someone who First hand has experienced something...its SO EASY TO PREACH FROM IGNORANCE AND LACK OF EXPERIENCE. AN EXPERIENCED PERSON WILL SHED LIGHT ON YOU MORE THAN 10000 DOCTORS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fahim said...

Islam is a universal religion. Simply because a state of being or a state of existence escapes your sense perception, does not mean it does not exist. In fact, to assume this is in fact arrogance. It is the over exaggeration of the true potential of our sensual perceptions. We are in fact very limited. Can humans directly perceive dark matter? No, they cannot.

There is in fact much data based and even consensual evidence present for the existence of Jinns. Not only that, but the Qur'an and the Hadiths confirm their existence. If the Qur'an can be proven to be true, then it logically follows that its content (in this case the truth about Jinns) is also real.

Moreover, in neuroscience, scientists are JUST beginning to realize the full extent of consciousness and how it is related to the reality around us. Jinns are spiritual beings as well, with some form of conscious energy, and it should not be surprising to know that this universe encompasses inter dimensional beings. Why? Because, according to theoretical physicists, there are apparently 11 dimensions (in order to make sense of String Theory). Now if this is true, why can it not be true that Jinns exist on a level higher/separate from us?

This would give them access to see us, but would prevent us from directly perceiving them (through our five senses) unless they make themselves visible. However, Muslim jinns are forbidden to contact humans in harmful ways such as possession, or appearing before them for the purpose of frightening them etc.

Fahim said...

In addition, you make numerous assumptions which are not based upon Islamic references, and only hearsay, folklore, and twist cultural interpretations of the "jinn". There has been a lot of nonsense created with regards to the Jinn and their actual abilities.

You want to write about "demonic possession" in ISLAM, then CITE AUTHENTIC ISLAMIC SOURCES, otherwise your paper is meaningless jargon.

Jinns were created from SMOKELESS FIRE, there is a difference, as it implies that they do not necessarily have a concrete form (i.e. they can change forms).

In addition, you assume that possession can only be in the form of a human acting out crazily. This is very hollywood like. Islam has been clear when it has stated that you can be influenced by Shaytaan, and evil forces in more indirect ways. For instance, a simply example - a teenage male can be influenced by shaytaan when entering the washroom which may cause him to engage in acts such as masturbation, viewing pornographic material etc.

Or perhaps, evil influences in the environment can cause a person to be lazy in prayer, lack resilience and patience in hard times, be disrespectful and arrogant etc.

These are all negative values and acts, which can be rooted in a negative energy or presence, perhaps within yourself, or around you.

It doesn't mean your totally controlled by a bad Jinn, rather, you are influenced by the "wrongness" or negative influences. This is just like if you have "bad" friends who influence you negatively, except its less apparent.

Fahim said...

As for some Qur'anic and Hadith based proof:

1. Say: "I seek refuge with (Allâh) the Lord of mankind,

2. "The King of mankind,

3. "The Ilâh (God) of mankind,

4. "From the evil of the whisperer (devil who whispers evil in the hearts of men) who withdraws (from his whispering in one's heart after one remembers Allâh),

5. "Who whispers in the breasts of mankind,

6. "Of jinns and men."

The Noble Qur'an - Al-An'aam 6:128
And on the Day when He will gather them (all) together (and say): "O you assembly of jinns! Many did you mislead of men," ...

The Noble Qur'an - Al-'Anaam 6:112
And so We have appointed for every Prophet enemies - Shayâtin (devils) among mankind and jinns, inspiring one another with adorned speech as a delusion (or by way of deception)....

That's clear proof that Shaaytan misleads humans through whispers or influences.

sameeera said...

Gosh u r soooooo ignorant.. One thing that really drives me insane is when a person talks about something he has no knowledge of.. Go u ignorant fool read Quran and then say a word against Islam-the greatest religion-the fastest spreading religion!!!

Wish u well said...

You are the real charlatan, your world and the way you are bought up is reflected in the bitterness you type,may you forever dwell in hell!
That's coming from bottom of my heart.

Unknown said...

There is no such thing as demonic possession but there is such thing as heavy influence correct if im wrong

Unknown said...

There is no such thing as demonic possession but there is such thing as heavy influence correct if im wrong

Unknown said...

There is no such thing as demonic possession but there is such thing as heavy influence correct if im wrong

Anonymous said...

come on guys why are we even fighting on this topic everyone have there view of believing. we cant change there view but only pray to GOD to show them the right way . i don't know if Islam has mentioned any demonic possession in quran but just stop arguing on these topic be realistic and Islam is the best religion

Unknown said...

the author mentions about the ability of our brain to get into the self protective mode, but did you ever think that if someone made apple iphone, or android . There surely SOMETHING GREATER which is (ALLAH )THAT MADE UR BRAIN and rest of ur body and everything on this earth and havens and everytging inbetween them. Think about it. If u ignore existense of GOD, and that HE is the LORD AND CREATOR of everything. Then u probably believe that everything around u made itself. Like houses, computers, cars, tables, cups ect... which make me think u dont really use ur presious brain that ALLAH HAS GRANTED U WITH.

PEACE

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.