The research group LRGS/TD/2012/USM-UKM/KT/03 of National University of Malaysia in collaboration with GAPPIMA (Federation of Islamic Medical Treatment Practitioners Malaysia) organised the “Simposium Perubatan Islam 2016” (Symposium on Islamic Medicine 2016) on 26th-27th April 2016. The symposium was attended by academicians, medical professionals and Islamic medical treatment practitioners. The theme of the symposium was “Towards a professional and contemporary Islamic Medicine”, aiming at defining and modernising Islamic medicine.

The Secretary and Director of Research of PISANG, Ms Nor Azian Ab. Rahman, presented a poster presentation at the 8th Muslim Mental Health Conference in Dearborn, USA from 17th to 20th March 2016. The conference was attended by academicians, psychologists, psychiatrists and other professionals in the mental health sector. There was great interest in the poster presentation and a full paper is planned in the near future. The paper will be written by Dr Zul Azlin Razali (Psychiatrist and Senior Medical Lecture, Islamic Science University of Malaysia), Nor Azian Ab Rahman (Graduate Research Assistant, Institute of Malay World and Civilization, National University of Malaysia) and Prof. Dr Supyan Hussin (Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, National University of Malaysia).

A Case Study of Modern Medical Practice and Islamic Complementary Therapy on a Patient with Over 2000 Embedded Nails

International Journal of Public Health Science (IJPHS) Vol.4, No.4, December 2015, pp. 310~314

Abstract

In South East Asia, patients often resort to various forms of complementary therapy apart from utilizing mainstream modern medicine in Hospitals. Islamic-based complementary therapy employs various forms of biophysical, psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual interventional methods based on the prevailing belief and cultural system to provide a holistic Syariah compliant approach in patient management. The concept of diseases caused by sorcery and paranormal means using intermediaries like Jinn and evil spirits that have been in existence since time immemorial across religions, cultures and societies around the world. Currently, the practice of black magic and the belief in the paranormal still widely exist in the midst of modern civilization in this region. Modern medical practice has no definitive answer for a person with an unusual medical illness who is believed to have been afflicted by black magic because of its non-specific clinical presentation and non-response to conventional management paradigm which defies medical logic. In this paper, we describe a true case of a lady, who suffered from more than 2000 nails embedded inside her body for one and a half years. Upon admission to a hospital in Indonesia, she underwent a surgical procedure to remove all of the nails but to no avail; the nails re-appeared at other parts of her body. The surgical team later decided to conduct an Islamic complementary therapy on the patient, and subsequently, managed to extract all of the remaining nails without further bleeding. In conclusion, unusual or mysterious medical illness, sometimes referred to as idiopathic in etiology, not responding to conventional medical or surgical intervention, may potentially benefit from the use of Islamic complementary therapy.

Corresponding Author:
Nor Azian Ab Rahman,
Institute of Malay World And Civilization,
National University of Malaysia
Nor Azian is also the Secretary and Director of Research of PISANG.

Video of talk held in Gothenburg, Sweden in April 2014. We would like to thank the Muslim community in Gothenburg who organised the talk, produced and uploaded the video on YouTube.

Ruqyah means incantation and any therapy that uses ruqyah as a main component can be termed as ruqyah therapy. Ruqyah can be divided into 2 categories. Ruqyah that complies with shariah are termed ruqyah shariyyah (shariah-compliant ruqyah) and ruqyah which contains shirk (polytheistic practices) are termed ruqyah shirkiyyah (polytheistic ruqyah). Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) approved the use of a particular ruqyah that was practised during pre-Islamic period because it did not have any polytheistic elements in it. Shirk (polytheism) is the boundary that separates lawful (halal) and unlawful (haram) ruqyah.

Ruqyah was used as treatment during the time of the prophet. In one incident, a companion recited surah al-Fatihah (the Opening Chapter) to treat a tribal leader from snake bite even though the prophet had never taught anyone to recite al-Fatihah for treatment of snake bites.

Unlike snake bites, jinn-related disorder can affect a person both physically and psychologically. If a person has just been affected by jinn, the damage might just be confined to psychological. However, if one or more jinn has been living in a person for a long period, the effect can both be physical as well as psychological. Jinn is a living organism and is a parasite that consumes food to survive and secretes excretion into the human body. The excretion (i.e. toxins) will cause imbalance i.e. disrupts the homeostasis of the body, which in turn will affect the health of the person.

Jinn-related disorder therefore not only affects the mental health of a person but may also affect the physical health. These may cause additional psychosomatic problems. When a person thinks about his physical health, he or she will feel depressed. If a person is depressed, his or her physical health may deteriorate.

The therapy for jinn-related disorder should therefore not rely on ruqyah (incantation) alone. The therapy should be holistic in manner and must include ruqyah and psychotherapy at the very minimum. As in any psychotherapy session, the therapist should show empathy and must never blame the client for his or her predicament. The aim of any therapy is to help the client to move forward with his or her life. Blaming the client can be considered as a sign of failure to provide an effective therapy. An angry therapist will cause more harm than good.

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The president of PISANG, Hamidi Abdul Rahman, was given the honour of delivering a speech to the Patani Malay Youth Association in Europe event on 23rd August 2014. Patani youths from The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Sweden gathered in Hamburg, Germany for a 2-day event. This was the first gathering organised by the Patani Malay youth in Europe. The population of Patani Malay youths in Europe is increasing and they plan to organise further gatherings in other cities in Europe.

Patani is a region of predominantly Muslim population in the south of Thailand. Hamidi emphasised on the need of developing quality leadership amongst the youths. Most of the youths were born outside the homeland. They will have to develop new leadership skills so that they can contribute towards the development of their people in Patani in particular and the global Muslim population in general.

In Stockholm, we held an event with the Pattani Malays (Pattani is located in southern Thailand). The discussion was also very lively and everybody wished we had more time. At the request of the participants, we conducted a group jinn-screening session. Jinn screening is a diagnostic tool using Islamic Shariah-compliant incantation (ruqyah) for the detection of jinn-related problems. Our 3 days in Stockholm were also filled with requests for Quranic Therapy from the Muslim community there.

Our brief stay in Norway was filled by visiting the Muslim community in Oslo. We are also grateful to a family in Fredrikstad who hosted a dinner for us. The family knew of our trip to Norway beforehand and had requested us to visit them.

The Netherlands is one of the countries in Europe that PISANG delegation frequently go. The request from the community for Quranic Therapy has been growing since our first visit many years ago, but due to time constraint, we can only afford to accept limited number of requests for Quranic Therapy.

Since the formal registration of PISANG in the UK about 6 years ago, we have been at the forefront of innovative efforts to promote Quranic Therapy. In the early days, we held mobile clinics to bring awareness to the public and also conducted training courses. We have always viewed Quranic Therapy as a health discipline. Since our registration, we have moved forward to improve the therapy through our own research and development. Our aim is to make Quranic Therapy a mainstream therapy for jinn-related disorder. We also aim to create a new generation of Quranic Therapists who will be highly respected for their professionalism in the health sector. Muslims and non-Muslims will be able to benefit from this new breed of therapists.

In December last year, we embarked on a new service called the Quranic Therapy Retreat. This service is the result of our own research and development and we are confident that this innovative service is the future for therapy of jinn-related disorders. PISANG is a registered organisation and we built our reputation through our track record and professional credentials. With our expertise and determination on research and development, our Quranic Therapy can only get better.

The belief that spirits can possess a person is not something new. It is also believed in various cultures, religious or atheistic. Different cultures have different ways of expelling the spirits from the possessed person. Ancient practices include trephining (drilling a hole in the skull) to release the spirit.

In Islam, the different species of spirits are collectively referred to as jinn in the Arabic language. The terminology “jinn” in Islam has a different concept from the terminology “spirits” as believed in many other cultures. Many would attach the word “evil” to “spirits” but not all jinn are evil. There are also civilised jinn who have their own system of governance and believe in religion.

Although the word “jinn” is used in Islam, it does not mean that jinn have never entered the human body before Islam. Semitic religions before Islam have their own ways of dealing with jinn. The Quran was not revealed then, so it is obvious that they did not use any Quranic verses. One of the methods in Islam that is used for the exorcism is ruqyah. Ruqyah means incantation. With the arrival of Islam, guidelines were put in place forbidding all polytheistic practices including prohibition of having polytheistic contents in incantations. In one instance, from an authentic narration, Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) even approved an incantation from pre-Islamic period (meaning non-Quranic incantation) that did not have any polytheistic content. In other words, Islam defined polytheism as a boundary that must never be crossed.

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When it comes to seeking treatment for perceived jinn-related disorder, many studies have found out that Muslims will prefer to resort to religious leaders for advise or treatment. If the person perceives that his or her jinn-related disorder is a “punishment from God”, religious leaders will then become a natural source of guidance for advise on the expiation of sins in order to remove the “punishment from God”. Doctors will be the last resort as they are perceived as unable to deal with metaphysical jinn issues. Mental Health professionals e.g. psychiatrists, psychologists and psychotherapists are also ranked low compared to religious leaders or those who are directly involved in treating jinn-related disorders.

Religious leaders are equipped with knowledge to empower a person to increase their spirituality. Many studies have also found out that spirituality helps in increasing the well-being of a person and enables one to come to terms with their predicament. However, jinn-related disorders are not just a simplistic spiritual issue and religious leaders are not equipped with the knowledge to deal with the impact of the disorders, nor are they equipped with solutions that deliver therapeutic benefit.

Jinn-related disorders can be psychological, psycho-somatic or even somatic in nature. Somatic illnesses caused by jinn can go unnoticed for years and may only be realised after all modern medical treatment has failed and the person starts to make recovery after undergoing jinn-related therapy.

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