A case study of a male British Muslim of Pakistani descend with severe cluster headache was presented. The patient only responded to morphine treatment but his condition continued to deteriorate. He resorted to ruqyah complementary therapy, which is based on incantations of the Quran, after seeking advice with a local imam (Islamic cleric). His condition improved significantly and continued to have weekly preventative ruqyah therapy. Since resorting to ruqyah, he has not any morphine treatment and the level and duration of pain have reduced significantly. Ruqyah is popular for the treatment of jinn possession but has also been found to have therapeutic effect on non-mental health problems. The case illustrates that complementing mainstream medicine with ruqyah can bring many benefits especially within the Muslim community. Cooperation between mainstream health service and faith healers is needed.
A case study on a female Malay living in the UK with serious eczema was presented. Her parents believed that it was a condition called santau, a common cultural belief in South East Asian countries. Santau is believed as the insertion of poisonous materials into the victim’s body with the help of jinn. Santau is normally differentiated from other medical skin conditions by the rapid deterioration of the condition and rapid improvement after successful treatment. Her skin condition was intolerable after a trip to Malaysia. Unable to be admitted to hospital because of the pressure on hospital beds during the Covid-19 pandemic, she resorted to intensive multiple-day ruqyah therapy, a therapy based on the incantation of verses from the Quran. Remarkable improvement was observed after three days. Apart from delivering therapeutic outcome, ruqyah therapy as a Traditional and Complementary Medicine has its role in relieving the pressure on the mainstream health system especially in time of pandemic.
The belief in jinn possession is embedded in the Muslim faith. A previous quantitative study had identified symptoms of jinn possession. It shows that there are overlapping symptoms between jinn possession and mental disorders, leading to different diagnoses. An exploratory study was done to investigate the possibility of jinn possession amongst patients who have already been diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and epilepsy using four case studies. All the patients have at least five significant symptoms of jinn possession and were on medication for their respective mental disorders. Thermal images of the patients were recorded using a thermal imaging camera to monitor temperature change before and after ruqyah. The thermal images before and after ruqyah were compared, and it was observed that parts of the body temperature for all four patients became hotter after ruqyah, indicating that all of them have jinn possession. This reaction to ruqyah is considered as a sign of jinn possession by ruqyah practitioners. It is possible that some of those who have been diagnosed with mental disorders may also have an underlying jinn possession issue. Using ruqyah as a complementary therapy on this category of patients may bring better therapeutic benefits. Further studies need to be conducted to identify the extent of jinn possession amongst those with mental disorders. The symptoms of jinn possession can be used as a guide for identifying possible cases of jinn possession amongst those with mental disorders. Kepercayaan wujudnya posesi jin adalah sebahagian dari aqidah Islam. Satu kajian kuantitatif telah mengenalpasti simptom-simptom posesi jin. Ia menunjukkan ada pertindihan simptom di antara posesi jin dan kecelaruan mental dan seterusnya menimbulkan diagnosis yang berbeza. Satu kajian rintis telah dijalankan untuk mengkaji kemungkinan adanya posesi jin di kalangan pesakit yang telah didiagnosis mengalami skizofrenia, kecelaruan bipolar dan epilepsi menggunakan empat kajian kes. Kesemua pesakit mempunyai sekurang-kurangnya lima simptom posesi jin yang signifikan dan mengambil ubat-ubatan untuk kecelaruan mental masing-masing. Imej termal pesakit diambil menggunakan kamera pengimejan termal untuk memantau perubahan suhu sebelum dan selepas ruqyah. Imej termal sebelum dan selepas ruqyah dibandingkan dan didapati sebahagian tubuh kesemua empat pesakit menjadi panas selepas ruqyah, satu indikasi bahawa kesemua mereka mengalami posesi jin. Reaksi terhadap ruqyah sebegini dianggap sebagai tanda posesi jin oleh perawat ruqyah. Ada kemungkinan separuh pesakit yang telah didiagnosis dengan kecelaruan mental mungkin mengalami posesi jin. Menggunakan ruqyah sebagai terapi komplementari ke atas kategori pesakit sebegini boleh menghasilkan faedah teraputik yang lebih tinggi. Kajian lanjutan diperlukan untuk mengenalpasti sejauh mana keberadaan posesi jin di kalangan pesakit kecelaruan mental. Simptom-simptom posesi jin boleh digunakan untuk mengenalpasti kemungkinan adanya kes posesi jin di kalangan pesakit kecelaruan mental.
A case study on a male British Muslim repeat offender was presented. He had been involved in violent crimes since he was a teenager and had served several prison sentences. He had no recollection of committing the crimes and only knew of his violent actions from others. He was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was under medication. His condition improved briefly but relapsed soon after. His parents brought him to a jinn possession expert, where he was diagnosed with jinn possession using a newly developed jinn possession scale. The subject agreed to engage in therapy for jinn possession. He became aggressive with threatening behaviour during the third therapy session, confirming the case for jinn possession. A multi-psyche model explains how jinn possession can affect behavioural changes and the connection between jinn possession and mental disorders. Modern medication can be complemented with therapy for jinn possession to bring better therapeutic benefits.
Jinn possession and mental disorder have overlapping symptoms, and different therapy disciplines may diagnose those with overlapping symptoms as either mental disorder or jinn possession or both. The different approaches to psychotherapy do not recognise the existence of jinn possession and thus may be shunned by those with jinn possession. Jinn is spiritually similar to humans and is accountable for their actions. Like the human, jinn has a psyche comprising the aql (intellect faculty) and the qalb (cognitive faculty). In jinn possession, the jinn psyche exists alongside the human psyche in the human body, creating inter-psyche conflicts between both psyches. The conflicts are not limited to psychological but can also extend to physical conflicts when both psyches compete to control the human central nervous system. Therapy for jinn possession requires changing the power balance to eliminate the dominance of the jinn psyche over the human psyche. Ruqyah can weaken the jinn’s physical ability, but psychotherapy is needed to strengthen the human mind to address the inter-psyche conflicts. Using Islamic existential philosophy as an approach, a new Islamic Existential Psychotherapy (IEP) discusses both human and jinn existential issues and the conflicts between the two species. The impact of IEP on 209 patients with jinn possession, 65 of them with mental disorders, who attended a treatment retreat programme was analysed. Thus, two main themes emerged in the IEP sessions, and IEP was highly successful in changing patients’ approach to the diagnosis of jinn possession, increasing their self-esteem, higher motivation, and compliance through the understanding of inter psyche conflicts. As a result, IEP is highly suitable for the psychological intervention of jinn possession as it recognises jinn possession and addresses inter-psyche conflicts between the jinn psyche and the human psyche. It is also in harmony with the belief of Muslims and is more palatable to Muslim clients in explaining issues such as the purpose and meaning of life, guilt, grief, and coping mechanisms.
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