Ghostbuster fights demons with Islam!
A young woman sits silently in a small room of a sprawling bungalow on a quiet suburban street. A white-bearded man approaches and gently lays his hands on her head. She begins to writhe and moan.
Two aides step forward to hold her down as the bearded man intones Koranic verses and orders the demon to leave her body. "No!" the woman shrieks, giving voice to the evil spirit within her. "I've been here a long time, I don't want to die."
After a minute or two she is led from the room, her face a mask of fear and anguish. The bearded man -- Haron Din, Islamic scholar, healer, politician and ghostbuster -- moves on to the next patient.
About 200 people, mostly women wearing the Malaysian Muslim headscarf and loose, colourful, flowing dresses, await his attention.
"They have problems, not only physical problems but also spiritual problems, including black magic," Haron tells AFP over a cup of tea during a break in his schedule.
A belief in the supernatural is widespread in Malaysia, as it is in many parts of Asia.
Tourism officials in Thailand say that while Western tourists are returning to the resort beaches of Phuket after last year's devastating tsunami, Asians are staying away because they fear the victims' ghosts.
"Our big market has been Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea but we believe that many of them are afraid of ghosts," Phuket Tourism Association spokesman Somchai Silapanont told a group of Malaysia-based journalists on a promotional trip recently.
Most of Malaysia's 25 million people are Muslim Malays, but there are large ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities with their own superstitions, as well as indigenous tribespeople steeped in ancient traditions embracing the supernatural.
People of all walks of life consult traditional healers known as 'bomohs' (witchdoctors), seeking relief from curses they believe their enemies have placed on them, or better luck in business or gambling, or the healing of physical and spiritual afflictions.
-- "Bomohs have some association with black spirits, black magic" --
In a famous case which held the nation spellbound just two years ago, a bizarre tale of a bewitched palace, sexual jealousy and the murder of a beautiful royal bride unfolded in a sombre, modern courtroom.
The cast of the story, which dominated newspaper front pages, included Raja Jaafar Raja Muda Musa, 62, second in line to the Perak state throne and his first wife Raja Nor Mahani Raja Shahar Shah, 61.
The raja's second wife -- as a Muslim he is entitled to four -- was the murder victim, 26-year-old former model and actress, Hasleza Ishak.
Five men, including two bomohs, were convicted in the High Court of killing Hasleza. One of the bomohs told the court that the first wife, Princess Mahani, masterminded the killing.
The princess, who was not charged, said she simply asked the bomohs to lift a black magic spell which she believed Hasleza had put on her and which caused things to get weird in the palace. The Raja took to sitting cross-legged in the dark and shunning her company, she said. Headless birds were found in the palace grounds. She developed a rash and vomited crystals, and babies cried although there were no babies in the palace.
She did not order Hasleza killed, she told the court, "because it would jeopardize my high position and mar the good name of my family and the state".
A belief in witchcraft, obviously, would not.
Haron, 65, is a retired university professor with a doctorate in Islamic sharia law. He is also deputy spiritual leader of the fundamentalist opposition Islamic Party (PAS). He is also regarded by many as Malaysia's most famous bomoh.
But he rejects the term, saying he is an Islamic healer who follows a long tradition of treatment through Koranic verses. While he battles against what he calls wild spirits, he accuses bomohs of using them for their black magic.
"The term bomoh in the Malay community is different to the Islamic healer. The bomoh uses inhuman words, perhaps words of the wild spirit. This is prohibited in Islam," he says.
hindustantimes.com |
