Spirit possession and exorcism in Islam

In Islam, the belief that spiritual entities—particularly, jinn—can possess a person, (or a thing or location),^[1] is widespread; as is the belief that the jinn and devils can be expelled from the possessed person (or thing/location) through exorcism. This practice is called al-'azm^[2]^: 98 or ruqya (Arabic: رقية, romanized: ruqya, spell, charm, magic, incantation),^[3] and exorcists are called raqi.

Belief in the supernatural—witchcraft, sorcery, magic, ghosts, and demons—in the Muslim world is not marginalized as eccentric or a product of ignorance, but is prevalent among all social classes. Belief in the supernatural creatures known as Jinn is both an integral part of Islamic belief,^[4] and a common explanations in society "for evil, illness, health, wealth, and position in society as well as all mundane and inexplicable phenomena in between". Jinn are thought to be able to enter and possess people, with evil jinn causing various maladies in the humans they possess.

—underworld demons— are said to grant the possessed some supernatural powers, but also to drive them insane.^[35]

ʻafarit

—devils—are inherently evil,^[36] lacking the free will that jinn and humans have to choose between good and evil. Iblis, the leader of the shayatin, tempts humans into sin by following the lower nafs (ego or soul) of the human,^[37] whispering temptation (Arabic: waswās وَسْوَاس) to them ^[38] Hadiths suggest that the demons/devils whisper from within the human body, within or next to the heart, so it is sometimes thought of as a kind of possession,^[39] but of the soul and not the body.

shayatin

Spirits neither fitting to ghosts, devils or jinn ( ("red wind") and div (fiends)) are other spirits that exorcists check for.^[40]

Zār

"remembrance of God and recitation of the Quran";

"blowing into the possessed person's mouth, cursing and commanding the jinn to leave";

"seeking refuge with Allah by calling upon Allah, remembering him and addressing his creatures".

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Spirit possession#Islam

Islam and magic

Outline of Islam

Glossary of Islam

Index of Islam-related articles

Devil

Demonic possession

Al-Mu'awwidhatayn

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Encyclopedia of Religion

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Maʻrūf, Muḥammad (2007). Jinn Eviction as a Discourse of Power: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Modern Moroccan Magical Beliefs and Practices. Brill. p. 2. 978-90-04-16099-6.

ISBN

Meldon, J.A. (1908). "Notes on the Sudanese in Uganda". Journal of the Royal African Society. 7 (26): 123–146. 715079.

JSTOR

Rassool, G. Hussein (2015). Islamic Counselling: An Introduction to theory and practice. New York: Routledge. 978-1-317-44124-3.

ISBN

Sells, Michael Anthony (1996). Early Islamic Mysticism: Sufi, Qurʼan, Miraj, Poetic and Theological Writings. Paulist Press. p. 143. 978-0-809-13619-3.

ISBN

Szombathy, Zoltan (2014). "Exorcism". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. 3. :10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_26268. ISBN 978-90-04-26963-7.

doi

Westermarck, Edward (23 April 2014). Ritual and Belief in Morocco. Routledge Revivals. Vol. 1. Routledge. pp. 263–264. 978-1-317-91268-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)