Some scholars and medical practitioners have come out against a demand to open Ruqyah clinics (therapy using the recitation of the Holy Qur'an) in government hospitals in the Kingdom. Some proponents of the Ruqyah method of treating patients have urged the Ministry of Health to open such clinics, but many other Sheikhs have found the idea to be unacceptable. According to Sabq, an electronic newspaper, Hasan Bin Abdullah Al-Shanbariey, a Ruqyah Sheikh from Makkah, urged the Ministry of Health to establish Qur'an clinics to provide therapy to patients after he found that most of the patients who visited him did not suffer from real organic sickness. Instead, he found his patients to be under a spell of witchcraft and some under the impact of Satanic power (ghost power). Repeated telephonic attempts by Saudi Gazette to confirm from Ministry of Health officials the veracity of reports on Ruqyah clinics went unanswered. However, Sheikh Jamman Abdullah Al-Zahrani, himself a Ruqyah Sheikh and a teacher in a Makkah School, said such a project would fail even before it was launched. “If the Ministry of Health agrees with this idea, many issues will arise: What are the criteria for choosing Ruqyah Sheikhs, how many Sheikhs are required in a hospital and will universities begin bachelor courses in this therapy?” said Jamman. Jamman said every Muslim who pronounces Shahada (There is no God but Allah and that Muhammad – peace be upon him – is His Messenger) and prays can act as a Ruqyah therapist. “The point is that if people have a strong faith in Allah and a strong trust that the Almighty will cure them by reciting Qur'an on themselves, it would be better than visiting a Ruqyah Sheikh,” said Jamman. However, many people resort to Ruqyah Sheikhs to treat them although they can read Qur'anic verses themselves, said Jamman. The Holy Qur'an is the original remedy and other medications come in the second stage, he said. “Allah said in the Qur'an that he has revealed the Book as a cure for people. He didn't say medication for people which proves that the Qur'an surely heals people whereas drugs may or may not heal,” said Jamman. He said most psychiatrics recommend patients to use Qur'an therapy on themselves since patients find medications do not have a positive effect on their spirits. Jamman recommended patients to resort to Qur'an therapy first and then use medical drugs to help them recover. “I met many strange people who asked for Qur'an therapy: A woman was not able to drink water at her house for almost ten years, an adult who lacked the ability to read from books because he saw only blank pages, and another adult who spent 20 years hallucinating that he was traveling around the world,” said Jamman. Jamman stated such cases cannot be healed by medications or by visiting psychiatrics since they were under the influence of Satanic power. Such a patient should follow a therapeutic program in which a Ruqyah Sheikh, psychiatric specialists and family members should cooperate, Jamman added. He asserted that having strong faith in Allah and a decent intention will help in healing patients. Jamman said magicians also give patients some strange things, such as, an egg with magic words written on it and padlocks covered by leather. Mohammad Al-Hamid, head of the psychological department in Bakhsh private hospital, said patients should first consult physicians to diagnose their illnesses since only they can decide whether the ailment was due to the influence of the devil or not. “We are in the 21st century and we still have some simpleminded people who think that all diseases are due to the influence of the devil,” said Al-Hamid. Al-Hamid referred to the danger of resorting to so-called Ruqyah Sheikhs who prevent patients from seeing physicians. He said that he had several patients who visited him after visiting Ruqyah Sheikhs. The ailments of almost all of them were at an advanced stage. “Eight years ago a woman patient working as a teacher was referred to me by a government committee. Her father asked the judge to give him the authority to receive her salary because she was not in a good mental state, and had been diagnosed by a Ruqyah Sheikh as being affected by the devil. The judge asked him to refer to us in order to prove that she was not in a good mental health. When I saw her, she was in a very bad condition and had even stopped washing herself. We diagnosed her illness as schizophrenia. She was treated in a hospital and recovered after three weeks. She could return to her school after a gap of 20 years,” Al-Hamid said. __
