How to Know if a Jinn Is Following You
Summary
This commodity focuses on jinn possession and mental affliction in Islam. After discussing spirit possession generally and its classification in DSM-five, nosotros nowadays an overview of several studies examining the role of jinn in mental distress in Muslims in the UK. A example study which exemplifies jinn possession is presented and the clinical implications of the findings are discussed. We debate for collaborative working relationships between Islamic religious professionals and mental health professionals. Finally, we discuss potential areas for hereafter enquiry.
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The possibility of spirits inhabiting human being bodies is fairly universal across cultures and is documented in many ethnographic studies. Reference Cohen1 Khalifa & Hardie Reference Khalifa and Hardie2 assert that possession states can be understood merely through a combination of biological, anthropological, sociological, psychopathological and experimental perspectives. Psychiatrist and anthropologist Roland Littlewood Reference Littlewoodthree sees possession as the belief that an individual has been entered by an alien spirit or other parahuman force, which then controls the person or alters that person'due south deportment and identity. In his classic, Ecstatic Religion: A Written report of Shamanism and Spirit Possession, anthropologist I. M. Lewis speaks of 2 types of possession: primal and peripheral. Reference Lewis4 Central possession, highly valued by some, supports prevailing political, moral and religious behavior, and views spirits equally sympathetic to these. Such states are characteristic of religious ceremonies worldwide and are non considered pathological. Peripheral possession indicates an invasion of evil spirits, undesirable, immoral and dangerous. In the peripheral cults possession is typically open up to all participants, whereas in the primal religions such possession is reserved for the religious elite.
Possession worldwide is found more commonly in women and marginalised groups and may exist a vehicle through which they tin can express their complaints in a context in which they tin can be heard. Spirit possession generally occurs in cultural contexts in which the cocky is more probable to be fragmented. Whether or non possession is itself seen every bit pathological is dependent on the cultural context in which information technology occurs; by no means are all cases of possession seen every bit signs of disease. For instance, during Zar ceremonies in Egypt and Sudan, women become possessed by Zar spirits who speak through them. Such experiences in the Due west would likely exist deemed pathological.
Anthropologist Emma Cohen further notes that spirit possession concepts autumn into broadly ii varieties: i that entails the transformation or replacement of identity (executive possession) and one that envisages possessing spirits as the cause of illness and misfortune (pathogenic possession). Reference Cohenane In executive possession the afflicted private acts as though their identity has been displaced past that of the possessing spirit, whereas in the pathogenic type, possession by a spirit is an explanation for abnormal behaviour while the identity of the supposed afflicted individual remains intact. In the latter type, spirit possession is only incidental to the psychopathology rather than a cardinal symptom.
Spirit possession and mental affliction
Being possessed by demons or evil spirits is one of the oldest ways of accounting for bodily and mental disorders. The thought that spirit possession and mental disease are related has a long historical legacy. Throughout history mental illness has been attributed to demonic possession; the oldest references to demonic possession derive from the Sumerians, who believed that all diseases of the body and mind were caused by 'sickness demons' called gidim or gid-dim. The Gospels report Jesus regularly exorcising evil spirits. During the middle ages of Europe, possession (and witchcraft) was considered every bit one of several causes of mental affliction. Astrological theories prevailed during this period of history, in addition to the humoral theories of medicine. In improver, distinctions were made between eccentricity, madness and religious visions and revelations. A large number of the alleged witches and possessed persons who were burned had probably had mental disorders. Reference Høyersten5
Although this article focuses on jinn and mental illness amid gimmicky British Muslims, it is important to note that this close affinity between spirit possession and mental illness is not unique to Islam and like beliefs are held in Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism. Reference Halliburtonhalf-dozen-Reference Greenberg and Witztum8 Among contemporary Evangelical Christians, demonic possession is considered to be one possible cause of mental illness, with those displaying symptoms of possession being subject to deliverance. Information technology is recognised that a sure percentage of psychotic and less severely disturbed individuals attribute their symptoms to the devil. Reference Pfeiferix
Spirit possession in the DSM-5
In many non-Western cultures the most of import dissociative disorders involve trance/possession. Although the DSM-Four acknowledges the existence of dissociative trance and possession disorders, only named dissociative trance disorder, it asks for further studies to appraise its clinical utility in the DSM-five. Possession and possession trance are listed under the diagnosis dissociative disorder non otherwise specified. The DSM-Iv-TR definition includes 'possession trance, a single or episodic alteration in the state of consciousness characterized by the replacement of customary sense of personal identity by a new identity. This is attributed to the influence of a spirit, power, deity, or other person'. 10
Possessed individuals sometimes showroom symptoms similar to those associated with mental illnesses such every bit psychosis, hysteria, mania, Tourette syndrome, epilepsy, schizophrenia or dissociative identity disorder; this includes involuntary or uncensored behaviour. Since possession is not normative in Western cultures, it is the cultural context which determines the distinction betwixt psychosis and the spiritual. Spirit possession is a culturally specific style of displaying symptoms of psychosis, dissociation, social anxiety, etc. and is a fairly global idiom of distress. That is, whereas a person with psychosis in the West may believe he is being controlled by a estimator, a member of a community that believes in spirit possession may believe his trunk to exist taken over by a demon.
Cardeña et al Reference Cardeña, van Duijl, Weiner, Terhune, Dell and O'Neil11 fence that the diagnostic criteria for possession states are a nosological imperative for DSM-v in order to facilitate recognition of these disorders by mental health professionals, to encourage programmatic enquiry on them, and to aid devise culturally sensitive ways of treating them. It has been proposed that DSM-5 should include social impairment in dissociative identity disorder to help differentiate normative cultural feel from psychopathology. It is further proposed that dissociative trance disorder, a diagnosis present in DSM-IV, will be merged with dissociative identity disorder for DSM-5. The mention of possession is intended to make dissociative identity disorder a more globally acceptable diagnosis, replacing dissociative trance disorder and possession in the DSM-Iv. The recently published DSM-5 makes possession function of dissociative identity disorder and then provides for possession to not exist considered a disorder if it is 'a normal office of a broadly accepted cultural or religious exercise'. 12
Jinn and misfortune in Islam
Islamic texts discuss various classes of beings that populate the universe: jinn (spirits), shaytaan (satanic beings), marrid (demons), bhut (evil spirits) and farista (angels). The origin of the jinn is rooted in pre-Islamic Arab societies, fifty-fifty prior to the arrival of Judaism and Christianity in the Arab peninsula. Pagan Arabs would refer to jinn equally demon-like creatures, considering them to be lower in ranking than angels, or even bottom deities. The word jinn derives from the Arabic root Jann which conveys the idea of protecting, shielding, concealing or veiling. Jinn are ane of the creations of Allah. The basic difference between a homo and jinn lies in the substance they are made of. According to the Qur'an the jinn are fabricated of a 'smokeless and scorching fire' and they have the physical property of weight. Like human beings, they exhibit moral and mortal attributes. The jinn can be skilful, evil or neutrally chivalrous. They alive and die. Among jinn, there are also believers and non-believers. Typically, they are held to assail individuals who are weak of will, lack self-confidence, struggle for self-identity and credence past others, or are greedy for more and more pleasures of this earthly existence and desire power and control. Individuals can protect themselves from jinn through keeping their obligations to Islam (prayer, fasting, enjoining right and forbidding wrong), and prayer from reading the Qur'an and Sunnah - the traditions of the Prophet. 13-Reference Al-Jibaly15
Most Islamic scholars take the possibility that jinn can possess people. Some scholars, however, disagree and assert that jinn can just influence mankind and cannot literally have upwards physical space inside a human's torso - that is, they cannot possess individuals. Both groups, yet, would concur that there are clear criteria which need to exist applied before concluding that a jinn has had a part in an individual's situation, whether through possession or influence. Various passages in the Qur'an and Hadith (the collective body of traditions relating to Muhammad and his companions) back up the idea that jinn tin crusade erratic behaviour in one'southward words, deeds and movements: 'Those who eat Ribaa will not stand [on the Day of Resurrection] except like the standing of a person beaten past shaytaan [Satan] leading him to insanity' (Al-Baqarah, Qur'an, 2: 275).
Attribution of misfortune to malevolent forces including jinn, witchcraft and the evil eye is widely described in the anthropological literature on Islam. Reference Lewis4,Reference Boddy16-Reference Messing19 This includes mental disorder which is often treated by exorcism of jinn spirits. Reference Littlewoodiii,Reference Al-Ashqar14,Reference Younis20,Reference Dein, Alexander and Napier21 Jinn are frequently held to crusade both madness (janun) and epilepsy, ideas which go back to pre-Islamic Arabia. For many Islamic communities in the UK, particularly South Asian Muslims, a belief in the malevolent effects of possession is tied to persistence in demand for traditional healers to resolve treatment issues associated with spirit possession and the evil center. Reference Aslam22-Reference Weiss, Desai, Jadhav, Gupta, Channabasavanna and Doongaji25
Studies exploring jinn possession
There have been a few studies documenting the relationships betwixt jinn possession and mental illness amidst contemporary Muslims. El-Islam Reference El-Islam26 reported that symptoms such every bit morbid fears, forgetfulness and lack of energy are usually attributed to jinn in the Arab world. In relation to jinn possession in the UK, Dein et al Reference Dein, Alexander and Napier21 interviewed twenty members of the east London Bangladeshi community aged xviii-eighty, including students, shopkeepers, eatery workers, elderly day centre attendees and imams (x male, x female person). The interviewer was a White British anthropologist and psychiatrist who regularly visited the customs between the years 2005 and 2008 alongside a Sylheti speaking interpreter, who was as well present at the interviews. Participants were recruited through a snowballing technique. That study asked well-nigh the causes of misfortune more often than not, and more specifically well-nigh the role of jinn and witchcraft in this process. The researcher (S.D.) also spent time every bit a participant observer at the E London Mosque, documenting prayer and ritual, interviewing an exorcist, and attending meetings held by imams discussing the relation between spirit possession and mental wellness. Additionally, he collated adverts in newspapers for traditional healers to examine the types of problems they dealt with. Reference Dein, Alexander and Napier21
The written report found beliefs in jinn, the evil eye and witchcraft to be prevalent in this sample, peculiarly among older and less educated Bangladeshi individuals. A report of beliefs related to jinn possession comparing Bangladeshi Muslims in Dhaka and in Leicester revealed similar education-related furnishings, namely a higher prevalence among women who were less educated. Reference Khalifa, Hardie and Mullick27 Thus, as Dein et al have argued, Reference Dein, Alexander and Napier21 Western education may diminish the prevalence of beliefs concerning jinn possession, although they are non totally eradicated. In Dein et al's study, Reference Dein, Alexander and Napier21 frequent resort was made to traditional healers in the context of concrete and mental illnesses, particularly when jinn possession or witchcraft was suspected. Religion healers typically employed a range of religious interventions to treat affliction past jinn, of which the nearly widely used were ruqyah (seeking refuge with Allah by reciting certain verses from the Qur'an), Footnote a dhikr (remembrance and invocation of Allah), and reciting the Qur'an over water and instructing the individuals to drink information technology later. Alternatively, they may recite the Qur'an over water and blow into information technology, and so they tell the sick person to wash with this h2o.
A 2d semi-structured interview study looked at understandings of mental disease and intendance pathways amongst a sample of 30 Bangladeshi mental health service users and thirty of their carers attending a 24-hour interval middle in Tower Hamlets, an east London borough. The service users had all received psychiatric assist and had been diagnosed with a range of atmospheric condition: schizophrenia, low, bipolar disorder and anxiety. Although family members ofttimes held jinn possession and witchcraft responsible for their illnesses, the service users and carers themselves were frequently sceptical most these explanations and frequently invoked 'Western' psychological explanations such as stress and marital discord instead. Near had, however, consulted traditional healers at some stage in their illness. Near unanimously all reported the efficacy of reading the Qur'an and prayer in helping them cope with their illnesses. About expressed satisfaction in relation to their professional psychiatric treatment. Reference Dein, Piedmont and Village28
Khalifa et al Reference Khalifa, Hardie, Latif, Jamil and Walker29 examined Muslims' beliefs nearly jinn, black magic and the evil eye in Leicester, UK. Using a self-written report questionnaire they asked their sample of 111 individuals aged over 18 years whether they believed affliction by these supernatural entities could cause physical or mental health problems and too whether doctors, religious leaders or both should care for this. The bulk of the sample believed in the existence of jinn, black magic and the evil middle, and approximately half of them stated that these could crusade physical and mental health issues and maintained that these problems should be treated by both doctors and religious figures. Reference Khalifa, Hardie, Latif, Jamil and Walker29
Hither nosotros present a case study which exemplifies the relation between jinn possession and mental illness. Details have been changed to preserve anonymity.
Case study: jinn possession
Ayesha is a 50-year-old legal secretary. She was born in Pakistan and has lived in London for the by xx years. She and her hubby Jamil attended an Islamic healer, a raqi (person who performs ruqyah). Ayesha recounted the following story.
Over several months, her married man had become increasingly withdrawn, slept poorly and was tearful and agitated following problems at piece of work. Pocket-sized irrelevant matters started to bother him, consuming much of his energy and time and significantly affecting the marital relationship; at times he became violent towards his wife. Very soon he started to have nightmares which used to wake him up subsequently midnight; he used to dream of strange creatures of all sizes and shapes and at times felt every bit if somebody was choking him by sitting on his chest; he would wake up screaming in perspiration. The couple had been married for 30 years and had four children together. Before his troubles began, Jamil had been an outgoing and optimistic man from a religious and well-to-do family, with a memorable childhood wherein he excelled in all fields.
Ayesha became convinced that this was a spiritual trouble. Following months of prayer, Allah revealed to her in a dream Namaze istekhara (the special guidance prayer) that Jamil's problems had something to do with Satan and jinn. She remarked that her hubby had become agitated and developed jerking movements afterward reading the Qur'an, a sign of jinn possession. At the same time, her twin sons started crying after midnight for no reason and screaming inconsolably. It so happened that an Islamic scholar advised her to recite detail verses of the holy Qur'an and and then to blow them in a mug of water and instructed the entire family to drink from it for vii days, equally he felt that the symptoms could be the mischief of the jinn in the house, which could be creating mischief at night equally well.
Following consultation with their general practitioner her husband was prescribed a course of paroxetine. He improved only slightly, and it was later this that Ayesha took him along to the raqi who confirmed jinn possession and the malevolent influence of witchcraft perpetrated past his cousin in Islamic republic of pakistan. He recommended that Jamil ingested olive oil. Through reciting verses of the Qur'an to him the spirit revealed himself and finally, after some time, agreed to leave him. This procedure was repeated several times. Both Ayesha and Jamil reported subsequent improvement in his mental state.
This example study illustrates several features. From a Western psychiatric perspective, the patient experiences an anxiety land or depressive disorder. His symptoms have been attributed to jinn possession. From an Islamic perspective, his anger caused by hearing recitation of the Qur'an reinforces a diagnosis of jinn possession. The recitation of Qur'anic verses (ruqyah) and ingestion of olive oil are typical treatments for possession by jinn spirits.
Clinical implications
This commodity has examined the relationship between jinn possession and mental affliction among British Muslims. Resort to traditional explanations of mental illness appears to be commonplace amid some groups of Muslims in the Great britain. More work is needed to institute the contexts in which jinn are invoked at times of illness and more information is required almost the backgrounds of those who deploy such explanations.
The findings of empirical studies on jinn and mental wellness cited in this article have significant clinical implications. Mental health professionals should be aware of the explanatory models adopted by their patients and in that location is a need for these professionals to interact with imams in the provision of holistic mental healthcare which incorporates biological, psychological and spiritual factors. Whereas mental health professionals can teach imams to recognise mental affliction, Islamic religious professionals can in turn educate health professionals about the importance of religious factors in psychiatric disorders. Clinicians must be careful to distinguish between culturally sanctioned conventionalities in spirit possession and obvious psychotic symptoms lest the patient be treated unnecessarily with antipsychotics. On the other hand, clinicians must exercise caution and non assume that all unusual beliefs in a patient from an unfamiliar civilisation are culturally sanctioned lest psychosis goes undetected and untreated. Members of the patient'south own religious community should exist consulted in relation to these issues. Furthermore, it is important to distinguish spirit possession as an altered state with the replacement of identity from psychopathological weather condition that include the private's belief that the disorder is acquired by a spirit or in which beliefs about spirits are part of a larger status. We emphasise the importance of embracing the service user'south rationale of illness for them to take medication. Embracing gratis handling options such as ruqya will aid date, concordance and mayhap enhance the service user'southward well-beingness.
Future work in this area should involve psychological, biological and anthropological approaches to ascertain the psychological predispositions to dissociate, exist suggestible/have unusual experiences, their neurological correlates and the means in which sociocultural factors shape them. Furthermore, as Cardeña et al inquire, Reference Cardeña, van Duijl, Weiner, Terhune, Dell and O'Neilxi it is worth exploring whether people with dysfunctional possession experienced more trauma and attachment bug (both predisposing factors to dissociation) than those with controlled organised possession. Some other result is why some people become more hands possessed than others. In that location are several further questions for time to come research. In what means do rituals heal those who are perceived to exist possessed by spirits and to what extent are such rituals efficacious? Of particular importance are phenomenological comparisons of specific forms of psychopathology such as schizophrenia and diverse forms of spirit possession with a specific focus on agency which is disturbed in both instances.
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