Interview #3 with Muslim Exorcist

Interview No. 3

Location: Cairo, EgyptDate: 10/8/88
Name: Sa‘eed Muhammad
Date of Birth: 1946
Place of Birth: Tanta
Education: Diploma from the ‘Ibaad ad-Du‘aa’ Institute.

Q. When did you begin practicing exorcism?
A. I began practicing more than ten years ago.

Q. What caused you to begin?
A. It began when the wife of my brother became afflicted with continual vaginal bleeding that the doctors were unable to treat. As you know, there is a prophetic tradition in which a woman came to the Prophet () and said, “O Messenger of Allaah, I am a woman whose blood flows continually.” He said to her, “It is due to a blow struck by the devil.” That is, the devil has some influence in this area. Perhaps it was due to a fit (mass) or perhaps she was bewitched, both of which are manifestations of the jinn in the body. There is a hadeeth saying that the devil flows in the bloodstream of Aadam’s descendants. Because of this, I recited over her al-Faatihah; the first five verses of Soorah al-Baqarah; “wa ilaahukum ilaahun waahid…,”[1] verse 255 of al-Baqarah; “shahidallaahu annahoo laa ilaaha illaa hoo…” from Soorah Aal ‘Imraan;[2] “rabbukumullaah…” from Soorah al-A‘raaf;[3] “afahsibtum…” from Soorah al-Mu‘minoon;[4] the closing verses of Soorah al-Hashr, and three verses from Soorah al-Jinn. The jinnee in her manifested itself and spoke to me. I realized that it was a male jinnee. It said that it came to her when she cried in the dark because her husband had traveled. My brother’s complaint was that whenever he approached his wife, she would begin to bleed even though it was not the time of her menses. In the end, after my recitation, I found that the jinnee was not a Muslim. I invited him to Islaam, and he accepted and then left her.

Q. Was his voice different from your brother’s wife’s voice?
A. Yes, it was the voice of a male.

Q. How old was the woman?
A. She was 25 years old. It is the Qur’ânic verses which can control the jinn, Muslim or non-Muslim. Some are rebellious and others are Muslim. Sometimes it may argue with the exorcist himself. We see that the churches are filled with magic, for when we ask the jinn questions, they say that they came from the church of George’s family. And the jinn are tough and try to destroy whoever is in their presence.

Q. What percentage of cases are true, demonic possession?
A. Some are imaginary. Women often imagine that someone has bewitched them or that the change of their husband’s treatment is due to a magic spell put upon their husbands.

The first sign of possession in a woman is that her menses becomes irregular. She also feels a kind of suffocation which is quite different from psychological depression or medical asphyxia. It comes to her at night in the form of a nightmare, even if she is regular in her formal prayers and uses the prescribed daily supplications. At the end of her treatment she listens to a tape of the verses which I mentioned earlier. When she listens to the tape alone, she discovers her life changing. She becomes imbalanced at first. In the beginning, I greet the jinnee with salutations of peace. If it is a Muslim, it replies, and if not, it does not reply. I then begin to address it with any other greetings, and it replies, informing me that it is not a Muslim. After speaking to it, it leaves the woman, freeing her from all of the afflicting pains, from headaches to infertility and other symptoms which doctors are unable to cure.
On one occasion during an argument between a woman and her husband, the wife lost her speech. Her tongue refused to function, and she became very depressed. She saw a doctor who was unable to determine the medical cause, so he sent her to me. I recited over her the verses I mentioned earlier and called the adhaan. At the end of the adhaan, the woman began to speak again. She made the declaration of faith (shahaadah), and the jinnee left her.

Q. From your experience, what are the reasons why jinn possess people?
A. Jinn enter human bodies when man commits errors. However, if he lives according to the Qur’aan and the Sunnah of the Prophet () and uses the prescribed supplications and prayer shields (tahassunaat) which the Prophet () taught us, he will not be afflicted by the jinn. The jinn may afflict one who is far from supplications, the Sunnah and Qur’ânic recitations. Such an affliction can be quite destructive. Sometimes when marital partners argue for no reason, the husband will report that he saw his wife looking quite unnatural, and she say likewise about him. This is a form of magical spell called “the reversal” (qalb). It existed during the era of Moses and is still around today. The wife may become possessed or bewitched. When a jinnee enters a human body, it wishes the body to remain in its possession. It may practice evil with the woman in her eating and drinking habits, in her sleep, etc. It may enter the toilet with her when she goes to relieve herself. If you ask her if she spends a long time in the toilet relieving herself, she will reply, “Yes, I do although I do not need to spend all of that time in there.” This is because the jinn want her in that state in order to see her exposed private parts.

Q. What are the other reasons?
A. The jinn may fall in love with a woman. When we perform intercourse, we are supposed to say, “O Allaah, remove the devil from us and from whatever offspring Your provide us.” It may be deduced from this prayer that the devil may take part when a man has intercourse with his wife. As Allaah, Most Great and Glorious, said to Satan in Soorah al-Israa’:
“Share in their wealth and children.”[5]
Satan does not have power of the true servants of Allaah who pray regularly and read the Qur’aan. When you enter a house, you may find most of its occupants are afflicted with some sort of from of demonic possession (mass). And when you ask the head of the household in he prays, he will say no. The house is in ruins and thus the devils enter.

Q. What is the percentage of possessed women in relationship to men?
A. The greater majority are women, about 95 percent, because they like to adorn themselves, display their beauty, and are disobedient. I have only encountered one possessed woman who was pious. She attended one of my lectures and after I recited the verses, we heard her scream. She was known to pray regularly and had memorized much of the Qur’aan, so I asked her what was wrong with her, and she replied in a man’s voice, “I am ‘Alee.” I asked him, “Are you a Muslim?” and he replied, “Yes.” I asked, “How did you enter her?” He said, “She poured hot water outside and hurt me.” I told him, “Get out!” and he left her. She was 28 years old.

Q. How did you know that she was possessed?
A. She said that when she poured hot water she felt as though there was fire in her leg. Some people sense the jinn’s entrance while others do not.

Q. From your experience, do male jinn enter women and female jinn enter men?
A. If a woman harms a female jinnee, it will enter her. Sometimes we have found both male and female jinn inside of a single person. Sometimes, when you say to it, “Sent out So-and-so,” it turns out to be only one jinnee pretending to be different people.

Q. Do they have names?
A. Yes, they do have names. However, on one occasion, I asked a jinnee about its name and it replied that it was the number thirty-six. When I asked about its tribe, it said it was from Banee al-Asfaar. And when I inquired about the location of its home, it replied that it was Printing Press Road.

Q. Is it common for a male jinn to affect a woman?
A. Yes. It is the usual case for women to be possessed by male jinn and men by female jinn. I saw one case in which a man was possessed by a female jinnee who was a non-Muslim. He used to have terrible fits whenever he recited the Qur’aan. I told her that he was going to get married soon and she screamed. After great effort, she was made to leave.

Q. Are possessing jinn usually Muslims or non-Muslims?
A. In reality, jinn may be both. But Muslim jinn only enter if they are hurt, while non-Muslim jinn will enter whether hurt or not. Most often they are non-Muslims.

Q. Do the jinn settle in a particular portion of the human body?
A. Usually they spread throughout the whole body. The Prophet () said, “Certainly the devil flows in the veins of Aadam’s descendants.” And in another narration, “Satan circulates in Aadam’s descendants like blood.” In some cases, I ask the jinnee to congregate in one specific place.

Q. Have you experienced any attempt to possess you?
A. The jinn have tribes and families. They are just like us. They will try to take revenge on the one who removes them. One time, they tried to affect my son, Ahmad.

Notes:
[1] Qur’aan, 2:163.
[2] Qur’aan, 3:18.
[3] Qur’aan, 7:54.
[4] Qur’aan, 23:115.
[5] Qur’aan, 17:64.