Fake Faith Healers in Kashmir: A Tragedy of Ignorance
Little learning is a dangerous Thing. And it is folly to be wise where ignorance is Bliss: Alexander Pope
It is very tragically disgusting that in this era of modernity, fast communication and advanced medical technology people fall prey to these fake faith healers ( Doongee Babaas). And the ironic situation being that the experiences had from these peers have been very drastic and even then people don’t get alarmed and forget all about them just within the wink of eye like a dreamy experience. Since 2014, we have seen that the episodes like Gulzaar Peer, Las bab and many more have been witnessed from North Kashmir that has been famous for Knowledge and philosophy since the ages.
CRIME RECORD: Srinagar, Apr 26: A faith healer was arrested on Friday by the police for his alleged involvement in stabbing a woman in the Chogal area of Handwara in north Kashmir, officials said.
Police said this morning, a woman from the Magam area of Handwara visited the faith healer Ghulam Rasool ( Lass Bab) in Chogal area. He hit her on her head repeatedly, resulting in critical injuries. She was taken to the associated hospital GMC Handwara, where the on- duty doctors referred her to a Srinagar hospital, where she was declared dead. As soon as the incident occurred, Handwara police registered a case and arrested the faith healer. Dozens of women from the area resisted his arrest and were removed by the police. Eyewitnesses also stated that as soon as he was arrested, scores of his followers visited the police post where he was lodged. A police officer stated that they have registered a case under relevant sections of the law and arrested the faith healer, and further investigation is underway.[ R. K 26/ APR/ 24]
Aijaz Ahmad Sheikh, 45, called himself a pir. A married man and father of three children, he had built a reputation for himself as a faith healer. For 20 years, people from Sopore in Kashmir, turned to Ahmad, asking him to reverse their misfortunes. Unwittingly, many may have served up their children to an alleged sexual predator.[ By: Safeena Wani, 16 Mar, 2016]
Srinagar | Kashmir | India | 22 May 2013:: A private sex racket of a truly Islamic nature is now exposed in Kashmir valley after arrest of a so called Muslim Darvish ( holy man) against a charge of raping innocent girls under a scheme of ‘ purification’ and retaining ‘ endless- youth’ of damsels. Police in Kashmir arrested the fake Darvish who allegedly raped young Kashmiri girls on the pretext of purifying and revitalizing the sexual power of women under a subtle guidance of Quranic knowledge of Behast ( Islamic heaven).
Lets examin the context of Quran and hadeeth in this regard:
Allah can do everything including granting shifa from apparently an incurable disease. Allah frequently states in Quran: Do they not see that Allah, who created the heavens and earth and did not fail in their creation, is able to give life to the dead? Yes. Indeed, He is over all things competent. ( Ahqaf 46: 33) Creating heavens and earth perfectly and giving life to death are harder than curing a critical sick. He can do everything which you consider impossible. Having capability of curing sick doesn’t mean that He should cure all the sick. It is His Wisdom that some get shifa but others do not. However, it is our duty to undergo through treatment to fix a sickness and make dua from Allah to seek shifa from Him. If Dua is accepted shifa will be granted, otherwise reward for doing Dua is still awarded. [ Al- Quran]
Qur'anic healing [ al'ilaj bi- lqur'an] is a traditional spiritual healing method based on the Qur'an. It is practiced in various Muslim communities for the treatment of mental afflictions and other ailments. Through Qur'anic healing, the wider issue of religious and cultural related healing is presented, and the question of possible cooperation between physicians and healers is raised. Using a criminal court case brought before the Israeli Supreme Court in the mid 1950s, the legal and ethical aspects of practicing Qur'anic healing are discussed, including: healers' liability, right to practice healing and legal "risks" involved in various methods of treatment. The legal analysis is based both on Israeli and Muslim law, demonstrating how similar legal results may be achieved through different legal systems and practices. [ Med Law. 2008 Jun; 27( 2): 259- 84.]
In this age of information and communication technology every Tom, Dick and Hary has easy access to Quran and hadeeth combined with the life histories of all saints like Shekhul Aalam, Lal Ded, Mir Syed Ali Hamadani and a lot more. Why people should fall prey to this dogmatism and faith healing of false type and the biggest question is to educated folk especially the religious scholars. Being Muslims, we are obliged to strictly follow the Quran and Hadeeth and the religious scholars if needed for clarification of various concepts. So for as present scenario is concerned, Kashmir has been facing many manmade disasters like the conflict between various sects/ groups. Why we don’t use of logic and reason? Why educated community is silent spectator? Where is Intelligentsia?
Conclusion: let me include an incident from the era of Prophet( PBUH), once upon time , the holy prophet and his companions were on a travel and they would stay in an open filed surrounded by bushes . the companions would ask, ‘ O’ Prophet of Allah should we leave the camels un tethered and believe in Allah’ . The prophet would reply, ‘ Tether the camels and then believe in Allah for good or bad’ so, we can infer that Islam has the basis on logic and reasoning and it never allows us to follow someone blindly and illogically. The only tragedy being that we never go through the Quran and Hadeeth. The result being that we fall victims to such goons and mentally mad persons.