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The Exorcist Tradition In Islam

In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful


This original work was first presented as a Ph.D. thesis in 1994 at the University of Wales. It is a well-balanced combination of library as well as field research which systematically and critically assesses the theory and practice of exorcism among orthodox Muslims.

The field research is comprised of interviews with seventeen exorcists from seven countries. The results are analysed in the main text, and the interviews themselves are reproduced in a sizeable appendix. This book is a unique contribution to the understanding of a subject little known among western scholars.

This work is specifically aimed at filling a gap in modern research on the Islamic concept of exorcism and the supernatural world related to it, based upon the sources considered authentic by Islamic authorities and augmented by field research. The possession of humans by jinns and their expulsion are thoroughly discussed. A comparative study is made with Christian exorcist tradition and the medical professions point of view. Case studies of leading Muslim exorcists from Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Pakistan and India are included.

Dr Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips was born in Jamaica, but grew up in Canada, where he accepted Islam in 1972. He completed a diploma in Arabic and a B.A. from the College of Islamic Disciplines (Usool ad-Deen) at the Islamic University of Madeenah in 1979. At the University of Riyadh, College of Education, he completed a M.A. in Islamic Theology in 1985, and in the department of Islamic Studies at the University of Wales, he completed a Ph.D. in Islamic Theology in 1994.

Abu Ameenah taught Islamic Education and Arabic in private schools in Riyadh for over ten years and for three years he lectured M.Ed. students in the Islamic Studies department of Shariff Kabunsuan Islamic University in Cotobato City, Mindanao, Philippines. Since 1994 he has founded and directed the Islamic Information Center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (which is now known as Discover Islam) and the Foreign Literature Department of Dar al Fatah Islamic Press in Sharjah, UAE. Presently, he is a lecturer of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the American University in Dubai and Ajman University in Ajman, UAE.



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