perennialist use of magic and shayateen?

Discussion in 'Aqidah/Kalam' started by izz al-Din, Feb 10, 2017.

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  1. izz al-Din

    izz al-Din Well-Known Member

    יְשַׁעְיָהוּ

    Isaiah Chapter 14

    א
    כִּי יְרַחֵם יְהוָה אֶת-יַעֲקֹב, וּבָחַר עוֹד בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל, וְהִנִּיחָם, עַל-אַדְמָתָם; וְנִלְוָה הַגֵּר עֲלֵיהֶם, וְנִסְפְּחוּ עַל-בֵּית יַעֲקֹב. 1

    For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land; and the stranger shall join himself with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.

    ב וּלְקָחוּם עַמִּים, וֶהֱבִיאוּם אֶל-מְקוֹמָם, וְהִתְנַחֲלוּם בֵּית-יִשְׂרָאֵל עַל אַדְמַת יְהוָה, לַעֲבָדִים וְלִשְׁפָחוֹת; וְהָיוּ שֹׁבִים לְשֹׁבֵיהֶם, וְרָדוּ בְּנֹגְשֵׂיהֶם. {ס} 2

    And the peoples shall take them, and bring them to their place; and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and for handmaids; and they shall take them captive, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors. {S}

    ג
    וְהָיָה, בְּיוֹם הָנִיחַ יְהוָה לְךָ, מֵעָצְבְּךָ, וּמִרָגְזֶךָ--וּמִן-הָעֲבֹדָה הַקָּשָׁה, אֲשֶׁר עֻבַּד-בָּךְ. 3

    And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy travail, and from thy trouble, and from the hard service wherein thou wast made to serve,

    ד וְנָשָׂאתָ הַמָּשָׁל הַזֶּה, עַל-מֶלֶךְ בָּבֶל--וְאָמָרְתָּ: אֵיךְ שָׁבַת נֹגֵשׂ, שָׁבְתָה מַדְהֵבָה. 4

    that thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say: How hath the oppressor ceased! the exactress of gold ceased!

    ה שָׁבַר יְהוָה, מַטֵּה רְשָׁעִים--שֵׁבֶט, מֹשְׁלִים. 5

    The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers,

    ו מַכֶּה עַמִּים בְּעֶבְרָה, מַכַּת בִּלְתִּי סָרָה; רֹדֶה בָאַף גּוֹיִם, מֻרְדָּף בְּלִי חָשָׂךְ. 6

    That smote the peoples in wrath with an incessant stroke, that ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that none restrained.

    ז נָחָה שָׁקְטָה, כָּל-הָאָרֶץ; פָּצְחוּ, רִנָּה. 7

    The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet; they break forth into singing.

    ח גַּם-בְּרוֹשִׁים שָׂמְחוּ לְךָ, אַרְזֵי לְבָנוֹן; מֵאָז שָׁכַבְתָּ, לֹא-יַעֲלֶה הַכֹּרֵת עָלֵינוּ. 8

    Yea, the cypresses rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon: 'Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.'

    ט שְׁאוֹל, מִתַּחַת רָגְזָה לְךָ--לִקְרַאת בּוֹאֶךָ; עוֹרֵר לְךָ רְפָאִים, כָּל-עַתּוּדֵי אָרֶץ--הֵקִים מִכִּסְאוֹתָם, כֹּל מַלְכֵי גוֹיִם. 9

    The nether-world from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; the shades are stirred up for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; all the kings of the nations are raised up from their thrones.

    י כֻּלָּם יַעֲנוּ, וְיֹאמְרוּ אֵלֶיךָ: גַּם-אַתָּה חֻלֵּיתָ כָמוֹנוּ, אֵלֵינוּ נִמְשָׁלְתָּ. 10

    All they do answer and say unto thee: 'Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us?

    יא הוּרַד שְׁאוֹל גְּאוֹנֶךָ, הֶמְיַת נְבָלֶיךָ; תַּחְתֶּיךָ יֻצַּע רִמָּה, וּמְכַסֶּיךָ תּוֹלֵעָה. 11

    Thy pomp is brought down to the nether-world, and the noise of thy psalteries; the maggot is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.'

    יב אֵיךְ נָפַלְתָּ מִשָּׁמַיִם, הֵילֵל בֶּן-שָׁחַר; נִגְדַּעְתָּ לָאָרֶץ, חוֹלֵשׁ עַל-גּוֹיִם. 12

    How art thou fallen from heaven, O day-star, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, that didst cast lots over the nations!

    יג וְאַתָּה אָמַרְתָּ בִלְבָבְךָ, הַשָּׁמַיִם אֶעֱלֶה--מִמַּעַל לְכוֹכְבֵי-אֵל, אָרִים כִּסְאִי; וְאֵשֵׁב בְּהַר-מוֹעֵד, בְּיַרְכְּתֵי צָפוֹן. 13

    And thou saidst in thy heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, above the stars of God will I exalt my throne, and I will sit upon the mount of meeting, in the uttermost parts of the north;

    יד אֶעֱלֶה, עַל-בָּמֳתֵי עָב; אֶדַּמֶּה, לְעֶלְיוֹן. 14

    I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.'

    טו אַךְ אֶל-שְׁאוֹל תּוּרָד, אֶל-יַרְכְּתֵי-בוֹר. 15

    Yet thou shalt be brought down to the nether-world, to the uttermost parts of the pit.

    טז רֹאֶיךָ אֵלֶיךָ יַשְׁגִּיחוּ, אֵלֶיךָ יִתְבּוֹנָנוּ: הֲזֶה הָאִישׁ מַרְגִּיז הָאָרֶץ, מַרְעִישׁ מַמְלָכוֹת. 16

    They that saw thee do narrowly look upon thee, they gaze earnestly at thee: 'Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;

    יז שָׂם תֵּבֵל כַּמִּדְבָּר, וְעָרָיו הָרָס; אֲסִירָיו, לֹא-פָתַח בָּיְתָה. 17

    That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?'

    יח כָּל-מַלְכֵי גוֹיִם, כֻּלָּם--שָׁכְבוּ בְכָבוֹד, אִישׁ בְּבֵיתוֹ. 18

    All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, every one in his own house.

    יט וְאַתָּה הָשְׁלַכְתָּ מִקִּבְרְךָ, כְּנֵצֶר נִתְעָב--לְבֻשׁ הֲרֻגִים, מְטֹעֲנֵי חָרֶב; יוֹרְדֵי אֶל-אַבְנֵי-בוֹר, כְּפֶגֶר מוּבָס. 19

    But thou art cast forth away from thy grave like an abhorred offshoot, in the raiment of the slain, that are thrust through with the sword, that go down to the pavement of the pit, as a carcass trodden under foot.

    כ לֹא-תֵחַד אִתָּם בִּקְבוּרָה, כִּי-אַרְצְךָ שִׁחַתָּ עַמְּךָ הָרָגְתָּ; לֹא-יִקָּרֵא לְעוֹלָם, זֶרַע מְרֵעִים. 20

    Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people; the seed of evil-doers shall not be named for ever.

    כא הָכִינוּ לְבָנָיו מַטְבֵּחַ, בַּעֲו‍ֹן אֲבוֹתָם; בַּל-יָקֻמוּ וְיָרְשׁוּ אָרֶץ, וּמָלְאוּ פְנֵי-תֵבֵל עָרִים. 21

    Prepare ye slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they rise not up, and possess the earth, and fill the face of the world with cities.

    כב וְקַמְתִּי עֲלֵיהֶם, נְאֻם יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת; וְהִכְרַתִּי לְבָבֶל שֵׁם וּשְׁאָר, וְנִין וָנֶכֶד--נְאֻם-יְהוָה. 22

    And I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon name and remnant, and offshoot and offspring, saith the LORD.

    כג וְשַׂמְתִּיהָ לְמוֹרַשׁ קִפֹּד, וְאַגְמֵי-מָיִם; וְטֵאטֵאתִיהָ בְּמַטְאֲטֵא הַשְׁמֵד, נְאֻם יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת. {ס} 23

    I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts. {S}

    כד
    נִשְׁבַּע יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, לֵאמֹר: אִם-לֹא כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּמִּיתִי, כֵּן הָיָתָה, וְכַאֲשֶׁר יָעַצְתִּי, הִיא תָקוּם. 24

    The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying: Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand,

    כה לִשְׁבֹּר אַשּׁוּר בְּאַרְצִי, וְעַל-הָרַי אֲבוּסֶנּוּ; וְסָר מֵעֲלֵיהֶם, עֻלּוֹ, וְסֻבֳּלוֹ, מֵעַל שִׁכְמוֹ יָסוּר. 25

    That I will break Asshur in My land, and upon My mountains tread him under foot; then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulder.

    כו זֹאת הָעֵצָה הַיְּעוּצָה, עַל-כָּל-הָאָרֶץ; וְזֹאת הַיָּד הַנְּטוּיָה, עַל-כָּל-הַגּוֹיִם. 26

    This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.

    כז כִּי-יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת יָעָץ, וּמִי יָפֵר; וְיָדוֹ הַנְּטוּיָה, וּמִי יְשִׁיבֶנָּה. {פ} 27

    For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? And His hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? {P}

    כח
    בִּשְׁנַת-מוֹת, הַמֶּלֶךְ אָחָז, הָיָה, הַמַּשָּׂא הַזֶּה. 28

    In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.

    כט אַל-תִּשְׂמְחִי פְלֶשֶׁת כֻּלֵּךְ, כִּי נִשְׁבַּר שֵׁבֶט מַכֵּךְ: כִּי-מִשֹּׁרֶשׁ נָחָשׁ יֵצֵא צֶפַע, וּפִרְיוֹ שָׂרָף מְעוֹפֵף. 29

    Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of thee, because the rod that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a basilisk, and his fruit shall be a flying serpent.

    ל וְרָעוּ בְּכוֹרֵי דַלִּים, וְאֶבְיוֹנִים לָבֶטַח יִרְבָּצוּ; וְהֵמַתִּי בָרָעָב שָׁרְשֵׁךְ, וּשְׁאֵרִיתֵךְ יַהֲרֹג. 30

    And the first-born of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety; and I will kill thy root with famine, and thy remnant shall be slain.

    לא הֵילִילִי שַׁעַר זַעֲקִי-עִיר, נָמוֹג פְּלֶשֶׁת כֻּלֵּךְ: כִּי מִצָּפוֹן עָשָׁן בָּא, וְאֵין בּוֹדֵד בְּמוֹעָדָיו. 31

    Howl, O gate; cry, O city; melt away, O Philistia, all of thee; for there cometh a smoke out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks.

    לב וּמַה-יַּעֲנֶה, מַלְאֲכֵי-גוֹי: כִּי יְהוָה יִסַּד צִיּוֹן, וּבָהּ יֶחֱסוּ עֲנִיֵּי עַמּוֹ. {פ} 32

    What then shall one answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and in her shall the afflicted of His people take refuge. {P}

    [1]
    [​IMG]

    A general view of the ancient city of Babylon. The picture was shot from Saddam’s Palace, which lies on a mound which looks over the city. The South Palace of Nebuchadnezzar lies on the right. Babylon, modern day Babel Governorate, Iraq. [2]


    ***
    [1] http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1014.htm
    [2] http://etc.ancient.eu/travel/visiting-ancient-city-babylon/
     
  2. izz al-Din

    izz al-Din Well-Known Member

  3. izz al-Din

    izz al-Din Well-Known Member

    Also, there are only nuances that Christians and others mention, that may be relevant, otherwise, templers themselve, probably, spread conspiracy theories, (including the christian "critques"). we should make our own deductions.
     
  4. Aqdas

    Aqdas Staff Member

    Wasn't it schuon who would do weird rituals at his place that actually landed him in trouble with the authorities?
     
  5. izz al-Din

    izz al-Din Well-Known Member

    I remember years ago reading, someone associating with a Nasr follower, some idiot, comparing the Hizb al Bahr to sihr.

    This is an injustice.
     
  6. izz al-Din

    izz al-Din Well-Known Member

    It can be misconstrued, given the the new world order project, and given Hanson knows so much about it, would be irresponsible of him to, after years of bashing the same people to give them any room to manoeuvre now, at this juncture without clarifying, that and the ling article, does not help his case, and other outstanding issuses, such as the dante issuse.

    I agree the understanding, should be mentioned, from an observational point of view, of how creation functions, is important, it does not displace the Sacred Law, that these moral relatavists are trying to undermine, also, by a misunderstanding of pre-determinism, (or jumping to freewill when it is necessary, from there perspective, they like these type of contortion techniques, they already make their own laws). To give any indication that we are with them, is not what a muballigh should be doing, also, for the awaam.

    That the "modern" occult lead religious world order is not sihr and shayateen lead, is highly disingenuous, and comparisons to amiliyyat are batil.
     
    Last edited: Dec 23, 2016
  7. IsmailHusaynQadri

    IsmailHusaynQadri New Member


    You are seeing things that are not necessarily there. "As above, so below" is a phrase that can be found in the Tafsir of Ibn Barrajan al-Andalusi to express the interconnectedness of Allah's creations. "Al-aʿlā yantaẓim bi-l-asfal."

    I have serious issues with Hamza Yusuf's teachings, but let's not turn into Najdis (or Evangelical Christians) and start seeing anything vaguely mystical as Satanic or sihr-related. Keep in mind that many falsely consider Kattar Sunnis sahireen on account of things in books like Shams al-Ma'arif or Jawaher-e-Khamsa.
     
  8. izz al-Din

    izz al-Din Well-Known Member

    Last edited: Dec 23, 2016
  9. izz al-Din

    izz al-Din Well-Known Member

    Dianchi-Lake-flower.jpg

    I reckon the templers are looking for an "appeal to authority" like a pope in Islam, so that they can get edicts, for their "project."

    Shaykh Shuayb alAranut, Rahmat Allahi Ta'ala alayh, 'will probably be remembered for his
    work in hadith, he strongly believes that Muslims should take their religion from
    those with the best understanding of the primary texts of the Koran and prophetic traditions, at their forefront the Imams of the four schools.

    "They are explainers, not popes,"

    he says,

    "but in each of their schools there afterwards followed

    a hundred or more scholars

    who refined and added to their work, men whose stature in Islamic knowledge was like mountains,

    any of whom could put fifteen of the scholars available today in his pocket."'


    Imam Ibn Hasan al-Kawthari al-Hanafi al-Ash‘ari, Rahmat Allahi Ta'ala alayh:

    al-Lamadhhabiyya Qantaratu al-Ladiniyya

    "Anti-Madhhabism is the Archway of Atheism."* [2]

    *templer pastiche religion, should also be read here, satanism, pantheism etc..


    ***

    [1] p. 1098, Reliance of the Traveller
    [2] Article about the Imam, Masud khan's site
     
  10. izz al-Din

    izz al-Din Well-Known Member

    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]

    Imam `Imad alDin ibn Kathir alDhimishqi,

    Rahmat Allahi Ta`ala alayh, (alTafsir alQur`an alAdhim, 3:96-97):


    Verily, the first House (of worship) appointed for mankind was that at Bakkah (Makkah), full of blessing, and a guidance for Al-`Alamin (mankind and Jinn). (97. In it are manifest signs (for example), the Maqam (station) of Ibrahim; whosoever enters it, he attains security. And Hajj to the House is a duty that mankind owes to Allah, for those who are able to undertake the journey; and whoever disbelieves, then Allah stands not in need of any of the `Alamin.

    ***

    Imam `Imad alDin ibn Kathir alDhimishqi,


    Rahmat Allahi Ta`ala alayh, (alTafsir alQur`an alAdhim, 7:11-17):



    Prostration of the Angels to Adam and Shaytan's Arrogance

    Allah informs the Children of Adam about the honor of their father and the enmity of
    Shaytan, who still has envy for them and for their father Adam. So they should beware of him and not follow in his footsteps.

    Allah said,

    وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَاكُمْ ثُمَّ صَوَّرْنَاكُمْ ثُمَّ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلآئِكَةِ اسْجُدُواْ لآدَمَ فَسَجَدُواْ ... [​IMG]


    And surely, We created you and then gave you shape; then We told the angels, "Prostrate yourselves to Adam,'' and they prostrated,

    This is like His saying,

    وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَـئِكَةِ إِنِّى خَـلِقٌ بَشَرًا مِّن صَلْصَـلٍ مِّنْ حَمَإٍ مَّسْنُونٍ

    فَإِذَا سَوَّيْتُهُ وَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِى فَقَعُواْ لَهُ سَـجِدِينَ

    And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: "I am going to create a man from dried (sounding) clay of altered mud. So, when I have fashioned him completely and breathed into him the soul (which I created for him), then fall (you) down prostrating yourselves unto him.''(15:28-29)

    After Allah created Adam with His Hands from dried clay of altered mud and made him in the shape of a human being, He blew life into him and ordered the angels to prostrate before him, honoring Allah's glory and magnificence. The angels all heard, obeyed and prostrated, but Iblis did not prostrate.

    ...إِلاَّ إِبْلِيسَ لَمْ يَكُن مِّنَ السَّاجِدِينَ﴿١١﴾

    except Iblis (Shaytan), he refused to be of those who prostrated.

    We explained this subject in the beginning of SurahAl-Baqarah. Therefore, theAyah(7:11) refers to Adam, although Allah used the plural in this case, because Adam is the father of all mankind.

    Similarly, Allah said to the Children of Israel who lived during the time of the Prophet,

    وَظَلَّلْنَا عَلَيْكُمُ الْغَمَامَ وَأَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَنَّ وَالسَّلْوَى

    And We shaded you with clouds and sent down on you manna and the quail,(2:57)

    This refers to their forefathers who lived during the time of Moses. But, since thatwas a favor given to the forefathers, and they are their very source, then the offspring have also been favored by it. This is not the case in:

    وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الإِنْسَـنَ مِن سُلَـلَةٍ مِّن طِينٍ

    And indeed We created man out of an extract of clay (water and earth).(23:12)

    For this merely means that Adam was created from clay. His children were created from Nutfah (mixed male and female sexual discharge).

    This last Ayah is thus talking about the origin of mankind, not that they were all created from clay, and Allah knows best.


    Allah tells,

    قَالَ مَا مَنَعَكَ أَلاَّ تَسْجُدَ إِذْ أَمَرْتُكَ قَالَ أَنَاْ خَيْرٌ مِّنْهُ خَلَقْتَنِي مِن نَّارٍ وَخَلَقْتَهُ مِن طِينٍ﴿[​IMG]

    (Allah) said: "Get down from this,

    because you defied My command and disobeyed Me. Get out,

    ...فَمَا يَكُونُ لَكَ أَن تَتَكَبَّرَ فِيهَا...

    it is not for you to be arrogant here."

    in Paradise, according to the scholars of Tafsir.

    It could also refer to particular status which he held in the utmost highs.

    Allah said to Iblis,

    ...فَاخْرُجْ إِنَّكَ مِنَ الصَّاغِرِينَ﴿١٣﴾

    Get out, for you are of those humiliated and disgraced.

    as just recompense for his ill intentions, by giving him the opposite of what he intended (arrogance).

    This is when the cursed one remembered and asked for respite until the Day of Judgment,

    قَالَ فَأَنظِرْنِي إِلَى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ﴿[​IMG]

    قَالَ إِنَّكَ مِنَ المُنظَرِينَ﴿[​IMG]

    (Iblis) said: "Allow me respite till the Day they are raised up (the Day of Resurrection).''

    (Allah) said: "You are of those respited.''

    It is like His statement;

    قَالَ رَبِّ فَأَنظِرْنِى إِلَى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ

    قَالَ فَإِنَّكَ مِنَ الْمُنظَرِينَ

    Then allow me respite till the Day they are raised up. (Allah) said: "Then you are of those respited.''(15: 36-37)

    Allah gave Shaytan what he asked for out of His wisdom, being His decision and decree, that is never prevented or resisted. Surely, none can avert His decision, and He is swift in reckoning.

    Allah said that after He gave respite to Shaytan,إِلَى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ (till the Day they are raised up (resurrected)) and Iblis was sure that he got what he wanted, he went on in defiance and rebellion.

    He said,

    قَالَ فَبِمَا أَغْوَيْتَنِي لأَقْعُدَنَّ لَهُمْ صِرَاطَكَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ﴿[​IMG]

    "Because You have `Aghwaytani', surely, I will sit in wait against them (human beings) on Your straight path.''

    meaning, as You have sent me astray.

    Ibn Abbas said that `Aghwaytani' means,

    "Misguided me.''

    Others said,

    "As You caused my ruin, I will sit in wait for Your servants whom You will create from the offspring of the one you expelled me for.''

    He went on,صِرَاطَكَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ(Your straight path), the path of truth and the way of safety. I (Iblis) will misguide them from this path so that they do not worship You Alone, because You sent me astray.

    Mujahid said that the `straight path', refers to the truth.

    Imam Ahmad recorded that Saburah bin Abi Al-Fakih said that he heard the Messenger of Allah saying,

    إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ قَعَدَ لِابْنِ آدَمَ بِطُرُقِهِ، فَقَعَدَ لَهُ بِطَرِيقِ الْإِسْلَامِ، فَقَالَ: أَتُسْلِمُ وَتَذَرُ دِينَكَ وَدِينَ آبَائِكَ؟ قَالَ: فَعَصَاهُ وَأَسْلَم

    Shaytan sat in wait for the Son of Adam in all his paths. He sat in the path of Islam, saying, `Would you embrace Islam and abandon your religion and the religion of your forefathers!' However, the Son of Adam disobeyed Shaytan and embraced Islam.

    قَعَدَ لَهُ بِطَرِيقِ الْهِجْرَةِ فَقَالَ: أَتُهَاجِرُ وَتَدَعُ أَرْضَكَ وَسَمَاءَكَ؟

    So Shaytan sat in the path of Hijrah (migration in the cause of Allah), saying, `Would you migrate and leave your land and sky!'

    وَإِنَّمَا مَثَلُ الْمُهَاجِرِ كَالْفَرَسِ فِي الطِّوَلِ، فَعَصَاهُ وَهَاجَرَ،

    But the parable of the Muhajir is that of a horse in his stamina So, he disobeyedShaytanand migrated.

    ثُمَّ قَعَدَ لَهُ بِطَرِيقِ الْجِهَادِ وَهُوَ جِهَادُ النَّفْسِ وَالْمَالِ، فَقَالَ: تُقَاتِلُ فَتُقْتَلُ فَتُنْكَحُ الْمَرْأَةُ وَيُقْسَمُ الْمَالُ،

    So Shaytan sat in the path of Jihad, against one's self and with his wealth, saying, `If you fight, you will be killed, your wife will be married and your wealth divided.'

    قاَلَ: فَعَصَاهُ وَجَاهَد

    So he disobeyed him and performed Jihad.

    The Prophet peace be upon him then said;

    • فَمَنْ فَعَلَ ذَلِكَ مِنْهُمْ فَمَاتَ، كَانَ حَقًّا عَلَى اللهِ أَنْ يُدْخِلَهُ الْجَنَّةَ،
    • وَإِنْ قُتِلَ كَانَ حَقًّا عَلَى اللهِ أَنْ يُدْخِلَهُ الْجَنَّةَ،
    • وَإِنْ غَرِقَ كَانَ حَقًّا عَلَى اللهِ أَنْ يُدْخِلَهُ الْجَنَّةَ
    • أَوْ وَقَصَتْهُ دَابَّةٌ كَانَ حَقًّا عَلَى اللهِ أَنْ يُدْخِلَهُ الْجَنَّة
    • Therefore, whoever among them (Children of Adam) does this and dies, it will be a promise from Allah that He admits him into Paradise.
    • If he is killed, it will be a promise from Allah that He admits him into Paradise.
    • If he drowns, it will be a promise from Allah that He admits him into Paradise.
    • If the animal breaks his neck, it will be a promise from Allah that He admits him into Paradise.
    ثُمَّ لآتِيَنَّهُم مِّن بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ وَعَنْ أَيْمَانِهِمْ وَعَن شَمَآئِلِهِمْ وَلاَ تَجِدُ أَكْثَرَهُمْ شَاكِرِينَ﴿[​IMG]

    "Then I will come to them from before them and behind them, from their right and from their left, and You will not find most of them to be thankful.''

    Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn Abbas commented on:ثُمَّ لآتِيَنَّهُم مِّن بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ(Then I will come to them from before them),

    Raising doubts in them concerning their Hereafter,

    وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ(and (from) behind them),

    making them more eager for this life,

    وَعَنْ أَيْمَانِهِمْ(from their right),

    causing them confusion in the religion,

    وَعَن شَمَآئِلِهِمْ(and from their left),

    luring them to commit sins.''

    This is meant to cover all paths of good and evil. Shaytan discourages the people from the path of good and lures them to the path of evil.

    Al-Hakam bin Abban said that Ikrimah narrated from Ibn Abbas concerning theAyah,

    ثُمَّ لآتِيَنَّهُم مِّن بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ وَعَنْ أَيْمَانِهِمْ وَعَن شَمَآئِلِهِمْ...

    Then I will come to them from before them and behind them, from their right and from their left,

    "He did not say that he will come from above them, because the mercy descends from above.''

    Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn Abbas said,

    ...وَلاَ تَجِدُ أَكْثَرَهُمْ شَاكِرِينَ

    and You will not find most of them to be thankful.

    "means, those who single Him out(in worship).''

    When Shaytan said this, it was a guess and an assumption on his part. Yet, the truth turned out to be the same, for Allah said,

    وَلَقَدْ صَدَّقَ عَلَيْهِمْ إِبْلِيسُ ظَنَّهُ فَاتَّبَعُوهُ إِلاَّ فَرِيقاً مِّنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ

    وَمَا كَانَ لَهُ عَلَيْهِمْ مِّن سُلْطَـنٍ إِلاَّ لِنَعْلَمَ مَن يُؤْمِنُ بِالاٌّخِرَةِ مِمَّنْ هُوَ مِنْهَا فِى شَكٍّ وَرَبُّكَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ حَفُيظٌ

    And indeed Iblis (Shaytan) did prove true his thought about them, and they followed him, all except a group of true believers. And he had no authority over them, except that We might test him who believes in the Hereafter, from him who is in doubt about it. And your Lord is Watchful over everything.(34:20-21)

    This is why there is a Hadith that encourages seeking refuge with Allah from the lures ofShaytanfrom all directions.

    Imam Ahmad narrated that Abdullah bin Umar said,

    "The Messenger of Allah used to often recite this supplication in the morning and when the night falls,

    اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ الْعَافِيَةَ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ،

    اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ الْعَفْوَ وَالْعَافِيَةَ فِي دِينِي وَدُنْيَايَ وَأَهْلِي وَمَالِي،

    اللَّهُمَّ اسْتُرْ عَوْرَاتِي وَآمِنْ رَوْعَاتِي،

    اللَّهُمَّ احْفَظْنِي مِنْ بَيْنِ يَدَيَّ وَمِنْ خَلْفِي وَعَنْ يَمِينِي وَعَنْ شِمَالِي وَمِنْ فَوْقِي وَأَعُوذُ بِعَظَمتِكَ أَنْ أُغْتَالَ مِنْ تَحْتِي

    O Allah! I ask You for well-being in this life and the Hereafter.

    O Allah! I ask You for pardon and well-being in my religion, life, family and wealth.

    O Allah! Cover my errors and reassure me in times of difficulty.

    O Allah! Protect me from before me, from behind me, from my right, from my left and from above me. I seek refuge with Your greatness from being killed from below me.''

    Waki` commented (about being killed from below),

    "This refers to earthquakes.''

    Abu Dawud, An-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, Ibn Hibban and Al-Hakim collected thisHadith, and Al-Hakim said, "Its chain is Sahih.''

    [​IMG]

    How the Second Jewish Temple may have looked during Hag.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Masjid al-Haram during Hajj, the building in the centre is the Kaaba.
     
    Last edited: Nov 2, 2016
  11. izz al-Din

    izz al-Din Well-Known Member

    Someone else mentions:

    tarot-the-magician_thumb1.jpg


    As above, so below is called an occult maxim. The word occult means "hidden," and the word maxim means "truth," or "underlying principle." When Witches seal a circle casting, sacred space or a spell, they often say the words "As above, so below. This circle (or spell) is sealed. So mote it be." That's great but what does this mean? The words As above, so below stem from the mystery traditions of Alchemy, and specifically from an amazing piece of work called the Emerald Tablet.
    As along with all things ancient, we have an excellent mystery that goes along with the first mention of written information about alchemy. The credo of the alchemical adepts (As above, so below) supposedly came from an inscription found on an emerald tablet in the hands of a mummy in an obscure pit by the pyramid of Giza, discovered by Alexander the Great. The information was supposedly written on an emerald tablet with a pointed diamond. The emerald was linked to Mercury, and you can see now where the Hermes-Mercury-Thoth association comes into play. The document is called the Emerald Tablet and if you read the words carefully you will slowly understand a large chunk of the mystery traditions, including Witchcraft.

    The Emerald Tablet
    The following translation of the Emerald Tablet is a modern translation by J.F.Ruska.
    1. In truth certainly and without doubt whatever is below is like that which is above, and whatever is above is like that which is below, to accomplish the miracles of one thing.
    2. Just as all things proceed from One alone by meditation by One alone, so also they are born from this one thing by adaptation.
    3. Its father is the sun and its mother is the moon. The wind has borne it in it body. Its nurse is the earth.
    4. It is the father of every miraculous work in the whole world.
    5. Its power is perfect if it is converted to earth.
    6. Separate the earth from the fire and the subtle from the gross, softly and with great prudence.
    7. It rises from the earth to heaven and comes down again from heaven to earth, and thus acquires the power of the realities above and the realities below. In this way you acquire the glory of the whole world, and all darkness will leave you.
    8. This is the power of all powers, for it conquers everything subtle and penetrates everything solid.
    9. Thus the little world is created according to the prototype of the great world.
    10. From this and in this way, marvelous applications are made.
    11. For this reason I am called Hermes Trismegistus, for I possess the three parts of wisdom of the whole world.
    12. Perfect is what I have said of the work of the sun.
    As you can see, the tablet is a bit like a riddle. What is "it" raftered to in its contents? It is said to be referring to thought, I think it may be the Craft.

    Regardless of what religion or spirituality you follow, the axiom of As above, so below will apply, and has several meanings depending on your idea of how the universe ticks. For some it means As in heaven, so it on earth. You've probably heard that statement if you've had any sort of Bible study or gone to Sunday school. What heaven decrees, occurs on earth. For others, it means that the invisible and visible are all manifestations of the divine. Everything is one. What happens on the visible plane (right in front of your nose) occurs on the invisible plane (spiritual places of the unseen), and vise versa. There is no dividing line between "what runs the universe" and "human beings." We are God, and God is us, and the material world is an expression of the spiritual one. When Einstein shocked the world by proving that energy and mass are equal, identical, and interchangeable, the old mystery teachings of the ancients found new vigor and he continued to grow. Why? Because now science and spirituality meet on common ground. The ancient conclusion that the same laws operated was now validated. Basically it means: What happens here, happens there; and what happens there, happens here.
    The Maxim As above, so below (as well as others you'll study in the future) does tell us that Wicca carries with it into the twenty-first century a heavy coil of very old, very ancient, golden energy.
    There is another meaning that goes along with the "as above" statement, and this deals with astrology. The movement of the planets and the position of the stars in the heavens do indeed reflect available energies that we can use or ignore. It is said that the stars do not compel, they impel, meaning that we have free will to use the available energy-or not.
    As above, so below also related to Craft terminology that includes the word invocation, raising power, and the cone of power. In these three magickal operations you are focusing upward (in a spiritual sense), sending your thoughts into the spiritual realm. The change you desire occurs on the spiritual planes first, before it can settle into the material one where you are(As above, so below). This is why most people experience a delay in their magickal workings. To get what you want, change must occur. Sometimes the changes are minor (adjustments, really) and so the work seems smooth and quick. Other times the changes you are asking for are much bigger, and several things must happen above as well as below for the working to reach its desired conclusion.

    http://www.angelfire.com/moon2/mystique_angel/AASB.html
     
    Last edited: Nov 2, 2016
  12. izz al-Din

    izz al-Din Well-Known Member

    then from a Christian site, with various nuances, associated with some people:

    tarot-the-magician_thumb1.jpg

    “As above, so below; as below, so above.” This maxim implies that the transcendent God beyond the physical universe and the immanent God within ourselves are one.” Ronald S. Miller and the editors of New Age Journal As Above, So Below, 1992 from Eugene Peterson’s Message: Part 2 (As Above, So Below) by Warren Smith

    The end doctrine of all current thought is moving beyond the current materialism and atheism and towards self deification of every single human being on this earth and the deification of everything (pantheism) and the presence of god in everything (panentheism.)

    ***

    “Their scientific system, actually a form of witchcraft, is based on alchemy and magic. Its process is one of Universal Motion, designed to purposely foment diabolical chaos so that order may come out of two dynamic competing forces, Ordo Ab Chao. Their objective is the Great Work, the changing of man created in God‘s image into the image of a serpent-being void of morality and void of righteous, just values. In other words, the Great Work is designed to create and produce a race of soul-less satanic creatures.

    To effect their Great Work, to transform and transmutate the world and humanity into the “new soul-less creature,” heaven and earth must be destroyed, crushed, and thoroughly converted into a new paradigm. In essence, heaven and earth are to become hell. The will of Satan shall be done on Earth as it is in hell. This is the exalted, “Royal Secret.” Codex Magica by Tex Marrs.

    ***

    I quote the concept of the Hegelian Dialectic as Kabbalistic teaching being used to control history (thinking God does not direct their actions for His own good ends for His people and the punishment of wicked)

    “In the Arsenal Library there is a very curious manuscript entitled The Book of the Penitence of Adam and herein Kabbalistic tradition is presented under the guise of legend to the following effect : ‘ Adam had two sons —Cain, who signifies brute force, and Abel, the type of intelligence and mildness. Agreement was impossible between them ; they perished at each other’s hands ; and their inheritance passed to a third son, named Seth.
    Here is the conflict of two opposing forces diverted to the advantage of a synthetic and united force.” Pg 41 History of Magic by Eliphas Levi

    ***

    “In the Arsenal Library there is a very curious manuscript entitled The Book of the Penitence of Adam and herein Kabbalistic tradition is presented under the guise of legend to the following effect : ‘ Adam had two sons —Cain, who signifies brute force, and Abel, the type of intelligence and mildness. Agreement was impossible between them ; they perished at each other’s hands ; and their inheritance passed to a third son, named Seth.
    Here is the conflict of two opposing forces diverted to the advantage of a synthetic and united force.” Pg 41 History of Magic by Eliphas Levi

    This story is of course false. This not what happened if you read the Biblical account, yet in this unity they seek the very unity that is believed in occultism, especially those who follow the Talmud which all occultism today seems to follow, the unity of man and woman into the hermaphrodite or the first androgyne. The supposed first creation of God prior to the fall from unity as imagined by occultists.

    It is this philosophy that has been made academic by German Philosopher Georg Hegel in what is termed Hegelianism where you take two opposing views called thesis and antithesis and produce a synthesis. Aka Cain and Able coalescing in Seth according to Eliphas Levi.

    The goal or outcome desired by the power brokers of this world is put well by Tex Marrs

    “Man and the world must be ruined, destroyed, transformed into a barren, non-producing, hideously shaped wasteland.
    Men are to be made feminine; women masculine. Marriage is to be perverted. No longer between man and woman, it shall be used also to join men with men and women to women. Abortion —the reckless slaughter of innocents —is to be applauded. Sex is to become rife with perversion. Children are given over to the terrible passions of lustful paedophiles. Spiritual values are converted to material desires. False Gods are exalted. False Bibles are invented. Murder and assassination become religious goals.” Codex Magica by Tex Marrs

    ***

    Eliphas Levi says something similar

    “Moloch is the fatality which devours infants. Satan and Nisroch are gods of hatred, fatality and despair. Astarte, Lilith, Nehamah, Ashtaroth are idols of debauchery and abortion. Adramelech is the god of murder, while Belial is that of eternal revolt and anarchy. Such are the monstrous conceptions of reason, when it pauses on the verge of extinction and slavishly worships its destroyer, so that it may reach the end of its torment by the destroyer absorbing it.” pg 191 The History of Magic

    ***

    David Spangler is on the Board of Directors of Planetary Citizens, United Nations and has authored numerous New Age books. One book “The Birth of a New Age” written in 1977 calls for a “… Luciferic Initiation in the New Age.”

    He also repeats the same saying

    “Lucifer comes to give us the final … Luciferic initiation … that many people now and in the days ahead, will be facing—for it is an initiation into the New Age. … No one will enter the New World Order unless he or she will make a pledge to worship Lucifer. No one will enter the New Age unless he will take a Luciferian initiation.” Reflections On Christ

    ***

    We must listen to the Spirit of God and remove our desires from TV, Movies, Most music and dancing. instead seek the will of the Lord on this issues before even thinking of incorporating them again into your life if He even directs you that way, which is most unlikely.

    We are called to be a peculiar people, a sanctified people, separate unto the Lord.

    The wicked hate separateness as in the threats of a number of New Agers I quote Barbara Marx Hubbard and what should be constituted as hate speech

    “All those… maintaining that illusion of separation, will become extinct… Just as Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal humans became extinct…” Barbara Marx Hubbard ‘Happy Birthday Planet Earth pg 17.

    Richard Kirby of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge states

    “Christians know that a man must die to himself before he can… be born again in spirit. It may well be that mankind as a whole must be crucified, even unto death, before coming into it’s inheritance… Christians can say with Teilhard de Chardin, that death itself is beneficent, the only way to grow beyond forms which have served their limited purpose…, but with the serious and the worried, they look upon the possible extermination of the human race secure in the knowledge that it could be but a prelude to the resurrection of the species.”

    Richard Kirby is also speaking from the same spirit as Hubbard and Spangler.

    Holly wood has pushed this message too in many movies including The Day The Earth Stood Still, and The Matrix.

    https://theunfathomablemindofgod.wordpress.com/tag/as-above-so-below/
     
    Last edited: Nov 2, 2016
  13. izz al-Din

    izz al-Din Well-Known Member

    Hamza Yusuf Hanson:

    After being granted respite, Iblis vowed that he would lead astray all humans, but God guaranteed that he would not able to sway the righteous. Swearing to lie in ambush on the straight path, and to come to humans from the front and behind, and from the right and the left, Iblis declared that God would find few humans grateful (Qur'an 7:11-17). Ibn al-Hajj (d. 736/1336) comments that the two directions Satan did not mention relate to the vertical plane, above and below. This is because if man is in harmony with the vertical plane--'"as above so below"---then Iblis has no power over him....

    [p. 113-114, The Creed of Imam alTahawi].

    tarot-the-magician_thumb1.jpg

    Related to this quote, consider the following, from a BBC report, (caution about pictures)

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-33682878
     
    Last edited: Nov 2, 2016
  14. izz al-Din

    izz al-Din Well-Known Member

    Control mechanisms come to mind..
    For different levels of knowing the objective.
    ignorance, is a cause, but, it, also, is, the templer activity.
    Who knows, how many conversions, to Islam
    (for strategic reasons-but, of course? Is this proxy?), and how many people they encourage to leave Islam.
    But, are they Cromer effected individuals?
    The feminist? You ask, the same. lol.
    Only, he knows, who, Saul of tarsus is now..
    He, probably, calls the Arifeen, (al'iyadhubillah), like on the stage, nowadays, in there imaginary world:
    Nosferatu, yet, it is a good, symbolic description of themselves.

    ***

    Quoting a newspaper:

    Sulaiman Vali is a softly spoken 33-year-old software engineer. A natural introvert not drawn to controversy or given to making bold statements, he’s the kind of person who is happiest in the background. He lives alone in a modest house on a quiet street in a small town in East Northamptonshire. He doesn’t want to be any more specific than that about the location. “If someone found out where I lived,” he explains, “they could burn my house down.”

    Why should such an understated figure, someone who describes himself as a “nobody”, speak as if he’s in a witness protection programme? The answer is that six years ago he decided to declare that he no longer accepted the fundamental tenets of Islam. He stopped being a believing Muslim and became instead an apostate. It sounds quaintly anachronistic, but it’s not a term to be lightly adopted.


    Last week the hacking to death in Bangladesh of the blogger Ananta Bijoy Das was a brutal reminder of the risks atheists face in some Muslim-majority countries. And in an era in which British Islamic extremists travel thousands of miles to kill those they deem unbelievers, an apostate’s concern for his or her security at home is perhaps understandable.

    “Oh yeah, I’m scared,” agrees Nasreen (not her real name) a feisty 29-year-old asset manager from east London who has been a semi-closeted apostate for nine years. “I’m not so worried about the loonies because it’s almost normal now to get threats. What worries me is that they go back to my parents and damage them, because that’s not unheard of.”

    The danger is confirmed by Imtiaz Shams, an energetic 26-year-old who runs a group called Faith to Faithless, which aims to help Muslim nonbelievers speak out about their difficult situations. Shams has a visible presence on YouTube and has organised several events at universities. “I am at physical risk because I do videos,” says Shams. “I don’t like putting myself in the firing line, but I had to because no one else is willing to do it.”

    As real as the potential for violence might be, it’s not what keeps many doubting British Muslims from leaving their religion. As Simon Cottee, author of a new book The Apostates: When Muslims Leave Islam, says: “In the western context, the biggest risk ex-Muslims face is not the baying mob, but the loneliness and isolation of ostracism from loved ones. It is stigma and rejection that causes so many ex-Muslims to conceal their apostasy.”

    Like the gay liberation movement of a previous generation, Muslim apostates have to fight for the right to be recognised while knowing that recognition brings shame, rejection, intimidation and, very often, family expulsion.

    Vali comes from a strictly religious Indian-heritage family. He was born in Kenya and moved with his parents and six siblings to England when he was 14. As outsiders, his family stayed close – “I always knew if I wanted anything they’d be there for me,” he says.

    His father is an imam who follows the puritanical Deobandi scholastic tradition of Islam that has influence over a third of Britain’s mosques. All through his teenage years, when adolescents typically rebel, and even at university, Vali dutifully followed his father’s faith. Occasionally some of what he calls the more “barbaric punishments” found in sharia law troubled him, but he put his discomfort to one side. “I would just think, if God wants it, fine.”

    It was when he left his home in Leicester to work in Cambridge that he first encountered an intellectual challenge to his worldview. He found himself working alongside non-Muslims and atheists, and inevitably questions of faith arose.Initially he began researching criticism of Islam online and in the books of people such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens as a means of defending his faith. But in the process the suspicion took root that his opponents had the stronger arguments.


    So he confessed his atheism to his horrified family. One of his brothers reminded him that the penalty sharia law stipulates for apostasy is capital punishment.

    “I don’t think he would have any qualms about me being killed,” says Vali, although he emphasises that he doesn’t believe anyone from his family would seek to do him physical harm or encourage others to do so. Instead he was ousted from the family. He was disowned...

    Rest, can be read:

    https://www.theguardian.com/global/...ims-non-believers-hidden-crisis-faith?0p19G=c
     
  15. izz al-Din

    izz al-Din Well-Known Member

    Also, Imam Sayyid ’Abdulhakîm-i Arwâsî alHanafi alKhalidi (rahmatullâhi ’aleyh), the mujaddid of the fourteenth century of the Hegira

    http://sunniport.com/index.php?threads/perennialism-nasr-ling-etl.9063/
     
  16. izz al-Din

    izz al-Din Well-Known Member

    Salam

    Correction, the noble Mufti `Abd alQadir ibn Badran alDumi alHanbali, Rahmat Allahi Ta'ala alayh, paraphrased as saying:
     
  17. izz al-Din

    izz al-Din Well-Known Member

    What do people make of this attributed statement?
    To what extent is it true today?
    Since that was almost a hundred years ago?
    Knowingly or unknowingly ?
    Through blackmagic and controlled possessions of whole groups, by satanists and the like?
    The particulars, of artificial hals, possible emotions etc..?

    The dodgy pirs and "sufi shaykhs"

    ***

    Mufti `Abd alQadir ibn Badran alDumi alHanbali, Rahmat Allahi Ta'ala alayh:

    The Imam ruled that

    all Sufi groups today are phoney
    and part of Satanic secret societies
    to undermine Islam
    and Muslim Orthodoxy.

    [Al-Mawahib ur-Rabbaniyyah: fil Ajwibati `an As’ilat il-Qazaniyyah, pp. 195-197] (1)

    ***
    (1) http://meeraath.infofiend.org/?page_id=339
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2016
  18. izz al-Din

    izz al-Din Well-Known Member

    Salam
    The word ubiquitous comes to find.
    Maybe like buffy and the other serious spin-off , demons will own pubs and stuff now. Like other minorities look for understanding. "U can't be prejudiced against the horned one", cue American accent. Lol
    U have to rent a roon in the hotel or else...

    As a psychiatrist, I diagnose mental illness. Also, I help spot demonic possession.

    How a scientist learned to work with exorcists.

    By Richard Gallagher
    July 1
    Richard Gallagher is a board-certified psychiatrist and a professor of clinical psychiatry at New York Medical College. He is at work on a book about demonic possession in the United States.


    In the late 1980s, I was introduced to a self-styled Satanic high priestess. She called herself a witch and dressed the part, with flowing dark clothes and black eye shadow around to her temples. In our many discussions, she acknowledged worshipping Satan as his “queen.”

    I’m a man of science and a lover of history; after studying the classics at Princeton, I trained in psychiatry at Yale and in psychoanalysis at Columbia. That background is why a Catholic priest had asked my professional opinion, which I offered pro bono, about whether this woman was suffering from a mental disorder. This was at the height of the national panic about Satanism. (In a case that helped induce the hysteria, Virginia McMartin and others had recently been charged with alleged Satanic ritual abuse at a Los Angeles preschool; the charges were later dropped.) So I was inclined to skepticism. But my subject’s behavior exceeded what I could explain with my training. She could tell some people their secret weaknesses, such as undue pride. She knew how individuals she’d never known had died, including my mother and her fatal case of ovarian cancer. Six people later vouched to me that, during her exorcisms, they heard her speaking multiple languages, including Latin, completely unfamiliar to her outside of her trances. This was not psychosis; it was what I can only describe as paranormal ability. I concluded that she was possessed. Much later, she permitted me to tell her story.
    The priest who had asked for my opinion of this bizarre case was the most experienced exorcist in the country at the time, an erudite and sensible man. I had told him that, even as a practicing Catholic, I wasn’t likely to go in for a lot of hocus-pocus. “Well,” he replied, “unless we thought you were not easily fooled, we would hardly have wanted you to assist us.”

    So began an unlikely partnership. For the past two-and-a-half decades and over several hundred consultations, I’ve helped clergy from multiple denominations and faiths to filter episodes of mental illness — which represent the overwhelming majority of cases — from, literally, the devil’s work. It’s an unlikely role for an academic physician, but I don’t see these two aspects of my career in conflict. The same habits that shape what I do as a professor and psychiatrist — open-mindedness, respect for evidence and compassion for suffering people — led me to aid in the work of discerning attacks by what I believe are evil spirits and, just as critically, differentiating these extremely rare events from medical conditions.

    Is it possible to be a sophisticated psychiatrist and believe that evil spirits are, however seldom, assailing humans? Most of my scientific colleagues and friends say no, because of their frequent contact with patients who are deluded about demons, their general skepticism of the supernatural, and their commitment to employ only standard, peer-reviewed treatments that do not potentially mislead (a definite risk) or harm vulnerable patients. But careful observation of the evidence presented to me in my career has led me to believe that certain extremely uncommon cases can be explained no other way.
    The Vatican does not track global or countrywide exorcism, but in my experience and according to the priests I meet, demand is rising. The United States is home to about 50 “stable” exorcists — those who have been designated by bishops to combat demonic activity on a semi-regular basis — up from just 12 a decade ago, according to the Rev. Vincent Lampert, an Indianapolis-based priest-exorcist who is active in the International Association of Exorcists. (He receives about 20 inquiries per week, double the number from when his bishop appointed him in 2005.) The Catholic Church has responded by offering greater resources for clergy members who wish to address the problem. In 2010, for instance, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops organized a meeting in Baltimore for interested clergy. In 2014, Pope Francis formally recognized the IAE, 400 members of which are to convene in Rome this October. Members believe in such strange cases because they are constantly called upon to help. (I served for a time as a scientific adviser on the group’s governing board.)
    Unfortunately, not all clergy involved in this complex field are as cautious as the priest who first approached me. In some circles, there is a tendency to become overly preoccupied with putative demonic explanations and to see the devil everywhere. Fundamentalist misdiagnoses and absurd or even dangerous “treatments,” such as beating victims, have sometimes occurred, especially in developing countries. This is perhaps why exorcism has a negative connotation in some quarters. People with psychological problems should receive psychological treatment.

    But I believe I’ve seen the real thing. Assaults upon individuals are classified either as “demonic possessions” or as the slightly more common but less intense attacks usually called “oppressions.” A possessed individual may suddenly, in a type of trance, voice statements of astonishing venom and contempt for religion, while understanding and speaking various foreign languages previously unknown to them. The subject might also exhibit enormous strength or even the extraordinarily rare phenomenon of levitation. (I have not witnessed a levitation myself, but half a dozen people I work with vow that they’ve seen it in the course of their exorcisms.) He or she might demonstrate “hidden knowledge” of all sorts of things — like how a stranger’s loved ones died, what secret sins she has committed, even where people are at a given moment. These are skills that cannot be explained except by special psychic or preternatural ability.
    I have personally encountered these rationally inexplicable features, along with other paranormal phenomena. My vantage is unusual: As a consulting doctor, I think I have seen more cases of possession than any other physician in the world.
    Most of the people I evaluate in this role suffer from the more prosaic problems of a medical disorder. Anyone even faintly familiar with mental illnesses knows that individuals who think they are being attacked by malign spirits are generally experiencing nothing of the sort. Practitioners see psychotic patients all the time who claim to see or hear demons; histrionic or highly suggestible individuals, such as those suffering from dissociative identity syndromes; and patients with personality disorders who are prone to misinterpret destructive feelings, in what exorcists sometimes call a “pseudo-possession,” via the defense mechanism of an externalizing projection. But what am I supposed to make of patients who unexpectedly start speaking perfect Latin?

    I approach each situation with an initial skepticism. I technically do not make my own “diagnosis” of possession but inform the clergy that the symptoms in question have no conceivable medical cause.

    I am aware of the way many psychiatrists view this sort of work. While the American Psychiatric Association has no official opinion on these affairs, the field (like society at large) is full of unpersuadable skeptics and occasionally doctrinaire materialists who are often oddly vitriolic in their opposition to all things spiritual. My job is to assist people seeking help, not to convince doctors who are not subject to suasion. Yet I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the number of psychiatrists and other mental health practitioners nowadays who are open to entertaining such hypotheses. Many believe exactly what I do, though they may be reluctant to speak out.
    As a man of reason, I’ve had to rationalize the seemingly irrational. Questions about how a scientifically trained physician can believe “such outdated and unscientific nonsense,” as I’ve been asked, have a simple answer. I honestly weigh the evidence. I have been told simplistically that levitation defies the laws of gravity, and, well, of course it does! We are not dealing here with purely material reality, but with the spiritual realm. One cannot force these creatures to undergo lab studies or submit to scientific manipulation; they will also hardly allow themselves to be easily recorded by video equipment, as skeptics sometimes demand. (The official Catholic Catechism holds that demons are sentient and possess their own wills; as they are fallen angels, they are also craftier than humans. That’s how they sow confusion and seed doubt, after all.) Nor does the church wish to compromise a sufferer’s privacy, any more than doctors want to compromise a patient’s confidentiality.
    Ignorance and superstition have often surrounded stories of demonic possession in various cultures, and surely many alleged episodes can be explained by fraud, chicanery or mental pathology. But anthropologists agree that nearly all cultures have believed in spirits, and the vast majority of societies (including our own) have recorded dramatic stories of spirit possession. Despite varying interpretations, multiple depictions of the same phenomena in astonishingly consistent ways offer cumulative evidence of their credibility.

    As a psychoanalyst, a blanket rejection of the possibility of demonic attacks seems less logical, and often wishful in nature, than a careful appraisal of the facts. As I see it, the evidence for possession is like the evidence for George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware. In both cases, written historical accounts with numerous sound witnesses testify to their accuracy.

    In the end, however, it was not an academic or dogmatic view that propelled me into this line of work. I was asked to consult about people in pain. I have always thought that, if requested to help a tortured person, a physician should not arbitrarily refuse to get involved. Those who dismiss these cases unwittingly prevent patients from receiving the help they desperately require, either by failing to recommend them for psychiatric treatment (which most clearly need) or by not informing their spiritual ministers that something beyond a mental or other illness seems to be the issue. For any person of science or faith, it should be impossible to turn one’s back on a tormented soul.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/post...ss-and-sometimes-demonic-possession/#comments
     
  19. izz al-Din

    izz al-Din Well-Known Member

  20. izz al-Din

    izz al-Din Well-Known Member

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