Ebrahim Moosa – Radio Islam | 01 Safar 1438/03 November 2016

It is one of the most dreaded phobias within our social circles: The prospect of becoming possessed – or to take a leaf from a trendier lexicon – being captured by a Jinn or the supernatural is something that recurrently succeeds in whipping entire families into a frenzy.

In one of his recent discourses, Hazrat Moulana Dawood Seedat DB vividly captured the ensuing chaos in households once even the slightest whiff of behaviour deemed to be suspicious had been detected, for instance, in one of its offspring.

“You will see the Fikr and concern of those parents,” the Pietermaritzburg-based Aalim explained.

“If Allah SWT has given them the resources – forget South Africa, they will travel the length and breadth of the world [looking for solutions]. They hear there is one aamil in Bangladesh, they will go to Bangladesh; there is an aamil in Madinah Munawarrah, they will go to Madinah Munawarrah; there is an aamil in Zanzibar, they are gone to Zanzibar; an aamil from a certain country came to South Africa but will only be in Natal, they will have to be there – They just have to sort their child out”.

“[Now] If that child is truly possessed,” the Moulana argued, his/her actions will be excused according to the Shariah, as the Islamic legal code stipulates sanity as a precondition for the obligation of many acts of worship.

So much effort, he suggested, was being expended towards rectifying a condition which the Shariah itself had excused. (No doubt, the fears may be well founded, and the consequences of such capture could be grave. It would only be appropriate then that the best treatment be sought for the condition within the parameters of the Shariah)

Nonethless, Moulana Dawood pointed out, there appears to be a deep seated contradiction in the manner the community deals with such phenomena, as opposed to other forms of possession.

“There are so many of us and our children who are possessed: When we are sitting in front of the television and watching a movie, are we not possessed? We are possessed by the devil. The devil has possessed us at that time.

“When a person is sitting and watching pornography, is he not possessed? When a person is busy swearing at his wife, fighting and wanting to bash her up, is he not possessed?

“When we are sitting and making gheebah, are we not possessed? Hasn’t Shaytaan taken possession of us at that time?”

Moulana Dawood contended that very few Muslims seemed to be perturbed by this type of possession which, unlike the former category, commanded a sense of personal accountability.

“We who are conscious, Allah SWT has given us intellect and [yet] we continue committing different types of sins, are we not possessed? So why are we not seeking a cure? Why are we not mending our ways? Why are we not seeing to it that our children’s tarbiyah is made?” he asked.

The heart, the aalim said, was a vessel, that unlike other human organs, had the unique capacity of accepting Divine guidance.

It was for this reason that Shaytaan and the forces of darkness had left no stone unturned in seeking to capture or hijack this heart through a range of temptations and preoccupations.

The only panacea for protecting this spiritual hub from capture, he prescribed, was through connecting the heart to Allah SWT by getting closer to our religion.

“Attach ourselves to the Masaajid, get involved in the works of Deen, have Ta’leem in our homes, make sure our children are performing Salaah, make the Masjid a place of activity, get into the company of a Sheikh or some pious person, let our children study Allah SWT’s Deen – these are the things that are going to bring this heart right; they will keep us on the Straight Path, and we go through this life in a manner that is pleasing to Allah SWT… Jannah is there for the taking. We came from there and have to go back there.”

Let us not get captured along the way.