Islamic literature is full of references to “jinn” — spirit beings, both good and evil, that can move objects, cause misfortune or even possess people. Tom A. Peter at the fledgling Global Post has put together an interesting (if slightly fluffy) piece on a Jordanian exorcist who runs a hopping business casting Regan MacNeil-type spirits out of afflicted folks. So long as they can pay.
From Peter’s article:
It’s midnight in the slums just outside of Amman, and Mohammed al-Yafawi has a local man pinned to the ground. His sidekick, a local mosque leader named Imam Imad Adawi, shouts Quranic verse into the trapped man’s ear.
“He is stronger than four or five persons right now,” puffs Yafawi, who must use all his weight to keep the man down.
[…] For those who do believe, Yafawi is one of Amman’s trusted arrafs, Arabic for “knower.” While locals and foreigners come to him for fortune telling, the mainstay of his business is jinn exorcisms.
This particular exorcist’s services don’t come cheap — he apparently charges about $3,000 for a routine exorcism, and says he once billed ten times that “to remove a jinn king and its army” from a home.
Incidentally, 1974’s The Exorcist has grossed $402,500,000 in box office returns and rentals so far, making it the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time once you adjust for inflation. And 35 years later, it’s still scary as hell.
0 responses so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.
Leave a Comment