The University of Waikato Islamic

Studies Group aims to publish a regular

Review and invites academics and
postgraduates to submit articles of
2000-3000 words for peer review and
publication in the inaugural Waikato
Islamic Studies Review due in August/S
Simon
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmass.com/product/the-university-of-waikato-islamic-studies-group-aims-t
o-publish-a-regular-review-and-invites-academics-and-postgraduates-to-submit-articl
es-of-2000-3000-words-for-peer-review-and-publication-in-the-in/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

Peer review In An Era Of Evaluation: Understanding The

Practice Of Gatekeeping In Academia 1st Edition Eva
Forsberg

https://ebookmass.com/product/peer-review-in-an-era-of-
evaluation-understanding-the-practice-of-gatekeeping-in-
academia-1st-edition-eva-forsberg/

The role of context in SME internationalization – A

review John Child

https://ebookmass.com/product/the-role-of-context-in-sme-
internationalization-a-review-john-child/

Islamic Finance and Global Capitalism: An Alternative

to the Market Economy 1st Edition James Simon Watkins

https://ebookmass.com/product/islamic-finance-and-global-
capitalism-an-alternative-to-the-market-economy-1st-edition-
james-simon-watkins/

(eTextbook PDF) for Encyclopedia of Counseling: Master

Review and Tutorial for the National

https://ebookmass.com/product/etextbook-pdf-for-encyclopedia-of-
counseling-master-review-and-tutorial-for-the-national/
Review of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, 17th
Edition [Non-genuine PDF] Warren E. Levinson

https://ebookmass.com/product/review-of-medical-microbiology-and-
immunology-17th-edition-non-genuine-pdf-warren-e-levinson/

The possible of immunotherapy for COVID-19: A

systematic review Akram Aminjafari

https://ebookmass.com/product/the-possible-of-immunotherapy-for-
covid-19-a-systematic-review-akram-aminjafari/

War for Peace: Genealogies of a Violent Ideal in

Western and Islamic Thought Murad Idris

https://ebookmass.com/product/war-for-peace-genealogies-of-a-
violent-ideal-in-western-and-islamic-thought-murad-idris/

Strategies & Tactics for the MBE (Bar Review)

https://ebookmass.com/product/strategies-tactics-for-the-mbe-bar-
review/

Islamic Philanthropy: Exploring Zakat, Waqf, and

Sadaqah in Islamic Finance and Economics Abdul Ghafar
Ismail (Editor)

https://ebookmass.com/product/islamic-philanthropy-exploring-
zakat-waqf-and-sadaqah-in-islamic-finance-and-economics-abdul-
ghafar-ismail-editor/
Waikato Islamic Studies Review
September 2023, Vol 9, No 2
ISSN 2463-2686
 Waikato Islamic Studies Review
September 2023, Vol 9, No 2
ISSN 2463-2686

University of Waikato Islamic Studies Group

School of Social Sciences
Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences
University of Waikato
Hamilton, New Zealand

© Copyright of all articles in the Waikato Islamic Studies Review is held by the author(s) and written
permission must be obtained for any reproduction and distribution of their work

Inquiries are to be directed to the University of Waikato Islamic Studies Group via:
islamic-studies-group@waikato.ac.nz

The Waikato Islamic Studies Review aims to attract new researchers and established
scholars interested in the subject of Islam as an academic discipline and to provide an
opportunity to discuss and exchange information and knowledge on new research in
the form of a ‘working paper’ publication indexed in the National Library of New
Zealand

The Waikato Islamic Studies Review cordially invites contributions to the next issue
(September 2023. Submission deadline 15 February 2023) on any topic or theme,
including religion, philosophy, history, politics, sociology, culture, and law, within the
broad field of studies in Islam and Muslim societies.

Submission Format & Process

All papers must comply with the following requirements and authors are responsible
for securing copyright permission to reproduce any figure, table, or text from another
source.

*Papers are to be formatted in Microsoft Office Word, Front: 12 Times New Roman

*British English

*Maximum of 3000 words for short research notes and 7000 words for research
articles.

*Footnote or Endnote citations (books: author’s name in full, title/subtitle, city,

publisher, year. Journal articles: author’s name in full, title/subtitle, Journal, vol./no,
(year), page referenced)

*Abstract & short author note

*Papers are to be submitted electronically at: islamic-studies-group@waikato.ac.nz

2
 Waikato Islamic Studies Review

Table of Contents

4 The Myth of “Islam” (Part One)

Carimo Mohomed

21 Discourses in Jinn-Human Communication: Youtubising

Exorcism for Physical and Mental Health Wellbeing
Muhyideen Imam, Umar Ajetunmobi Olansile, and
Habeebullah Abdulkabeer Akinlabi

41 One University, Two Faiths: The Nature and Dynamics of

Muslim-Christian Relations at Bayero University, Kano,
Nigeria, 1977-2019
Nadir Abdulhadi Nasidi

60 A history of the establishment and development of the

Tijjaniyya Zawiya of Shaykh Aliyu Harazimi: A Sufi Centre in
Kano, Northern Nigeria.
Auwalu Muhammad Hassan

78 Waqf and Sufi Shrines in South Asia: Mughal Documents of a

Chishti Dargah at Ajmer during Shahjahan’s Period (1628-
1658)
Sana Aziz

100 A Critical Edition of Bidlīsī’s Diatribe Against the Christians

(Hašt Bihišt VI, Story XXI).
Mustafa Dehqan

Views expressed in this publication are the authors’ and not necessarily those of the
University of Waikato Islamic Studies Group

3
Discourses in Jinn-Human Communication:
Youtubising Exorcism for Physical and Mental
Health Wellbeing

Muhyideen Imam, Umar Ajetunmobi Olansile, and

Habeebullah Abdulkabeer Akinlabi
Muhyideen Imam is a researcher at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria; Dr Umar Ajetunmobi Olansile is
Senior Lecturer and Applied Communication researcher at Ibadan University; and Habebullah
Abdulkabeer Akinlabi is a lecturer in the General Studies Unit at Fountain University, Osogbo,
Nigeria.

Abstract: Target 3.4 of the Nigerian mission statement Sustainable Development

Goals (SDG3) states that by 2030, there should be a reduction by one-third of
premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and
treatment, and that mental health and wellbeing should be promoted. A form of
mental health treatment that follows this target is exorcism, even though it is always
viewed religiously. Exorcism operates as a ritual assortment that conjures a hidden
world of power to which possessed patients and Jinn spirits are assumed to submit.
Moreover, the technological initiative has been extended to these exorcism sessions as
they are aired on visual social media platforms. Many scholars place these manifested
visions within contemporary knowledge production and modern technologies seem to
make everything visible. However, today’s emerging world must also contend with
present invisibilities: viruses, but also devils and spirits among others. This paper
explores how exorcism videos on YouTube have been utilised to provide healing, not
in the sense of immediate well-being but in the sense of testifying to the limits of
human senses and to the ways in which supernatural forces shape the concrete world.
Using an unconventional case study method that comprises theological hermeneutics,
audio-visuals, qualitative contents and visual observation, this paper clarifies vital
concepts in Islamic exorcism and focuses on instances where Islamic exorcism is
required, citing cases from eight selected exorcism YouTube videos. It transmits to
how Jinn possession can alter one’s physical and mental health. This was guided by
some concepts in the Uses and Gratification Theory, which establishes how people
actively seek specific media content for particular goals. Although some epistemology
disbelieves exorcism or the possibility of having an invisible presence of Jinns in
humans, this chapter argues that archiving exorcism sessions on YouTube will remain
beneficial to people in search of alternative physical and mental health care through
Islamic exorcism.

[Editorial note: the form of spirit-possession and therapeutic response described in

this article are analysed from a distinct Islamic belief perspective and therefore
deviate from a scientific psychological analysis and its epistemological premise.
Islamic theology and belief determine the tone, methodology and findings in this
article. Related views on spirit-induced ailments and their treatment are subsumed
under alternative medicine and legitimately practised – within bounds set by law – in
many Western jurisdictions parallel to – or sometimes in tandem with – mainstream
medicine. In New Zealand, for instance, Maori rongoa (indigenous tribal methods of
healing) enjoy a legally recognised status, including spiritual healing techniques
through karakia prayer. The use of modern technology as therapeutic aids, as
described in this paper, demonstrates an important aspect of this medical field.
However, religiously motivated spiritual therapy merges with the concept of exorcism,
a much more controversial practice. Exorcism is performed still today by various
Christian denominations and sects. On the Maori cultural level such exorcisms take
the form of so-called “makutu lifting”, the expulsion of black magic. To avoid torture
and health adverse outcomes Catholic Canon Law imposes certain rules, which
prescribe among others that such rituals can only be performed, after careful medical
examination to exclude the possibility of mental illness, by ordained priests and in
every case have to be sanctioned by the Catholic hierarchy.]

Background and Context of Study

Many religious texts refer to the existence of a supernatural parallel dimension.

Islamic texts reveal the secrets of the world of the Jinns. These texts abound with the

details of their lives; and they expatiate how ingrained the enmity between the Jinns

and humans is. To situate the exchanges between the two worlds more appropriately,

this paper elucidates the surprising relationship between the two worlds. These Jinn

beings eat, drink and live with humans. They interfere in human affairs and go to the

extremes sometimes of destroying and misguiding people. These beings make humans

worship them directly or through idol-intermediaries or other forms of fetishism. They

also stimulate and drive humans to spilling blood.

Moreover, this proclaimed enmity between Jinns and humans has made it plausible

that there are manifestations of Jinn afflictions in humans as a mental health problem.

Jinns, as mentioned, are spiritual beings and the possibility of spirits inhabiting

human bodies pervades across cultures and is documented in various ethnographic

studies.1 Being possessed by demonic spirits is an antiquated way of accounting for

mental and physical afflictions. The oldest reference to this form of possession is

linked to the Sumerians who posited that all the diseases of the body and mind are

caused by sickness demons called gid-dim. The Gospels also reported that Jesus

exorcised evil spirits from human bodies. Thus, a considerable number of possessed

1
Cohen E. (2008) “What is spirit possession? Defining, comparing, and explaining two possession
forms”. Ethnos 73; p.101-26.
22
persons, alleged witches and wizards, having been killed, probably had mental

afflictions.2

Meanwhile, today, target 3.4 of the Sustainable Development Goals states that by

2030, there should be a reduction by one-third of premature mortality from non-

communicable diseases through prevention and treatment, and that mental health and

wellbeing should be promoted. Jinn-human discourse and spiritual exorcism follows

this target as it is a ritual assortment that conjures a hidden world of power to which

possessed patients and Jinn spirits submit. Similarly, the technological advancement

that has changed the civilising narratives of our world, has also been employed to

engage exorcism through the use of technology-driven social media platforms to

exorcise patients and subjugate Jinns. Therefore, it is pertinent to explore Jinn-human

communication in the form of exorcism as a prototype of health action in line with

SDG3.

Conceptual Clarification

In this section, we will examine concepts that are related and are core to

understanding this study. The concepts to be explicated are ar-ruqyatu ash-

shar’iyyaah, ar-rōqi, Jinns and the physical and mental health afflictions they cause

and the alternative cure with asbāb.

Jinns: Their Physical and Mental Health Afflictions

Islamic writings talk about the Jinns (spirits), shayātīn (satanic entities), bhut (evil

spirits), farista (angels) and marrid (demons), among other classifications of beings

that inhabit the universe. The origin of Jinn dates back to the stories on the creation of

man and is deep-rooted in the culture of the pre-Islamic Arab peninsula (this is prior

2
Høyersten JG. (1996). “Possessed! Some historical, psychiatric and current moments of demonic
possession”. [in Norwegian]. Tidsskrift for den Norske Laegeforening 116; p.3602-6.

23
to the arrival of Christianity and Judaism). The lexeme Jinn is derived from the root

word Jann, which means concealing, veiling, protecting, or shielding. The Jinns are

one of the creations of God.

Jinns are a distinct world of their own and they possess some similar characteristics as

humans such as the volition to choose between good and evil. They also possess the

ability to reflect and think. Like humans, they exhibit moral and mortal attributes.

They live and die and they have the physical property of weight. Conversely, they

differ from humans in some other characteristics. The chief characteristic is that they

are hidden from human sight. That is replicative of their name as it is stated in the

Islamic scripture thus: “Lo! He sees you, he and his tribe, from whence you see him

not” (Quran 7:27). In the Quran it is mentioned that the Jinns are made of “smokeless

flame of fire”.

Typically, Jinns attack individuals with weak will, those that struggle for self-identity

and acceptance by others, those that lack self-confidence, persons that desire

excessive power and control, or are greedy for pleasures of this worldly existence.3

Some philosophers posit that Jinns can only influence mankind but cannot make

physical accentuation in the human’s body. However, various excerpts in the Quran

and Hadith support the stance that Jinns can cause inconsistent behaviour in

individuals’ actions and words. The attribution of mental and physical afflictions to

forces including witchcraft, Jinns, and the evil eye is widely expatiated in the Islamic

and anthropological literature. This includes mental ailments, which are treated by

exorcism of the Jinn spirits.4 Also, Jinns are believed to cause epilepsy and madness

3
Al-Jibaly M. (1998). Sickness: Regulations and Exhortations. (The Inevitable Journey Series).
London: Al Kitaab & As-Sunnah Publishing.
4
Boddy J. (1989). Wombs and Alien Spirits: Women, Men and the Zar Cult in Northern Sudan.
University of Wisconsin Press. Younis YO. (2000). “Possession and exorcism: an illustrative case”.
Arab Journal of Psychiatry 11 (56); p.9. Littlewood R. (2004). “Possession states”. Psychiatry 3 (8);
p.8-10.
24
(janūn). In various Muslim communities the high demand for exorcists or traditional

healers to cure ailments, is associated with Jinn possession that causes nasty effects.5

There are studies that have explored the relationships between Jinn possession and

mental cum physical afflictions among Muslims and consenting non-Muslims. Dein 6

studied 20 members of the eastern London Bangladeshi community and asked about

the causes of afflictions, especially as it relates to the role of Jinns and witchcraft. The

study found beliefs in Jinn, witchcraft and the evil eye to be predominant in the

sample, especially among less educated and older Bangladeshi persons. Similarly, El-

Islam7 affirms that signs such as forgetfulness, morbid fears, and physical weakness

are usually attributed to Jinn attacks in the Arab world. In each of these studies it is

mentioned that frequent resort was made to exorcists in physical and mental

afflictions, especially when Jinn possession, evil eye, black magic or witchcraft was

suspected. Healers characteristically utilise a range of religious intercessions, which

are part of ruqyah — seeking refuge with Allah by reciting specific verses from the

Quran and from supplications directly reported in the sound collections of Prophet

Muhammad’s sayings.

Ar-Ruqyatu Ash-Shar'iyyah

Recited expressions are generally referred to as ruqā in Arabic (plural ruqyah). The

word is derived from the Arabic verbs raqā yarqī, which means to charm someone by

invoking Allah. Thus, ruqyah is a spell or charm written or uttered to gain control

over the evil affairs of a person. More contextually, it is the exercise of treating

5
Aslam M. (1970). The practice of Asian medicine in the United Kingdom. PhD thesis, University of
Nottingham, UK. Dein S. and Sembhi S. (2001). “The use of traditional healers in South Asian
psychiatric patients in the UK: interactions between professional and folk remedies”. Transcultural
Psychiatry 38; p.243-57.
6
Dein S, Alexander M, and Napier AD. (2008). “Jinn, psychiatry and contested notions of misfortune
among east London Bangladeshis”. Transcultural Psychiatry 35; p.31-5
7
El-Islam, F. (1995) Cultural Aspects of Illness Behaviour. Arab Journal of
Psychiatry 6; p.13-8.

25
mental and physical illnesses through Quranic verses and invocations prescribed by

the Prophet Muhammad.

Ar-ruqyatu ash shar’iyyah is the traditional Islamic spiritual healing and a form of

spiritual therapy that involves the recitation of certain verses and supplications from

the Quran. It is believed to have the ability to heal physical and mental ailments and

improve spiritual existence. The practice of Ar-ruqyatu ash shar’iyyah has a direct

line of history within the Islamic tradition, as it dates back to the time of the Prophet

Muhammad. The foundation of this practice is the belief that Quran is the source of

divine healing and that its recitation can bring about physical, spiritual and mental

healing. There are various modes of Ar-ruqyatu ash shar’iyyah, with some

practitioners employing the recitation of particular verses as an exclusive treatment,

while others use it coupled with other forms of therapy, such as herbal medicine,

cupping, massaging etc. It is practically performed by a trained practitioner known as

Ar-rōqi, who has studied and assimilated the details of the Quran and its healing

properties.

Considerable scientific evidence shows the effectiveness of Ar-ruqyatu ash shar’iyyah

in the treatment of certain ailments. Hussein8 reports that the recitation of Quranic

verses significantly reduced anxiety levels in patients with generalised anxiety

disorder (GAD). Another study published in the Journal of Complementary and

Alternative Medicine found that the use of Quranic verses as a form of intervention

improved sleep quality in patients with insomnia.9 Despite the potential benefits of

Ar-ruqyatu ash shar’iyyah, medics emphasise the essentiality of the fact that it should

not be used as a substitute for conventional medical treatment. It is always

8
Hussain, A., Qureshi, S. and Nisar, N. (2015). “The effect of Qur’anic verses on anxiety levels in
patients with generalised anxiety disorder: A randomised controlled trial”. Journal of Pakistan Medical
Association 65(12); p.1357-1361.
9
Al-Hakeim, M, Al-Shahrani, M., and Al-Johani, A. (2018). The effect of Qur’anic verses onsleep
quality among patients with insomnia: A randomised controlled trial. Journal of Complementary and
Alternative Medicine 24 (12); p.1242.
26
recommended to seek the advice of a healthcare professional for any medical

condition.

Ar-Rōqi

The practice of expelling malevolent spirits from individuals is rooted in the belief

that possession by Jinns or demons is a real phenomenon that can afflict Muslims and

non-Muslims alike. This belief is prevalent in many Muslim-majority countries and

has a revered history within Islam. Thus, exorcising Jinns from the human body is

normally performed by individuals who are believed to have the power to do so.

These individuals may be Imams, Islamic scholars or normal Muslims who have

undergone specialised training in exorcism.

Exorcisms can take many forms, but they often involve the recitation of specific

verses and prayers from the Quran, as well as the use of the zamzam water and other

fruits and natural objects established in the Sunna (tradition). The efficacy of Muslim

exorcisms is a subject of argumentation among Islamic scholars. While some believe

that exorcism can provide comfort and relief to individuals who are suffering from

spirit-possession and related mental health issues,10 others argue that exorcism may be

harmful, as it discourages individuals from seeking medical counsel for their physical

and mental health issues.11

Alternative Cure with Asbāb

There has been an increasing trend towards the use of alternative therapies and

medicine in the treatment of various diseases and conditions. One such approach is

the use of natural substances and objects to cure or prevent illness, called asbāb. It can

include a wide range of substances, such as herbs, fruit products, and even specific
10
Salama, A. (2020). “Exorcisms in Islam: A critical examination”. Journal of Islam and Christian-
Muslim Relations 31 (3); p.301-320.
11
Ahmed, A. (2018). The dark side of exorcism in the Muslim world. The
Guardian.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/18/the-dark-side-of-exorcism-in-the
muslim-world .
27
types of food or water. While the use of asbāb is rooted in the traditional medicine

systems, it has gained renewed attention due to the emerging interest in holistic and

natural approaches to health.

Scientific evidence, though limited, is available on the effectiveness of asbāb in the

treatment of specific conditions. For instance, Ramezani12 found that certain herbs and

minerals such as ginger and zinc may have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects,

which are beneficial in the treatment of certain conditions. Similarly, Abascal and

Yarnell13 assert that certain asbāb may have immune-boosting properties and could be

useful in the treatment of respiratory infections. These healing elements account for a

host of utilities employed in treating patients during the global Covid-19 pandemic. It

should be noted that the use of asbāb should be approached with caution as some

substances may have potential side effects or may interact with other medications.

Instances Necessitating Islamic Exorcism

Our focus in this section is to briefly discuss three specific instances that require Ar-

ruqyatu shar’iyya, relating to the selected YouTube videos. We need to say that the

epistemology of Islam in relation to exorcism documents that Jinns are invisible

creatures to the human sense of sight, although their presence in the possessed

humans and by those around them is felt.14 Islamic belief holds that it is only God’s

powerful words embedded in Ar-ruqyatu shar’iyya that can make the possessed

person regain control over their body after Jinn possession. In fact, these suppositions

are supported by the YouTube users whose comments were visualised on the Voyant

Tools (Source 1). Allah (mentioned 466 times) and Jinn (338 times) were the two

most repeated words in their comments on the videos.

12
Ramezani, A., Mohajeri, M.R., Sahari, M.A., and Abbasnejad, M. (2017). “The effectiveness of
herbal medicine in the management of inflammation: A systematic review”. Journal of Traditional and
Complementary Medicine 7 (2); p.73-81.
13
Abascal, K., and Yarnell, E. (2005). Immune-enhancing botanicals. Alternative Medicine Review 10
(1); p.63-72.
14
Sakat, A. A., Masruri, M., Dakir, J. and Abdullah, W. N. (2015). “The jinn, devil and Satan: A
review on Qur’anic concept”. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences 6 (5); p.540.
28
 Source 1: Authors’ analysis, 2023

Case 1: Black magic/sorcery (sihr) inflicted on a woman

According to Bali15 and Ibraahim Ameen16, renowned scholars and practitioners of

Islamic exorcism, unbelievers among Jinns are frequently sent by sorcerers to possess

humans through black magic. The sorcerers, having satisfied the wishes of the Jinns,

control the Jinns and command them with whatever evils the sorcerers want to inflict

on humans. When such Jinns, who travel most times via air, possess the unprotected

bodies of victims, they become invisible alien spirits controlling the psyche and the

behaviour of the possessed. Jinns in this state are used to cause mental distress in the

afflicted,17 a separation between lovers (husband and wife, father/mother and child,

boss and subordinate, etc.), forceful love between two individuals, epileptic seizures,

medically incurable sicknesses, and other problems.18 The Quran emphasises Bali’s

15
Bali, Wahid A. (2004). Sword against black magic and evil magicians. London: Al-
Firdous Ltd.
16
Ibraahim Ameen, K. (2005). The Jinn and human sickness: Remedies in the light of the Qur’aan and
Sunnah. Darussalam.
17
Dein, S. and Illaiee, A.S. (2013). “Jinn and mental health: looking at jinn possession in modern
psychiatric practice”. The Psychiatrist 37 (9); p.290-293.
18
Bali, Wahid A. (2004). Sword against black magic and evil magicians. London: Al-Firdous Ltd.
Ibraahim Ameen, K. (2005). The Jinn and human sickness: Remedies in the light of the Qur’aan and
Sunnah. Darussalam.
29
and Ibrahim Ameen’s position in Chapter 2, Verse 102. It is also established in

Islamic epistemology that there exist magicians/sorcerers among Jinns.19

And they followed what the shayatin (devils) had (falsely) related

about the kingdom of Sulaiman (Solomon). Yet Solomon

(Sulaimân) did not disbelieve [He did not practice sorcery and he

did not become a disbeliever], but the devils (satans) disbelieved

teaching men magic and that which was sent down to Hârût and

Mârût, the two angels at Babylon. Yet these two (angels) taught no

man (this teaching) until they had said: “Surely, we are only a trial

(for you), therefore, do not be disbelievers (by learning this magic

from us)”. And from these two, people learn that by which they

cause separation between man and his wife, but they could not thus

harm anyone except by Allah’s Leave. (Quran 2:102)

In one of the videos, for instance, Abu Nadeer, the Islamic exorcist, recites the ruqyah

on a female patient possessed by a Jinn. As the woman screams from the effect of the

exorcist’s recitation, the Jinn in her, having been subdued by the absent presence or

the invisible visibility of the Supreme Being,20 hits back. As she sits on the rug, she

tries to defend herself, and perhaps harm the exorcist by drawing magic signs and

“writing inside a star”21 with one of her moving hands (Figure 1). As Abu Nadeer

intensifies the tone of the ruqya, she keeps screaming, heavily shaking and

murmuring before becoming weak.

19
Bali, Wahid A. (2009). Man’s Protection against Jinn and Satan. (3rd Edition). Beirut: Dar Al-Kotob
Al-ilimiyah.
20
Suhr, C. (2015). The failed image and the possessed: examples of invisibility in visual anthropology
and Islam. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 21 (S1); p.96-112. Suhr, C. (2019a). “Islamic
exorcism and the cinema fist: analyzing exorcism among Danish Muslims through the prism of
film”. Contemporary Islam 13 (1); p.121-137.
21
Bali (2004), Sword against….
30
Figure 1: A Jinn drawing magic signs through a possessed woman during a ruqyah
session.
Source: Abu Nadeer, 2016 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7SrVtAyT0s)

Case 2: Male or Female Jinn(s) possessing a (wo)man

Aside from the fact that Jinns can be sent by sorcerers to possess humans,22 more

evidence shows that Jinns can, on their own volition, possess humans.23 According to

Bali24 and Meftah25, Jinns easily possess humans when a male or a female Jinn loves

an individual and wishes to keep having sexual intercourse with him/her; when an

individual harms a Jinn while pouring hot water on him/her or jumps on him/her from

a high position (Islam recommends saying Bismillah before doing such); when a Jinn

transgresses due to someone’s anger, fear and lustful acts as well as when one

distances oneself from religious expectations. Whenever a Jinn possesses someone,

the negative effects include sicknesses that cannot be cured with Western medicine,

psychological imbalances, cognitive impairments as well as other difficult-to-cure

physical and mental health issues.26 However, it should be noted that most times, a

genuine rōqi (exorcist) has to diagnose patients before affirming whether they are

22
Ibid.
23
Ibid. and Bali, Wahid A. (2009). Man’s Protection…
24
Ibid. (Bali, Sword against 2004 and Man’s Protection 2009).
25
Meftah, J. T. (2018). “Jinn and its effects on Muslim society”. Global Journal of Archaeology and
Anthropology 6 (4); p.1-3.
26
Ibraheem Ameen, The Jinn and Human Sickness.
31
possessed by Jinns or not. Patients who understand the symptoms of Jinn possession

can also do self-diagnosis.

For example, in one of the videos, Abu Nadeer exorcises Jinn out of a musician

possessed by a group of five Jinns. As the exorcist recites the ruqyah, the entire body

of the young male musician trembles. He murmurs, hisses like a snake intermittently

and speaks in a low voice as Abu Nadeer questions each of the five Jinns in him

(Figure 2). “The Jinns claim to be from the Illuminati who have taken his soul.” In

another case (Figure 3), a flying female Jinn, who possessed a woman, did so out of

jealousy and envy of her progress. She tells Abu Nadeer that she possessed her

through evil eyes, and as such, ensured that nobody took her as a friend, thereby

leaving her isolated. After the ruqyah and dyadic conversation between the possessing

Jinn and Abu Nadeer, the female Jinn later left the patient through one of her

shoulders. According to Ibraahim Ameen,27 this is one of the recommended body

parts Jinn exits from a possessed patient.

Figure 2: The possessed musician Figure 3: A female Jinn speaking

being exorcised by Abu Nadeer through a possessed woman
Source: Abu Nadeer, 2017 Source: Abu Nadeer, 2018
(https://youtu.be/zIv0A_383Vw) (https://youtu.be/qrljz15-v0A)

Case 3: Glaring or suspected symptoms of demonic afflictions

In some cases, Jinn possession does not clearly manifest in some people in the early

stages of their lives. But in such instances, they will always notice certain symptoms

affirming the presence of a Jinn or Jinns in their bodies. Thus, scholars of Islamic

27
Ibid.
32
exorcism identify constant/periodic sexual intercourse while asleep,28 which may later

lead to infertility,29 miscarriage, if the victim is pregnant, divorce, if the victim is

married, and inability to get into a stable husband/wife relationship, if the victim is a

spinster/bachelor. According to Ibraahim Ameen,30 the individual can also feel some

other symptoms when awake or asleep. Those, which he/she feels while awake,

include:

turning away, in particular, from acts of worship and obedience…,

erratic behaviour in one’s words, deeds and movements, seizures

with no medical cause, paralysis of a limb with no medical cause,

being quick to get angry or weep with no apparent cause, sitting in

the toilet for a long time, and talking to oneself, constant headache

with no medical cause, irregular menstruation in women, not

producing children although both husband and wife are medically

sound and able to reproduce, etc. (pp.86-87).

Ibraahim Ameen further stresses that those symptoms the individual observes while

asleep include “frightening nightmares, insomnia, anxiety and fear upon walking,

talking loudly in one’s sleep, or moaning and groaning” (pp.87-88). For frightening

nightmares, the scholar emphatically states that it:

includes seeing various kinds of creatures such as ghosts or

apparitions, seeing oneself falling from a high place, seeing people

in strange forms, and snakes. A man may see a woman who wants

him to have intercourse with her (and vice versa) constantly in his

dreams, or he may see someone threatening him (p.88).

28
Bali, Sword against…
29
Bajirova, M. (2018). Infertility caused by Decreased Oxygen Utilization and Jinn. Archives of
Reproductive Medicine and Sexual Health 1(1); p.47-58.
30
Ibraaheem Ameen, The Jinn and Human Sickness.
33
As earlier noted in this chapter, Ibraahim Ameen advises that “a person should not be

regarded as being possessed by the jinn if any of these symptoms occur” until after the

Quran (ruqyah) has been recited over him/her. For instance, in one of the YouTube

videos selected for our case study, Abu Tharr, another Islamic exorcist, recites the

Ruqyah over a possessed old man. When the exorcist begins the Quranic recitation,

the man does not move as he sits on a foamy couch. Suddenly, he screams as his neck

muscles visibly stand proud. He wags his tongue and moves his hands (Figure 4)

alongside his head in a gyration pattern. The ruqyah subdues the Jinn possessing him.

These, indeed, are visible signs of Jinn possession documented by Islamic

epistemology and ontology on exorcism.

Figure 4: A possessed man reacting to the Ruqyah of Abu Tharr

Source: Abu Tharr, 2022 (https://youtu.be/7gU1kRnj9ac)

Physical and Mental Health, Jinn Possession and Ruqyah

One of the rarest studies that looked at the perspectives of Muslim medical doctors on

the role Jinns can play in patients’ mental illness is Uvais’s.31 His respondents’

remarks indicate that combining ruqyah with psychiatric care is recognised as an

31
Uvais, N. A. (2017). “Jinn and psychiatry: Beliefs among (Muslim) doctors”. Indian Journal of
Social Psychiatry 33 (1); p.47.
34
integrated mental health therapy. Although Galsgaard32 as well as Rahman, Ridzwan,

Saludin and Hussin33 advocate a similar therapeutic and ontological perspective, much

of Western psychiatry still denies “the conceptualisation of mental illness” from the

cultural lens of Islamic exorcism. Despite these different scholarly perspectives,

Muslims keep adopting Islamic exorcism to heal mental health disorders in patients,34

for they believe Jinns can cause mental health issues.35 As argued by early and

contemporary scholars of Islamic exorcism,36 overtly observed by these researchers

during Jinn attacks elsewhere – and pointed out by Isgandarova,37 the moment Jinn

possesses someone, the spiritual entity targets the brain and alters the patients’ state of

cognitive consciousness.

Apart from mental health issues, religious evidence indicates that Jinns can also cause

physical illnesses in humans. Such physical illnesses, according to Bali38 and

Ibraahim Ameen39, include physical sicknesses untreatable by Western medicine, such

as impotence in men, frigidity in women, heavy bleeding and menstrual irregularities,

premature ejaculation, infections, frequent extreme laziness, paediatric speechlessness

as well as lameness with no diagnostic cause.

Thus, we understand that some people whose epistemology denies the existence of

Jinns, let alone the Jinns’ ability to cause mental disorders, may argue against the

thesis that puts Jinns as one of the causes of mental health disorders. For example,

some comments under the selected videos describe the sessions as fictional and

32
Galsgaard, M. (2021). “Jinn beliefs in western psychiatry: A study of three cases from a psychiatric
and cultural perspective”. In Islam, Migration and Jinn , A.Böttcher, B.Krawietz (eds.). Springer,
Palgrave Macmillan.
33
Rahman, H. A., Ridzwan, Z., Saludin, M. R. and Hussin, S. (2022). “Diagnosis of Jinn possession
amongst Non-Muslims with mental disorders using Jinn Possession Scale”. European Journal of
Medical and Health Sciences 4 (3); p.29-31.
34
Isgandarova, N. (2022). “Clinical interpretation of jinn possession and cultural formulation of mental
illness”. Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling 76 (4); p.245-253.
35
Mudathir, U. & Liadi, O.F. (2016). “Belief in demonic (Jinn) possession and patronage of exorcism
as alternative medicine among Muslims in Ibadan, Nigeria”. Journal of Business 4 (1).
36
E.g., Bali, Sword against…
37
Isgandarova, “Clinical interpretation…”
38
Bali, Sword against…
39
Ibraheem Ameen, The Jinn and Human Sickness.
35
dramatic. One user, for instance, said the patterns which the possessed patients

displayed are “completely made-up nonsense”, while another describes them as “fake

complete acting”. Even in academic scholarship, some people disagree with this

system of knowing. Within Islam and in Campbell’s 2014-study,40 for example, the

epistemology was questioned because of their inability to find explicit Quranic

references supporting the view that Jinn can cause mental illnesses. They, however,

remained silent on other sources of Islamic legislation beyond the Quran (e.g.,

Prophet Muhammad’s traditions) that affirm our position.41 Even so, one needs to

study Quranic exegeses on verses talking about Jinns to understand and get detailed

textual evidence about Jinns’ capability to cause mental illness, just as studied by Al-

Shimmari.42

Islamic Exorcism on YouTube: For Whose Needs?

One essential point we want to establish in this paper is that YouTubising Islamic

exorcism always generates digital engagement from YouTube users globally. For

instance, the eight YouTube videos we cite as within-case analogies in this work had

generated the following comments and views as of January 1, 2023:

S/N Name of the Title of the Video Production Number of Number

Raaqi Year Comments of
(Exorcist) Viewers
1. Abu Tharr Questions & 2022 41 3.6k
Answers Ruqya,
Black Magic, Jinn
2. Abu Tharr Satanic, Jinn, 2022 48 6.9k
Reaction to Ruqya,
Abu Tharr
3. Abu Tharr Possession by Jinn in 2014 72 1.8M
the Head, Abu Tharr
4. Abu Nadeer Jinn doing magic on 2017 601 1.3M
camera

40
Islam, F. and Campbell, R.A. (2014). “’Satan has afflicted me!’ Jinn-possession and mental illness in
the Qur’an”. Journal of Religious Health 53 (1); p.229-243. DOI: 10.1007/s10943-012-9626-5 .
41
Bali, Sword against… and Ibraheem Ameen, The Jinn and Human …
42
Al-Shimmari, M. (2021). “The physical reality of Jinn possession according to commentaries on the
Quran (2: 275)”. In Islam, Migration and Jinn , A.Böttcher, B.Krawietz (eds.). Springer, Palgrave
Macmillan.

36
5. Abu Nadeer Ruqya- A Musician 2017 848 488k
Possessed by
Demonic Illuminati
Jinns Part 1
6. Daily Mail Imam performs 2019 4,386 2.9M
Islamic 'exorcisim' to
'cast out evil' from
woman

7. Abu Nadeer Crazy Jinn attacks 2018 333 93k

Abu Nadeer with BJJ

8. Abu Nadeer Ruqya in London | 2015 587 464k

Extremely Violent
Case | Jinn
Possession Series |
Part 1

Source: Authors’ computation, 2023

Using some of the comments of YouTube users, who engaged five of the videos as

case illustrations, we grouped people in need of YouTube ruqyah sessions into three

categories while we excluded two others. The first three categories are users in need

of information on alternative mental health cure, distant people in need of affective

physical and mental health support, as well as users in need of social interactions

about alternative health care. The other two categories excluded are users who

mocked or disbelieved occurrences in the videos because to them communicating with

Jinns through the possessed bodies of patients contradicts their epistemology; and

users who described the sessions as fictional or saw them as strictly entertaining.43

Information seekers on an alternative mental health cure

As proposed by the uses and gratification theory, people prefer and use a particular

mass medium in order to seek certain information.44 From the comments of YouTube

43
Suhr, C. (2019b). Descending with Angels. Manchester University Press.
44
Wrench J.S.W., N. Punyanunt-Carter. and K. Thweat. (2020). Theories of computer-mediated
communication. Libre Texts, Social Sciences.
https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Communication/Interpersonal_Communication/Book%3A_
Interpersonal_Communication_-
_A_Mindful_Approach_to_Relationships_(Wrench_et_al.)/12%3A_Interpersonal_Communication_in_
Mediated_Contexts/12.04%3A_Theories_of_Computer-Mediated_Communication.
37
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 CHAPTER XXXVIII.
FOUNDING THE LATIN KINGDOM OF
CONSTANTINOPLE.

Having conquered Constantinople and presumably the empire

hitherto ruled from its palaces, it now devolved upon the Latins to
select an emperor from their own race. Twelve electors were chosen,
six from the Venetians and six from the crusaders, to whom was
delegated the responsibility of making the final choice. These met at
the Church of our Lady the Illuminator, which was located within the
walls of the palace of Bucolion. After celebration of mass the electors
took a solemn oath upon the relics deposited in that church, that they
would bestow the crown upon him whom they regarded as the ablest
to defend and exalt their new possessions. To silence any popular
opposition to their choice, the bravest of the guards were placed
about the palace, pledged to maintain the election.
There were three, possibly four, preëminent candidates for the
imperial honor. Dandolo was recognized as chief in ability, but he
was far advanced in years and could promise at best but a brief
tenure of the sceptre; besides, the Venetians themselves were not
agreed in asking for his elevation. If the doge of Venice should have
his capital in the East, Venice herself, the queen of the Adriatic,
would sink beneath the splendors of the queen of the Bosporus. The
men who had exalted their city to that of chief prominence in the
maritime world were naturally jealous of this transfer of prestige.
Dandolo himself was astute enough to foresee the danger and
declined to contest the election.
Boniface, as head of the crusaders, was next in prominence. He
had, moreover, sought to make himself more eligible by marrying
Maria, the widow of the late Emperor Isaac, that thus he might
secure the loyalty of the Greeks. But his election would be fraught
with disadvantage to Venice in that his alliance would be first of all
with his relative, Philip of Swabia, and, in the event of the union of
the East with that German power, Venice would be politically
overshadowed.
It is alleged by some writers that Philip himself was proposed. He
was at the time, as we have stated, contesting the sceptre of
Germany with Otho, who had been approved by the Pope. Philip’s
acquisition of the Eastern sceptre might give him predominant weight
in the West and possibly convert the Pope to his interests, especially
as thus the union of the churches would be facilitated. Thus the
reasons urged against Boniface were of equal force against Philip.
Dandolo declared his preference for Baldwin, Earl of Flanders. This
chieftain was but thirty-two years of age, a cousin of the King of
France, and of the blood of Charlemagne. He had proved his bravery
on many a field, and was, moreover, unobjectionable to the more
ardent among the crusaders from the fact that, unlike Boniface, he
had taken no active part in originally diverting the movement from its
legitimate destination against Syria and Egypt. The French, who
were the majority in the host, sided with him. Between the parties of
Boniface and Baldwin it was agreed that, in the event of either
attaining to the immediate government of the empire, the other
should acquire as his special dominion the Peloponnesus and the
Asiatic provinces beyond the Bosporus.
While the electors deliberated the crowd without waited with anxiety.
At midnight, May 9th, the doors of the church were opened. The
Bishop of Soissons announced the decision: “This hour of the night,
which saw the birth of God, sees also the birth of a new empire. We
proclaim as emperor Earl Baldwin of Flanders and Hainaut.” The
successful candidate was raised upon a shield and carried into the
church, where he was vested with the vermilion buskins. A week
later he was solemnly crowned in St. Sophia. At the coronation
Boniface attended his rival, carrying in the procession the royal robe
of cloth of gold.
But Boniface’s loyalty scarcely endured the strain put upon it. He
soon exchanged the dominion of the Peloponnesus and Asia Minor,
which had been assigned to him by the electors’ agreement, for that
of Salonica. Over this he and Baldwin incessantly quarrelled. This
strife between the leaders was the indication of the dissensions
everywhere among the Latins in their greedy division of the estates
of the new realm.
The chief actors in that stirring drama soon passed off the scene.
Baldwin was captured, and probably murdered, by the Bulgarians
before Adrianople in 1205, and was succeeded by his brother Henry.
Dandolo, having acquired the title “Lord of a Quarter and a Half of all
the Roman World,” died June, 1205. A slab recently discovered in
St. Sophia is inscribed, “Henrico Dandolo,” and probably marks his
grave. With all his faults, the modern Venetian might well cry with
Byron:

“Oh, for one hour of blind old Dandolo,

The octogenarian chief, Byzantium’s conquering foe!”

Boniface two years later was mortally wounded in a fight with the
Bulgarians in the Rhodope Mountains. Mourtzouphlos was soon
taken prisoner and hurled headlong from the column of Theodosius,
thus fulfilling a local prophecy relative to the column, that it should
witness the destruction of some perfidious ruler.
It is not within our scope to narrate the history of the Latin empire
thus established. For fifty-seven years it maintained a precarious
existence, and finally fell again into the hands of the Greeks, who
had constantly menaced it from their opposing capital of Nicæa
(1264).
The most serious consequence of the capture of Constantinople by
the Latins was the new hope and opportunity imparted to the Turks.
The Greeks, with all their weaknesses, had for generations been a
buffer between Islam and Europe. The empire had stood like a wall
across the great highway of the Asiatic incursion. If the Greeks had
been generally the losers in the struggle, they had maintained
sufficient power to occupy the arms of their contestants, leaving the
Christians of the West free to prey upon the Moslems of Syria and
adjacent countries. Now all was changed in this respect. The war of
Latins with Greeks engrossed, and largely used up, the power of
both as against their common enemy. Though the capital had fallen,
the Greek everywhere was still the sworn enemy of the Latin.
In the meantime the Moslems were compacting and extending their
military power. They were growing in multitude by the migration of
new swarms from the original hive in the farther East. They were
destined to become too strong for Christendom to resist, to move
steadily on to their own conquest of Constantinople, and even to
knock at the gate of Vienna. The words of Edward Pears are
undoubtedly warranted: “The crime of the fourth crusade handed
over Constantinople and the Balkan peninsula to six centuries of
barbarism.”
 CHAPTER XXXIX.
BETWEEN THE FOURTH AND FIFTH CRUSADES
—CONDITION OF EAST AND WEST—THE
CHILDREN’S CRUSADE.

The campaign of Europe against Constantinople wrought only evil

among the Christian colonists of Syria and Palestine. In the time of
their deepest need there were diverted from their cause the
enormous sums of money that had been raised for their succor,
multitudes of brother warriors, whose swords were sadly missed
amid the daily menaces of their foes, and the active sympathies, if
not even the prayers, of their coreligionists at home. Dire calamities
also fell upon them, which no human arm could have prevented. The
plague had followed the terrible Egyptian famine of 1200, and spread
its pall far to the East. Earthquakes of the most terrific sort changed
the topography of many places; tidal waves obliterated shore-lines;
fortresses, like those of Baalbec and Hamah, tottered to their fall
upon the unsteady earth; stately temples, which had monumented
the art and religion of antiquity, became heaps of ruins; Nablous,
Damascus, Tyre, Tripoli, and Acre were shaken down. It would seem
that only the common prayers of Christians and Mussulmans averted
the calamity from Jerusalem, the city that was sacred in the creed of
both.
Such sums of money as the cries for help brought from Europe were
expended first in repairing the walls of Acre, into which service the
Christians forced their Moslem prisoners. Among the chain-gangs
thus set at work was the famous Sa’di, the greatest of Persian poets,
almost equally noted for his eloquence as a preacher and for his
adventures as a traveller.
Amaury, King of Jerusalem, died, leaving his useless sceptre in the
hands of his wife, Isabella, whose demise passed it on to her
daughter, Mary, by her former husband, Conrad of Tyre. Such were
the burdens of the unsupported throne that none of the warriors in
the East ventured to assume the responsibility of the new queen’s
hand. A husband was sought for her in Europe. John of Brienne was
nominated by Philip of France for the hazardous nuptials. John had
been a monk, but his adventurous and martial spirit soon tired of the
cowl. He abandoned the austerities of a professional saint for the
freedom of the camp and the dangers of the field. The romantic
perils of wedding the dowerless queen attracted him.
Rumors of a new crusade of gigantic proportions led Malek-Ahdel to
propose a renewal of the truce with the Christians, which, though
continually broken, was in his estimation safer than an openly
declared war. The Hospitallers approved peace. This was sufficient
to make their rivals, the Templars, eager for the reverse, and the
majority of the knights and barons flew to arms against one another.
John of Brienne reached Acre with a meagre following of three
hundred knights. His nuptials with the young Queen Mary were
rudely disturbed by the Moslems, who besieged Ptolemaïs and
swarmed in threatening masses around Acre. In their straits the
Christians again appealed to Europe; but Christendom was fully
occupied with contentions within its own borders. France was at war
with England to repossess the fair provinces which the Angevine
kings had wrested from her along the Atlantic. At the same time she
was pressing her conquests beyond the Rhine against the Germans.
Germany was divided by the rival claimants for the imperial sceptre,
Otho and Philip of Swabia.
A more serious diversion of interest from the affairs of Palestine was
due to the crusade under Simon de Montfort against the Albigenses,
whose record makes one of the blackest pages of human history.
(See Dr. Vincent’s volume in this series.) The Saracens in Spain
were also threatening to overturn the Christian kingdom of Castile,
and were defeated only with tremendous effort, which culminated in
the great battle of Tolosa (1212).
In 1212 or 1213 occurred what is known as the Children’s Crusade,
a movement that doubtless has been greatly exaggerated by after
writers, but the facts of which illustrate the ignorance and credulity,
as well as the adventurous, not to say marauding, spirit of the times.
If in our day the free circulation of stories relating the adventures of
cutthroats and robbers inflames the passions and engenders lawless
conceits in the young, we may imagine that reports of the bloody
work done by persecutors of the Albigenses, dastardly and cruel
deeds, which were applauded by Pope and people, could not but
make a similar impression upon the callow mind of childhood in the
middle ages. Boys practised the sword-thrust at one another’s
throats, built their pile of fagots about the stake of some imaginary
heretic, and charged in mimic brigades upon phantom hosts of
Infidels. It needed only the impassioned appeals of unwise
preachers to start the avalanche thus trembling on the slope. It was
proclaimed that supernal powers waited to strengthen the children’s
arms. The lads were all to prove Davids going forth against Goliaths;
the girls would become new Judiths and Deborahs without waiting
for their growth. It was especially revealed that the Mediterranean
from Genoa to Joppa would be dried up so that these children of
God could pass through it dry-shod.
From towns and cities issued bands of boys and girls, who in
response to the question, “Whither are you going?” replied, “To
Jerusalem.” “Boy preachers” were universally encouraged to
proclaim the crusade. One lad, named Stephen, announcing that
Christ had visited him, led hundreds away. A boy named Nicholas,
instigated by older persons, deluded a company into crossing the
Alps, where many starved, were killed, or kidnapped. The real
leaders, however, seem to have been men and women of disorderly
habits, who in an age of impoverished homes readily adopted the
lives of tramps, and used the pitiable appearance of the children to
secure the charities of the towns and cities they passed through.
Saracen kidnappers also took advantage of the craze to lure children
on board of ships by promise of free passage to the Holy Land. Thus
entrapped, they were sold as slaves for Eastern fields or harems.
Seven vessels were loaded with Christian children at Marseilles.
Five of the ships reached Egypt, consigned to slave merchants; two
were wrecked off the isle of St. Peter, where Pope Gregory IX.
afterwards caused a church to be built in memory of the victims.
THE FIFTH CRUSADE.
 CHAPTER XL.
DISASTER OF MARIETTA.

Pope Innocent III. comforted himself for this “slaughter of the

innocents” by making the incident the basis of a new appeal for the
relief of Palestine. “These children,” said he, “reproach us with being
asleep while they were flying to the assistance of the Holy Land.” In
his exhortation to Europe the Holy Father ventures to interpret the
mysterious prediction of the Book of Revelation regarding the
duration of the Antichrist symbolized by the beast. Some Protestants
have presumptuously applied the figures to the destiny of the Roman
Church. Innocent regarded Mohammedanism as meant, and,
counting from the hejira of Mohammed (622) to his own day,
announced to the people, in the name of God, whose infallible
vicegerent he was, “The power of Mohammed draws towards its
end; for that power is nothing but the beast of the Apocalypse, which
is not to extend beyond the number of six hundred and sixty-six
years, and already six hundred have been accomplished.” Europe
was asked to believe that the marshalled nations of the East, then so
threatening, would only furnish the funeral cortège of Antichrist, after
which the world would enter upon its millennium of peace.
Every crowned head, every noble, every knight, every city, every
church, received its especial appeal from Rome to offer men, ships,
money, and incessant prayers for this last holy adventure. With equal
assurance Innocent addressed letters to the sultans of Damascus
and Cairo, giving them an opportunity to voluntarily restore the holy
places before the final vengeance of the Lord. Ardent orators, like
Cardinal Courçon and James of Vitri (an original chronicler of these
events), went everywhere, firing the passions of the people. Philip
Augustus appropriated for the project two and a half per cent. of the
territorial revenue of France. King John of England promised to
make amends for his many sins by taking the cross; he was the
more inclined to this from the fact that his barons had just wrenched
from him Magna Charta, and the Pope had put him under
excommunication; his pretence of piety was the policy of the
moment. Frederick II. of Germany, to secure the papal favor in his
contest with Otho for the imperial throne, assumed the rôle of a
crusader.
The movement was, however, halted by the affairs in France.
England, Flanders, Holland, Boulogne, with the aid of the German
Otho, invaded France. At the battle of Bouvines (1214) this
combination was overthrown, and the French monarchy, with
restored territory and prestige, assumed the independence which it
maintained until recent times.
In 1215 the Lateran Council issued the grand order for the crusading
expedition. The Pope and cardinals taxed themselves a tenth of their
income, and all ecclesiastics a twentieth. So great was the
excitement for war that two astounding phenomena were observed:
luminous crosses appeared in the heavens, and the Troubadours
sang only of battle, no longer of love. Innocent III. proposed to head
the crusade in person, but when his example had wrought its full
influence discreetly retired from the leadership. Shortly after he died,
and Honorius III. came into the pontificate.
In 1217 the mighty armament was in motion. Andrew II., King of
Hungary, was designated chief. Germany, under its representative
dukes of Bavaria and Austria, followed in his train. The host was
augmented by those from Italy and France and the islands of the
Mediterranean. According to the Arabian historian, it was the largest
force ever at one time pitted against them in Palestine.
The army landed at Acre. The new soldiers signalled their arrival by
an impressive exhibition of their pilgrim zeal. They formed an
immense procession. At their head was the Patriarch of Jerusalem,
who bore aloft a piece of wood which had been surreptitiously cut
from the True Cross at the time it was captured by Saladin at Hattîn.
With utmost pomp they passed over the land from the sea to the
Jordan, bathed in the waters of the sacred river, and lingered to pray
amid the ruins on the shores of the Sea of Tiberias. They gathered
many relics, and did not hesitate to take as their pious plunder many
of the people of the land, whom they brought with them as prisoners
to Acre.
No enemy molested them. Malek-Ahdel had advised that the
invaders be left to their own dissensions, which, judging from
previous observation, were sure to follow as soon as they should
attempt to divide the spoil they might take. The martial spirit of the
Christians did not resent this idleness, and stagnation of energy bred
moral malaria. Camp vices thrived to such an extent that the leaders
were forced to drive out the soldiers in search of manly adventures.
Mount Tabor, the Mount of Transfiguration, lifted high its head,
crowned with Moslem forts in place of the Church of St. Helena and
of the two monasteries which had formerly commemorated the
tabernacles of Moses and Elias. The crusaders were ordered to
capture the holy mountain. That all doubt of Heaven’s favor in the
enterprise might be removed, the patriarch read the gospel for the
day, first Sunday in Advent, and interpreted the words, “Go ye into
the village over against you,” to mean the castle on Tabor.
Led by this high dignitary, who carried the ubiquitous piece of the
True Cross, they made the ascent through a shower of Moslem
arrows and an avalanche of stones. The defenders at first retired
within their citadel, but an unaccountable panic seized the
assailants: they deserted their own cause at the moment of victory,
and made a disorderly retreat down to the plain. Their piety was,
however, compensated by the capture of a number of women and
children, whom they forced to be baptized. The anticipated
dissensions followed. Each leader reproached the others. On
Christmas eve a terrific storm swept the camp, which, in the general
discouragement, they attributed to the displeasure of Heaven. Lack
of provisions forced them to encamp in different neighborhoods—
Tripoli, Acre, Mount Carmel, and the plains of Cæsarea. The
commander-in-chief, the King of Hungary, returned to Europe,
consoling himself for lack of martial laurels by the possession of the
head of St. Peter, the hand of St. Thomas, and one of the seven
water-jars in which Christ had made water wine at Cana. The sacred
relics did not, however, prevent his subsequent excommunication.
This crusade was saved from utter and ignominious failure only by
the arrival of fresh enthusiasts from the West. Bands from Friesland
and the banks of the Rhine had taken ships on the Baltic and
coasted by France and Portugal. They told of the luminous crosses
which appeared in the heavens and signalled them by moving
towards the East, and how squadrons of angels had fought with
them against the Moors on the Tagus.
The courage of their brethren was thus rekindled to venture at the
opening of spring (1218) upon an invasion of Egypt. The chronicler
tells us of a favorable omen here observed by the crusaders: the
water of the Nile, which was sweet to the taste on their arrival,
afterwards became salt.
The city of Damietta was guarded by a strong tower, which rose from
the middle of the Nile, and was connected with the walls by an
immense chain which impeded the passage of ships. The crusaders
attacked this unavailingly. There were in the host certain skilled
mechanics, who, “by the inspiration of the Almighty,” constructed an
enormous wooden tower, which floated upon two vessels and
overtopped the walls of the great citadel. In vain did the Moslems set
fire to this with streams of liquid flame. The prayers of the monks on
the shore, together with the “tears of the faithful,” and, we may add,
the abundant oblation of the buckets, soon subdued the
conflagration. The huge drawbridge which dropped from the top of
the floating tower successfully landed upon the walls three hundred
brave knights. Their valor, together with the spiritual prowess of the
patriarch, who lay stretched on the ground wrestling with the will of
Heaven, was resistless, and soon the flag of the Duke of Austria was
flying from the ramparts; not, however, until the usual band of
celestial knights in white armor had dazzled the eyes of the
Moslems, so that they could not see where to strike their foes. This
was on August 24th, which, being St. Bartholomew’s day, enabled
the crusaders also to see that saint, clad in red, at the head of their
celestial assistants.
Mastering the tower of the Nile and breaking the chain which
obstructed the channel, the Christian fleet lay close to the walls of
the city.
Seventeen months were destined to pass in the siege of Damietta. In
September Malek-Ahdel died. He had before formally laid down the
chieftainship, and divided his realm among his many sons; but his
prestige and continually sought counsel made him until his death the
virtual head of the Moslem power. He maintained a sumptuous court
and a splendid palace, the recesses of which were regarded by the
faithful as a sanctuary where Heaven daily blessed its favorite son.
The various courts saluted him as “king of kings,” and the camps
hailed him as saphadin, the “sword of religion.” His death threw a
shadow upon the Moslem world.
Instead of taking advantage of this providence, the Christians
seemed to emulate the divisions of their enemies. Many grew weary
of the task they had vowed to Heaven, and returned to Europe. The
priests pronounced a curse upon the deserters. This malediction was
regarded as inspired when it was learned that six thousand of the
crusaders from Brittany had been wrecked off the coast of Italy, and
that the returning Frieslanders reached their homes only to witness
the wrath of the North Sea, which broke the Holland dikes,
submerged their richest provinces and cities, and drowned one
hundred thousand of the inhabitants.
But new warriors were excited to redeem the opportunity. France
and England sent much of their best blood and many of their most
famous names. Among the multitude of celebrities was one who was
destined to bring the entire crusade to a fatal ending. Cardinal
Pelagius was delegated as papal legate. He was a man of
arrogance, and asserted his right to supersede even John of
Brienne, the King of Jerusalem, in the military command. This
position was refused him by the soldiery. He at length accomplished
his ambition by threatening all who opposed him with
excommunication.
The coming of these auxiliaries spurred the Christians to take
advantage of contentions among the Moslems and make a forward
movement. They crossed from the west bank of the Nile and
invested Damietta. The menace reunited the Infidels. Battles were of
daily occurrence, in which whole battalions, now of Christians, now
of Moslems, were driven into the Nile, and perished.
One beautiful episode redeemed these hellish scenes. St. Francis of
Assisi visited the camps; he went among his brethren with
consolations for the sick and wounded, his presence redolent with
heavenly charity. No labors could weary this man, who already
seemed divested largely of his physical nature, and to be sustained
only by the power of his inward spirit. His zeal for God led him to visit
even the camp of the Moslems. He preached his doctrines before
Malek-Kamel, the Sultan of Cairo; he alternately threatened the
sultan’s infidelity with the pains of hell, and sought to win his better
faith by promises of heaven. Francis proposed to test the truth of
either religion by passing with the holiest Moslems through an ordeal
of fire. This being declined, he offered himself to the flame, provided
that the sultan’s conversion should follow the refusal of fire to burn
the representative of the faith of Christ. With courteous words the
test was declined. Moslems reverenced insane persons as in some
way under a divine influence; Malek-Kamel treated his uninvited
guest as one of this sort. The Moslem doctors of the law
commanded Malek-Kamel to take off the head of the intruder, but the
warrior was either too much amused with the simplicity, or too much
amazed at the sincerity, of his visitor to harm him, and dismissed him
with presents, which, however, Francis’ vow of poverty would not
allow him to accept.
Whether persuaded by the holy eloquence of the saint, or by the
rumor that Frederick of Germany was approaching with fresh armies,
the sultan proposed peace. He offered the flattering condition of
giving up Jerusalem to the Christians. The warriors would have
assented thus to secure as the reward of their valor that which had
been the object of the entire crusade; but Cardinal Pelagius forbade,
in the name of the Holy Father, the cessation of arms at any less
price than the entire subjugation of the Moslem power.
Damietta was therefore more closely invested; its garrison was
reduced to starvation. To prevent possible defection among his
miserable soldiers, the commander of Damietta walled up the gates
of the city. The Christians made an assault in full force; the rams
battered the trembling towers; ladders swarmed with assailants; no
one opposed them. Sweeping over the ramparts with naked swords,
they found the streets and houses filled with the dead. Of seventy
thousand scarcely three thousand of the inhabitants had remained
alive. The air was fraught with poisonous stench from the decaying
corpses; as the chronicler says, “the dead had killed the living.” The
crusaders could abide only long enough to gather the booty, and left
the city to be cleansed by carrion-birds and the air of heaven.
This temporary success of his policy inflamed the conceit of Cardinal
Pelagius. According to his own people, the “King of kings and Lord of
lords” had given him the city; “under the guidance of Christ” the
soldiers had scaled the walls. The victors took as their reward the
rich plunder of the place, and gratefully “baptized all the children who
were found alive in the city, thereby giving to God the first-fruit of
souls.”
The Moslems, afflicted by these reverses, enlarged their conditions
of peace to the yielding up, not only of Jerusalem, but all the Holy
Land. The cardinal refused even these terms, and proposed to
march to the capture of Cairo, the capital of Egypt. In vain did the
military leaders protest against that which they esteemed
impracticable in itself, and which, in the event of its success, would
leave on their hands a land which they could not hope to defend
against the myriads who were swarming from all parts of the Moslem
world. The cardinal accused the warriors of timidity and irreligion.
This was too much for John of Brienne, who would have dared to
sheathe his good sword in the bowels of Lucifer himself. Orders for
the ascent of the Nile were given. At the junction of its two branches,
the southern extreme of the Delta, the Moslems made their fortified
camp, and built what has since been known as the city of
Mansourah. The enemy approached; once more the sultan offered
peace, including now the gift of the Delta, together with the
previously offered conditions.
The refusal of this exhausted the patience, not only of the sultan, but
seemingly of Heaven also. With the rising of the Nile the Moslems
opened the sluices, flooded all the canals of Lower Egypt, and
inundated the Christians’ camp. Simultaneously the Moslem ships
made their way up through the canals and destroyed the vessels of
their foes. The Infidels occupied every rising knoll; “while,” says a
letter from the camp, “we were thus caught in the midst of the waters
like fish in a net.” In vain did the Christians endeavor to force a
battle. Shrewdly retreating from the arbitrament of the sword, the
Moslems left the invaders to the destruction which they proclaimed
Allah had prepared for His insolent adversaries.
Cardinal Pelagius now begged for the peace he had despised; nor
did he stop with the old conditions. He would yield all he had taken
or claimed, if only he might be permitted to lead the armies of
Europe safely into the walls of distant Acre. This capitulation was
reluctantly accepted by the Sultan of Cairo. The haughty cardinal,
the brave King John of Brienne, the Duke of Bavaria, and many of
the nobles meditated their disgrace as hostages in the hostile camp,
while the Christian soldiers were still waiting the will of their
conqueror in the marshes. King John of Brienne one day sat down at
the feet of the sultan and burst into tears. The Moslem respected his
courage and was grieved at the distress which seemingly had
shaken it. “Why do you weep?” he asked. “To see my brave people
perishing with hunger amid the waters.” The sultan immediately
provisioned the Christian camp, and sent his own son to conduct the
host in safety out of the land they had come to conquer (autumn,
1221).
THE SIXTH CRUSADE.
 CHAPTER XLI.
FREDERICK II. AND POPE GREGORY IX.

Seven years elapsed before another attempt worthy of record was

made for the recapture of Palestine. Frederick II. (Hohenstaufen) of
Germany was its leader; hero it had none.
Frederick was one of the ablest men of the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries, though not meriting the title given him by an English
chronicler, “the Wonder of the World.” The grandson of Frederick
Barbarossa, son of Henry IV. and Constance of Sicily, he united in
his person the strongest traits of German and Italian stock. Born in
1194, at two years of age he was elected king of the Romans, and in
his fourth year was crowned King of Sicily. Pope Innocent III. was the
guardian of his childhood, and well discharged his duty, if the rare
education of Frederick may be taken as evidence. The royal youth
mastered Latin, Greek, French, German, and knew something of
Arabic and Hebrew; he was creditably versed in Saracenic science
and arts, as well as in Christian philosophy and scholasticism; he
wrote well on the habits of birds, and shared with the Troubadours
the joys of the poet’s art; he endowed universities, patronized
painters, and encouraged architects. In government he deserves to
rank among the empire-builders, for in a narrow age he extended the
scope of law for the toleration of Jews and Mohammedans, for the
emancipation of peasants from undue oppression at the hands of the
upper classes, and for the enlargement of international commerce
almost to the line of the modern theory of free trade. His liberality
towards Moslems brought him the accusation of harboring in his
heart a secret infidelity, which his severity with the Christian
schismatics could not entirely dispel.
At the age of eighteen Frederick entered into contest for the imperial
throne of Germany, and in 1215, at the age of twenty-one, won the
crown of Charlemagne. In order to accomplish this grand object, he
had, as a first step, secured the alliance of the Pope. This he did by
pledging, among other things, to lead a crusade; but the pressing
emergencies of his new crown caused delay from year to year. In
1225 he married Iolante, the daughter of John of Brienne, King of
Jerusalem. He at once asserted that John held his crown only in
virtue of being the husband of Queen Mary, and this lady having
died, her daughter, Iolante, was lawful sovereign. Thus by marriage
he annexed to his German title that of King of Jerusalem, and was
looked to by all for the defence of his new dominion. But two years
later (1227) he was still too busy unravelling European complications
to absent himself in the distant East.
In this year Gregory IX. ascended the papal throne. While this Pope
still retained the faculties and ambition of youth, he had developed
also the obstinacy and petulance of old age. By his unwise dealing
with the German emperor, and the impolitic assertion of his own
capricious will as of divine authority, he may be said to have started
the decadence of the papal throne, which in another generation was
destined to lose the prestige of the Hildebrandian policy and all
prospect of becoming the world monarchy.
On the day of his accession to power Gregory IX. issued a
proclamation for all the sovereigns of Christendom to unite in a new
crusade, and openly threatened Frederick with his ecclesiastical
vengeance if he longer postponed the fulfilment of his vow. He
accused the emperor’s delay with being due to luxury, if not
sensuality, in living. The former charge probably had in it a measure
of truth, for Frederick’s court at Palermo, where he spent more time
than in his northern capital, was the centre of gayety, not only among
the Christians, but to a certain extent for Mohammedans. Many of
the fairest women of Asia and North Africa graced his salons. It
might also be imagined of Frederick that his faith was not of that
intense and credulous nature which foresaw a heavenly crown
awaiting his exploits in the Holy Land. Equally detrimental to his
repute for crusading zeal were the courtesies he was exchanging
with Malek-Kamel, Sultan of Egypt. It was even rumored that he had
made alliance with this sultan, pledging help against the rival Sultan
of Damascus, on condition of the restoration of Jerusalem.
But the sincerity of Frederick was proved by the gathering of his
fleets and the massing of his armaments at Otranto. The fame of his
leadership attracted the noblest of Germany. Among them was
Ludwig, Landgrave of Thuringia, noted for having won the hand of
Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew II. of Hungary, who in her girlhood
had attained renown for her asceticism and charities, and died
(1231) at the age of twenty-four, to be canonized as the fairest saint
of the middle ages. From distant England many came at Frederick’s
call, and further impelled by visions of the Saviour on the cross of fire
which appeared in that northern sky.
The season was intensely hot, and gendered a fever fatal to the
crusaders who were gathered in southern Italy. Among its victims
was Ludwig, leaving his faithful spouse to keep his memory revered
by her refusal to marry any one of the numerous kings who were
attracted to her feet. Many bishops and thousands of pilgrims
succumbed to this plague. Frederick sailed, but only to return in
three days, seeking hospital in Otranto.
Pope Gregory IX. fulminated against Frederick all the terrors of his
personal scorn and ecclesiastical vengeance. From his pulpit he
pictured him “breaking all his promises, bursting every bond,
trampling underfoot the fear of God, despising all reverence for
Jesus Christ, scorning the censures of the church, deserting the
Christian army, abandoning the Holy Land to unbelievers, to his own
disgrace and that of all Christendom withdrawing to the luxury and
wonted delights of his kingdom, and seeking to palliate his offence
by frivolous excuses of simulated sickness.” Then, while the
cathedral bells were clanging a demoniacal accompaniment to what
was transpiring beneath them, the clergy stood with lighted torches
around the altar. Gregory invoked the eternal curse of God upon his
imperial victim. The clergy dashed their torches and extinguished
them upon the floor, in token of the “blackness of darkness forever”
which should settle upon the emperor’s soul.