SUFI STORIES #28. FAITH & PSYCHIC HEALERS (& SURGEONS)

After sharing many stories about jinns, I will now share stories about the faith and psychic healers that I know of or encountered. By faith or spiritual healing, I mean healing through invoking the healing power of the Divine, and achieving the healing not through natural, physical means. The healing methods can therefore be described as “miraculous”.

Spiritual healing is very much an energy phenomenon. God is Light, and Light is Energy. God is the source of energy (though He is not just energy). The Qur’an describes God as the “light upon the light”:

"God is the light of the heavens and the earth; the likeness of His Light is as a niche wherein is a lamp (the lamp in a glass, the glass as it were a glittering star) kindled from a Blessed Tree, an olive that is neither of the East nor of the West whose oil well nigh would shine, even if no fire touched it; light upon light; (God guides to His Light whom He wills.)" [Qur’an 24:35 The Verse of Light, Ayat An-Nur]

So the divine healing intervention is in the form of energy exchange to the physical (and spiritual) body. To those who are familiar with the subject, even the spirit (human and other forms) is energy.

A study was actually done on dying men, whereby a small weight loss was detected just immediately after death, taking into account all other possible physical losses (metabolism, fluid loss and so on). If true, then the soul also has mass/weight. Was the study scientifically valid? That's anybody’s guess.

Spiritual healing can mean direct Divine intervention or through spirit intermediaries (the more appropriate term for the latter is “spirit healing”). Some spiritual healers claim that they are assisted by prophets, saints, departed surgeons, angels, or jinns (genies). There are many books available detailing interesting stories of these spiritual healers. The subject is fascinating, and I have been investigating the phenomenon for the last 30 years or so. I have found that it is the ultimate energy-healing method.

The understanding is even deeper if you are also on the spiritual path. Furthermore, if you also know about quantum physics, then your understanding of spiritual healing (especially psychic surgery) is very much enhanced.

As a medical doctor, I am a bit wary of writing about miracles in the field of healing, as miracles are anathema to science, for everything must have scientific explanations, and if they don’t, they are just nonsense (or non-science).

BOMOHS & HEALERS

Malaysia (and our neighbour countries) is famous for having a large number of faith healers, spirit healers, tribal healers, traditional healers and witch-doctors and more. While you can seek their help to remove your ailments (or other problems), the unscrupulous ones also offer services to cause harm and disease upon others. It is big business here, and the more famous bomohs (traditional or faith healers and shamans) see hundreds of patients a day.

Then there are those who go to the Orang Asli bomoh; or if you go across the border up north, you can engage the services of the notorious “bomoh Siam” (Siamese shamans). While there are probably more conmen and conwomen among them, all preying on the gullible public, there are also the good, genuine, and sincere faith/spiritual healers of all races helping to ease the pains and sufferings of those who seek their help.

Actually, such practices are common elsewhere too. Many are already familiar with the African medicine men and the Caribbean Voodoo priests who invoke the gods and spirits in their healing (or harming) work.

Today I will describe several healers whose healing works can only be described as miraculous, because they defy scientific reasoning. But before you clamour to go to them, I must inform you that some healers described below were healers whom I knew in the past, and have since died. Even miracle healers die, as we all will someday.

I relate their stories to impress upon you that nothing is impossible, if God wills. This also means that, if you have “incurable” diseases, do not give up looking for a cure. For the Muslims, please be reminded that Allah has said that before He created a disease, He had already created the remedy. So the remedies to all the diseases can be found, if you search hard enough, and if you were meant to be cured by God. And that remedy may mean a miracle cure for you.

There are certainly living miracle healers in our midst. Some are children or disciples of departed miracle healers. If you know of any such healers, you must let others know as there are many people with incurable diseases looking for these faith healers because everything else they have tried did not work on them. There are so many with “incurable” diseases despite Allah’s promise that there are remedies to cure them all. Often it means the patient did not look hard enough.

RESURRECTING THE DEAD

The most famous faith/spiritual healer was Jesus (Prophet Isa, peace be upon him). He cured the blind, the lame and the leprous; and he even raised the dead. These “miracles” are accepted as truth by Christians, Muslims and many others.

However, most are probably not aware that many Sufi saints were also granted this miracle of resurrecting the dead. The most famous of these saints given the power to raise the dead was Shaykh Abdul Qadir Al-Jilani (QS), the sultan of all Sufi saints, who lived in Baghdad about 1,000 years ago (see SUFI STORIES #4). In Islam, miracles performed by the Prophets are called mukjizat, while miracles performed by the Saints are called karamah.

A friend had related to me how, as a child, he had witnessed first hand one such miracle being performed by a Sufi saint in India many years ago. There was a funeral procession on the way to burn the corpse on the pyre (the deceased was a Hindu). This procession had passed in front of the Saint’s house. He requested the people to stop, and he proceeded to pray for God’s intervention. After a while, the dead man woke up!

Then the entire procession prostrated to him, but he told them not to do so, but to prostrate to God instead, because it was God who gave life to the dead man, not him.

If resurrecting the dead is possible, then revitalising the living, even though near-dead, is definitely more possible!

ALMARHUM TUAN GURU PROFESSOR DATO DR HARON DIN

I had already described the local healers who use Qur’anic and Prophetic methods of healing (Ruqyah and Tibb an-Nabawi) in the previous stories, when we discussed disturbances caused by the jinns. I had mentioned the most famous faith healer and jinnbuster in Malaysia was the late Almarhum Tuan Guru Professor Datuk Dr Haron Din. I had witnessed one of my friends vomiting out small nails while being treated by him. There were so many patients that 5 or 6 patients had to be in the treatment room simultaneously, so I got to see what happened to the other patients during their treatment too.

He must have treated many thousands of people from all walks of life in his lifetime. He also shared his knowledge and experience through his books and lectures, and he instituted the first properly structured course on “Islamic Healing” (Perubatan Islam) here.

His legacy is being continued through his students who offer their services through the association he founded - Persatuan Perubatan, Pengubatan & Kebajikan Islam Malaysia (Darussyifa’). They have branches all over Malaysia, so those in need of help for spiritual disturbances can continue to benefit from his teachings. Those who wish to learn can also read his books and attend the courses that the association offers. There are now several other associations and groups offering similar services, but he was the pioneer in offering the systematic teaching of Islamic Healing here.

PUAN LIN, THE SPIRITUAL HEALER

Puan Lin (or just “Lin” as she is commonly known) is in her 50s. She is originally from Java, Indonesia, and settled in Kota Bharu, Kelantan after marrying a Malaysian.

About two decades ago, she had a dream that she was to start healing people. Her first patient was her own relative, who was bed-ridden. After her “treatment”, he recovered. That gave her confidence to treat others, and the word spread like wildfire. Now her “clinic” is always crowded. She used to treat over 200 people each day. During this COVID pandemic she treats only 10 people a day.

Lin starts diagnosing the cause of the ailment or problem as soon as the “patient” introduces himself to her. Her speciality is in diagnosing and reversing black magic. Every patient is required to bring an egg for the diagnosis, and a bottle of water for her to supplicate upon. She will roll the egg over the patient’s back and then break the egg. Needles, rusty nails, hair, seeds, and countless other items have been found in the eggs which were brought by the patients. This method is quite common among faith healers, but not all are genuine.

I had observed these many times at close range, sitting or standing just beside her while she was treating the patients. Each session lasts only a few minutes, and each patient was asked to telephone her in the evening for further instructions.

Note that the patients brought their own eggs. This is important because healers often have been accused of cheating by putting these items inside the eggs and cleverly concealing the breaks in the eggs. To put in nails and larger objects without breaking the eggs would require extreme ingenuity.

Many people have benefited from Lin’s treatment, ranging from physical ailments to spiritual angst. If you were to study the cases that come to her, you will realise that so many people have physical ailments that actually have spiritual causes behind them, and that many physical ailments are amenable to spiritual healing.

As a doctor and scientist, I am baffled at how the nails and other stuff got into the eggs, but then this is metaphysical stuff, beyond the realms of conventional science. I have also investigated, witnessed and even experienced many incredible phenomena that science cannot (yet) explain. In this case, the important thing is her patients do get well after her intervention, and some of my own family members can vouch for this. But if you have a physical ailment, do see a doctor or health practitioner first. Simple ailments only need simple treatments.

DR MIDNIGHT aka DR SPARE-PART

(This story was told earlier in SUFI STORIES #24 and is retold here for completeness).

“Dr Midnight” was a Haji in his 70s who lived in Taman Dagang, Ampang, not far from where I live. His “clinic” started after the night prayers (after 9pm) and continued way past midnight, and hence the nickname. However, you had to collect your queue number from early morning if you hoped to see him because every night there would be over 100 patients waiting.

He was also called “Dr Spare-part” because his forte was using spirit-surgeons to do organ or body-parts transplants. One such patient was a Chinese towkay (tycoon) who gave him a brand-new Mercedes Benz because he was cured of kidney failure after Dr Spare-part gave him a set of new kidneys.

You will certainly wonder where he got the kidneys, and how was the surgery done? Well, according to him, the organs were procured from suitable candidates who just died, and there are many of these as healthy people die of accidents or other reasons with many vital organs intact. As for the surgery, let me describe my wife’s recollection.

As a teenager, my wife had idiopathic goitre (no known cause, all blood tests were normal). Instead of going for medical or surgical treatment, she opted for Dr Midnight. After consultation, she was instructed to put kemian (incense) on the window sill before she slept that night. It was meant to be the marker for the spirit-surgeons.

Some time during the night, she actually felt several “people” working on her neck. The next morning, her goitre was gone, and there was no scar at all. However when she put the solution which was given to “clean the wound”, she felt pain right across her neck where a surgical scar would have been if physical surgery was done. These “surgeons” were in fact jinns.

Another fascinating case was a young man who lost his ring-finger in a motor accident. He went to Dr Spare-part to have a replacement finger and was given one just in time for his wedding. Unfortunately, it was so obvious that it was a transplanted one as the replacement finger was much darker than the rest. According to Dr Spare-part, he couldn’t procure one of the same colour due to the urgency of the request!

KIAI HJ ASHAARI & HJ DEDEN OF PUNCAK, INDONESIA

Kiai Haji Ashaari lived in the resort town of Puncak, not far from Jakarta, Indonesia. He was a pious healer who had mastered the art of communicating with spirits who were adept at healing humans. His specialty was healing cancers, especially breast cancer.

His method was remarkable, and at the same time gory. The patient would lie down in front of him, and he would perform symbolic spiritual surgery away from the patient. Suddenly the cancerous breast would split open and as he continued with the symbolic surgery, the cancerous tissues would be separated from the diseased breast. The cancerous tissues were then removed. The wound was closed with ordinary “band-aid” plaster, with minimal bleeding. No surgical instruments were used or any aseptic precautions taken. Yet the patients were cured without any ensuing infections.

According to him, the surgeries were done by spirits who operate in their own dimension, and hence were able to achieve things we cannot even understand in our dimension.

It is a pity that Kiai Haji Ashaari died many years ago but his son, Haji Deden, has followed his father’s footsteps and is slowly but surely acquiring the skills and reputation of his father. In 2011, I brought him over to KL to try to heal my late sister who was in the terminal stages of breast cancer. Although he tried his best through prayers and supplications, my sister died a few days later. It was also unrealistic of us to expect anything else at that stage. I believe if we had got his intervention earlier, there was hope of reversal of the disease.

Haji Deden is a very pious, humble and friendly man. I hope that he will one day be able to cure as many people as his famous father did.

FILIPINO PSYCHIC SURGEONS

The Philippines has hundreds of faith healers and psychic surgeons, and they were the talk of the world in the 70’s. I was fortunate to have witnessed, at close hand, several such healers doing psychic surgeries, including the famous Rev. Alex L. Orbito. Unfortunately, I was not impressed with some who invariably brought out “blood-stained” cotton balls from the surgical area. However, there were some who actually operated just as how we doctors do surgeries (as a gynaecological surgeon, I have done many major surgeries and know what to look for when scrutinizing these psychic surgeries). The difference is of course they did not use anaesthesia, there was little or no blood, and they did not have to stitch or cauterize to stop any bleeding or close the wounds. Some used simple knives, or even surgical scalpels. Most of the surgery was done directly by their hands (fingers). Some of the tissues that were taken out had been proven to be actual diseased tissues, but there were also many quacks who used animal tissues as part of their trickery. So we really have to be wary.

Because of the preponderance of quack psychic surgeons, psychic surgery is now termed as a “pseudoscientific medical fraud” and any positive result is attributed to the “placebo effect”.

In 2005, Orbito was arrested by Canadian authorities and indicted for fraud. However, the charges were dropped a year later. Other psychic surgeons were also arrested and charged for fraud when they operated in USA.

Psychic surgery is also popular in Brazil, with the most prominent being the now-infamous Joao de Deus (John of God).

DR MAN, THE LOCAL PSYCHIC SURGEON

There are also spiritual or psychic surgeons locally, but they always get into trouble with the authorities, especially if they use medical/surgical instruments because here only registered medical doctors are allowed to use such instruments on the patients.

I was familiar with one of them who was based in Shah Alam, but had to move elsewhere after being raided many times. His “clinic” was packed every day. His specialty was doing surgeries, including heart surgery, without all the sterile conditions, anaesthesia or OT machines. The patients were awake but didn’t feel any pain. Often there would be a fine scar where the skin incision was done (and closed without the need of any sutures). He even allowed relatives of the patients to witness these surgeries.

I had accompanied several patients who sought his services, and was invited to have discussions with him. Later he referred cases that were “inoperable” to me for medical attention, but these cases were usually so advanced that the only thing I could do was to refer them to the hospital.

When the clinic was raided and closed for the umpteenth time, the wife did approach me for help, but there was nothing I could do as the regulations here are clear and strict – only registered medical doctors are allowed to do surgery using surgical instruments.

The authorities need to look into the possibility of giving leeway to gifted faith healers or psychic surgeons who have to do their work using surgical instruments, provided the healings or cures they claim are verified. If they have a good track record of healing people, they should be given special permission to continue their work.

Otherwise they should be charged for fraud. The local psychic surgeons have helped many people with all sorts of health problems, though it would be ridiculous to claim that they cured everyone who came to them. Some of these pateints were my friends and relatives and I know the healings were genuine, unlike the fraudulent Filipino psychic surgeons. However, continued raids by the authorities have forced them to do their work “underground”.

There are many people with diseases that conventional medical or complementary therapies failed to cure and they need the help of genuine faith healers and psychic surgeons.

HAJI ARSHAD – THE EXTREME SPIRITUAL SURGEON

The investigators who concluded that all psychic surgeons are fakes did not have the opportunity to investigate psychic surgeons like Dr Man or the late Haji Arshad.

Haji Arshad was a Muslim convert who was gifted with the ability to heal and do psychic surgery. What was amazing was that he could do “open-heart” surgery without any anaesthesia or heart-lung machine, or any medical machine whatsoever. But he did use surgical instruments to cut. And some of those present could even see the open chest and the beating heart! Too bad we did not have smartphones then and nobody brought their video camera. However, most of the time the surgery was done while the part was covered with a white cloth as it would be too gory to see.

He was guided by several spirits, the chief of whom was called “Bapa” (Father).

Unfortunately I only knew him for a short while before his demise, and was not able to witness many such incredible surgeries, though I managed to see a brain surgery being done once. My god-brother Firdaus was luckier as he lived nearby to Haji Arshad and so was able to attend more of the sessions.

Haji Arshad’s cousin, CT, served as his assistant during some of these sessions and also got to see things real close. Although a Christian, he had to invite those present to recite the Salawat (salutations to Prophet Muhammad PBUH) at the start of each session.

CT, THE GIFTED HEALER.

CT himself is also a gifted spiritual healer. That he would become a healer was foretold by 8 spiritual gurus, the last being his cousin Haji Arshad. However, he only started proper healing work at the age of 52. He is now 61.

Apart from doing spiritual surgery, he can also see the Unseen and speak to the “other side”. He is sought after to do spiritual cleansing at homes and offices. For spiritual surgery he only uses his right hand and does not use any instruments. However, the “patients” may feel themselves being cut, their bones moving, electric current flowing or other feelings.

I am sure we will be hearing more about him in future.

LOVE & HEALING

All the genuine healers gifted with the power to heal through miracles have one thing in common – they love God, and they love people. They do not discriminate by race or religion, and they try to help everyone that comes to them. They also remind their patients to love God and to love others.

All physical diseases have spiritual connotations to them. Thus there can be spiritual remedies for all physical problems. The work of the miracle healers above illustrate that if God wills, any healing is possible. Since even the dead can be brought to life again, therefore everything else is possible.

God is the real Healer. Doctors and others are mere instruments of His healing. While we should first look for physical remedies to relieve us of our ailments, we should consider faith healing, including spiritual surgery, when all else fails.

Salam/Peace. See you at my next SUFI STORIES post.