There is an entire chapter in the Koran on “Jinn” spirits and a Muslim collection of writing called the Hadith indicates that Mohammad was in communication with these spirits. Does this occult aspect answer questions about the mysterious force that seems to surround Muslims and also account for what is often a fierce, violent anger?

There is a book called As Easy as Drinking Water, by Afshin Javid, a devout Muslim from Iran. Javid describes how he used “jinn” (spirits) to attack his enemies, in effect, how his religion of Islam taught him to hurl occult curses on those he hated.

Javid states, “Westerners are at least casually familiar with the notion of contacting the supernatural realm by means of séances, meditative techniques, Ouija boards, and magical spells,” he writes.

“The concept of interaction with the spirit realm is present and, in fact, well-known in Islam. Muslims believe in the existence of a parallel race of spirit beings referred to as the Jinn, from which the English word ‘Genie’ is derived.

The Jinn are not considered equivalent to angels and demons but are lesser spirit beings. The Koran frequently discusses the Jinn, indicating they are made from fire, as opposed to human, who are formed from clay.

The Koran also has many verses in which Mohammad addresses the Jinn directly with exhortations beginning, ‘O you assembly of Jinns and men.’ Muslims believe that the Jinn, like us, have the choice to be religious or not and can decide, therefore, to be Muslim or not.”

Javid states, “My contact with the Jinn occurred as a direct result of meditation in the scriptures of the Koran. To be more specific, in the Koran there are certain Surahs which begin with sets of Arabic letters having no apparent meaning. These are referred to as the ‘Secrets’ or the ‘Mysterious Letters’ of the Koran. I had begun meditative chanting of the Secrets of the Koran some time earlier, and by this means I had developed frequent communication with the Jinn. I had learned the practice of calling on them in order to make things happen either for a favor for me or a friend, or payback to an enemy for wrong done to me.”

Heeding Islamic teachings, Javid called on the Jinn to hurt others. Speaking of a guard he hated, Javid writes, “I prayed a curse on him as I summoned all of my contempt, all of my hatred, all of my violent thoughts, and all of my disgust for this pagan. I gathered all the darkness, all the blackness, and all the poison I could summon into a curse, drew my gaze toward him, fixed my eyes on his, took a deep breath, and blew all that spiritual venom across the room like a spitting cobra.

“Suddenly, a look of terror crossed his face. He grabbed his throat and began gasping for air. I maintained eye contact with him and let him suffer for a while. He looked up and flipped his head back and forth as if he were trying to shake himself free. I finally withdrew the prayer and he was able to breathe again. He knew I had been given powers from another realm, and he ran down the hall and never mocked me again. I am not exaggerating when I say that those whom I cursed would, within days, have an accident or get sick. “These powers were obtained by the chanting, recitation, and meditation on the scripture of the Koran alone and from no other book, teaching, or coaching.”

Javid states he would communicate with the Jinn “conversationally” and heard their audible voices when the spirits entered his room (requesting recitation of the Koran). They rewarded him with psychic powers (the ability to tell what others were doing in other rooms). It is not fair to say that all or even most Muslims go to this extent. And indeed, there are good people in all religions (and we need to focus on that goodness). Javid was such a devout Muslim that he fasted for weeks at a time.

“Robert James Woolsey, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, told a conference in Washington recently that America needs to realize that it’s “at war” with those who would spread Islamic, or Shariah, law, imposing such beliefs on Christians, an especially daunting possibility when one reckons the occultism that might also be imposed (along with persecution, which already is rampant).

We can’t ignore occult aspects from which they need deliverance. The admissions are not insignificant when we consider the rapid growth of Islam and the widespread hatred among many Muslims of the West. Some have even feared that Islam may one day spawn an “anti-christ.”

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May 8, 2011: The deepening religious violence in military-ruled Egypt is exacerbating the lawlessness and disorder of the country’s bumpy transition to democracy after three decades of autocratic rule under former President Hosni Mubarak was brought to an end in February.

During the 18-day uprising that ousted Mubarak, there was a rare spirit of brotherhood between Muslims and Christians. Each group protected the other during prayer sessions in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the revolution. But in the months that followed, there has been a sharp rise in sectarian tensions, fueled in part by a movement of ultraconservative Muslims known as Salafis who have become more active in Egypt.

Hundreds of Christians and Muslims hurled stones at each other in downtown Cairo, hours after Muslim mobs set fire to a church and a Christian-owned apartment building in a frenzy of violence that killed 12 people and injured more than 200. Muslim youths attacked a large crowd of Coptic Christian protesters marching from the headquarters of Egypt’s general prosecutor to the state television building overlooking the Nile, stated Christian activist Bishoy Tamri.

TV images showed both sides furiously throwing stones, including one Christian who held a large wooden cross in one hand while flinging rocks with another. Hours earlier, mobs of ultraconservative Muslims attacked the Virgin Mary Church in the slum of Imbaba on the opposite side of the Nile. They threw their firebombs at the church and set parts of it ablaze. Residents stated a separate mob of youths armed with knives and machetes attacked an apartment building several blocks away with firebombs.
The military deployed armoured vehicles and dozens of troop carriers to cordon off a main street leading to the area. They halted traffic and turned away pedestrians. Men, women and children watching from balconies took photos with mobile phones and cheered the troops. Scores were injured, but an army unit securing the TV building did nothing to stop the violence.

Islamic clerics denounced the violence, sounding alarm bells at the escalating tension during the transitional period following Mubarak’s Feb. 11 ouster by a popular uprising. The attack was fueled by rumours that a Christian woman married to a Muslim man had been abducted by the church. Interfaith relationships are taboo in Egypt, where the Muslim majority and sizable Christian minority are both largely conservative. Such relationships are often the source of deadly clashes between the faiths.

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The argument between Russian orthodox church spokesperson Vsevolod Chaplin (head of the Synodal Department for Church and Society) and Russian feminists has consequences.

Chaplin had claimed that immodest dress by women invited sexual assault. After arousing a torrent of protest, Chaplin refused to back down and added that a woman who wears a skimpy clothes and too much makeup — “like a clown” — can only attract “a drunken idiot”.

Elena Timofeeva, a Russian feminist leader who works with assault victims, replied: “Violence against women comes from the men who attack them,” she told The Moscow News. “If Chaplin was right, there would be no rapes in the winter because nobody is wearing miniskirts when it is so cold”. She also claimed that this was akin to saying that men who dressed in expensive clothing were guilty of inviting muggings. Her views were echoed by other Russian feminists.

The story does not end here. Chaplin’s insistence on a dress code for men and women was endorsed by Muslim prelates and by Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the largely Muslim region of Chechnya. Kadyrov implored the Russians to recall their history and their traditional respect for “female decency and modesty.” Perm’s leading Islamic cleric, Muhammedagli Khuzin, backed Chaplin, calling upon parents to set their children a good example in everything – including dress sense – and asserted that the “common people” support Chaplin’s ideas.

This alliance should come as no surprise, because Chaplin has becoming increasingly influential ever since Vladimir Putin decided that the Russian Orthodox Church was a natural ally in his efforts to reduce Western influence on Russia. While the Russian Premier is not about to abandon his mistress, he has encouraged church building both in Russia and abroad with the latest project a church near the European Parliament in Strasbourg . Chaplin has been active in establishing a common front with Muslims, as Islam is one of the traditional religions respected by the Orthodox Church, as opposed to Protestantism and Catholicism that are seen as interlopers and threats to Russian tradition.

In his October 2008 appearance before the Russia-Islamic World Strategic Vision Group in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Chaplin told his hosts: Russia and the Islamic world have a lot in common. We are intermingled: Russia is inseparable from the Islamic world, as many millions of Moslems live there, and the Islamic world is inseparable from the Russian and Orthodox world which members live in so many Moslem countries…. Recently, both Orthodox and Moslems, are being taught and tutored too often: abandon your “superstitions”, recognize the supremacy of the secular right and secular values, and you will be a promoted student of the Western society…”

Chaplin is an admirer of Putin and salutes him for promoting religiosity. As opposed to the 1990s, when Russian politicians lacked an understanding of religion, under Putin, declares Chaplin, more people read the Gospel, go on pilgrimages and attend church. Democracy was second rate but not ideal because it was rooted in competition rather than the church’s view of society as “a unified body that sees disagreements as unnatural and unhealthy.”

Chaplin was in the news recently on other issues. He has called for shutting down the Lenin mausoleum because having Lenin’s body exposed to the public goes contrary to Russian cultural traditions.

In response to last month’s race riots between Moslems and ethnic Russian soccer fans in Moscow Chaplin was “evenhanded”. He came down on the Moslems due to “the audacious and pushy behavior of some members of ethnic communities and the criminal groups linked with them.” To the Russian hooligans he had this to say: “These people do not truly want anything good for Russia. It is their objective to fan a conflict and with its help gain political capital and maybe even come to power. Russia cannot permit that. The organizers and instigators of the clashes must be found and punished.”

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