In this lecture, Vivienne Stacey discusses how Muslim women deal with the supernatural, the occult, and power encounters in folk Islam. This session addresses the issues of black magic, charms, amulets, the evil eye, illness, healing, dreams, visions, and prayer in Islam. Muslim women often live in fear of curses. Learn how to address issues like the use of charms and amulets for protection from evil in Islam. These lectures were given at Columbia International University in partnership with the Zwemer Center for Muslim Studies. The Zwemer Center was founded in 1979 and exists to offer comprehensive courses on Islam, facilitate research, foster dialogues, offer seminars, conduct training, and provide resources for effective witness and ministry among Muslims. We also have a course study guide for these lectures that you might find helpful.
Here starts the auto-generated transcription of Vivienne Stacey’s Lecture on Muslim women and Folk Islam (black magic and the evil eye) Pt.3:
This is the 3rd session on Muslim Women, the supernatural occult and power encounter, I’d like us to consider, black magic. You probably know the difference between black magic and white magic. White magic has a good objective, and black magic has a destructive purpose. Neither are good, but, one is geared to helping, and the other is geared to destroying. And once I I I was in a village in the Punjab, learning Punjabi, and, I had, we experienced a lot of attacks from practitioners of black magic.
This is what I’ve described in my book, Christ Supreme Over Satan, so I hope you’ll read the book. And, the kind of things that happened, sudden illness, nightmares, shapes in the darkness, the scorpion at the head of the bed. That’s not supernatural, but it seemed to be rather unusual in that sitting sitting, situation. Strange knockings, peculiar bloodstains with unnatural patterns, all this and more. God’s demonstrated his power by instant healing, keeping 1 of us not 2 of us, sorry, as I said, perhaps I mentioned, one of us always awake and watching and praising god.
We were given a spirit of praise, a wall of light marking a compound across the square where devil worship was practiced, and the banishing of fear as we all prayed together. Zechariah chapter 2 verse 5 mentions a wall of fire, God’s protection. The exercise of our Christ giving authority of binding the power of Satan sometimes freed the way for the proclamation of the gospel, and the render, practitioners were rendered ineffective. And we saw a breakthrough spiritually in this area, people coming to Christ. I want to touch on the subject of illness, and healing, and prayer.
Sometimes illness is directly satanic. I used to put this at the bottom of my well, once I never had this as a list of possibilities for an illness, but when I got a bit wiser, I I put it then at the bottom of my list of possibilities, but now I keep it very near to the top of the possibilities. So if I were to have a fever of a 102 or 3 this evening, it would I would treat it first as something from Satan, which can be dealt with in a minute by commanding, by praying, to ask Jesus to deliver me from this and to heal, and that would be that. Then I might try some aspirins if that didn’t happen to me immediately, and after that, I might try and get in touch with the health clinic. But, because of our western background in general, we tend to, look for other sources, perhaps from for illness.
Obviously, some illnesses have other sources, but it’s still a tool of Satan. Luke, if you remember, healed instantly through the power of Christ, the, the mother-in-law of Peter, Luke 4 verses 38 to 39. And he was a doctor, and he was a precise, historian. And, there, he uses the word, he says that Luke didn’t do the healing. Jesus did the healing. Sorry. But he uses the word, Jesus rebuked the fever. He rebuked it. Now rebuking is dealing with a person, is dealing with Satan. And Luke is very exact in his medical terms.
He talks about the healing through Peter and of the man at the gate of the temple, and he talks about ankle bones being strengthened. He uses a medical term, but in this particular case, he understands what happened as being a a spiritual, intervention with nothing to do with medicine. He rebuked the fever. So healings, god still can heal miraculously, as as you probably know, but it’s not to discount medical science and to discount natural means. Jesus sometimes blessed natural means for healing of people.
Then the matter of visions and dreams. Muslims sometimes have evil dreams. Sometimes we have nightmares. But, God can use and does still use visions and dreams, and it seems that he’s using an increase of visions and dreams. One of the three main influences of bringing Muslims to Christ, it seems, in the last few years has been dreams.
Dreams in half the cases of 30 who were studied Muslims who came became Christians in Pakistan. And, the other factors were the love of Christ in a person and study of the scripture in some way or another. A friend of mine who lives in North Carolina, she wrote a letter in March of 1994, and she said, the 27th night of the month of Ramadan or Ramadan is very precious to Muslims. It’s the nearly the end of the month of fasting. They asked God for special revelations that night, and to some, he appears telling them about Jesus, the lamb of God.
So it’s a night to pray for. Pray that Muslims will who are expecting some special revelation from God, pray that God, in his mercy, will reveal and speak to them through dreams about Jesus. Now, I never question a Muslim who tells me, that he’s, she has had a vision of Jesus. I don’t try to find out if it’s from Satan or if it’s from God. I say, if you want to know more about this Jesus, here, in this book, I can read to you, and we can study more about this Jesus because it’s all here.
So don’t worry about it, whether it’s from Satan or from don’t try and probe it on that one. Just take it. And, if it’s of Satan, you’ll you’ll soon find out. But, it might not be necessary, and you may, just be able to do study scripture. 35%, it’s reckoned, of all recent Turkish conversions, were probably in response to dreams and visions as Jesus as the son of god. And I I know some lovely stories of people who’ve had visions and how, and maybe you do, dreams, and how, they have come to Christ eventually because of that. And actually, at my own conversion, I had a vision of Jesus. I didn’t say it very much when anybody asked me to give my testimony because it didn’t seem very culturally relevant. But now, I’ve decided to come up clean, you know? And and it relates well with Muslims, of course, if you share that point.
Charms and amulets. Muslims, I I think I’ve already told you about what I say to women who who’ve got charms around their neck, and, I ask, what’s in that? And they say a word a verse from the Quran, and I say, does God prefer his word around your neck or in your heart? What do you think? They think the heart, and then I try to teach them of word of god if they would like to learn it.
Curses in the evil eye, I’m gonna put a book on the reserve list of, not a book, an article about, the evil eye, and, an article by somebody who worked worked in Pakistan. The question about the evil eye, Muslims are very afraid of the evil eye, and, we can help Muslims in sharing about how we are under God’s eye, and how we are under his protection. He guides us with his arms, says the psalmist in Psalm 32 verse 8. We do not need to be afraid. So my conclusion, really, I’m thinking about all these things, is that after I’ve lived now for 40 more than 40 years and worked in Asia and the Middle East and traveled in all the continents, that folk or Quran folk Islam, popular Islam, and Quran ic Islam are inextricably linked in especially in that the Quran seems to host animism.
There’s unquestionably evidence of satanic activity in folk Islam. There is a need to pray for the breaking of the bonds and the release of the captives among the people of the mosque and the people of the shrine. And in ministering to Muslim women and to Muslims in general, we are involved in areas of spiritual warfare against Satan, who certainly manifests his power in can counterfeit miracles and the supernatural and the occult. But it’s only part of his strategy to use the supernatural, and I’d like to remind you that the New Testament gives more emphasis to Satan’s attack through human frailty than to his use of the supernatural. All Christians are therefore involved in spiritual warfare, as it is not a warfare which focuses only on the supernatural manifestations of evil.
We need to seek God’s protection before becoming involved in power encounters. Renouncing the devil and all his works are often part of the early baptismal formulas of the church. In sometimes, in some places, baptism was for followed by the administration of the oil of exorcism. The lack of a dib liberate renunciation of the devil may account for why some converts revert to Islam. They have never fully been set free.
We need to reflect on the biblical evidence that unbelievers need release from bondage, and why the declaration of Christ as liberator is generally more meaningful to Muslims than the promise of the assurance of the forgiveness of sins. It’s two sides of the same gospel, but where is the emphasis? I think release from bondage. Teaching always, and signs and wonders sometimes should be the general pattern of our ministry as it was for Paul. In Romans 15 verses 18 to 19, we read this.
The guidance, filling, and anointing of the spirit are the requisites for an effective ministry, to Muslims and to all people. We we rely not on our methods and our rituals, but on the power of the living triune god. We focus not on evil spirits, but upon the Holy Spirit. We focus not on the problems and the active we don’t face focus on Satan, but upon Christ. We face focus upon god and, serve him like that.
You will have all, received in your handbook this, you’ve already got this, I think, this diagram, which is a comparison of Koranic Islam and popular Islam. So as a kind of summing up of what we’ve been thinking about in these three last, cassettes and lessons, we find this very useful chart, by made by Bill Musk. And, you see down the middle of it, the six articles of of Muslim faith. It’s easy to remember, Islam has 5 pillars. That’s to do with the practice.
It has 6 articles of basic faith. It has, in early Islamic theology, 7, attributes of God, and then we have 99 names of God. You can remember some of these numbers quite easily. So one God. Okay? But the practitioner of folk Islam believes in one God, as does, the more orthodox Sunni practitioner. All Muslims believe in one god, in his angels, in his books, not just book. There were other books, book given to Abraham, which, cannot be found. The Psalms to David or the law to Moses, the injil to Jesus, and to Muhammad, the seal of the prophets, the Quran. So his his books, his apostles, his judgments, and his decrees.
So when we think of this in terms of Quranic Islam, we’re thinking of the one god, the monotheistic confession of faith. When we’re thinking of it in terms of popular Islam, we’re thinking of the magical uses of the names of god. How to say a god a name of God, which might help you with your memory or in your planting of carrots, if you’re a farmer. And, his angels in Koranic Islam, servants of God to do his will. And for the practitioner of folk Islam, a much greater concern with jinn and, demons, not unaware of angels, but the emphasis on is on the negative.
His books, Koranic Islam, the encoding of God’s several self revelation. God has revealed his will in a book that is, or in books. Bibliomancy, the magical use of the book, and biblioluntary, the worship of the book. Vehicle, his apostles, they are vehicles of God’s self revelation. Muhammad is an apostle of God, a Rasul. A Rasul has a Rasalat, a message, a written message. So the 6 main prophets in Islam are Rasul as well as Nabi. Nabi is the word in Hebrew and, and in Arabic for prophet, but those who have a written message are Rasul with a with a Rasalat, which is the written message. And so, David Moses and David and Jesus and Mohammed are among those who had books. His judgments, the ethical focus of man man’s life, that’s the f emphasis in folk in Koranic Islam.
But in, popular Islam, there’s the emphasis on spirit life after death, and people are very scared of cemeteries, actually. Don’t want to walk past them, at the at an even time when the sun is setting or even later. I mean, 1, I don’t like walking past cemeteries, particularly, if it’s rather lonely and solitary, but I don’t have any particular fear of, the spirits around. I pray for protection, but there’s an emphasis on this in in popular Islam. The omnipotence of God, in Quranic Islam is the way that the concern for his decrees, his, what he will do and does is is expressed.
But in in popular Islam, it’s a kind of sanction used by saints, sorcerers, and other religious practitioners. They are trying to manipulate God rather than to be controlled by God. So that will help us, and then I’d like to ask you a question. I’m gonna put, show you this, other chart. Well, maybe I can’t find it, but, I’ll ask you then. 786, what does 786 mean to you? I’ll tell you how it’s used in Pakistan while you’re thinking about it. If a student’s going to do an exam, for example, write a 5,000 word essay for a professor, the student would write at the head of the essay 786. And, if you were going to invite me to your wedding, Ruth, if you were going to invite me to your wedding, you would write at the head of the invitation, 786 if you were a Muslim in Pakistan, And, if you were getting a hired ride in a taxi, you probably see 786 written up. 786?
Okay. It’s the numerical equivalent of the Arabic letters. There’ll be a handout in your papers. It’s the bismillah 786. Every letter, a alpha is worth 1. And the next letter is bismilla. It’s, well, the first letter is b, bay bismilla. It’s worth 2, and the next one is seen. Sheen is worth 19. So you count up the numerical value of each of these letters, and you get 786. So it’s shorthand to say at the head of your wedding in invitation, in the name of God, the merciful lord of mercy. It’s shorthand to say at the end beginning of your exam paper or your essay, the merciful Lord of mercy, in the name of the merciful Lord of mercy. But it can be used as a kind of protection. So when I, yeah, when I travel by taxi, I often see this in the taxi or in the rickshaw, 786. When you get aware of it in Asia, you’ll see it everywhere, particularly in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
In North Africa and other parts of Africa, you’re much more likely to see the hand of Fatima. The hand of Fatima, and that’s a protection against the evil eye. In fact, often there’s a little eye in the middle of the palm You’ll find in you’ll eventually find in in your collection of papers, this which explains it. Now, to conclude, I could, put this up, but I think we’ve all gone we’ve gone through this, So, what is folk Islam? Folk influences in Islam beside, include underlying animism, particularly in areas where there’s been Buddhism or there is Buddhism and Hinduism.
And was animism prevalent in pre Islamic Saudi Arabia. There’s an emphasis in an evidence of the occult in Muhammad veneration, certainly in saint veneration, where we find that people go to shrines for blessing, healing, meet meditation, request, family, custom. And because they can’t go to Mecca, not all Muslims, if there are a 1,000,000,000 of them can go to Mecca, 2,000,000 a year. So what’s the substitute? Going to shrines.
Sufism, there is some element of the occult underlying some of that. Practices, well, we’ve got the amulets and the uses of the names of god. The zikr, the constant repetition of the names of god almost sends you into a trance eventually. Relations between folk Islam and Quranic Islam, I’ve already gone into those close relations, which I think showed I hope to I have shown, I think, that the Quran hosts some of these animistic ideas and practices. Spiritual warfare, we need protection.
We need to know how to bind Satan, render him ineffective. We need, the press the call upon God and his hosts for his protection. We need to use prayer and scripture. Cleansing of houses, I’ve gone into that because of the ground, the builders, the previous tenants or owners, and the environment. These are reasons for cleansing in the name of Christ somewhere where you’re gonna live.
And methods of I I’ll probably go into this another, in another session, but, I’ll conclude by appearing perhaps to join the Pentecostals, which I don’t actually belong to Pentecostals, but I’m a Christian open to the Holy Spirit. So let me just explain here. The sword of the spirit, is the rhema of God. The sword of the Spirit is the is the word of God, and the word here is not logos, it is rhema. Rhema, as I understand it, is the use of logos in a particular situation.
And I think in our spiritual warfare, we will need, both a defensive and an offensive weapon. The the scripture is a defensive weapon, and it’s an offensive weapon. So in in sickness and, when we’re confronted with sickness and there is a need for healing, we can sometimes quote the scripture. If we’re if we’re afraid, the scripture says so many times, hundreds of times, fear not. We can be strengthened by scripture.
Sometimes someone feels extremely guilty, and, there is some need for almost absolution. I’ll explain that if you want to in detail, because I expect it raises questions, but you sometimes need to pronounce that someone is forgiven. Forgiven, not because you forgive them, but in the name of Christ, you give them assurance that their sins are forgiven. You want to question me on that, I have no doubt, but so I don’t have time at the moment. Rima in spiritual assault.
Jesus, when he was attacked by Satan in the wilderness as his temptation, he uses he uses the scripture. Satan uses as well, but he took it out of context. The use of rhema, the word of God, in intercession and praise. And, so when I think of a cleansing of a building, I would say the name of Christ should will be praised, and there will be the reading of scripture. And then in exorcism of evil spirits, again, one way of even testing that they are present is to quote scripture like a scripture which mentions the blood of Christ.
You’ll get violent reactions from evil spirits if you read 1 John 1 and come to the place where the blood of Jesus goes on cleansing us from all sin. Generally, that’s so. That I mean, it’s so that his blood does, but it sometimes, it has a reaction with an evil spirit. But, in confession of Christ at baptism, whoever believes and confesses with the mouth and believes in the heart, the confession with the mouth may relate to scripture and, in blessing other people. Peace be with you.
I might I sometimes use that. Christ used it. There are other words of assurance that we can give to one another. Let us think about the sword of the spirit, which is the rhema of God. Logos used much more in the scripture than rhema in the New Testament, but rhema, as I look at it, is the particular application of scripture to the particular situation in going on at the time.
So let’s conclude our thoughts about, Focuslam and spiritual warfare and power encounter by reminding ourselves again that our focus is on the triune God, on Jesus and not Satan, and on the Holy Spirit and not evil spirits. Praise be to the name of god. Praise be to god. Let us pray. We thank thee, o god, father, son, and holy spirit. We worship thee. We magnify thee. We exalt thy holy name. We praise thee that thou hast given us victory in Christ, that greater is he that is within us than he that is against us. We thank thee that for every situation in which thou has put us, that has give us all that we will need.
Lord, we humble ourselves before thee now. Cleanse us afresh through the blood of the everlasting covenant. Fill us again with thy holy spirit, and grant that we, in worship and in service, may live and die to thy glory. In the name of Jesus our lord. Amen.