The New Mexico headline story is not about terrorism. It’s a human tragedy caused by fear and superstition left unchecked inside our community. It’s has name: Ruqyah.

Ruqyah Exorcism Claims Child’s Life

Media reports are confirming that the grandson of Siraj Wahhaj was killed in an exorcism ceremony. Our friend Omar helped explain the bizarre thinking behind Ruqyah exorcisms: Salafis believe the devil has literally taken over someone’s body and that he needs to be physically beaten out of the body.

Understanding Ruqyah

It’s hard for outsiders (even most non-Salafi Muslims) to understand this. But as someone who was also exposed to Salafi clerics earlier in my life, I know that Ruqyah exorcisms are very real. They happen in Salafi mosques across Europe and North America.

Curing Ailments Leads To Ruqyah

It starts when Salafis see that someone in the community has a problem. It could be a physical ailment or some illness. It could be an attitude that they think is problematic, like not accepting a religious argument from an clerics who must be followed without question (e.g., Bin Baz).

Salafis believe they have the ultimate truth. So their only explanation for these problems is that the devil has taken over the person’s body and is blocking them from being healthy or accepting the truth. In the salafis’ mind, the possessed person doesn’t feel anything. Just the devil inside the body feels. So they beat the devil, they starve the devil, they attack the devil physically to get it to give up and leave the person.

Torture-Like Experience

If you know anyone who has survived a Ruqyah beating, you would know how scary it is. In fact, it’s a form of torture. one is held down and beaten for an extended time. The “exorcism” is exhausting and very painful. You just want to give in as the whole thing is also humiliating. After such pain and degradation, you are ready to agree to whatever your abusers are demanding.

Children Particularly Vulnerable

But what if you are a kid? Salafis believe that children are particularly vulnerable to devils. That the moment a baby is born it is at risk of being possessed. We can thank the salafis patron saint Ibn Taymiyyah for that superstition.

We know the Wahhaj grandson has physical deformities from birth, something like cerebral palsy. I don’t know, but as a parent myself I can guess that Siraj Ibn Wahhaj was tormented by his son’s condition. He probably couldn’t accept it. So the salafi explanation maybe started to sound appealing to Wahhaj. All he needed to do to save his son was beat or starve the devil out of him.

It is not surprising that the Salafis got to the son of Siraj Wahhaj. This Ruqyah thinking is all around, and Siraj Wahhaj (the grandfather) is tight with Salafis. He has partnered with them for years. His kids were exposed to these ideas many times, no doubt.

Child Abuse

Now imagine you are the Wahhaj grandson, poor boy. You are just three years old. You can’t walk. You are struggling with physical and mental challenged. And then your father kidnaps you, drags you to the New Mexico desert, and starts trying to purge the devil from you.

Adults who have endured Ruqyah give in, sometimes, very quickly. You say whatever your tormentors need to hear, just to make the beating stop. When you are a three year old with cerebral palsy, things are vastly different. you can’t give in because you can’t even understand what’s going on.

Ruqyah And Submission Killed That Boy

This beautiful boy ended up murdered by his father in the middle of the desert not only because of Ruqyah. The boy’s grandfather never stood up to the Salafis poisoning the minds (and beating the bodies!) of our youth. All of this happens because no on is brave enough to stand up to them.