An imam in Sheffield, Yorkshire, has allowed himself to be filmed performing an Islamic ‘ruqyah’ exorcism at his mosque.

The video published by the Metro shows Imam Ayoub Sayed chanting at a Bradford woman, covered from head to toe, through a microphone, as she screams and writhes hysterically.

At one point she lifts a small coffee table above her head, which the imam wrestles from her before appearing to thrust it into her body and spit in her face, causing her to slump to the floor.

An individual claiming to speak for the Masjid Mohammed mosque denies that the woman was struck, however.

The Metro notes that Sayed has performed “thousands” of these rituals in Britain every year, with “patients” coming from Germany, Norway, Sweden, and even countries as far afield as the U.S. and Iraq.

French Islamists are moving to UK cities like Birmingham to have the ‘freedom’ to practice radical Islam. https://t.co/Sw9YQANgys — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 31, 2017

“She has black magic and the jinni that brought the magic is also in love with her,” explains the imam, referring to the Islamic fire spirits which were often called “genies” by Westerners in earlier times.

“But this is not real love as love does not cause pain and this Jinn has caused many ailments.

“The information about the magic was given by the Jinni when I was speaking to it but it did not say who caused the magic,” he added.

“We only operate in the healing and helping to cure them from these evil practices – but magic practising is widespread.

“A simple Google search would reveal how easy it is to buy or find a spell.”

While they may seem bizarre, Sayed’s beliefs are commonplace in the Middle East, where he is originally from.

In countries such as Saudi Arabia, magic is an accepted fact, and people — often women — are regularly executed for “witchcraft and sorcery”, by methods including public beheading, stoning, and crucifixion.

While we search for cancer cures, Saudi religious police undergo anti-witchcraft course. 21st vs 7th century. https://t.co/GasPuEmlps — Julie Lenarz (@MsJulieLenarz) February 23, 2016

Sayed drew similarities between his rituals and modern medicine, saying: “We use a diagnosis in a way similar to what you may find at a doctor’s surgery. We list listing common symptoms in either jinn possession or magic and through those answers we can diagnose the problem by Allah’s will.”

He said his “powers” come from his strong Islamic faith and praying five times a day, noting that “Jinn like to incite fear in humans but they cannot attack me because I am not scared of them and God is on my side”.

The imam charges £60 per exorcism, claiming that the money is used to fund the mosque.

Follow Jack Montgomery on Twitter: @JackBMontgomery