The Saudi Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (the Haia) is to issue "regulations and guidelines" for the practice of ruqya (faith healing) "in an effort to stop the unlawful forms of the treatment often used by sorcerers," Arab News reports:

"Some people earn money by practising unlawful incantations besides resorting to immoral acts such as stripping women patients. Such sorcerers have given the ruqya a bad reputation. Regulations have been put in place to permit only lawful forms of ruqya," said Adil al-Muqbil, supervisor of the Haia’s department that is in charge of tackling sorcery, in a speech on Saturday at a weeklong seminar on the subject in Hail.

Al-Muqbil underscored the Haia’s stance, which distinguishes between charlatans and sorcerers.

"Sorcerers slaughter animals without invoking the name of Allah and utter unintelligible words besides claiming knowledge of the future. They use fingernails, hair and inner clothes for their black arts," he said.

He added that charlatans, on the other hand, do not perform black magic but rather engage in confidence rackets to fool their subjects into thinking they have special powers.

Rip-offs and other forms of abuse by people claiming magical powers are commonplace in the kingdom and sorcery is a crimepunishable by death. Last November, Human Rights Watch 
wrote to King Abdullah complaining about an increase in the number of prosecutions for witchcraft/sorcery.

Distinguishing between "legitimate" and "idolatrous" ruqya at an official level may clarify the legal position a bit, but it's unlikely to discourage the superstitious from resorting to these methods. By recognising some forms of ruqya as legitimate, the authorities, by implication, are also giving them a seal of approval.

What the situation really needs is a campaign of public education to show people that magic is rubbish and a rip-off. But there are theological difficulties with that. In line with religious teaching in the kingdom, the authorities are obliged to 
recognise the existence of magical powers. This also means that anyone deemed to be practising the "black arts" (as opposed to merely pretending) cannot simply be prosecuted as a fraudster.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 9 August 2010