Fraudulent faith healers sexually exploit women

DAMMAM — The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia) has disclosed that there have been increasing cases of con artists disguised as faith healers making a living through financial and sexual exploitation of women in recent years. The problem persists on social media websites causing a dilemma to authorities, especially in the absence of viable solutions. These con artists publicize their phone numbers online to hunt for victims, who wish to cure various diseases through Ruqiya Al-Sharaiyyah, a traditional treatment practice with the recitation of certain Qur'anic verses. The criminals do not stop at deceiving their victims with promises of cure, but they even call women for private consultation. A Haia source said they managed to arrest a number of con artists who pretended to have knowledge of traditional Islamic therapy to sexually exploit women. The criminals had accrued a lot of money through deception, he said. Legitimate faith healer Mohammad Mansour denounced the actions of con artists saying, “There are pros and cons for people who use the Qur'an to heal patients. Some abuse the profession for their twisted desires,” he said. He pointed out that he had already recorded the deaths of two people because of electrical shocks used by someone who did not know the basics of the profession. “These people distort the reputation of genuine faith healers with their darkish motives and harmful practices. These actions pushed people away from the Qur'an therapy.” Social worker Ahmed Al-Saad claimed that Qur'an therapy was and still used to cure people, especially those who have given up on medical treatment or believe to suffer because of black magic. “Unfortunately, some people abuse this noble profession for financial gains and to sexually exploit women who are vulnerable. This is totally unethical and so scary,” said Al-Saad. “We find that a large proportion of people are ignorant and unaware of what is happening. We hear so many stories of exploitation and we hope that people become aware of such con artists and report them to the authorities.”