Chapter Five (Spiritual Ailments )

Epilepsy

Before discussing the details of epilepsy, it is important to show the difference between medical and spiritual ailments for this will provide a deeper and thorough understanding of the issue.
The question frequently asked is: How can we differentiate between psychological and spiritual ailments?
Research regarding this issue is extremely important in understanding the psychological and spiritual diseases, which has a profound effect on the pathological case. A correct study and proper understanding of this topic will help identify the proper method of treatment and cure which will save time and effort. It will also give the patient a kind of psychological relief which is an important factor for successful treatment which is for the benefit of all, Allah Willing.
Following are the important differences between psychological ailments and the evil spiritual afflictions:

1- Psychological ailments afflict man as a result of various social conditions and factors, while that of the evil spirits is due to specific causes such as hurt, magic, evil eye, and extreme passion.
2- There is a certain pattern of conduct and behavior to psychological ailments where as the evil spirits’ afflictions have no such pattern.
3- The symptoms of psychological ailments are related and continuous with the type of ailment but those of the evil spirits change and fluctuate every while.
4- Patients with psychological ailments often feel tranquility and calmness during incantation while those with evil afflictions show different symptoms and signs.
5- Specialized psychiatrists diagnose psychological ailments while well-trained and intelligent therapists identify evil afflictions.
6- Psychiatrists treat the psychological ailments while evil spirits’ affliction is treated using the legitimate incantation and other permitted and related cures.
7- Psychological ailment gradually takes place but the attack of the spiritual one is often sudden.
8- The causes of psychological ailments, as previously mentioned, are not quite clear unlike the spiritual ones.
9- The nature of the attacks and fits differs between the psychological and the evil afflictions.

How Can We Differentiate between Physiological and Spiritual Ailments?

Researches on this topic are extremely important for two reasons:
A- The therapist will be able to correctly understand the nature of the ailment of the afflicted case and thus chose the proper treatment for its cure, Allah Willing.
B-Avoiding confused diagnosis that can have a negative effect on the patient’s psyche.

Difference between the Two Types of Ailments:

1- Physiological ailments can be detected through specialists and advanced equipments or by the X-ray and lab analysis. Ailments caused by evil afflictions can not be detected through any of modern inventions or devices.

2- The symptoms of the physiological ailments are fixed and stable depending on the nature of each one which afflicts man. For instance, symptoms of cancer are quite known to specialists and can be clearly indicated through modern means of diagnosis like X- ray, lab analysis, and the different tests taken. However, the symptoms of the ailments caused by evil afflictions are changeable and unstable. The patient may feel headaches at one time and stomachache at the other or he could suffer from idleness without any specific causes for such feeling. Thus, we often find physicians diagnose some ailments as being caused by devil affliction or magic or an evil eye.
3- Afflictions of evil spirits sometimes cause physiological ailments, however they can be distinguished by the fact that these disease are quite temporary, i.e. they come and go without any reason. This condition is quite known to experts; for example, tests of a certain patient may indicate that he suffers from diabetes and hypertension. However, these ailments disappear when he conducts the same tests a few days later, provided that no medical causes lead to their disappearance.

4- The patients who suffer from physiological ailments feel nothing during incantation or treatment; however, those afflicted with evil spirits suffer from headache and often scream during treatment.

5- Physiological ailments are treated by specialized physicians who sometimes advise incantation as an additional treatment. Victims of evil spirits are only treated with incantation and the other related means.

6- Cases with evil afflictions often suffer from certain symptoms during treatment while they are sleeping or awake. Physiological ailments are not accompanied by these symptoms except in certain cases such as nightmares and insomnia with clear causes.

7- Physiological ailments respond to medical treatment unlike those of evil spirits who do not respond at all to sedatives.

8- Victims of evil afflictions suffer from blue and dark green bruises in different parts of their bodies unlike the physiological patients who often have specific medical reasons for that and indicated by specialized physicians. Regarding this point, a lot of questions have been raised; however, as I indicated in this research, there should be authentic scientific sources for explaining this matter as well as others. Bruises caused by evil spirits like magic and devil affliction suddenly appear and disappear in the body. These bruises should be diagnosed by specialists in the field of medicine, or left to the judgment of an experienced therapist to be able to tell after scientific study if these bruises are due to evil afflictions or not. An explanation on the part of ignorant people without careful study and examination is completely unacceptable.