says concerning those who consume ribā (usury): “Those who consume interest will not stand [on the Day of Resurrection] except as one stands whom Satan has confounded with a touch” (al-Baqarah 2:275).

In other words, they will not rise from their graves at the Resurrection except like an epileptic whom the jinn have struck and overpowered. The usurer—may Allah protect us—will have an abnormally swollen belly; whenever he tries to stand, he collapses, and each time he attempts to rise he falls again, a public humiliation before all creation. He therefore resembles the epileptic seized by jinn and devils. This verse proves that jinn do indeed assault human beings. The matter is firmly established and well known through direct experience and observation: jinn mingle with a human being, confound him and harm him—either because the person has wronged them and they seek retaliation, or simply out of sport, or for some other objective they desire.

In summary, the jinn’s seizure of humans is a confirmed reality, attested by the Quran and by empirical experience; only an ignorant person would deny it.

Question: What is the best method of treatment?

Answer: The best treatment is to recite the Noble Quran over the afflicted person and to perform ruqyah (curative supplications) with the invocations transmitted in the sources. By Allah’s permission, what afflicts him will be removed.

Question: What is the ruling on what some sorcerers and charlatans nowadays do—such as prescribing certain supplications or drinks while claiming that this expels the jinn from a person’s body?

Answer: As a rule, such practices are forbidden; it is not permissible to use them as treatment. Therapy must be confined to Quranic recitations, prophetic supplications, and similar legitimate means—nothing else.