Belief In Paranormal Illness

Ayesha Tahir

Events or abilities outside the range of normal experience that remain unexplained by established science is known as paranormal illness. The belief in paranormal phenomenon is present since the dark ages. All over the world people believe in paranormal entities and the illnesses which arise from this phenomenon. This belief in paranormal entities is also supported and reinforced by the teachings of religions such as Islam and Hinduism etc.   

Even though many religious teachings show the existence of paranormal entities people’s belief in the paranormal illness varies amongst the educated and uneducated class. In Lahore this difference varies significantly. The main reason for choosing paranormal illness as a topic for research is to highlight the reasons for these differences and identify the roles the paranormal specialists play. To give an insight of the topic an introductory passage is given below that defines paranormal illness, its types and symptoms.

Paranormal means something which is beyond the range of normal experience or scientific explanation. There is not a precise definition of paranormal illness but the term is generally explained as an illness caused by possession of supernatural entities in human beings such as black magic , jinn ( demon possession) etc. There are many types of paranormal entities which cause the illness but the main types include demon possession and black magic. The symptoms of paranormal illness normally include psychological problems, extreme anger, damaging the properties, inflicting pain on oneself and others etc.

Treating these symptoms through different methods such as Quranic verses and Muwakkil (A guardian angel who acts on behalf of the possessed patient to chase out the devil) is a paranormal specialist.

The extent to which the educated and uneducated people of Lahore believe in paranormal illness has affected their lives in different ways. Due to this belief they go to experts for help who can either be genuine or fake. The main reason for choosing this topic for research is to find out the incidence and prevalence of the belief in paranormal illness amongst the educated and uneducated class and to find out the proportion of people who visit experts in this field for treatment.