Friday, June 19, 2009

PISANG-BOMOH


Thursday June 11, 2009

Spirited Pisang bomoh duo aiding folk in England
By CHOI TUCK WO
LONDON: Here, in this financial capital of the world, a little black magic (sihir) is at play within a small community who blame the supernatural for heartbreaks and shaky marriages.
Ask some members – 123 to be exact – of the Malaysian community living here who are said to have been hit by witchcraft.
They have fallen victim to what is believed to be sorcery, resulting in strained relationships which have resulted in near marital break-ups, according to the Professional Islamic Support and Nurture Group or Pisang (http://www.pisang.org.uk/).
Its chairman Hamidi Abdul Rahman claims that a number of sihir spells had been cast by evil bomoh hired by spiteful lovers to wreck marriages and relationships.
“Some of the couples have even gone back to Malaysia for marriage counselling but this can only be effective after the removal of the curse,” he claimed in an interview.
Picture above: Exorcism: Trimizi (standing left), who assists Hamidi (inset) reciting Quranic verses during a jin screening session for a group of Malaysians in Leeds.
He said that of 366 Malaysians “screened” in the past two months, 47 were also believed to be possessed by jin (evil spirits), adding that most of those affected were based in Glasgow, Manchester and Leeds.
“We saw a lot of sihir trying to cause family break-ups, resulting in stress and depression among the children, too,” claimed Hamidi, 23, who is touted as a modern day exorcist here for his specialist ability to “undo” charms and disturbances.
While Hamidi conducts the “screening” sessions, his deputy Trimizi Zainal carries out the treatment, reciting Quranic verses to weaken and drive demons out of the afflicted.
The duo went on the road and conducted 34 mobile clinics in London, Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Burton-on-Trent, Huddersfield, High Wycom-be, Sheffield, Hull and Bicester.
Hamidi described the sessions as very challenging.
“We spent a lot of time travelling to attend to those who needed follow-up treatment,” he said, adding that they visited Manchester five times, London four times, Leeds three times and Glasgow twice.
He said the victims also included students, adding that women formed the bulk of the victims.
He spoke of three cases involving a post-graduate student’s teenaged daughter in Hull and two women in Manchester and Leeds who were possessed by evil spirits.
“We communicated with the spirits before casting them out,” he said.
Remark: teenaged daughter in Hull is my daughter, Zahra Nahdia.

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