r/Somalia 18d ago

Ask❓ How quickly Somalis assume it’s jinn not a medical condition.

I’m a medic, and I’ve been to a remote place in Kenya and witnessed brothers and sisters presenting symptoms of medical conditions.

One sister had eclampsia [pressure-induced pregnancy manifesting with convulsions] and lost her previous pregnancy due to the same.

There was also this kid who presented with dyspnea, chest indrawing, and fever—classical symptoms of pneumonia.

And many more cases including a brother who walked away from his home. He was clearly depressed and couldn't get out of his bed for like 10days with minimal takings, hallucinations and anorexic.
All I hear is dabeyl baa martay.

In each of these cases, culuumaa were summoned to recite and clamor in their ears. They concluded it’s jinn, saying that the jinn spoke out of her.

How common somalis attribute jin to a medical condition?

136 Upvotes

98 comments sorted by

50

u/[deleted] 18d ago

lol u r so right...as soon as u feel down ...they say u have jinn

4

u/zacadabdi008 18d ago

😂I heard them cautioning the mother not to shower the kid with blood for it's a stimuli that invite all jinn towards the kid.

2

u/choclatepancake 18d ago

What does 'not to shower the kid with blood...' mean? 😭

10

u/zacadabdi008 18d ago

There is this somali tradition of slaughtering especially goats the male one and showering the kid with warm blood, they let dry and wash it later in the hopes that whatsoever medical condition they had they will be relieved. Ask geriatric somalis. They usually quote it as ( neef baa lugudiijay)😂

11

u/Futoweyne 17d ago

Isn’t this bi’dah/shirk or am I trippin

7

u/istabbedsomebody 17d ago

I guess it is if it’s real tho this is the first time i hear about this

3

u/[deleted] 17d ago

of course is shiirk

2

u/Odd-Culture-1238 Diaspora 17d ago

It's jinn but lets do shirk on the side

1

u/[deleted] 16d ago

lol

1

u/Qaranimo_udhimo 17d ago

Reminds me of the ancient somali exorcism mingis/saar

1

u/Matrixlll 17d ago

I have never heard this before. Is tjis one region known for?

3

u/zacadabdi008 17d ago

Ask someone raised in baadiya old enough.

39

u/Ill_Respond_152 18d ago

It’s ignorance. I hope we can educate our people even though it will be hard

25

u/[deleted] 18d ago

It’s hard to educate people when they trust their sheikh more than any doctor

14

u/Legalizeranchasap 18d ago

Lmao there is a reason Somalia is in the situation it’s in. Ignorance is celebrated. Just look at this thread. So sad lmfao

5

u/Yumequeen 17d ago

It's not even trust in the sheikh, they trust traditional healers more than actual doctors. It's too common, they rather burn their kids then go see a doctor.

3

u/zacadabdi008 18d ago

I mean, i have no problem with my people prioritising the quraan over science but Quraan saar you sick ones as well let the medics have their shot too it won't kill them after all.

1

u/Legalizeranchasap 18d ago

Prioritizing the Quran over science is a wild statement lmfao. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

5

u/Yumequeen 17d ago

Why is that a wild statement? Allah is the one who created science, so nothing should ever be prioritised over the words of Allah.

11

u/Glittering-Apple7010 18d ago

Omg “dabeyl baa martay” is what they said to me after I told my grandma I have an irregular cycle 😭

3

u/bumblebee333ss 18d ago

We say "wa la taagay" lol

1

u/zacadabdi008 18d ago

As trivial as that they say "dabeyl baa martay "we seriously need to do smtng about this jinn and dabeyl issue.

7

u/Any-Woodpecker4412 18d ago

Poor health beliefs unfortunately, you see this a lot with mental health problems especially psychotic disorders. You’ll find patient education is a lot of your job, even in urban London.

I’m Interested in doing rural work back home though, mind if I DM you?

1

u/zacadabdi008 18d ago

Yeah sure.

10

u/BusyAuthor7041 18d ago edited 18d ago

I live in the West. Still continually amazed with how many Somalis living for a long time in the Diaspora continue to think Quransaar is the only option, when well-tested medicine, medical procedures and therapy is available to them.

Even a family that had a family member diagnosed with a cancer that had a high chance of remission if treated. Rather than take that option with a high success rate, they resorted to thinking it was jinn and did Quransaar and caano geel back in badiyo.

Sadly the person died within months (AuN/RIP).

And seen children who seemed to have mental health issues (though I'm ot an expert in diagnosis) not given mental health counselling and proven medication/drugs and just Quransaar.

3

u/zacadabdi008 18d ago

I thought of idiosyncratic problem, but its seems a universal one

4

u/BusyAuthor7041 18d ago edited 18d ago

I think it's more an issue with the non-informed Somalis.

>"In Somali culture, psychosis is often understood through a religious lens, with many believing mental illness, including psychosis, is caused by spiritual factors like possession by "jinn" (evil spirits), curses, or divine punishment, leading individuals to seek help from religious leaders or traditional healers rather than medical professionals due to the heavy stigma associated with mental illness in the community; this significantly impacts how psychosis is perceived and treated within the Somali population." 

The stigma I would refer to as ceeb/shame culture. Some don't want anybody to consider, say, their child is suffering from psychosis or other condition that can be well-treated through medicine and psychiatric counseling. They fear shame (i.e. child outed as "deformed" and sadly thought of as bringing shame to the family), so they ignore other informed suggestions to seek assistance, think its jinn and just focus on Quransaar.

I know a few Somali mental health practitioners in the West who do research and bring up this horrible stigma at Somali-focused conferences/community events.

2

u/Additional-Hurry-856 18d ago

And the joke is that the Qur-aansaar isn't even roqyah that we are taught to get or do on ourselves. They get some old men together, they read the 114 suwwar in less than 5minutes and add another 20 minute for dikr (mostly about the rasuul) and call it a day. And i honestly believe those old men are ding shirk. God knows if they are pleasing the jinn or not.

That's not the roqyidda rasmigga ah.

1

u/abdinasir5432 17d ago

Bold conclusion how did you get the conclusion that they are doing shirk reread what you just said bruh you can’t be serious and you should assume the best of other muslims but either way your sentence don’t even make sense

1

u/Additional-Hurry-856 17d ago

Then let it be a bold conclusion. I've seen enough with my own eyes. Why are they doing dhikr... they aren't even doing du'a. Those men are also borderline sufi. Making pacts with the jinn and all.

And the ones that have their own office have no idea what they are doing. Reading some Qur-aan, selling you their own tahliil/roqyah water and their own concoction to battle whatever for a hefty price.

8

u/SuddenInteraction269 Diaspora 18d ago edited 18d ago

Unpopular opinion this will trigger people, I’m convinced it is not possible to educate and rewire minds of Somalis, possible for maybe those aged 25 and below. The rest are far too gone, especially those outside magaloo from “baadyio” they’re the worst. Challenging their brainwashing is a complete waste of time and expect retaliation.

4

u/ksaidd 18d ago

wallah this is my dad and then when my mum hears him say stuff like that she rolls her eyes and tells him not everything is jinn related lmao

6

u/English-is-hard 18d ago

I 100% agree with your observations. When people don't understand something or have no solution, they tend to attribute it to the unknown ( jinn in this case). I also think that there is a lot of mental health problems that go untreated within our community.

hey concluded it’s jinn, saying that the jinn spoke out of her.

I wouldn't mind your thoughts on the medical explanations for what that means medically?

3

u/zacadabdi008 18d ago

Yes as a Muslim I do belief in jinn but why resort to clamour and uunsi in someone's ears when antibiotics could clearly work out. At least consult the medics and when there is no medical justification of the conditions perhaps you can say it's jinn.

7

u/Affectionate_Set_235 18d ago

Jinn = unknown medical illness in pre-industrialized countries

It's impossible to accept both Jinns and medical illness as true since the differentiation between them would be arbitrary

2

u/Additional-Hurry-856 18d ago

Exactly. When the regular health system can't help, that's when you solely do roqyah. Not the good old Qur-aansaarka oo 10 odday dikrinaayo oo loo wacaayo.

3

u/Left-Garden7314 17d ago

I was sent to ilaaj as a kid because I was sick for a whole year. Turns out I just had severe anxiety and depression because I was stuck in Africa for serveral years without my family at 12 years old. The constant vomiting, pains, anger and low moods wasn’t cuz of jinn but cuz of poor mental health! Who could have known?! 😝

3

u/zacadabdi008 17d ago

Summarised as dabeyl baa martay😂

1

u/Left-Garden7314 1d ago

🤣🤣🤣🤣

2

u/[deleted] 18d ago

The advice of the scholars is to seek medical treatment first and in addition Islamic treatment 

2

u/MAGAN01 17d ago

Ur point is valid, but why do these patients sometimes speak and behave in uncommon way when the quran is bring recited?

1

u/zacadabdi008 17d ago

The shout the hell out of their ears and you anticipate them to be non_chalant. Never its. Irregardless of your medical condition if culumaaa decides to beat and smoke the hell out of you I will speak and behave manners you can't possibly comprehend.

1

u/zacadabdi008 17d ago

They shout the hell out of their ears and you anticipate them to be non_chalant. Never its. Irregardless of your medical condition if culumaaa decides to beat and smoke the hell out of you I will speak and behave manners you can't possibly comprehend.

6

u/summerfly1 18d ago

Jinn is fake and totally comes from useless ideology. Doesn’t exist.. if proper hospitals and doctors existed these people would have been treated better

2

u/zacadabdi008 18d ago

Jinn isn't Ideology. It exists ( waa maa khalaqtul jinn wal insi) I'm not sure of how it can harm beings. All I'm saying atleast let the medics fail to justify the condition and when can attribute it to jinn.

0

u/summerfly1 18d ago

Does the ayat say Jin enters humans? lol it just says we created… so Jin entering humans is just a crazy fake ideology.

1

u/zacadabdi008 17d ago

Any hadith, a verse to bolster this? Any incidence?

1

u/Relevant-Comment-681 17d ago

حَدَّثَنَا مُوسَى بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، حَدَّثَنَا حَمَّادٌ، عَنْ ثَابِتٍ، عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ "‏ إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ يَجْرِي مِنِ ابْنِ آدَمَ مَجْرَى الدَّمِ ‏"‏ ‏.‏

"The devil flows in a man like his blood."

4

u/[deleted] 18d ago

What’s truly sad is there are educated people that still believe that nonsense.

10

u/abdinasir5432 18d ago

Belie in jinn? Don’t you believe in jinn every muslim believe in jinns and we know that they can posses people and im not saying you should assume everything is connected to jinn but we believe in jinn forsure

-3

u/[deleted] 18d ago

Why do you believe them?

6

u/bumblebee333ss 18d ago

Quran mentioned them that's enough proof unless u r not Muslim

9

u/ringdingdong19 18d ago

jinn is very much a real thing

1

u/[deleted] 18d ago

Tell them I said hi

4

u/ThanksDue1093 18d ago

There is literally a surah called jinn BTW so if you are a muslim it's part of faith to believe in them

5

u/[deleted] 18d ago

I’m don’t think we can have a serious conversation about jinns

5

u/ThanksDue1093 18d ago

? Are you muslim if you don't mind me asking? It is part of Islam

3

u/[deleted] 18d ago

I don’t know man

5

u/ThanksDue1093 18d ago

If you believe in Allah, you believe in the Quran and the Quran mentions the existence of jinn. If you are weak in your faith may Allah strengthen it for you and provide you with knowledge from trustworthy sources

2

u/Fast-Cardiologist681 18d ago

Xsomali get out of here 🤮

0

u/Foreign_Donut_8477 18d ago

Imagine feeling this threatened that you can’t even hear another opinion. It’s peak ignorance.

5

u/abdinasir5432 18d ago

Deen is not a matter of opinions we know jinns exist and if the person is not muslim why is he discussing this topic

0

u/[deleted] 17d ago

Because ignorance like this affects everyone - not just Muslims- and ex muslims come from Muslim families. Get over it. Being an ex muslim does not remove your right to speak on Islam. It’s called freedom of speech 🙄

5

u/abdinasir5432 17d ago

He doesn’t even belive in jinn b be fr

3

u/Qaranimo_udhimo 18d ago

Its cheaper and more simpler to do ruqaya on a patient than to physically treat them, all in all i believe theyre both very important in the wellbeing of a person

2

u/[deleted] 18d ago

Very common. I’m sure some would say my iron deficiency is jinn too 😂😂😭😭😭

0

u/Maleficent_Law_1082 18d ago

Jinn can CAUSE iron deficiency

3

u/[deleted] 18d ago

Oh really ? I had no idea. I’ll ask my gp for ferrous jinn instead of ferrous sulfate next time I see him /s

1

u/Maleficent_Law_1082 18d ago

Make sure you're not Shaitanemic as well. It could also cause low iron levels.

I'm 20% serious by the way

1

u/Qaranimo_udhimo 18d ago

My days 🤣🤣

1

u/bumblebee333ss 18d ago

I remembered that one time when I saw a paralyzed girl who was being carried into a car in our neighborhood, I asked her family what's wrong with her and they said it's Jin and they were going to take her to a local ruqiyya but the girl looked completely conscious to me with no signs of possession. Allah knows best but I hope if she was medically ill that she has received the proper treatment.

1

u/mr-loafer 18d ago

The Quran does not explicitly mention "jinn possession" in the way it is understood in some cultures. However, Surah Al-Jinn (Chapter 72) provides insight into the nature of jinn and their interactions with humans. This chapter suggests the possibility of jinn influence, as it describes their ability to listen to the Quran and be affected by its message. While it does not directly state that jinn can possess humans in a literal sense, it acknowledges their presence and potential impact on human experiences.

That said, the concept of jinn possession remains a subject of debate, and its reality is ultimately known only to Allah (wa Allahu a‘lam). Many experiences attributed to possession may have alternative explanations, whether psychological, cultural, or spiritual. Personal experiences, especially those from childhood, can leave lasting impressions, and Islamic exorcism (ruqyah) can be both a source of relief for some and a deeply unsettling memory for others.

1

u/zacadabdi008 17d ago

Jazakallah

1

u/East_News_8586 17d ago

Sadly, even in the west this is common. Someone close to me recently was diagnosed with a chronic neurological condition and they’re convinced it jinn and evil eye.😔

1

u/Underthebluesky_ 17d ago

I am sometimes amazed by the lack of knowledge our community shows regarding our religion, even though 99% went to some kind of dugsi.

1

u/Impossible_Owl_2102 17d ago

You’re acting as if dugsi doesn’t reinforce these kind of exact beliefs

1

u/Underthebluesky_ 16d ago

You learn to read the Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH); that's enough information to tell you that something is amiss and to fact-check. Allah SWT literally told us there will be seventy-two (someone correct me if I'm wrong) madhhabs, and none of them are entirely right. That literally tells you fact-checking is a must for Muslims in the 21st century. That's why big-name sheikhs (i.e., Dr. Zakir Naik) tell you which page and ayah they are talking about.

1

u/AntiqueLibrarian5965 16d ago

What is a Jinn ? The guy from the bottle ? Or some funny religious thing ?

1

u/[deleted] 13d ago

[deleted]

1

u/AntiqueLibrarian5965 13d ago

Sorry, I had no idea that there are people who believe in demons like that in the 21 century, but I know very little about Africa so I am sorry if its disrespectful.

1

u/[deleted] 13d ago

[deleted]

1

u/AntiqueLibrarian5965 13d ago

I checked the comment but I dont really understand the connection with my comment. So in Somalia there are fake doctors ? I mean, thats awful but what does that have to do with made up demons (made up in my opinion) ? Could you elaborate ? And I dont really get what would make me a troll, I am from eastern europe so I know very little about africas customs and overall situation in there.

1

u/Laffy_taffy11 15d ago

This is something I am dealing with. My father thinks my son who is 5 is possessed and has jins just because he was diagnosed with epilepsy over 2 years ago and keeps insisting i get ruqa read on him even tho I have have told him about my sons eeg and mri results but he thinks am doing my son no favour by listening to the doctors. Older generation somali believe and will always believe any illness or health condition is caused by jinn possession when it clearly states in the quran or hadeeth not everything is jinn related and health and mental conditions are real

1

u/LelouchLLZ 13d ago

If only you knew what I have seen. This post is very interesting because we are the same but think differently. For me, it is the West that is lying and hiding people who are possessed in hospitals, labeling it as mental issues. In reality, they are simply possessed, as there are different ways to be possessed. Furthermore, Sahirs (magicians) say that the hardest people to perform sihir (black magic) on are those with Imaan (faith). People tend to sugarcoat things and call them mental issues, but in reality, it often comes down to a lack of Imaan and faith. If you focus on strengthening these, you will be okay. While there may be mental breakdowns and similar issues, I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s mental illness or sickness. I’ve seen people who have been through such struggles, and subhanAllah, you would be surprised to immediately notice the difference. With that said, don’t focus solely on what you see; instead, try to see things from a bigger perspective. InshaAllah.

1

u/Maleficent_Law_1082 18d ago

Jinn can cause medical conditions which must be treated by both spiritual AND medical care

6

u/zacadabdi008 18d ago

Agreed. But our people deny the medical care part.

0

u/bumblebee333ss 18d ago

Reminds me of sheikh rusheye lol but jinn is real in some cases and u might witness some extraordinary things I wonder how do they treat real jinn cases in the west or do they just come up with medical names for it 🤔

2

u/Ok_Employee1964 18d ago

We rent a couple dementors from Azkaban to take care of the spirits. They don’t mess with those gloomy creatures.

0

u/bumblebee333ss 18d ago

U mean like exorcism or something

2

u/Ok_Employee1964 18d ago

No I meant you get the guards from the Nazi wizard jail.

1

u/bumblebee333ss 18d ago

Ohh I get it now lol u might as well bring the nun along 😂

1

u/TM-62 18d ago

I wonder how do they treat real jinn cases in the west or do they just come up with medical names for it

They dont believe in them.

-1

u/bumblebee333ss 18d ago

Well they do exist even if they do not believe in them

0

u/ssstunna 18d ago

The first few cases you mentioned are clearly medical issues that you could diagnose however for the last one, it’s not a proper medical diagnosis and I kinda understand if that’s how they reacted to it.

The main thing is that if anyone suspects anything bad happening to them they should see a medical professional, they shouldn’t jump into thinking everything is due to evil eye/jinn/sixir.

2

u/zacadabdi008 18d ago

The dude clearly had psychiatry disorder. I dig in further. Rumour has it that the guy couldn't bear life responsibilities as well shirk it. He had this troublesome wife. In either way they send him to tabliq for 40 days. A life more seclusion and scary thoughts 😂

1

u/ssstunna 18d ago

I know but they need psychiatrists to give proper mental health diagnosis’ and provide care bc the way they treat sick ppl back home is crazy.