Stomach-slashing ritual puts Muslim in hospital

By ALAN PERROTT

A man is in Middlemore Hospital after flying from the United States especially to have his stomach slashed during a religious ritual held on Saturday night.

The 40-year-old Sunni Muslim was one of about 200 who gathered in the Otahuhu Seventh-Day Adventist Church when the Rativ ritual was conducted about 11.30 pm.

During the ritual the man was cut deeply with a blade described as a Machete and then prayed over by the group in an attempt to heal him with sacred readings.

The priest who wielded the machete was his brother.

A member of the group called an ambulance after the wounds failed to heal quickly.

Middlemore Hospital last night said the man was in a serious but stable condition.

Counties Manukau police have not decided whether any charges will be laid and said the Indian man, who had flown from the United States especially for the ritual, was a willing participant.

Abdul Hafeez Rasheed, an Islamic scholar and former president of the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand, was angry about the incident and called it a "religious stunt".

He said such rituals had no place in mainstream Islam, and likened the slashing to Christian faith healing.

Mr Rasheed, from Mt Roskill, said it was an attempt to copy miracles attributed to Islamic saints and sufis about 800 years ago.

"These acts were not done as part of the religion, it was part of the power they had as individuals.

"So these people are absolutely wrong if they say it is part of our religion. There is absolutely no mention of such things in Islam."

Mr Rasheed said Islam's prohibition on bodily harm even extended to a ban on tattoos.

But some Muslims who attended the ritual believe the ambulance was not necessary.

One follower, Fraida Sahib, told One News that the group gave up too soon.

"We believe that he wouldn't have ended up in hospital if nobody had called an ambulance. He could have been all right if they had kept praying for two or three more hours."

The Rativ ceremony is usually conducted by Sunnis twice a year, usually in private homes.

The incident comes after a religious ceremony went wrong last December, when a Korean woman died during an exorcism conducted in a home in Mt Roskill.

The 37-year-old died on December 9, but the Lord of All congregation continued to pray over her body for six days in an attempt to resurrect her.

The congregation leader, pastor Luke Lee, is now awaiting trial for manslaughter in the High Court at Auckland.