Witch doctors have "soiled the image of Islam" by prescribing harmful treatments in the guise of faith healing, according to Muslim clerics and doctors who gathered in Abu Dhabi to affirm the healing powers of the Koran.
Islam "is not opposed to reason, science and modern technological developments," Ali Salem al-Kaabi, the head of Abu Dhabi's Family Development Foundation said at a conference last week, which drew doctors and religious clerics from across the Muslim world.
The conference followed several reports in the Belgian media about faith healing practices of some European Muslim communities which turned into tragedy, including the story of a Moroccan girl who died after drinking several litres (quarts) of water mixed with black cumin oil, which an exorcist had said would purge evil spirits....