MAKKAH, 13 February 2007 — As the crackdown on charlatans and criminals continued in the holy city of Makkah, police arrested an African who was masquerading as a “miracle man” promising people he could make everything and anything happen.
When police received a tip-off about the illegal activities, Col. Muhammad Al-Minshawi organized a team of plainclothes officers to locate the man and monitor his movements. The suspicions came true when evidence surfaced that the man was indulging in illegal activities.
Police stormed a house where the man had set up shop and arrested him. They also confiscated an array of items allegedly used in performing black magic.
Arab News spoke to the arrested African who said he had arrived in the Kingdom on an Umrah visa and had overstayed to practice black magic. “It is a very profitable trade. I used to trick people and convince them that I could make them rich and cure them if they were ill,” he said.
“Many of my customers were Saudis who wanted promotion at work. I used to earn quite a lot of money from these people,” he added.
The “miracle man” said he would take SR10,000 from an individual wanting a managerial promotion.
“My main customers were women. They paid me a lot of money to do black magic to separate couples and create troubles in family. For such services, I used to charge no less than SR7,000,” he said, adding that the irony was that women would not hesitate to pay because most of them were spurred by jealousy and revenge.
He added that he would receive a lot of customers and that his house was open after Isha prayers till 11 p.m. Sometimes, he would stay up till midnight if he had a lot of customers.
Ahmad Al-Ghamdi, head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice in Makkah, warned people against dealing with such criminals. “These people have no power to do anything. They take advantage of people’s stupidity to make money. Such activities are against Islam and the commission is hunting them down,” he said.
