JEDDAH: The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) has arrested a number of persons involved in “ruqyah” (spiritual healing) with the intent of exploiting women financially and sexually.

According to Haia officials, the increasing number of such persons, who promote themselves on social media, constitutes a big concern for authorities in view of the lack of solutions to this dilemma.

These charlatans post their phone numbers to lure their victims.

“Among those arrested, some of them have made “ruqyah” their main source of income. They use women to bring to them other women, claiming they are the best at their work,” said a source. Haia recently arrested a person who indulged in tricks and magic and promised women to solve their spinsterhood.

Legal “ruqyah” practitioner Mohammad Mansour said some of those who claim to be “ruqyah” practitioners abuse the profession.

“There are some negatives and some positives involving practitioners of ruqyah. Two persons died after they claimed to be “ruqyah” healers; in reality, they knew nothing about the ethics of the profession,” he said. Social worker Ahmad Al-Saad said “ruqyah” was and still is a treatment and a cure resorted to by many people who are desperate to recover their health after illness.

“This has led to the emergence of a deviant group that exploits the weaknesses of women and tries to extort them financially and sexually,” he said.

He said a large number of people are ignorant about what is happening to them until they find themselves being blackmailed or extorted by those who claim to be “ruqyah” practitioners.