Ta’wiz: an age-old delusion or science?
One man stood before 50 people on Thursday, in an attempt to prove to them that ta’wiz is a science. It is not an offshoot of Sufism, insisted Asim Maharvi Chishti of the Chishtiya Ribbat Sufi Studies Centre, at the first of the four lectures organised by Kuch Khaas and Hast-o-Neest (Centre for Tradition Art and Culture in Lahore). The lecture was titled “Talismanic Science of Ta’wiz”.
Talismanic science (vajdani ilm) he explained, works at different levels of human existence or the five shells: there’s the outermost or the physical shell (treated with herbs or medicines), the electromagnetic, the psychic that invokes feelings such as fear and love, psycho astral and the innermost astral shell (Roh-e-Nisama).
The human body is surrounded by a certain “aura” that prevents negative energy from penetrating your body, although its intensity varies from person to person just like intelligence, Chishti said.
Modern science, he continued, is mostly concerned with the physical as it does not accept the concept of the intangible.
However, he continued, we often forget that the commonality that brings all humans together is the spirit – the essence of life which is not limited by time and space and still eludes the logic of modern day science.
(Read: The negativity that surrounds superstitions)
Talismanic science is practiced through written numbers and alphabets. It’s foundations lay on Abjad numerals, a decimal numeral system in which the 28 letters of Arabic are assigned numerical values(Ibn-e-haroof) and numbers (1-9) that combine to form Ilm-e-Jaffar, explained the lecturer.
They are assigned values by spiritual leaders, and correspond to different elements; these cosmic and heavenly bodies have certain affects on the human existence.
Also universal shapes such as triangle, circle which have to be written down at prescribed time of the day, as for each shape only when the moon is the highest level will the ta’wiz have any affect.
He talked of the power embodied in Arabic alphabets such as ‘Alif’ which, he claimed, if repeatedly written can be destructive. This science, Chisti claimed, can reveal and treat illnesses at all levels of shells.
Ruqa, as referred to before the advent of Islam, existed since the time of Adam and was then taken up during Hazrat’s Idrees’s time, he said. Resolute on his claim of ta’wiz being a science, he said it is being misused in our society and people have fallen prey to the pseudo professors of this science. The problem, he claimed, does not lie with ta’wiz but with its diagnosis.
The hows and whys
The lecture was followed by a question and answer session. Some of the questions:
Is ta’wiz a branch of magic?
No but it can be used to cure or remove destructive effects of the notorious black magic.
How do you receive this knowledge?
It is transferred in the four spiritual orders, Chishtia, Qadiriyya, Suhrawardiyya and Naqshbandi.
So are you saying this is a sectarian divide?
Not at all. It is a tailored solution which adopts different methods and has the same aims.
How much do you charge for one ta’wiz?
The question that was perhaps on most people’s mind was finally voiced amidst subtle laughter. That is a very important question. We are not allowed to charge anything, but we also cannot refuse whatever is being offered to us.
After the discussion
Chishti told The Express Tribune that the aim behind the talk was to educate the people and pave way for what he believed was an eventually imperative collaboration between modern and talismanic science.
Do alphabets and numbers contain the power to heal? How much truth lies in these cosmic and heavenly bodies affecting us? Will talismanic science ever be accepted by the modern scientist? For some the answer will be a simple Google search; for others it will be a lifelong journey of exploration; some will not give it a second thought; others will swear by it; for those in between these two extremes, a proverbial question mark will hang over talismanic sciences, unwilling to submit to it, but vary of denying it outright.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 24th, 2011.
COMMENTS (8)
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I think we have fallen prey to this Modern World and its pseudo-realities. The Modern Science gives a sectional view of Reality not Whole. And Secondly i thin " Absence of Evidence is not evidence of Absence. I also attended Asim's Talk and i found it very Interesting and i think it is really interesting for those who are not Cognitive Misers. It has opened more realms of knowledge for me. Thanks Sahibzada Asim Jee!
I have a nail-clipper that releases four kinds of radiation: akar, bakar, bambay and bo (in decreasing order of their wavelenghts). Out of these, the "bo" radiation has the capability to permeate through the human body to reach the rooh within, where it blasts the dengue-causing jinnat and makes a person well again.
Can I prove this scientifically? Not really, but who cares! I used a whole bunch of fancy words, so I guess it's "science" now.
I was present at this very informative lecture of Sahibzada Asim Maharvi at Kuch Khaas. He very well explained the Human Cosmology. His focus in the lecture was that Taweez is the very old human tradition of healing, explaining the theory on which this knowledge operates. In this tradition Human is considered in its essence a " time-less and space-less being" and that essence is encircled by five different shells, namely Physical Shell ( the gross and the outer most shell we call the human body), the electromagnetic shell, the psychic shell, the astro psychic shell and the Astral Shell. He out loudly said that the reality that governs the ailment of the physical shell ( body) is Herbs and Medicine. The modern Medicine address the ailments of this particular shell, the gross one, and not the rest of subtler shells, the acupuncture, massage, the Japanese Shinto and other techniques govern the electromagnetic shell, and we feel relief if there is any ailment in this shell. For the treatment of disorder in psychic shell, fear or love is inspired into the patient or he is given tranquilizers. And for the rest of two shells Astro Psychic and Astral Shell the reality that governs is numbers and alphabets. The focus point of the talk was to educate the modern mind to take it out of the rational approach where human is only considered as mere flesh and bones. Brilliant Speaker, and a man of knowledge.
Actually, Sahibzada Asim Maharvi has a paper published in the Moscow State University on alternative medicine. I wonder how many of you got some published in a university of that repute? Before putting down someone like that, you should delve into some details. I was present at this talk and there was a question that do these guys discourage people from going to hospitals etc, and he responded in the negative. They do not. They do not ask you to come to them, they do not ask you to stop going to hospitals, heck, they don't even pretend to be Sufis or anything, if I read it wrong, didn't he say its not a branch of Sufism and is beyond religion?
Now how far is it true or not, I do not know. Personally, I never believed in this, but rejecting just because you don't know about it sounds quite immature, euphemistically speaking.
R.A. homeopathic medicines are alcohol based and sugar is only a medium of delivery, as is water. If you did a bit more research you will find that while Jadoo Tona only makes the peer/faqir rich and client poorer, homeopathy actually cures.
If we put Taaviz,Jadoo ,Toona and Homeopathy together we find no medication in them It can easily be proved that Homeopathic products are only sugar nothing else But many people are made to believe they work. It is all in peoples mind just like Hypnotism.Ridiculous. In five years of my training as a medical student, and numerable seminars that I've attended, I've never come across the subject of Roh-tology.
Such pseudoscientific nonsense belittles medical science, and all that it accomplishes. What Chisti is doing is downright dangerous. We've lost far too many precious lives because of people rushing severely ill patients to mazars instead of hospitals, and this guy is more than content with letting this horrific trend continue.
Medical science, by the way, deals not only in the physical, but also the biochemical and the psychological. For the love of God, at least make the effort of understanding the science that you're trying to shoot down!