Okaz

 

 

The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) recently caught an Arab expatriate who was pretending to be a Saudi professor and a spiritual healer with special powers. He blackmailed several women and made them believe he had powers to hold séances and communicate with spirits. He told them he was able to treat their psychological problems and they believed him. He even exploited these women sexually.

 

Men who exploit women pretend that they love them. They play with these women’s emotions and take advantage of their feminine nature. In most cases, they give these women false promises of marriage.

 

In the case of this particular Arab expatriate, he used his supposed psychic powers to entice and extort women. This story underscores the fragile nature of women who can easily be manipulated, especially if they are already suffering from mental problems. Weak women can become easy prey to men who make them believe that they have the power to heal.

 

Many studies have shown that women are more likely than men to fall victim to charlatan sorcerers and conmen. I do not know why women are more likely to fall prey to impostors. Is it because they are more emotional and tend not to think clearly when they feel desperate, meek, stressed or psychologically tired? 

 

Most problems faced by women involve men. Therefore, men—and I mean husbands, fathers and brothers—should not absolve themselves of their responsibilities and their involvement with the women they are related to. Women may suffer from psychological problems that lead to depression and they may end up clutching at straws, even if those straws are being dangled at them by an impostor.

 

I would like to remind all men that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) told men in his Farewell Speech to be kind to women.