Abraham Kovoor
My interest in Rathib ceremony was first aroused when I
read a reference to it in the book "Far
Off Things" by Dr. R.L. Spittel. In that book he mentions how he, in
the company of Messrs. R.H. Basset and J.R. G. Bantock, witnessed a Rathib ceremony some years ago. After
giving a vivid description of the various acrobatic performances by about a
dozen persons, Dr. Spittel concludes:-
"All these act here described I actually witnessed. There was no fake about it. I closely examined the injuries afterwards. I must confess I would never have believed some of these feats were possible had I not seen them myself. .. I was astounded. How they escape hemorrhage, at least in the form of extensive extravagation is more than J can tell ... "
After an early dinner that day I
went to that place with a member of the Ceylon Rationalist Association. We were
received by the official in charge of the ceremony, and were given 'ring-side'
seats.
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| Courtesy: http://jailani.org/ratheeb-aboosally.htm |
At about midnight, one of the
assistants of the priest opened a box and brought out numerous shining weapons
of various types. There were two swords, six knives with sinuous blades, twelve
daggers with ordinary handles, six daggers with abnormally big wooden handles
which were spherical and of the size of large husked coconuts, and a large
number of thin long needles. Apart from these weapons, he also brought out a
light plank of about two feet long, one foot wide and half an inch thick.
Though there was no chance of our
examining these weapons at close quarters, from the glittering shine on the
blades, it looked that they were made of either silver or electro-plated iron.
The priest handed over these
weapons one by one, after a sham enchanting, to selected persons from the 24
acrobats. From their performance one could come to the conclusion that there
were in the troupe persons specially trained for specialized feats. Each
acrobat received his weapon with devotion after worshipping the priest.
Acrobatic Feats
While the unarmed men in the
troupe continued the chant at a louder and quicker tempo, the performers
started jumping about in the arena with the agility of panthers mimicking the
acts of cutting and stabbing themselves. They wore no shirts on their bodies.
Some four persons who had the
knives with the sinuous blades finished their hopping about with a high jump
into the air. They landed on the ground after the high jump with their bodies
bent forward enabling their abdomen to recede far back. Just at the moment of
landing on the ground the performer finishes a slashing movement of the knife
against his encaved abdomen with lightning speed. After the slashing act he
stands in the bent position holding the abdominal wall with his left hand under
the pretext of preventing his intestines coming out of the non-existing wound.
The priest now comes forward, pretends to make a magical movement with his hand
under the pretext of curing the wound.
The slashing act in this
acrobatic performance is so cleverly and quickly done that the spectators would
think that the performer had actually cut his abdomen. In reality the knife
passes without touching his abdomen. In one case I saw a person with two bleeding
slits across his abdomen. Probably he might have been one who had not reached
the high degree of required dexterity; hence the tip of the blade must have cut
the skin of the abdomen. When such superficial cuts were made accidentally the
prayer by the priest did not stop the bleeding.
The fraud in this act can easily
be exposed if one among the spectators could get into the arena before the
priest comes to affect the magical cure, and examine the abdomen of the
performer while he is pretending to hold the slit-opened stomach. To his
astonishment he will be able to see that there is not even a scratch on the
abdomen.
I would advise the educated
Muslims of this country to conduct such a test at the next Rathib ceremony. It will be helpful to prevent a few cunning
persons from cheating the gullible public. A world religion like Islam does
not need the support of such frauds. It is possible that the priest might
object to such a scrutiny on the pretext of desecration. It must always be
taken for granted that if objections are raised against scrutiny on the ground
of desecration, there is sure to be hidden fraud.
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| The staid start of the Rifai Ratheeb - with devotional prayers. Tambourines are lined up on the mat |
Another similar act is the sham
stabbing on the abdomen with a dagger. Here too, the performer leaps high up in
the air and mimics the act of stabbing just at the moment of landing on the
ground in a bent position. He remains in this bent position with about three to
four inches of the dagger buried in the fold of the abdomen till the priest
comes to his sham rescue. He even pretends that it is difficult for him to
pullout the 'stuck' dagger from the abdominal wall. To make it realistic he
pinches the abdominal skin round the tip of the dagger on to it till the
priest comes to affect the fraudulent cure. Finally the priest comes, pretends
to say some manthrams and pulls out
the dagger which has not even made a skin-deep wound.
The performer proudly shows to
the spectators his abdomen so that they may admire the miraculous powers of the
priest to cure stab wounds. Like the cutting act in the former case, this
stabbing act too is so quickly done that the spectators would be easily duped
into the belief that he has actually pierced the abdomen. The disappearance of
a few inches of the dagger from view into the fold of the abdomen will give the
onlooker the necessary illusion.
Here too the fraud can be exposed
if one of the spectators goes forward and examines the abdomen before the
priest attempts the mumbo-jumbo cure.
A third act is the sham driving
of a dagger into the abdomen by hammering. The dagger with the large wooden
handle weighing about three pounds is hammered into the abdomen. The hammering
is done with the light plank. Only fools and small children can be duped by
this simple trick. The secret in this fraud lies in the following three facts.
- The part of the body selected for driving the dagger in is the boneless abdomen which can yield to pressure like a sponge. The blunt tip of the dagger could be pushed into the relaxed abdomen to a depth of one or two inches without causing any wound.
- The thin plank is selected for hammering purposely to produce maximum sound and minimum force.
- The heavy handle for this dagger is purposely made. If a force X can drive an object weighing 1 ounce to a distance of 10 inches, the same force will drive an object weighing 3 pounds only to a distance of 1/5 of an inch. If a person lying on the ground can support a grinding stone on his abdomen, he can allow another person to hammer on it even with a sledgehammer without any feeling of discomfort. Almost all the force of the hammering will be absorbed by the heavy grinding stone. Similarly when the heavy handle of the dagger is hit with the light plank, it imparts no effect on the abdomen. If the dagger is without the heavy handle, the force of hammering even with the light plank will have some effect on the abdomen.
How thrilling it would be if one
rational minded Muslim among the spectators walk into the arena while this
performance is going on, and show that he too can do the same act without
wounding his abdomen? Such person will be doing a great service to his
community by exposing this mass fraud.
A fourth act I saw was the
piercing of the boneless parts of the body like the cheek and folds of skins
and flesh with sharp long needles. One elderly person was seen to perform the
only difficult· act which deserved admiration. He passed a long needle through
his neck avoiding the pharynx and the larynx. In dexterity this act compared favorably
with the one I saw many years ago when a performer in a circus troupe sent a sword
through his upturned mouth into the gullet to a length of about one foot or
more. The skill in this performance was his ability to keep his upturned mouth
in a straight line with the gullet, and his capacity to relax the muscles of
the throat. His performance, like that of the person who sent the long needle
through the flesh of the neck, depended on the skill developed through
prolonged practice, and not on any divine power.
Since the performer in the
present case was in a semi or totally self-hypnotized state he would not have
experienced pain. There is no mystery in a needle wound not bleeding. Similar
piercing of flesh under hypnotic trance can be seen at temples and devales. Unlike incised wounds which cut
across blood capillaries and arteries, needle wounds do not bleed. Doctors'
hypodermic syringes, even if they are sent into the veins for intra-venous
injections do not cause bleeding like incised wounds.
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| The weapons used at the Ratheeb |
The final act was a sham cutting
of a man into two by a sword. Like the third act in which a man was hammering a
dagger into the stomach, this too could dupe only fools and small children. A
man lay on the ground with face upward. Another performer brought down a long
sword on the bare abdomen of the prostrate person with pretended great force from
a height of about 8 feet. Though the sword is brought down with considerable
force, that force is broken just when it is about to touch the abdomen. The
blunt blade is then pressed to sink two or three inches into the relaxed
muscles of the stomach. At this moment another person covers the body and the
sword with a bed sheet. While in that covered state the performer moves the
sword forward and backward pretending to cut the person into two. The loose
skin and the relaxed muscles of the stomach allow the blade to move forward and
backward without inflicting any wound. At this stage the priest waves his hand
over the body with a mumbo jumbo prayer. The cloth and the sword are then
removed. The so-called cured man gets up and shows his 'cured' abdomen to the
spectators.
Apart from acrobatic feats and
tricks there is absolutely nothing mysterious in Rathib ceremony. They are definitely interesting performances
suitable for entertainment at gatherings. But to claim that they are done with
divine powers is pure fraud and absurdity. Such ceremonies, in the name of
religion will make gullible persons more gullible. Like all other acts, the
fraud in the final act also could be exposed if one among the spectators goes
forward, removes the cloth and examines the abdomen of the prostrate person
before the so-called 'cure' by the priest.
Credit will have to be given to
these performers for the skill they exhibit. Such skills are only like the
skills shown by the circus acrobats.
I had an interview with the priest
Mr. A. Abdullah at his residence at Prince Gate. The talk I had with him
confirmed my own analysis after seeing the performance at Nimal Road , Bambalapitiya.
If scientifically-minded persons
like Dr. Spittel, Messrs. Basset and Bantock could be deceived by the so-called
'miracles', is it surprising that thousands of spectators who watch Refai Rathib are hoodwinked?
"First doubt, then enquire, then discover. This has been the process with all great thinkers": H.T.Beckle
Courtesy:
Abraham Kovoor: Exposing Paranormal Claims; Published by B Premanand, Indian CSICOP,
Podannur-641023; Date of Publication: 15-3-2000
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