Abraham Kovoor’s Case Diary: Rifai Ratheeb - Unravelling a Muslim Miracle!

Abraham Kovoor

(Selections from the Writings of 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 ... "

 In September 1964 I had a letter from a Muslim gentleman inviting me to see a Rathib ceremony on the 3rd of October 1964 at "Majumal Kairath" on Nimal Road, Bambalapitiya, by one A. Abdulla and party.

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.

Courtesy:
http://jailani.org/ratheeb-aboosally.htm

The performance was arranged to take place in the open garden. An area of the size of a badminton court was roped in. In this rectangular plot about two dozens of able-bodied men, in two rows facing each other, were seen singing devotional songs with the accompaniment of tambourines. The chief priest with two assistants was at one end of the two rows. The whole place was very well lit with numerous high powered electric lights. The garden surrounding the roped-in area was crowded with a thousand or more spectators.

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.

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.    

1. 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.
2. The thin plank is selected for hammering purposely to produce maximum sound and minimum force.
3. 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.

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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The Levitation "Miracle" at Kamarali Durvesh Dargah

After we uploaded Premanand’s writing on the 'miracle' at Kamarali Durvesh Dargha, Shivapuri, Pune, we came across a very interesting article on the same ‘miracle’. It was published in Skeptical Inquirer in its Spring/Summer 1978 issue (Volume II, No.2). Since this article is not easy to come by, we post it here for the benefit of our readers.

The Leviation "Miracle" At Shivpuri

When Philip Morrison, the book editor of Scientific American magazine, heard about a remarkable demonstration that was said to take place in a temple courtyard near a small town in India, he was curious enough to ask questions of a firm of scientists and engineers located in Bombay. Their director, Mr. R.C.Globe, was familiar with the phenomenon, and replied fully to Morrison's inquiry.

We produce here Mr. Globe's reply to Morrison: 

I thank you for your letter....with reference to the stone lifting at Shivpuri. As requested, herewith details of this supposed and mysterious power which it is said and believed lifts the stone ball.

I give some of the details which you may find interesting.

The mausoleum contains the body of a saint, a Muslim named "Kamarali Darvesh" who died about 700 years ago. There is always a Muslim in attendance to satisfy the curiosity of visitors to witness the "unaccountable and mysterious" lifting of a round stone ball which stands the larger of two on the ground adjacent to the entrance of the "Durgah," the Urdu name for the word "mausoleum."

This ball of basalt (or sand-stone, which is lighter)is about 14 inches in diameter and thus weighs about 140 pounds. Visitors must not attempt to influence the "spirit" which is said to lift it unless there is an odd number of men, i.e., 5, 7, or 11, no women being allowed to join the solemn(?) proceedings. The men gathered round the ball are then instructed by the attendant to touch the ball with one finger and when he gives the signal by voice, the men must shout in a loud voice in unison, the name of the saint, i.e., "KAMARALI DARVESH," but in a drawling tone of voice, when the stone will lift of its own accord; mark you, with the forefinger of each man still touching it.

The mausoleum is outside a small village, Shivpuri, about 16 miles from Poona, in the State of Maharashtra, Western India. I visited the place purposely to see this lifting by a mysterious power which is attributed to a divine entity, but failed to connect it with the "spirit" of the dead saint.

By mathematical calculation the stone weighs about 140 pounds so that 9 men pushing with one finger exert a force of about 15.5 pounds each, sufficient to lift the stone without any exertion or apparent effort. This of course is not believed by any Indian; they insist that it is the Unknown Power which does the lifting. No amount of discussion will move this belief out of their minds.

I don't believe that the joining up of ectoplasm supplied by each member of the group is responsible for lifting up of the stone ball.

To add to Mr.Globe's account may seem superfluous, but some interesting physical facts should be made clear. When the ball is resting on the ground, any force applied as shown (F) will tend to make it roll, unless exactly countered by an opposite and equal force. With a number of persons crowded about the ball, such equal pressure all around seems unlikely. Therefore, the ball will tend to roll in one direction or another.

Now it is not clear from the account given just what instructions are provided by the attendant present to supervise the miracle. If he gives the men reason to believe that their forefingers must maintain firm contact with the ball, conditions for it to begin rolling are optimum. There is no doubt in the minds of the faithful at this manifestation that the ball is now moving by divine force. To keep in touch with the ball is now more difficult, and each pushes harder, so that the small push necessary is delivered readily, and up goes the ball.

As the ball rises, the angle at which each person applies pressure will change, and the ball should accelerate, since the individual pressures are resolved into a much more direct upward push. 

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Miracles in Islam: Kamarali Darvesh Dargah of Shivapuri

B Premanand

Islam is one of the few religions which state that no human being can perform miracles . But for a religion to survive, miracles are a must. If we visit some of the mosques and darghas we will find that many miracles are believed to occur there.

Though the Prophet Muhammad destroyed almost all idols and idol-wor­ship, he failed to completely wipe out idols. There remains one stone in Kaba worshipped by Muslims. This is because gullible people need something to hold on out of fear of the present and the future. Only true education can make people courageous and fearless to face the reality.

Kamarali Darvesh Dargah

Image Courtesy:
http://your-cityguide.blogspot.in

While in Maharashtra I came across a dargah in Shivpuri, where a stone of 70 kg was raised on the finger tips of eleven believers and this was considered a miracle. Kamarali Darvesh, a muslim saint who died 700 years ago is buried there. Eleven believers keep their index finger under the stone and singing in unison the name of Kamarali Darvesh, lift the boulder of sand stone on their fingers. We demonstrated that a similar stone of 70 kg could be lifted by four people on their index fingers.

(For a detailed scientific explanation of this "levitation miracle", see this article appeared in Skeptical Inquirer, Spring/Summer 1978)

Experiment: 39

Effect: Four volunteers lift a 70 kg. boulder on their index fingers without feeling its weight.

Props: A round stone weighing 70 kg.

Method: Stand on four sides of the stone with your index finger under the stone. When "one, two, three" is said, be ready and when "up" is said, raise the stone on the finger tips.

The stone rises up without the volunteers feeling any weight because the weight of 70 kg is distributed on four fingers and so the weight on each finger is only 17 kg. The timing of raising should be when you say "up" so that all the four exert force at the same time. Moreover, the momentum of the first force used to raise the stone reduces its weight on the finger tips.

Experiment: 40

Effect: Four volunteers lift a person weighing more than 70 kg to 150 kg. on their finger tips without feeling any weight. Uri Geller, the self­-professed psychic demonstrated this trick claiming it to be by his psychic power.

Props: A stool, a person weighing more than 70 kg. and four volunteers to lift him.

Method: The volunteer to be raised sits straight on the stool with his hands on his knees and his legs straight. The other four volunteers clasp both their hands, closing all the fingers except the index fingers kept straight touching each other. Two tall volunteers stand at the back with their index fingers under the arm pits of the person to be raised. The other two place their index fingers under the knee joints and prepare to lift. While saying ‘one, two, three’ they get ready and when "up" is said, they raise the person and lower him gently.

Youngsers demonstrating how the miracle works
 (at a Science Workshop held  in Port Blair in May 2013)

The timing of lifting the person at the same time makes the person go up.

Though there are hundreds of such miracles happening at the places of worship and narrated in the scriptures of every religion we shall go into those miracles at a later stage.

For a scientific explanation of the so-called miracle in Kamarali Durvesh Dargah, click here. The article appeared in Skeptical Inquirer in its Spring/Summer 1978 issue (Volume II, No.2)

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