Muslim exorcist stabbed to death at his black magic healing centre

A 'faith healer' was stabbed to death at a black magic

treatment centre. Father-of-three Zakariyya Islam, 46, who

specialised in expelling demons, was stabbed at the Ruqya

Centre in east London last night. The healer had worked as

a exorcist for around 20 years and co-founded the Islamic

therapy business which offers advice on sorcery, witchcraft

and “evil eye”.

He treated people who believed they were were possessed

by evil spirits, also known as 'jinns.'

Police and paramedics rushed to the centre just after

6.30pm yesterday where he was found with critical injuries

to his torso.

Despite desperate attempts to save his life he was

pronounced dead at the scene.

A 43-year old man known to Mr Islam was arrested on

suspicion of murder and is set to be questioned by police

after being taken to a hospital with hand injuries.

The centre, which is part of an office block on Greatorex

Street, was sealed off by police who were carrying out

forensic searches.

His colleague Tasawer Islam, 51, said: "It was the last thing

I expected to hear.

"I am lost for words that something like this could happen

to him.

Describing their work, Tasawer Islam, who offers similar

treatments over Skype and joined the business five years

ago, said: "It's something similar to what you would call

clairvoyance.

"We recite directly from the Quran and it's the words that

are very soothing.

"Everything that is damaging around you gets destroyed but

lots of people don't believe or they don't understand.

"People with mental health issues - all we have to do is

speak to them - not even physical contact - we just say the

words.

"It's like yoga.

"We do the recitations from the Quran for about 30-40

minutes and people feel better.

"You can be inhabited or possessed by these powers -

everything around you feels bad. You feel miserable and

you want to sleep all the time.

"A doctor will just tell you that you need to sleep it off but

by listening to the Quran you can get rid of it all.

"It is using the Quran to exorcise those spirits."

Zakariyya Islam was born in Bangladesh but grew up in the

UK.

Last year he hosted a conference on "The World of Jinns" at

the East London Mosque which he visited regularly.

The former caretaker at Stepney Green Secondary School

and former cab driver was also a member of Islamic Forum

of Europe.

Paying tribute to his friend, Tasawer Islam said: "He was a

very gentle and charitable person who would help anybody.

"He was in the business of helping people who were a bit

unstable in their lives.

"He was the sort of person who would go around and out of

his way to help people.

"It's a huge shock for me.

"The community will definitely be worse off without him."