Islamic urban legends

1« Previous thread | Next thread »
- Toona
- Ex-Muslim
- offline
Islamic urban legends
OP - April 20, 2013, 08:43 AM

I'm sure we all heard our fair share of these stories that are meant to keep our faith in place. Magical religious dreams that come true, corpses that don't decompose, or creepy stories about corpses of people who don't pray turning black or something when they wash them, a sign from God that they are doomed for neglecting their prayers, or about experiences with the Jinn and such.

These have a very powerful effect on people, and it scares them into submission, and they're very frequent in the Islamic world. I countered its effect by looking up reports of weird things that happen to non-muslims, and there they were. Every religious group seems to have something like this.

Even though I'm pretty sure they're all myths and exaggerations, they still bother me a little. Why do people feel the need to protect their faith with lies if they're so confident in their religion? And what about those who really believe they had supernatural experiences? Can hallucinations be powerful enough to trick a non-schizophrenic mind?
- sturmgewehr
- Illyro-Thracian
- Ex-Muslim
- offline
Islamic urban legends
Reply #1 - April 20, 2013, 11:00 AM

heard many of them, they used to scare the shit out of me when I was a kid lol
- Mrs. Derp
- Ex-Muslim
- offline
Islamic urban legends
Reply #2 - April 20, 2013, 11:38 AM

^
Same, I heard this story once when a woman sat on the toilet and she got possessed by a jin. Which is why I used to look for dark spots before sitting on the toilet.
Ugh, I wish people would just stop telling these stories to children. :/
- Toona
- Ex-Muslim
- offline
Islamic urban legends
Reply #3 - April 20, 2013, 12:21 PM

Wish it were just the children being told. Much of the Islamic community loves sharing this stuff.

Speaking of jinn, I think believing in them inspires paranoia, which can cause mental health deterioration. Imagine living your whole life believing that there are probably invisible people around you 24/7 that may decide one day to interfere with your life.
- moi
- Pub Regular
- offline
Islamic urban legends
Reply #4 - April 20, 2013, 01:09 PM

Maybe they need to be published like Grimm's Fairy Tales?

When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.

A.A. Milne,

"We cannot slaughter each other out of the human impasse"
- Min
- Ex-Muslim
- offline
Islamic urban legends
Reply #5 - April 20, 2013, 08:15 PM

I heard one where this girl died and was buried and about a week later someone dug the grave (WHY??!) and there was fire, snakes and all sorts. It's ridiculous but when you're a little kid you just believe it. I did and I'm pretty sure I got scared by it.

free |frē| - Not under the control or in the power of another; able to act or be done as one wishes.
- kutta
- Pub Regular
- offline
Islamic urban legends
Reply #6 - April 20, 2013, 09:16 PM

Ofcourse hallucinations could be powerful enough. If they weren't powerful enough, there wouldn't be any religions and stories to tell.
- kutta
- Pub Regular
- offline
Islamic urban legends
Reply #7 - April 20, 2013, 09:18 PM

And also, I don't think the stories spread because of the person itself. In all honesty, the hallucinations only occur to a rare bunch of people. It's the people who spread the story that are important. In my opinion, these stories are spread because people want confirmation of their faith. It also happens because people love a good old supernatural tale. It gives them excitement, wonder, and mystery.
- XianAmersu
- Ex-Muslim
- chiken nuggets is like my family
- offline
Islamic urban legends
Reply #8 - April 21, 2013, 04:54 AM

My sweet ol nanny from east java used to tell me one every night, they scared me senseless but some were hilarious...
She told me this story once of a prostitute who began to stink so bad by the days that alienation and the smell killed her... then she exploded into shit at her burial ceremony... Hahahaha.
1« Previous thread | Next thread »