A Syariah High Court judge suggested at a seminar in Kuantan early last month that Malaysia should criminalise black magic and introduce a law to that effect, adding that the practice of black magic was becoming rampant, especially among the Malay community. This was not the first time such a proposal was made as a similar suggestion was advanced by the mufti of Selangor last December.

The practice of recourse to bomohs, faith healers and psychic agents is, of course, widespread in Malaysia as it is indeed in most other countries and communities, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. A former lecturer at the Islamic Studies Academy of Universiti Malaya and a faith healer with 20 years' experience said in his paper at the Kuantan seminar that he daily faced the challenge of helping people who fell victim to black magic, and that the culprits responsible were often family members and people known to their victims.

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