Qur'anic healing for spiritual ailments: between tradition, religious law and contemporary law.

Qur'anic healing [al'ilaj bi-lqur'an] is a traditional spiritual healing method based on the Qur'an. It is practiced in various Muslim communities for the treatment of mental afflictions and other ailments. Through Qur'anic healing, the wider issue of religious and cultural related healing is presented, and the question of possible cooperation between physicians and healers is raised. Using a criminal court case brought before the Israeli Supreme Court in the mid 1950s, the legal and ethical aspects of practicing Qur'anic healing are discussed, including: healers' liability, right to practice healing and legal "risks" involved in various methods of treatment. The legal analysis is based both on Israeli and Muslim law, demonstrating how similar legal results may be achieved through different legal systems and practices.