Faith gives hope or kills?
The authorities in the Indian state of Rajasthan are investigating the deaths of three Muslims suspected of starving themselves to death by fasting.
The trio - all from the same family - had been observing their fast at the shrine of a mystic saint in the city of Ajmer for the past month.
The three dead people were a woman aged 22, a youth aged 17 and a boy aged 12.
Ten others taking part in the fast are in hospital but say treatment would contravene their religious beliefs.
"The police have taken them to a local hospital in a critical condition," Ajmer superintendent of police Haiprasad Sharma said.
"But they are opposed to any treatment, saying it will defeat the purpose of their prayers."
Police say that doctors have carried out a post mortem on the three bodies and found the cause of death to be starvation.
They say that the family had been camping in Ajmer for 30 months and had been staying in a guest house from where they made regular visits to the shrine.
Officials at the shrine say that more than 5,000 devotees visit the shrine every day and it is difficult for everyone to be constantly monitored.
The head of the family whose members died told police that he undertook the fast because he was ordered to do so in a dream.
''While the [surviving] family members are not prepared to co-operate with the doctors, we have insisted they receive treatment and for now they are out of danger," a senior police officer said.
The shrine is second in importance only to Mecca or Medina for Muslims in South Asia.
Maybe they saw the movie Guide and followed in Dev Anand's footsteps :(
O.. worst!! lackin common sense
This is not faith, it madness.
The authorities says, they were on hunger strike
i feel sorry for them. :(
They all are brain-washed....are they nuts?
I mean a marine engineer doing all this.?????????
Foolish extremists...they not only ruined their lives but may very well have ruined their hereafter by commiting an act that led to death aka suicide(though that is only for Allah to judge) Wonder what texts they were reading for its certainly not from the Quran or sunnah! Pathetic =(
Absolutely stupid act..
It's so unbelievable that the educated middle class family could do such crazy stuff...
so they were fasting without saher and iftar?
Height of stupidity in the name of religion/God!!
it is their own FAITH and Belief let us respect then--may peace be upon them.
Plain stupidity!
Blind faith combined with ignorance......
The surviving members claimed that they were observing a 40-day fast to overcome the influence of black magic' and remained unrepentent even after the incident.
The well-educated middle class family was following the superstitious practice of keeping fast for 40 days, claiming that "it was as per the orders of the Khwaja," said an official.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Fasting-for-38-days-claims-3-at-Ajmer-dargah/articleshow/6732638.cms
someone has taken them for a ride. This is not something that is condoned in Islam anyway.