Short answer
No. Stage healings and the falls called "slain in the spirit" do not show that God (﷾) is at work. The Bible never shows a preacher knocking believers down as a blessing. At Pentecost, Acts says, the Holy Spirit came as tongues like fire, and nobody fell. Jesus warned that many who do wonders in his name will be turned away. Faith healing is also found in many religions, even in faiths with no belief in the Holy Spirit. In the 1770s Franz Mesmer drew the same falls and trances in Vienna and Paris without using God's (﷾) name. In 1784 a French royal commission that included Benjamin Franklin tested his method. It found that his fluid did not exist and that the convulsions came from the patients' imagination. Islam's answer is that healing belongs to God (﷾) alone, and He needs no showman.
Full explanation
What healing preachers claim
Healing preachers teach that the Holy Spirit heals through them. They say people who fall under their touch are overcome by the Spirit's power. A verse they often quote promises that believers will lay hands on the sick and the sick will recover. It stands in the last twelve verses of Mark. The two oldest surviving Greek Bibles do not contain those verses.
“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
No one in the Bible is slain in the spirit
At Pentecost the Bible says the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples. It describes tongues like fire resting on each of them. Nobody falls down. John the Baptist promised a baptism with the Holy Ghost and with fire, and Acts shows what that looked like. There is no scene anywhere in the Bible where a preacher's hand knocks believers to the floor as a blessing.
“And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.”
“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:”
Jesus warned that wonders alone prove nothing
Jesus said that on the last day many will tell him they cast out devils and did wonderful works in his name. He will send them away. The Book of Revelation describes a deceiver who makes fire come down from heaven and misleads the world by his miracles. So a wonder by itself does not show that the man doing it is from God (﷾).
“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
“And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.”
Healing for a pledge
Many broadcasts tie the blessing to the gift: give now and God (﷾) will heal you. That treats God's (﷾) healing as something money can buy. Simon the sorcerer once offered money to Peter and John for the power to give the Holy Ghost. Peter answered, "Thy money perish with thee." In the Qur'an, prophet after prophet tells his people, "No reward do I ask of you for it: my reward is only from the Lord of the Worlds." A man sent by God (﷾) does not sell God's (﷾) message.
“And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.”
“"No reward do I ask of you for it: my reward is only from the Lord of the Worlds:”
“"Obey those who ask no reward of you (for themselves), and who have themselves received Guidance.”
"Jesus will appear on this platform"
Suppose a preacher announces that Jesus himself will appear at his meeting. Jesus answered that claim in advance: if any man says, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. His coming, he said, will be like lightning from east to west. All will see it. It will not be staged in a hall.
“Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.”
“Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
Healing is claimed in every religion
Faith healers work among Christians, Jews and Hindus. Hindus have no belief in the Holy Spirit, yet their sick also report cures. So a preacher's claim that a cure shows the Holy Spirit working through him proves nothing. The Bible itself tells believers to test every spirit. Jesus said false prophets would show great signs.
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”
“For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”
Mesmer did it without God's (﷾) name
In the 1770s the German physician Franz Anton Mesmer treated patients in Vienna and then Paris. He used music to set the mood. Patients fell into convulsions or trances, and many reported cures. He claimed an invisible fluid was at work, and he never claimed God's (﷾) power. In 1784 a royal commission that included Benjamin Franklin and Antoine Lavoisier tested the method with blindfolded trials. It found that the fluid did not exist. It also found that the convulsions and other effects came from the imagination of the patients. The word "mesmerise" comes from his name. A modern healing crusade uses the same tools: music that rises and falls on cue, people falling, and catchers standing behind them.
The commissioners appointed by King Louis XVI tested the method taught by Franz Anton Mesmer, including trials in which the subjects were blindfolded. They concluded that the magnetic fluid Mesmer claimed to use did not exist, and that the convulsions and other effects came from the imagination of the patients.
What happened when the cures were checked
In 1993 a Christian ministry, the Christian Research Institute, examined the medically documented healings printed in a book by one of the best-known television healers. In one case the tumour had apparently been removed by surgery. Another case was lupus, and the joint damage it had caused was still there. Some healers tell people they can lose their healing if their faith wavers. Those people are left to blame themselves when the illness returns.
A Christian ministry's review of the medically documented healings printed in Benny Hinn's 1993 book Lord, I Need a Miracle. It found that in one case the malignant tumour had apparently been removed by surgery, and that another case was lupus, a disease known to go into remission on its own, where the joint damage the disease had caused was not healed.
| Feature | Mesmer, 1770s, Vienna and Paris | A modern healing crusade |
|---|---|---|
| God's (﷾) name | Never used. He claimed an invisible fluid was at work. | Used: the power is said to be the Holy Spirit's. |
| Music | Music to set the mood. | Music that rises and falls on cue. |
| Touch | He laid hands on patients and passed his hands over them. | A touch or a wave of the hand. |
| What people do | Fall into convulsions or trances. | Fall, with catchers standing behind them. |
| When tested | In 1784 a royal commission that included Benjamin Franklin and Antoine Lavoisier found that the fluid did not exist and the effects came from imagination. | In 1993 a Christian ministry checked a famous healer's documented cases. One tumour had been removed by surgery; a case of lupus still had its damage. |
Results that a man can produce without God's (﷾) name cannot prove that God (﷾) is with the healer who uses them.
Healing belongs to God (﷾) alone
Islam does not deny that God (﷾) heals. The Qur'an gives Abraham's words: when I am ill, it is He who cures me. It says Jesus healed the blind and the lepers "by My leave". That means by God's (﷾) permission, not by any power of his own. When God (﷾) heals, the healing is His. It needs no stage and no showman.
“"And when I am ill, it is He Who cures me;”
“Then will Allah say: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Recount My favour to thee and to thy mother. Behold! I strengthened thee with the holy spirit, so that thou didst speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. Behold! I taught thee the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel and behold! thou makest out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, by My leave, and thou breathest into it and it becometh a bird by My leave, and thou healest those born blind, and the lepers, by My leave. And behold! thou bringest forth the dead by My leave. And behold! I did restrain the Children of Israel from (violence to) thee when thou didst show them the clear Signs, and the unbelievers among them said: 'This is nothing but evident magic.'”
Verse by verse
Mark 16:17-18 — Gospel of Mark, chapter 16, verses 17-18
“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
Cited for
Healing preachers read this as a standing promise. Believers who lay hands on the sick will see them recover, as a sign that the Spirit is with them.
The response
These verses are missing from the two oldest surviving Greek Bibles, Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus. The same passage promises that believers can take up snakes and drink poison unharmed. And Jesus said that doing wonders in his name is no proof that he knows the one who does them.
Where it lands — The verse is doubtful, and even if it were original, Jesus himself denied that signs prove a man is from God (﷾).
John 18:6 — Gospel of John, chapter 18, verse 6
“As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.”
Cited for
Charismatics read this, and John falling at Jesus' feet in Revelation 1:17, as people falling under God's power.
The response
In John 18:6 the ones who fall are the soldiers who came to arrest Jesus, not believers receiving a blessing. In Revelation 1:17 John falls down in awe before a heavenly vision, alone, and no preacher touches him. None of these is a crowd pushed over by a man's hand, with catchers waiting behind.
Where it lands — No verse shows a preacher knocking believers down as a blessing.
Perspectives
Charismatic Christian
Healing preachers hold that the Holy Spirit heals today as in the time of the first disciples. They hold that falling under the Spirit's power is a real blessing.
Mark 16:18 promises that believers will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that God (﷾) heals. But these verses are missing from the two oldest surviving Greek Bibles. Even if they were original, Jesus said that doing wonders in his name is no proof that he knows the one who does them.
Historical and medical evidence
The same falls and trances have been produced without any appeal to God. And a check of one healer's documented cures found problems with them.
A French royal commission in 1784, including Franklin and Lavoisier, found that Mesmer's fluid did not exist. It also found that the convulsions and other effects came from the patients' imagination.
A 1993 review looked at a well-known healer's documented cases. It found one tumour removed by surgery, and one case of lupus with its joint damage unhealed.
The Islamic perspective
God (﷾) alone heals, and He needs no showman. Falls and trances that a man can produce without God's (﷾) name do not show that God (﷾) is with the man who uses them. The Bible's own test, and Jesus' own warning, point the same way.
The Qur'an teaches that healing comes from God (﷾) alone, and that even Jesus healed only by God's (﷾) leave.
Jesus said many who do wonders in his name will be rejected, so wonders alone prove nothing.
The New Testament warns of false prophets who deceive by great signs and miracles.
Peter condemned Simon for offering money for the Spirit's gift. The Qur'an's prophets ask no reward for the message.
Jesus told his followers not to believe anyone who says Christ is here or there.
The Holy Spirit's coming at Pentecost is described as tongues like fire, with no one knocked down.