Saudi Expert: Arabs Spend 5 Billion Dollars Annually on Magic and Sorcery
Asharq Al-Awsat 22/04/2010
By Abdullah Al-Sheiban
http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=20679

Najran, Asharq Al-Awsat- Dr. Fahd Bin Abdulaziz al-Sunaidi, a Professor at
the Department of Islamic Studies of the King Saud University has revealed
that Arabs spend a total of 5 billion dollars a year on practices of magic
and sorcery, and that there is one magician for every 1,000 people in the
Arab world.
During a lecture at the Department of Education in Najran entitled "The
Media and Educations; Cooperation or Discord" Dr. Sunaidi said that the
media campaign against magic and sorcery has significantly contributed to
reducing the influence of this phenomenon in the Arab world.
In 2009 a study by the Center for Research and Study, which is affiliated
with Saudi Arabia's Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of
Vice [CPVPV] set procedural guidelines in an effort to combat magic and
those who practice it.
The report in question included scientific definitions of magic, witchcraft,
divination, fortune-telling and other similar practices and a model in order
to help uncover such practices.
The study, also clarified the signs and symbols that can be used in the
practice of magic, as well as the tools used to control magic, while also
advising that a system of cooperation be initiated between the various
authorities involved in this fight against such practices and those who
perform them.
The study also called for regulations to be put in place with regards to the
role of telecommunication and Internet service providers to protect the
public from communication and television channels that promote magic, while
also penalizing those that perpetrate such crimes. It also called for the
results of the study to be incorporated into the provision of Islamic
Shariaa law, basic law, and criminal law.