An extraordinary truth? The Ādam "suicide" notes from Bangladesh

In 2007, nine members of the Ādam family committed suicide in a small town of Bangladesh. They had left suicide notes inside the house. The Ādams believed in an anti-Islamic faith, the Ādam "religion," founded by the father, Abdul Ādam, who had died seven years ago. Only one of the members...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mental health, religion & culture
Main Author: Selim, Nasima (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis 2010
In: Mental health, religion & culture
Further subjects:B Bangladesh
B Islam
B Ādam
B Delusion
B kufri kalam
B Suicide
B new religion
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:In 2007, nine members of the Ādam family committed suicide in a small town of Bangladesh. They had left suicide notes inside the house. The Ādams believed in an anti-Islamic faith, the Ādam "religion," founded by the father, Abdul Ādam, who had died seven years ago. Only one of the members of the Ādam family is still alive, a daughter who was not part of the mass suicide. Most newspapers in the country reported the incident, but few journalists explored the story in depth. Based on a close reading of the suicide notes and a brief analysis of the major newspaper reports, the author argues that while the Ādam "religion" was rooted in the Be-shara (against orthodoxy) tradition within Islam, the Ādams were also suffering from a shared delusion. The Ādams probably practiced kufri kalam (underground satanic practice), and they were part of the sub-culture of protest existing in contemporary Bangladesh.
ISSN:1469-9737
Contains:Enthalten in: Mental health, religion & culture
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/13674670903061230