Holy men promise to cure all ills and problems within hours.

There is no depth these parasites will sink to, to extort money from desperate people.

You knock on many doors and find no solution to your problem. Along the way you find one who says “You are possessed by demons/witches and it will cost you £150 to exorcise them. You decide. The money is not for me, it will be distributed …” Strangely, in this particular case the exorcism seems to work.

Unfortunately, it only worked for several weeks. Now other members of your family have had some evil eye placed on them. It will cost £150 to exorcise. You decide, again. The exorcism seems to work.

Unfortunately, it only lasts for a another few weeks. So, the vicious cycle keeps repeating.

In this particular case, there does seem to temporary cure but even the desperate person realises that he is being regularly extorted of money.

Maybe these holy men are only part of the Asian community. Let us try another source. One of the local Christians groups in Southall says “Yes, you are possessed” and the cure is free.

But you need to convert before we can exorcise the spirits. Not bloody likely.

Freely available newspapers in Southall are full of adverts from these holy men. The adverts are costly yet most of these individual offer free solutions to every problem. Where is the catch? If it seems too good to be true, then it is not true.

No man of God would advertise his services or boast about his powers. Neither would he ask you to part with money or ask you to convert. Neither would he guarantee you a cure, especially within hours or for any problem.

A fool is easily parted with his money but in these cases, we are dealing with desperate people looking for a solution.

Only recently an eminent Muslim scholar, Hazrat Allama Molana Mohammed Tayyub Hizarvi, said in the Jamia mosque in Townsend Road, Southall, that all the holy men seems to have descended upon the UK. His advice was not to part with your £500. These con artists will one day pay for their crimes.

If you believe, be patient, be good, and pray, do good deeds and maybe God will answer your prayers.