Kuthu Ratheeb
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Kuthu Ratheeb is a religious ritual performed by some sections of the Muslim population in Kerala state of South India.
Weapons are used in this ritual. Sometimes it spills over and actual injury is inflicted. Common acts in Kuthu Ratheeb include piercing the tongue, the ear and stomach with iron rods. Byths are hymns that are sung during Kuthu Ratheeb. There are more than twenty Byths and each are different.
Although some Keralites portray Kuthu Ratheeb as a folklore art, many Muslim scholars (see Islahi Movement in Kerala) consider it as a dark innovation (bid'ah) that has crept into the religion of Islam and they strongly oppose such practices.
