Up and down the country in magazines, newspapers and leaflets the increase in the number of so-called 'Holy men' advertising their services seems to be reaching breaking point.

Posing as a worried wife SARVAT JABEEN KHAN tried to find out how effective their advice actually is.

It was important to tackle this issue with an open mind and to remove any preconceptions I had.

The claims on some literature and adverts tended to read, 'Every wish of yours will be fulfilled within 3 days!!' and so on. The claims though became more startling when I decided to contact a number of so-called 'Holy men'.

I decided to pose as a woman with a problem who 'didn't know whether my husband and I should remain together because we have stopped communicating'.

A simple enough question I thought for someone claiming to know so much.

The first person I contacted wanted to know what number I had called on. On hearing that it was the landline he ordered, "Ring the other number, not this one". It just happened to be a premium rate line.

Within a minute of speaking I was then asked to 'send £50 cash not cheque,' and 'it has to get to me by 12.00 p.m then I will see what I can do". Hmmmm, £50 cash and no clear sign that he can help.

The second person immediately asked where I had heard of him. He then asked for the date of birth of the two individuals concerned. There is a lot of umming and aahing before he retorted, "Send me £50 for the equipment I will need and I will perform the istikhara (a prayer that an individual can perform themselves to gain spiritual guidance when faced by a dilemma).

He continued: "I will sit around in a circle with other people on a special material and perform a prayer". he added.

I wasn't disheartened yet.

The third person I called was quite abrupt, within the first thirty seconds he said, "Just tell me what do you want - to get rid of your husband?"

Such brutality I thought. In none of these phone calls and others I made did any of the individuals mention reconciliation. Their attitude was quite clinical and immoral. There was no concern for the breakdown of a family unit where indeed children may be victims.

If anything I found that they were encouraging to the point of misguiding. After all I was giving one side of the story and they were not interested in getting to the crux of the problem. Their manner was quite cut throat.

Whilst I can understand that within our community there are many good people who can sincerely help those who want guidance there seems to have been an increase in charlatans.

Those who are sincerely trying to help others decide never to ask for any money and leave it up to the individual whether they wish to pay for their time or not.

One such holy man visited a friend of mine and turned out to be quite softly spoken; he seemed sincere and displayed an air of apathy. In the first visit he said, "I get so angry at these individuals who try to make money out of people's problems."

The third visit however seemed to allay all our fears. He said, "If you are to get rid of your problems then you will need to pay £12 an hour and the holy men in India will sit for nine hours praying for you ".

He unlike the others was patient and realised that anyone willing to sit for that number of hours is displaying an air of desperation.

I spoke to one woman who used to contact countless holy men in a bid to rid the 'evil eye' which had supposedly wrecked her family.

She said, "There is so much competition now and some people are preying on the vulnerability and anguish of individuals who in their quest for a solution are willing to pay any amount of money.

"Many people give them the benefit of the doubt that they are blessed with a gift."

"But as I have found to my cost some have turned this into a profit making business and others use religious wording to entice people in."

The sad fact is the socio-economic group and level of education of those individuals seeking out help is at the lower end. Yes, the fact is many religions believe that there are evil spirits and they do exist and maybe this is why you in your desperation are willing to part with money to alleviate all problems.

I was surprised in all the holy men I contacted none asked the fundamental question 'Do you pray?'.

Surely as an individual who is blessed with a gift then is it not your duty to help any brother or sister in need?

It is worrying that these individuals may tar the reputation of all holy men. There are genuine people who want to help and for them money is the furthest thing from their mind. They merely want to help a fellow Muslim.

Where do I find a holy man like this, you ask. Believe me it is not in the classified section of a magazine or newspaper neither is it scrolled on a A4 leaflet that is rammed through your letter box, it is in a religious building where a quiet individual sits alone praying to the almighty.

They do not go under the title of Janab or Sahib they are sincere and humble with knowledge, and the first question asked will be do you pray?.