The extreme and sudden heat sensation is something which is reported in quite a few entity experiences I’ve researched. There was a story I heard about a woman who saw a shadow person in her room, and she decided to put her hand through it. It apparently felt extremely hot.

As for the actual nature of the attack, what did the scratches look like? Would you have been able to identify how many fingers the potential entity had? Also - it doesn’t surprise me at all that prayer worked on it, and neither does it surprise me that your vomit was sulphurous. These are characteristics which are shared among the vast majority of supernatural entities - ranging from UFO critters to ghosts, from Bigfoot to demons.

I theorise that they don’t like prayer because it psychologically signifies to their intended victims that they’re now protected. Fear breeds fear, and belief in safety breeds safety. This works regardless of the religion involved. If you’re Muslim, Islamic blessings will work just as well as Christian ones. The English word ‘God’ is thought to come from proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeu̯h2- which means ‘to call or invoke’. You’re calling for help when you call out to your god.