# 5 – Who are the Jinn?

WHO ARE THE JINN?
| By sisters Fatima, Jamila and Qamar.

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INTRODUCTION

Innal-Hamdalillah was-Salaatu was-Salaam `alaa Rasoolillah.

Asalaamu’alaykum waRahmatullahi waBarakaatuhu

Insha’Allah sister Fatima, sister Jamila and myself sister Qamar, will be doing our group presentation on ‘Who are the Jinn?’

Allah tells us in the Quran, in the interpretation of the meaning:

” And I (Allah) created not the jinns and humans except they should worship Me (Alone).” [Surah Adh-Dhariyat 51:56].

This ayah alone makes it clear that the Jinn do exist, and they are real. Therefore we must believe in their existence because Allah has informed us of them.

So Insha’Allah we will describe to you exactly who are the Jinn detailing their characteristics, then we will explain how the Jinns effect us as Mankind and then we will conclude with what things we can do to protect our self from the evil Jinns.

I will now pass you onto sister Jamila who will give you a profile of who the Jinn are.

A PROFILE OF WHO ARE THE JINN?

Who are the Jinns – The jinns are a part of Allah’s creation separate from man. The jinns live in an independent world from us. The angels, paradise and hell and the Jinns are a part of the unseen world that exists but we cannot see. Accepting the existence of the jinn and the unseen world is an important part of our deen. Those who deny the jinn deny the Quran. They are denying that there exists beyond the material life an unseen world which is clearly supported by Quran and the Sunnah. We as Muslims must hold to what has been revealed in the Quran It does not matter that we do not fully understand them. Belief is to believe in Allah.

So what is the purpose of the Jinn? Why were the jinn created? Allah tells us the jinn were created to worship Allah swt just like we were. Allah created jinn before there was mankind and there origin from fire. The Quran verified these facts: Allah says in the interpretation of the meaning: “And verily, We created mankind from sounding clay of altered smooth mud and the jinn We created from smokeless fire.” (Surah Al-Hijr, 15:26-27)

The jinns creation was also reported by Ibn Abbas may allah be pleased with him: he says: “Two thousand years before (mankind) was created, there were Jinn on (the Earth), and they caused corruption on it and shed blood. Then Allah sent against them a troop of Angels who beat them and cast them away to islands in the seas. So, when Allah said: I am placing (mankind) generations after generations on Earth, They (the Angels) said, Will You place therein one who will cause corruption and shed blood Just as those Jinn did? Then Allah said: I know that which you do not know.” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:30)

So this is clear evidence to us all that the jinns were created before mankind and lived on the earth before us.

We also know that the The Jinns are the the descendants of Iblees, Iblees disobeyed Allah’s command to prostrate to Adam, and became known as the (Shaytaan). Allah says in the interpretation of the meaning. We said to the angels bow down to Adam, they bowed down except Iblis. He was one of the jinns and he broke the command of his lord.

Capabilities and Powers of the Jinn

What clearly distinguishes the Jinn from mankind, are their powers and capabilities. Allaah has given the jinn powers that he has not given to humans. Allaah has told us about some of their powers,

The Types of Jinn

We know that there are 3 different types of jinns

Abu Tha’labah al-Khushani said, “The Messenger of Allaah said: The jinn are of three types: a type that has wings, and they fly through the air; a type that looks like snakes and dogs; and a type that travels stops for rest then resumes its journey.” (Hadith reported by al-Tahhaawi and al-Tabaraani. Albaani reported it with a saheeh isnaad).

By knowing the jinn’s capabilities and powers, we can often make sense of much of the mysteries which go on around us.

We are not able to see the Jinn, unless they take a material form, which is usually in an unpleasant or ugly appearance such as snakes, rats, scorpions ugly creatures; Indeed they also have the power to take on human forms.

These jinn’s can also take on the forms of dead people; so when someone says they have seen a ghost or their house is being haunted by a ghost it is in fact a jinn who has taken the form of a dead person.

In the battle of Badr, Ibliss, assumed the form of a an old man and urged the disbelievers to move forward to the battle, saying: ” There is none who can overcome you today.” (8:48)

Then Allah sent the Angel Jibreel against him and when Ibliss saw him, he cried out to the disbelievers: I have nothing to do with you ! I see that which you do not see ! I fear Allah, and Allah is severe in retribution, and then he fled.

Lifestyle of the Jinn

The jinn’s lifestyle has similarities to our own; in respect that they also, like us marry and have children, they eat and drink. They Also have their own animals, and although we cannot see them they live here on earth in the unseen world.

We know the jinn’s marry and have children like ourselves, In the quran allah says in the interpretation of the meaning: “Iblis was one of the jinn’s and he broke the command of his lord, do you take him and his offspring to be your friends, apart from me.” (Surah Al-Kahf, 18:50)

This ayat in the quran indicates that the jinns marry for the sake of offspring.

We know the jinn eat and drink; In Bukhari in an hadith narrated by abu Huraira the prophet saw commanded him to bring him some stones with which to clean himself. The prophet said ” Do not bring bones or dung, when abu huraria asked why the prophet said they are part of the food of the jinn.”

The jinns live all over the earth; they mostly live in deserts, ruins, and places of impurity like dunghills, toilets and graveyards. There are hadiths of the prophet saw which forbid us to pray in the toilets because there is impurity, and because it is the home of jinns and in the graveyards because as well as being a means of associating things with allah the graves are the homes of jinns
Just like us the jinns will be held accountable for their actions. As you can see in many aspects of their world, the Jinn are very similar to us. Like us, they were created with free will like us they have the ability to choose to make choices be they good or bad. Like us the jinn’s will also be subject to a Final Reckoning by Allah the Most High. They will be present with mankind on the Day of Judgement and will either go to Paradise or Hell. In the quran allah swt says in the interpretation of the meaning: “But the jinn’s know quite well that they have indeed to appear before his judgement seat.” (Surah As-Saaffat, 37:158)

So we can see that the jinn’s do exist they are a separate creation from us but their purpose in life is the same as ours to worship allah
Now I will hand you over to sister Qamar who will go into further detail – the effects jinns have on mankind.
Jazzakallah khair

THE EFFECTS JINN HAVE ON MANKIND

Jazaak’allahu khair sister Jamila. Insha’Allah I will now talk about the effects the jinns have on mankind.

The Jinns are part of the unseen world

Even though the jinns are part of the unseen world and we can not see them, they can still however effect us in our every day lives.

Our Personal Jinn Companion!

Each and every human being from the age of puberty are assigned a personal jinn, who has been appointed to be their constant companion through out their lives until they die. Just like at the age of puberty we all get assigned 2 writing angels recording each and every action we do, we also get this jinn whose only mission is to tempt you to disobey Allah and will never give up doing so until you take your last breath in this world.

On the authority of Ibn Mas`ud (may allah be pleased with him) who said, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “There is not any one of you except that he has been assigned his companion from among the jinn and his companion from among the angels.” They said, “Even you, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied, “Even me, except that Allah has helped me against him and he has submitted, so that I am unharmed and so he orders me to do nothing but good.” [Hadith reported by Muslim.]

We see here that even the prophet Muhammad (sa) had been assigned a jinn but Allah made his jinn submit and become a Muslim. However, he was the Prophet of Allah, he was the best of mankind, therefore Allah protected him from his personal jinn and from its evil whisperings, as for us this is not the case. Our personal jinn will never order us to do good, his purpose in life is to try his utmost to make us commit as many bad deeds as possible.

The misconception that we can make our personal jinns become Muslim is totally wrong, our prophet Muhammad (sa) did not say that we could, he simply warned us to be aware of the harm these personal jinns will bring and not to succumb to their whispers of doing evil.
Now, before discussing other ways the jinns effect us as mankind, I would like to point out two very important issues:

1. The Jinns are not our friends, they are our enemies and
2. Communicating with the Jinns is a form of Shirk. Now let me explain this further:

The Jinns are not our friends, they are our enemies

Just like humans, among the jinns are good jinns and evil jinns. The good jinns obey Allah and live by the Sunnah, as for the evil jinns they are referred to as the Shayateen (the devils); these are the rebellious and disbelieving jinns, they do not believe in Allah and have set out to cause mischief and corruption in the land. It is these shayateen that interact with humans in return for the human to disobey Allah.

Allah mentions to us in his Book, that He has friends and allies among the people. Shaytaan also has his friends and allies, one being the shayateen – and being an ally of Shaytan makes one an enemy of Allah. So how can these jinns be our friends, when they are the enemies of Allah, we take the enemies of Allah as our enemies and to do the opposite will result in error.
For Allah says in the interpretation of the meaning: “Verily, We made the devils helpers and protectors for those who disbelieve:” (Surah Al-Araf, 7:27)

Seeking refuge “IN” the Jinn = Shirk Al Akbar

We see many people communicating, calling out and seeking refuge IN the jinn, yes IN the jinn – asking for their help and assistance. This is a form of shirk Al Akbar, which is the greatest form of associating partners with Allah. The ones who do this say “well we are not worshipping the jinns!”, but praying or supplicating are all acts of worship exclusively for Allah, and to do so to other than Allah is shirk – no doubt about it.

Allah makes this clear to us in the quran that turning to the jinns is disbelief, where he says in the interpretation of the meaning: ‘And verily, there were men among mankind who took shelter with the masculine among the jinns, but they (the jinns) increased them (mankind) in sin and disbelief.’ (Surah Al-Jinn, 72:6-7)

‘…will you take him (Iblees) and his children as protectors besides me? And they are enemies to you!..’ (Surah Al-Kahf, 18: 50)

So the jinns will never help or protect us, how can they when they are the allies of Shaytan? They will only bring destruction to us, and lead us to the hellfire. A’outhu billah.

The Evils of Fortune Telling

One of the most frequent activities associated with the Jinn, is fortune telling.

Have you ever wondered how do these fortune tellers sometimes actually give accurate information? Well, these fortune tellers seek assistance from shayaateen who go up to the lowest heaven and eavesdrop on the angels conversation about future events that they heard from Allah.

“And We have guarded it (the heavens) from every accursed devil, except one who is able to snatch a hearing and he is pursued by a brightly burning flame” (Surah Al-Hijr, 15:18)

However the heavens are guarded by Angels and if any Jinn tries to listen they are attacked by meteor / shooting stars. Thereby not getting the full information, they then return back to the fortune-teller and add lies to what they had heard.

As our Prophet Muhammad (saws) said: “They (the Jinns) would pass the information back down until it reaches the lips of a magician or fortune-teller. Sometimes a meteor would overtake them before they could pass it on. If they passed it on before being struck, they would add to it a hundred lies” [Hadith reported by Bukhari]

Fortune-tellers also operate through the personal jinns, remember their job is to make you do wrong. What can be more wrong than to make you commit shirk, remember shirk can also be to claim knowledge of the future – and only Allah has knowledge of the unseen.

So the fortune teller will get his personal jinn to go talk to their personal jinn to get information about the person from them, thus the fortune teller has some true information mixed up with many lies.

Oh its not a big deal

For those people who take this matter lightly, and say oh its not a big deal, let me just mention this one Hadith to you, where the prophet of allah (sa) said: “Whosoever approaches a fortune-teller and believes in what he says, has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammed” [Hadith reported by Ahmed]

Prophet Sulaymaan Alayhi-salaam

Here is the story of Prophet Sulaymaan (as), he was the only human being Allah gave power over the Jinn, at his time the shayateen were fooling the people that they had knowledge of the unseen and could foresee the future, this is why Allah gave him Sulaymaan (as) power over them to remove these false beliefs from his followers.
Allah says in the interpretation of the meaning: “They followed what the Shayaateen (devils) gave out (falsely of the magic) in the lifetime of Sulaymaan. Sulaymaan did not disbelieve, but the Shayaateen (devils) disbelieved, teaching men magic” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:102)

The death of Prophet Sulaymaan (as) served as a reminder for his people, and for us all – that the jinns have absolutely no knowledge of the future at all, as before he died he was sitting holding his stick overseeing the jinns working in the mine, he died in that position. Time passed and no one was aware of his death, and the jinns continued to work hard thinking Sulaymaan was watching over them.
Allah says in the interpretation of the meaning: “Then when we decreed death for him (Sulaymaan), nothing informed them (the jinns) of his death except a little worm of the earth, which kept slowly chewing away at his stick, so when he fell down, the jinns saw clearly that if they had known the unseen, they would not have stayed in the humiliating torment.” (Surah Saba, 34:12-14).

Thus, proving to his people that the jinns are full of lies and deceit and will always be up to mischief.

Insha’allah sister Fatima will discuss how we can protect ourself from these evil beings.

Jazaak’Allahu khair, Asalaamu’alaykum

WAYS TO PROTECT OURSELF FROM THE JINN

Jazakallah khair sister Qamar and sister Jamila.

Jazakallah khair sister Qamar and sister Jamila. Now, having clearly been explained to you the existence of the jinn from clear evidence of Quran and sunnah, the question thus becomes, how can we protect ourselves from the Jinn. How can we protect ourselves from beings that can see us, but ones that we cannot see, and can at times be harmful to us.

Qamar has already mentioned that the Prophet s.a.w has control over his own jinn however, for the muslim such as you and I who do not have automatic immunity from the Jinn, what can be done to ensure that we are safe and protected from their evil.

However, what we must first bear in mind is that of the jinns, there are some who are evil, and those which are good, for Allah tells us in the Holy Quran in the interpretation of the meaning:

“Except him on whom your Lord has bestowed His Mercy and for that did He create them. And the word of your Lord has been fulfilled saying: Surly, I shall fill Hell with Jinns and men all together”. (Surah Hud, 11:119)

From this Ayah, just like men, they will be held to account. Hence, our concern is not with the good jinns for surely they do not come near us, except the rebellious ones, whom we seek to seek protection and refuge in Allah from. Now, on How to protect our selves.

Remembering Allah

Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And if an evil whisper from Shaytaan (Satan) tries to turn you away (O Muhammad) (from doing good), then seek refuge in Allaah. Verily, He is the All Hearer, the All Knower” (Surah Fussilat, 41:36)

Therefore, simply seeking refuge in Allah from the jinn is a means of protection for us. Consequently, when we turn away from the rememberance of Allah and commit sins and evil deeds, then we pave the way to the calling of the jinns on ourselves, for a person who truly and constantly remembers Allah, then the jinns will surely stay well from him, for Allah tells us in the interpretation of the meaning:

“Whoever withdraws himself from the remembrance of [Allah] Most Gracious, We assign to him a Shaytaan, to be his comrade.” (Surah Az-Zukhruf, 43:36)

So by saying: Laillaha illalla, Subhanallah, Alhamdulilla, Allahu Akbar, “Aoothubillahi minashitani rajeem” these are means of driving the jinn away.

Reciting Ayahs from the Quran

Another means by which we will be protected from the jinns inshallah is by the recitation of Ayahs of the Quran: “Say: ‘My Lord! I seek refuge with you from the whisperings (suggestions) of the shayaateen (devils). And I seek refuge with you, my Lord, lest they may attend (or come near) me.'” (Surah Al-Mumenoon, 23:97-98)

Other verses of the Quran such as Falaq and Nas and surah Iklas all serve as shields and protection from the Shayaateen as taught to us by the Prophet s.a.w.

Reciting all of Surah Baqarah or its last verse and Ayahtul Kursi is another means of protection.

In a famous hadith in Sahih Al-Bukhari, Abu Hurayrah R.A was entrusted with the Zakaat revenue of the month of Ramadan. Someone started stealing from it, having been caught, Abu Hurayrah R.A threatened to take him to the Prophet s.a.w, the thief then said: “I am needy and have many dependents, and I am in great need”. On hearing this, Abu Hurayrah released him and let him go, however, he narrated the incident to and told the Prophet s.a.w, who told him “indeed he told you a lie and he will come again”. Again, the man came again, and again he was caught and told the same lie he told at first, and for the third time, on being caught, he told Abu Hurayrah “I will teach you some words with which Allah will benefit you”, Abu Hurayrah asked what are they, and the man replied “whenever you go to bed, recite Ayahtul-Kursi and Allah will appoint for you who will stay with you and no Shaytan will come near you till morning”. Upon telling the Prophet (sa) of this, he said: “He really spoke the truth, although he is [absolutely] a liar. Do you know whom you were talking to, these three nights, O Abu Hurayrah?” Abu Hurairah said, “No.” He (sa) said, “It was a Shaytan.” (Bukhari)

Therefore, reciting Ayahtul Kursi and Suratul Baqarah will provide you protection from the evil jinn.

Seeking Knowledge and strengthening one’s faith is another way we can get protection from the Jinn.

Is also another protection from the Jinn. Allah tells us in the interpretation of the meaning: “[Satan] has no authority over those who believe and place trust in their Lord.” (Surah An-Nahl, 16: 99)

This is because, one cannot truly believe in Allah until they seek knowledge of Him, and only then will they put their trust and faith in Allah. Therefore, seeking knowledge of Allah and busying once self in doing good deeds for the sake of Allah is gaining protection from the Jinn.

The Adthan

In a hadith in Sahih Muslim, it is narrated “When the Shaytaan hears the call to prayer, he runs away fast.”(Narrated by Muslim, 389).

Playing the adhaan in our homes or reciting in it to ourselves can be a means by which we can protect ourselves from the Shaitan.

This is due to what has been reported from Abu Hurayrah (ra) that Allaah’s Messenger (saw) said, “When the call to prayer is made, Shaytaan flees on his heels and passes wind with noise during his flight so that he does not hear the adhaan. When the adhaan is completed he comes back. When the iqaamah is pronounced he takes to his heels again until it is completed. Then he returns again and whispers into the heart of the person and says to him: “Remember this and remember that”. So the person remembers those things which were not in his mind before the prayer began and as a result, he forgets how much he has prayed”.

It has already be mentioned by sister Jamila that the jinns love dirty places such as the loo, it then becomes important that we recite the recommended duas before entering it.

Not only this, but there are many duas given to us by our Prophet s.a.w for every aspect of our lives. These include saying the name of Allah before eating or drinking. Also saying Bismillaah before entering ones home.

For in a hadith in Muslim, Jaabir (ra) said: “I heard the Prophet (saw) say: “When a man enters his house and remembers Allaah the Exalted upon entering and before eating, Shaytaan says: “There is no place for you to spend the night and there is no supper for you.” When he enters the house and does not remember Allaah, Shaytaan says: “You have found a place to spend the night” and when he does not remember Allaah upon eating his food, Shaytaan says: “You have found a place to stay and some supper””. (Muslim).

Alhamdulilla, we can thus see that we have not been left without protection from the Shaitan and jinns. We must at all times remember that he is a clear enemy to us and therefore whatever means of protection Allah and His prophet s.a.w have given us, then we must hold on to it. We must at all time remember Allah and ensure that we are far away from sins and evil deeds. Seeking knowledge of our deen as already mentioned will help us stay away from these. I will leave you now with a beautiful Hadith: The Messenger of Allah (s) said “Whoever of you desires the heart of the Garden should cling to the community. Shaytan is with the solitary person and further off from a couple.” (Hadith reported by At – Tirmidhi and Ahmad ibn Hanbal transmit it. At-Tirmidhi says that is a sound good Hadith.)

Jazakallah khair. Asalamu alaikum

CONCLUSION

Alhamdulillah, we have now come to the end of our presentation.

Before we go we leave you with the following ayat, Allah says in the interpretation of the meaning: “And Shaitân will say when the matter has been decided: “Verily, Allâh promised you a promise of truth. And I too promised you, but I betrayed you. I had no authority over you except that I called you, so you responded to me. So blame me not, but blame yourselves. I cannot help you, nor can you help me. I deny your former act in associating me (Satan) as a partner with Allâh (by obeying me in the life of the world). Verily, there is a painful torment for the Zâlimûn (polytheists and wrong-doers, etc.).” (Surah Ibrahim, 14:22)

So let us not be fooled by Shaytan and his Jinns, but be one step ahead of them – as they can not bring any benefit to us, in this life or the hereafter.

Insha’Allah we hope this presentation has been a benefit to you.

Jazaakallahu khair, may Allah have mercy on us all and grant us into his Jannah. Ameen

Asalaamu’alaykum waRahmatullah