Topic: About Jinn

[David Ehrens]

I have searched the web, looked at various Qur'anic websites, and also looked at chapter 72, al-Jinn, in the Qur'an. Clearly, the Jinn seem to be an other-worldly species of people who predate us, and there are many stories even in Judaism about people such as these although they do not appear in the Torah. Detractors of Islam say that this shows that Islam is superstitious; however, it seems to me (a fairly secular fellow) that it simply incorporates beliefs about that natural world widespread at the time and may have made Islam more accessible to people of an older age. Jews and Catholics at the time believed in demons and dybbuks, as well. So I am curious about the rationale for the inclusion.

How widespread is belief in Jinn among more modern Muslims today? Is there a divide in the specifics of belief between the well-educated and the poor, or is Islam truly egalitarian even in this regard? In the case of Jinn, it would not surprise me if modern Muslims adopted a more metaphorical interpretation of these beings. But the big question for me is why they were mentioned in the Qur'an in the first place, and what their relationship to man and Shaitan is. They appear to have free will just like man. One of the interpretations I read of them is that they represent all the other worlds that we on earth know little of, and over which G-d still has dominion. Personally, this makes more sense than a literal understanding. In Judaism, Shaitan is not characterized as a being but as man's "evil inclination". Is this similar in Islam?

If you have any views on this, I would appreciate hearing from you. It's not my intent to insult Islam, so please don't take my questions as such. And if they offend in some way, I offer my apologies.

[Sami Yusuf Islam]

Hi David,

let me first say that no, questions never offend any muslim.

a muslim would even be happy if a non-muslim asked him or her about anything related to his or her religion.

I would even go as far as thanking you for your polite question seeking knowledge about islam and the muslims.


let me start by saying this.

Allah tells us in the Koran that the jinn DO in fact exist... they are not human beings, they are different.....

demons ? yes, some of them are demons, but those are the bad ones... Shaitan in muslim belief is the Father and Chief of all Jinn, demons AND good jinn.

you can infer from that the muslim belief is that Jinn are two groups, demons, and muslims.

and there is no doubt about this belief in islam, among scholars or just any average muslim, for one reason : it is clearly mentioned in the Koran.

When something is clear in the Koran, there is no question and no debate about it among muslims. Examples of that are like that Alcohol is NOT allowed, Porc meat is not allowed, Sex outside marriage, Homosexuality, Bad Treatment to your mum and dad, and the like...

Questions that are not clearly mentioned in Koran , and about which there are some differences among different schools in islam are like :

Purity, the rituals and how to do that.
Prayers, what must be said, and what is recommended.
Commerce, a lot of details.

of course, there are some principles about those that all muslims agree on, once more, for it is clearly mentioned in the Koran or in what the prophet said.

but those two, the koran and the sayings of the prophet, do not answer ALL questions at all times ..... and THUS, the need for Scholars of islam that we call Mujtahids, those who seek in those texts, the Koran and the sayings of the prophet, for a question or an issue that is similar to what they are being asked about, and give the judgment in islam by basing their reasoning on this analogy and similarity between the two cases.

so back to your original question, NO , common muslim belief about the jinn is unified... for this is in the Koran. Yet, you might find some differences about Jinn among some schools concerning the details..... not the main issues.

what are those main issues mentioned in the Koran about the jinn :

Some of them have special powers (can fly or move very fast from one place to another)
some of them are believers and they are even Great muslims.
some of them are not muslims.
some of them help us
some of them hurt us

and the like.

I hope I answered your question enough.

To be honest with you, I would love to tell you much more, only if I had the time for that.

but I am confident many others of our friends here on TAI would be happy to answer you with some more details.

take care.

sunshine.

[Mahmoud.E]

Jinn, even if not seen with the physical eye, do excist. From them, there are the pious and the evil. There is the Muslim, the Christian, etc. Jinn and Devels are the same but are not the same. Both are created from fire. But what we call Jinn could be good or bad, muslim or non muslim. But a shaytan (devel) is a follower of Iblees and that can't be good at all.

They can possess humans and enter in their bodies. This is why we were taught some verses by our prophet that will protect us from them and from the evil eye. And God knows, if you have any doubt about the excistence of Jinn, all what you'll have to do is attend one of the sessions we do to get the Jinn out of the human body. You see the weirdest things and you'll have feer like never before. To actually have someone else talk to you using the body of someone else...
 
We can't deny all what we see not. Even the disbelievers and those who don't even believe in God, they believe that they have a soul in their body and that they die when this soul leaves their bodies! None of us saw the soul or felt it, however, almost no one denies it. The same goes for Jinn. They excist, and they're not simply a man's evil inclination. No. They are creatures created by God even before the creation of Adam may Allah be pleased with him. For us, they are Ghaib. meaning we believe in them without seeing them as we beleive in Hell and Heaven. but, we often feel their physical presence...
And God Knows best
bye.

[Devoted]

Jinn are a distinct creation of Allah, who are invisible to humans. Allah created them from the pure flame of fire. They are male and female and have offspring. They exist here on earth and out of it. Like humans, some jinn worship Allah, but some do not. The ones who do not are known as the devils, whose head is Satan.

Satan, the first jinn, was present with the angels when Allah ordered him and the angels to bow down in respect before Adam. Satan did not bow down in respect. He objected to Allah and said he was better than Adam, because he was made from fire whereas Adam was made from clay. Because of this objection, Allah banished Satan. Satan vowed that he would try to persuade humans into false belief and worship and shameful conduct. Allah promised that Satan and those who follow him will be the inhabitants of Hell on the Day of Judgment.

Satan is man's accursed enemy and his vow to ruin many of mankind is not to be taken lightly. He attempts to confuse and ruin man by his prompting, making bad deeds seem good. A person is not sinful when Satan whispers to him; he is sinful if he believes and/or acts on the prompting. Although humans must believe that Satan exists and take the warning about him very seriously, we must remember that Allah has full power over Satan. Satan can do nothing against the will of Allah. When a believer of the true Religion strives to follow Allah's orders and asks Allah for protection from Satan, he should not doubt Allah's great protection and mercy.

[Sami Yusuf Islam]

masha2allah great information brother Devoted.

Please tell us more.

[Devoted]

Jinn are not angles, nor angels are Jinn.

Angels are another distinct creation of Allah. They are not male or female and have no children. Allah created them from light. They never sin, obeying Allah in every matter. Humans have angels near them that record all they do. Some angels have appeared to men in the form of men but they never take a woman's shape. Some angels protect people from jinn by Allah's will. The angel who brought revelations to the prophets is Gabriel.

[Devoted]

Humans are not animals! They are also one of the creations of Allah.

Men and women are one of the creations of Allah. They are distinct from plants, animals, jinn, and angels. They were created after angels and jinn; the first man was created from clay. Allah puts a soul into man but in no way is man's soul Allah, or "a part of Allah". The first man was Adam and all human beings come from his family. Adam had no mother or father; he was created and given life by Allah. Allah created a wife for Adam who bore his children. Allah created the human beings to order them to believe, profess the truth about Allah and His messengers, worship Allah only, and follow His orders during life on earth. Some of mankind has and does worship Allah correctly, obeys His orders, and will be rewarded beyond imagination. Some of mankind has not and will not worship Allah correctly and will be punished by Allah with severity in Hellfire.

[Proud Muslima]

May Allah reward you brother Devoted for this great information (F)

[talib]

How widespread is belief in Jinn among more modern Muslims today?

Since the Jinn are mentioned in the Quran, all Muslims believe in their existence.

Is there a divide in the specifics of belief between the well-educated and the poor, or is Islam truly egalitarian even in this regard?

There is no difference in belief between rich and poor on this.  We all believe that Jinns were created of smokeless fire.

In the case of Jinn, it would not surprise me if modern Muslims adopted a more metaphorical interpretation of these beings. But the big question for me is why they were mentioned in the Qur'an in the first place, and what their relationship to man and Shaitan is. They appear to have free will just like man. One of the interpretations I read of them is that they represent all the other worlds that we on earth know little of, and over which G-d still has dominion. Personally, this makes more sense than a literal understanding.

I think I need to add a more substantive response on this with some historical knowledge from Islam.  First of all Allah created Jinns out of smokeless fire.  We also know that Allah created Jinns with a free will, i.e. the capability to choose between right and wrong.  Because Jinns have a free will like humans do, they will be judged, then punished in hell fire or rewarded with paradise just like humans will.  Amongst the Jinns, there are those, as has already been quoted by others in the thread, who are of different religions, some that can harm and some that are Muslims.  The Quran mentions a group of Jinns after hearing the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam recite verses from The Book, accepted Islam.  The Quran also mentions those Jinns, whom some humans worshipped and continued to worship even after the Jinns accepted Islam.  As for Iblis(Lucifer) he is from amongst the Jinns.  We know that Jinns were created before mankind.

When Allah created Adam, he ordered all of creation to bow to Adam, because Allah had created mankind to be superior to all of creation.  The one who refused was Iblis and this is also mentioned in the Quran.  Iblis refused on the grounds that he was made of fire and that Adam was made of clay, therefore Iblis claimed that he was more superior to Adam.  

Allah banished Iblis from Paradise for this denial.  Allah also issued the punishment that Iblis be in the fire of hell.  However, Iblis asked Allah for respite, to which Allah accepted.  Iblis then promised Allah that he would do his utmost to lead mankind astray.  Allah told Iblis that he could do as he wished except that Iblis would not be able to lead astray any from mankind whom He favoured.

That said, Allah placed Adam in paradise.  In time Allah created Hawa (Eve) from the crooked rib of Adam.  Allah married Adam to Hawa and they lived in paradise, but the condition was that they must not eat the fruit from the forbidden tree.  Iblis given that he was banished from paradise, Iblis in his cunning suggested that Adam and Hawa eat from the forbidden tree.  Adam and Hawa ate, and immediately realised the mistake they made.  They asked Allah for forgiveness, to which He did but, He ordered that they be now taken to the Earth where they should live.  At the same time Iblis was also sent to the Earth.  And so humanity multiplied.... and so does Iblis(Satan) do his utmost to mislead mankind....

It should not be taken that since Iblis is from the Jinn, that the Jinn are evil.  They are not, they are like any other creation and amongst any you will find the good and the bad.

In Judaism, Shaitan is not characterized as a being but as man's "evil inclination". Is this similar in Islam?

In Islam, there are two things that incline a human towards evil.  The Nafs which is a part of the human, and Shaitan.  The Nafs basically are the evil suggestions and try to move the human to commit sin.  The external influence to commit sin is from Shaitan.

If you have any views on this, I would appreciate hearing from you. It's not my intent to insult Islam, so please don't take my questions as such. And if they offend in some way, I offer my apologies.

Thats quite allright.  You are welcome to ask questions.

[ABDU]

that was great talib my bro, thanks for this informative post ... :bro1