THE JINNS- WHO THEY ARE

[hassanalmuslim]

SALAAM to all readers.

Somewhere in this forum I read that one of the two christians, I don’t remember whether it was JBJ or jcecil3, wants to know who the Jinns are, so I decided to post the proper explanation based on a collective study of the Holy Verses. I hope it helps to understand who the Jinns are and what characteristics they have.

Now, who are the Jinns?
The jinns are creatures among ALLAH’s creation. Ever since the early days of the human existence on the earth, many stories and legends have been told about them. To get the undisputed facts about the jinns, we have to resort to the Holy Qur’an. In the Holy Qur’an, ALLAH (SWT) Has Given enough information about the jinns to know who theyare and what they do.

Cited Verses 1
In The Name of ALLAH, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
And I Have not Created the jinns and the humans except to worship Me. No sustenance
do I Require of them, nor do I Require that they feed Me. For ALLAH is He Who Gives
sustenance and Who Has the absolute power and might.
(part 27, Surat Al Thaariyaat “The Winds That Scatter”)

Cited Verses 2
In The Name of ALLAH, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
And We Have Created the human from clay that could be molded into shape. And the
jinn, We Have Created him before from the fire of scorching wind.
(part 14, Surat “Al Hejr “The Rocky Tract”)


In the first verse of cited verses 1, ALLAH (SWT) Says, “And I have not Created the jinns and the humans except to worship me”. That is, the jinns and the humans were created to perform the same task, worshipping ALLAH (SWT). For the jinns and the humans to perform the same task, they must have something in common.
The jinns and the humans were created from different
substances. They have different capabilities, different forms, different shapes and different characteristics. They both will be judged on judgment day. In order to be held
accountable for their deeds during their lifetime, they have to know and understand ALLAH’s laws and rules. Only intelligent creatures can know and understand. Therefore,
the only thing that the jinns and the humans have in common is that they both are intelligent creatures.
In the third verse of cited verses 1, ALLAH (SWT) Says, “For ALLAH is He Who Gives sustenance and Who Has the absolute power and might”. ALLAH (SWT) Gives sustenance to all His creatures. Giving the jinns sustenance means that the jinns
need food and water to sustain their life, that is, they eat and drink like us humans.
In the first verse of cited verses 2, ALLAH (SWT) Tells that the jinns and the humans were created from two different substances. The human was created from clay, which is a mixture of dust and water, and the jinn was created from special kind of fire.
This shows that there are profound differences between the jinns and the humans. That is, the biological structure as well as the shapes, the forms, and the general characteristics of
the jinns are completely different from those of the humans. The basic element of the human formation is dust, which is a solid material, while the basic element of the jinn
formation is fire, which is gas. The following conclusions may be drawn from this fact:
THE MOBILITY AND THE AGILITY OF THE JINNS ARE MUCH GREATER
THAN THOSE OF THE HUMANS. THE JINNS’ MOTIONS ARE MUCH FASTER
THAN THE HUMAN’S. THE ENERGY LEVEL OF THE JINNS IS MUCH HIGHER
THAN THAT OF THE HUMANS, ACCORDINGLY THE JINNS CAN SEE, HEAR
AND SENSE THE HUMANS, WHILE THE HUMANS CANNOT SEE, HEAR OR
SENSE THE JINNS. IN GENERAL, THE JINNS ARE MUCH MORE POWERFUL
PHYSICALLY THAN THE HUMANS.
From the second verse of cited verses 2, we learn the following very important
fact :
THE JINN WAS CREATED BEFORE THE HUMAN.

Cited Verses 3
In The Name of ALLAH, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Behold, We Said to the angels, “Bow down to Adam”, they bowed down except Iblees,
he was one of the jinns and he broke the command of his LORD, will you then take him
and his progeny as protectors rather than Me and they are enemies to you !, it is the worst
exchange for the wrong doers. I Did not have them witness the creation of the heavens
and the earth, nor their own creation, and I Would had not taken those astray as helpers.
(part 15, Surat Al Kahf “The Cave”)

Cited Verse 4
In The Name of ALLAH, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
And throw your staff, then when he (Prophet Musa “Moses”) saw it vibrating as if it is a
jinn, he turned around and ran away without saying anything, O Musa, do not be afraid,
in My presence the messengers do not have fear.
(part 19, Surat Al Naml “The Ants”)


In the second verse of cited verses 3, ALLAH (SWT) Says, “I did not have them witness the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor their own creation, and I Would Had not Taken those astray as helpers”. This verse clearly shows that the jinns were
created after the creation of the heavens and the earth. The jinns must be living somewhere within the physical environments of the Creation.

The characteristics of the creature must be compatible with the basic element from which it was created. The basic substance of the human structure is dust (solid substance). The main characteristic of the solid material is that it has its own defined boundaries. Once it is shaped, it does not deform by itself. That is why the basic features
and configuration of a human are well defined. On the other hand, liquids and gases do not have their own defined boundaries unless contained within a solid container. They
could not be shaped. The jinns are created from some kind of fire. The fire is a gaseous substance. That is their forms and configurations must be compatible with the
characteristics of gas.
In cited verse 4 ALLAH (SWT) Says, “ And throw your
staff, then when he (Prophet Musa “Moses”) saw it vibrating as if it is a jinn, he turned around and ran away without saying anything, O Musa do not be afraid, in My Presence
the messengers do not have fear”. In this verse ALLAH (SWT) is Telling about one of the jinns’ characteristics. The words “vibrating as if it is a jinn” suggest that the jinn’s
body vibrates continuously in a way resembling the motion of waves. That is, the jinns do not have clearly defined body configuration as we humans do. The following may be
concluded :
THE JINN’S CONFIGURATION VIBRATES CONSTANTLY. THE JINNS CAN
CHANGE THEIR FORMS AND SHAPES AT THEIR WILL.

Cited Verse 5
In The Name of ALLAH, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
And We Have Made for the hell many of the jinns and the humans, they have hearts
wherewith they understand not, and they have eyes wherewith they see not, and they have
ears wherewith they hear not, those are like animals and even more misguided, those are
the heedless.
(part 9, Surat Al A’araaf “The Heights”)

Cited Verses 6
In The Name of ALLAH, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
And we (the jinns) have touched the heaven and found that it is full of strong guards and
streaking asteroids. And we were used to sit in hiding to eavesdrop, and now who
eavesdrops will find a streaking asteroid aimed at him. And we do not know whether bad
things are intended to those who live on the earth or whether their LORD Intended to
Guide them to the right conduct. And among us (the jinns) are righteous and among us
non-righteous, we were following divergent paths.
(part 29, Surat Al Jinn “The Jinns”)


In cited verse 5, ALLAH (SWT) Says, “ And We Have Made for the hell many of the jinns and the humans, they have hearts, wherewith they understand not, and they
have eyes, wherewith they see not, and they have ears, wherewith they hear not “.
From this verse we learn that the jinns have hearts, eyes and ears. The biological
structure of the jinns is different from that of the humans, since the basic substance from which they are created is different. Accordingly, their hearts, eyes and ears perform the
usual functions similar to ours, but in different capacities.
In the first verse of cited verses 6, ALLAH (SWT) Says, “And we (the jinns) have touched the heaven and found that it is full of strong guards and streaking asteroids”. The word “touch” means to feel with bare hands. This indicates that the jinns
can move through the outer space (outside the earth’s atmosphere) by their own physical power, without any equipment or machines. In this verse the jinns say that they have
touched the heaven. This means that they have come from a place other than the heaven, touched it and then returned back. The only place other than the heaven is the earth. From
this we learn that the jinns live on the earth. Since the jinns live on the earth and they go to outer space by their own physical power, therefore they can live in places with oxygen
as well as places without oxygen. Oxygen is essential for all living creatures on the earth.
This suggests that the biological structure of the jinns is different from all other creatures
living on the earth.
Also in the first verse of cited verses 6, when the jinns touched the heaven they found it full of strong guards and streaking asteroids. The guards’ job is to protect a
certain domain from intruders. Therefore, the strong guards and the streaking asteroids are there in the heaven to prevent the jinns from going any further. This means that there
is a certain boundary in the lowest heaven beyond which the jinns are not allowed to go.
For the guards to be successful in their job, they have to possess more power than the intruders, they have to be intelligent enough to foil all kinds of tricks played by the
intruders, and they have to perfectly execute the commands given to them. It is ALLAH (SWT) Who Gives the commands to secure the heavens. The guards who execute ALLAH’s commands are the angels. Therefore, the angels are much more powerful than the jinns.
In the second verse of cited verses 6, ALLAH (SWT) Says, “And we (the jinns) used to sit in hiding to eavesdrop, and now who eavesdrops will find a streaking asteroid
aimed at him”. This means that in the past the jinns were left to eavesdrop without any harm coming to them, but now they are not permitted to do so. To clarify what is meant by “in the past” we go to the beginning of the Surah (Surat Al Jinn):

Cited Verses 7
In The Name of ALLAH, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Say, it has been revealed to me (Mohammad) that a group of jinns listened and then said,
“we have listened to a wonderful recital. It gives guidance to the right path, and we have
believed therein and we shall not consider anyone as a partner to our LORD”.
(part 29, Surat Al Jinn “The Jinns”)

Cited verses 7 tell that a group of jinns has listened, for the first time,to a recital of the Holy Qur’an. They were touched and moved by the wonderful words of
the Holy Qur’an, and how it guides to the right path of ALLAH (SWT). They instantly believed in the Holy Qur’an and vowed never again to say that there are partners to
ALLAH (SWT). From cited verses 6 and 7, it is seen that the dividing line between the “past” and “now” is when the jinns listened to the Holy Qur’an for the first
time. The Holy Qur’an was revealed to Prophet Mohammad (s.a.s.) by means of the angel Gabriel over the period of twenty three lunar years. One or several verses were
revealed at a time. Prophet Mohammad (s.a.s.) memorized the revealed verses by heart. He (s.a.s.) then recited the revealed verses to his followers, who memorized the verses
and started reciting them. At that time the jinns listened, for the first time, to the Holy Qur’an. Therefore, the dividing line between “in the past” and “now” is the revelation of
the religion of ISLAM to Prophet Mohammad (s.a.s.). That is, before the revelation of ISLAM, the jinns were left to eavesdrop to the heaven, but after the revelation of ISLAM
to Prophet Mohammad (s.a.s.), the jinns were not permitted to do so anymore. ISLAM is the last religion ALLAH (SWT) Bestowed on mankind, and Prophet Mohammad is the
last Prophet to mankind. Therefore, the following may be concluded:
WHEN ALLAH (SWT) REVEALED THE RELIGION OF ISLAM TO PROPHET
MOHAMMAD (PPBUH), HE CAUSED MAJOR EVENTS TO OCCUR IN THE
HEAVENS. ALLAH (SWT) DID NOT WANT THE JINNS TO WITNESS OR LISTEN
TO THOSE MAJOR EVENTS. THOSE MAJOR EVENTS ARE THE PREPARATION
OF THE HEAVENS TO GET READY FOR JUDGMENT DAY.
From the last verse of cited verses 6 we learn that there are jinns who believe in ALLAH (SWT) and His right path and there are unbelievers.

Cited Verse 8
In The Name of ALLAH, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
O all of you jinns and humans, did not messengers from you come to you, telling you My
signs and warning you of your gathering here today (judgment day), they said, “we bear
witnesses against ourselves”, and the lowest (first) life enticed them and they bear
witnesses against themselves that they were unbelievers.
(part 8, Surat Al An’aam “The Domestic Animals”)

From cited verses 3, we have learned that ALLAH (SWT) Has created the jinns and the humans for one purpose only, to worship Him. In order for the jinns and the
humans to worship ALLAH (SWT), they have to be taught to do so. Along the years, ever since Adam and Eve descended from the paradise to the earth, ALLAH (SWT) Has Chosen many humans to be His messengers to the people (humans). All the Prophets and
the messengers brought to their people ALLAH’s rules for worshipping Him. The rules explain clearly how to follow the right path of ALLAH, the rewards for doing so, and the
penalties and the punishment for disobeying or ignoring them. From the cited verses so far, we have learned that many of the jinns as well as many of the humans are unbelievers
and they will be punished by going to hell. This indicates that the jinns also had messengers like the humans. In cited verse 8 ALLAH (SWT) Says, “O all of you jinns and humans, did not messengers from you come to you, telling you My signs and
warning you “. From this verse we learn that, ALLAH (SWT) Has Chosen from among the jinns messengers for them to convey to them His laws and rules.

Cited Verses 9
In The Name of ALLAH, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
And to Sulaymaan the wind gusts in the early morning for a month and in the evening for a month, and We have melted for him the precious metals, and from the jinns who work
for him by his LORD’S command, and whoever from them try to evade Our command, We Make him taste the torture of the blazing fire. They (the jinns) make for him (Sulaymaan) what he desires from arches and statues and bassoons as large as reservoirs
and cooking caldrons fixed in place, work sons of Daawood (David) with thanks and few of my servants are grateful. Then when We Decreed his (Sulaymaan) death, nothing
showed them (the jinns) that he (Sulaymaan) died except an earth worm which kept eating his staff, so when he (Sulaymaan) fell down the jinns knew that if they had known the unseen, they would had not tarried in the humiliating torture.
(part 22, Surat Saba’a “Sheba”)

Can the jinns foresee the unknown or foretell the future?. The answer to this question is NO, they can not. ALLAH (SWT) Gave each of His messengers and Prophets the
capability of performing miracles, by His command. ALLAH (SWT) Gave Prophet Sulaymaan (Solomon) the ability to direct the wind, the ability to understand and to talk
to the birds and the ability to control the jinns and make them work for him. By ALLAH’s command, Prophet Sulaymaan forced the jinns to labor for him as slaves. They obeyed his orders and they were afraid of the punishment he might inflict upon them if
they do not. Cited verses 9 depict the kind of tasks the jinns were doing for Prophet Sulaymaan. These verses show that the jinns were extremely humiliated by laboring as
slaves. At one time, the jinns were laboring under the watchful eyes of Prophet Sulaymaan, who was leaning against his staff. At that particular time Prophet Sulaymaan died. His body remained at the same position supported by his staff. The jinns never
knew of Sulaymaan’s death and kept laboring in fear of him. After a period of time, an earth insect started grinding Prophet Sulaymaan’s staff. His body then fell on the ground.
Only then, the jinns knew that Sulaymaan has died, and they went free. Had the jinns been able to foresee the unknown, they would have discovered that Prophet Sulaymaan
had died before his body fell on the ground.
THE JINNS CAN NOT FORESEE THE UNKNOWN OR FORETELL THE
FUTURE.

I hope everything has been made clear.

Alaikum Salaam

[jcecil3]

Greetings!

It was I who snuck a question about Jihn into another post. Thank you for the detailed response about something I asked as an aside. I honestly never saw the word "Jihn" before I saw it in the Qur'an. They aren't mentioned in the Bible. I wasn't sure whether it was an angel, or something else. You clarified your belief.

One more question for clarification: In Huston Smith's "The Religions of Man", he states that Arab tribes prior to Mohammed's life-time believed in Jihn and worshipped them at the Kabaa. Smith is not an Arab, nor a Muslim, so I don't know for sure where he gets this info. To your knowledge, is this true?

Peace and Blessings!

jcecil3

[Lulua]

Assalaamu alaikum ya muslimeen.

Greetings and good day to all.

Jcecil...know that you have directed your question mainly to hasan, since he was the one who printed here his very thorough article about the Jinns...but thought that I would attempt to answer what you have asked.

As tradition and history of the Arabs shows...they did believe in the jinns (many of them) before the advent of Islam.

Actually, to back up one small step...the jinns are part of the world of the unseen. At least, unseen to the human eye. Although sometimes their presence (or previous presence) can be detected by what is remaining, still humans cannot generally see them at all times.

As well as jinns, there is much more to this world that is of the unseen...such as angels and other things as well (future, past, etc.). The belief in this world of the unseen is a basic element of faith and of being a muslim.

Now...to progress again to the mentioning of jinns...and the worship of them. Many people did and still do worship them. Whether they actually pray to them or not...still there is worship of them in the form that they believe in their power to be the greatest of powers. It is because of the element that we cannot see them...yet they can and do actually do many things...that many ppl consider them to be so greatly powerful.

Hope that this helps you a bit to understand how is it that there is worship of the jinns.

Lulua.

[jcecil3]

Thanks Lulua.

For clarification, are you saying that some Muslims still worship Jihn? That would seem contrary to worship of Allah alone. But I'm not sure you meant to even imply that Muslims worship Jihn when you said that some people still worship Jihn.

Peace!

jcecil3

[hassanalmuslim]

Salaam Lulua.

Could you please give some more informations about people worshipping Jinns? I actually never met a human worshipping a Jinn, nor have I ever heard of such people.

For us Muslims it is forbidden to worshipp any other beings than ALLAH (SWT). Who worships Jinns can't be called a muslim.

Wassalaam

[Lulua]

LAST EDITED ON 15-12-01 AT 00:35 AM (GMT)[p]Assalaamu alaikum ya muslimeen.

Greetings and good day to all.

Hasan, and jcecil...I will direct you to please review my previous post...for I mentioned that ppl did and even still do worship jinns...did not mention that muslims do so. Either way...whether the person who is worship jinns (or anything else of creation other than the ONE and only God)...it is a severe and serious sin of 'shirk'(an arabic word meaning the association of partners with Allah).

Now...in my mention of 'ppl worshipping jinns'...I was directing this comment to mean mainly those persons who are not muslims. Altho...granted ... many muslims even delve themselves into this form of sin...whether they realize it or not.

I will give you a case in point. Recently (within perhaps the past 6 months to one year)...the local television channel where I live showed a live interview with a recent revert to Islam. This man is a Philipino...and before his coming into Islam, he was not only a Christian, but also delved into black magic, which in doing so, he used to call upon the jinns to help him to do his work. I don't know his full story on exactly how he got into this particularly, but his story to finding Islam was clear.

He mentioned of how he used these jinns...calling upon them, gathering them in his sight and within his reach, ordering them to do this or that...for ppl who came to him asking him for special favors, either in attracting lovers, or in doing some major or minor damage to those who were their enemies. Naturally, those who would come to this man would pay him money for his services. Now...those jinns would not obey him nor congregate with him unless he did something to their command to give them their full pay...and mainly this would involve some sort of disobedience to Allah, mainly causing strife and problems among ppl. As well, to please these jinns...sometimes they would tell him to bring forth some sort of blood offering (a chicken, rooster, turkey, goat, whatever it is their desire at the moment...to prove his obedience to them). All this in order that they do what he asked them to do.

This was to convince the ppl of his own magic powers...which were actually none...but rather the doings of the jinn..which no one can see...so they thought that this man did truly have magical powers.

Several days in a row...when he had commanded the attendance and gathering of his jinns...then he had the television on...apparently satellite television..and on some Arab stations. At the advent of the adhaan(the call for the prayer)...his collection of the jinns dispersed...and would not return for long periods and after much trying on this man's part.

This happened 3 or 4 times. After so many times of the same occurance, he took it upon himself to search out the Islamic center in his region...and asked there about the relation of jinns and the sound of the adhaan (call for the prayer)...asking if the call for the prayer would cause their dispersing. He was told that yes...the call for the prayer would cause them to leave the area. (this was because those jinns were not muslim jinns, and so disliked the call for the prayer).

That got him started to ask more about the religion of Islam, and about jinns...and he finally came around to asking if there was truly something more powerful than the jinns. When he found out that almighty God was truly more powerful than the jinns...that was the turning point for him, and he became a muslim on the spot, and from that moment ceased in calling the jinns to his aid...and of course ceased his delvings into magic and other forms of forbidden and bad things.

I relayed this story (a true story)...to help make clear how is it that one can and does worship the jinns...calling upon them for help of any kind...whether it is for good or for bad. This is something that sadly I see many muslims delving into...thinking wrongly that the jinns can sometimes help them. Sometimes I have witnessed also arabic speaking ppl using an old phrase which is apparently something traditional to some regions...upon getting angry with someone...to say something like 'may the jinn take you away'...or something similar. This, too...is a form of shirk...or associating partners with Allah. It is, in fact, a form of jinn-worship...whether one realizes it or not.

This is why that muslims should be so ever careful and wary of worshipping anything...whether they realize it or not and whether they intend it or not. We should take the example of our prophet Mohammed (SAAW) and ask Allah's refuge from intentionally and non-intentionally worshipping others along with Him.

Hope this serves to clear up even slightly...in my first post...did not actually mention muslims...for in Islam...there is no worship of anything but Allah. But...sometimes ppl do so without realizing or intending...or perhaps thinking wrongly that what they are doing is not important. But...as in the case of the man I mentioned...he was obviously and intentionally worshipping them...to get from them what he wanted. He was thinking that the jinns...because of their invisible nature in this world...that they are the strongest thing...did not realize that there is something more powerful. When he realized his mistake...he immediately corrected it.

Lulua.