The Jinn

Demonic Possession

 Jinns are also able to travel over vast distances instantaneously and enter objects as well as human bodies prepared for their entry. Allaah has seen fit to give them these extraordinary abilities, as He has given other creatures abilities beyond those of man. Yet, He has chosen man to be above all of creation. If these basic facts about the Jinn’s abilities are kept in mind, all of the supernatural and magical incidents which are not hoaxes can be easily explained. For example, in the cases of “haunted” houses, where lights go on and off, pictures fall from the walls, objects fly through the air, floors creak, etc., the Jinns are acting on material objects while remaining in their invisible form. This is also true in the case of seances where the spirits of dead people seemingly communicate with the living. People who know the voices of their dead relatives, hear them speak to them of incidents from their lives. This feat is accomplished by the medium summoning the Jinn which was assigned to the dead person.

It is this Jinn which imitates the dead person’s voice and relates incidents from the person’s past. Similarly in the case of the ouija board which appears to answer questions. The invisible prodding of the Jinn can easily cause amazing results if the proper atmosphere is set. In the case of those who appear to be able to levitate or raise objects without touching them, they are simply lifted up into the air by the invisible hand of the Jinn.

Those able to travel vast distances and be in two places at almost the same time are transported by their invisible companions or the Jinn may even become visible in their form. Likewise, those like Sai Baba who are able to produce food or money from the air are aided by the invisible and fast moving Jinn.Even the most amazing cases of apparent reincarnation like that of a seven year old girl in India by the name of Shanti Devi who related instances from her previous life in vivid and accurate detail. She described her former home in the town of Muttra which was in a province far away from where she lived. When people went there to check, the local people confirmed that such a house had once stood where she described. They also confirmed some of the details of her former life.This information was put into her subconscious mind by the Jinn. The Prophet (pbuh) confirmed this phenomena when he said, “Verily the dreams which a man sees in his sleep are of three types: A dream from ar-Rahmaan (Allaah), a sad dream from Satan and subconscious dreams.”

The Jinn can also enter the human body as it enters the mind. Cases of possession are too numerous to count. It may be temporary as in the case of many Christian and pagan sects where people work themselves into a physical and spiritual frenzy, fall into a state of unconsciousness and begin to speak in foreign tongues. In that weakened state the Jinn may easily enter their bodies and cackle on their lips. This phenomena has also been recorded by some Sufiorders during their Thikrsessions. Or, it may be a long term phenomenon wherein major personality changes take place. The possessed often act irrationally, exhibit superhuman strength or the Jinn may actually talk through them on a regular basis.

Exorcismbecame a widespread practice in Europe during the middle ages. The Christian practice of exorcism is based on numerous accounts of Jesus exorcising possessed people related in the Gospels. In one account Jesus and his companions came to Gerasenes and met a man possessed. When Jesus commanded the demons to leave him, they left him and entered a herd of swine which was feeding on a nearby hillside. The herd then rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

It has also become the topic of a number of films produced in the late seventies and eighties (e.g. “The Exorcist”, “Rosemary’s Baby”, etc.). The general attitude of the materialist West is the rejection of everything supernatural. Thus, to Westerners, exorcism has no rational basis and is looked at as a result of superstition. This attitude is a reaction to the wide scale which hunts and burnings which took place in Europe during the Dark and Middle ages. However, in Islaam the practice of exorcism is recognized as a valid means of treating genuine cases of possession and other ailments resulting from it, if the method conforms to the Qur’aan and the Sunnah.

There are essentially three methods of removing the Jinn from a possessed person:

1. The possessing Jinn may be removed by summoning another more powerful Jinn. This method is forbidden in Islaam because calling the Jinn often involves acts of sacrilege. The tenets of Islaam are likely to be desecrated for the Jinn to be beckoned. This is the case where a magician or witch breaks a spell cast by another.

2. The Jinn may be removed by confirming the symbols of idolatry in its presence. When the Jinn is satisfied by the idolatrous acts of the exorcist it may also leave. In doing so, he assures the exorcist that his method and beliefs are correct. This is the case of Christian priests who exorcise the Jinn by calling on Jesus and by using the cross, as well as that of pagan high priests who exorcise in the name of their false deities.

3. The Jinn may also be expelled by using Qur’anic recitation and prayers seeking refuge in Allaah. These divine words and formulas help to change the atmosphere around the possessed. However, these practises by themselves are useless unless the one doing them has firm Eemaan (faith) and a good contact with Allaah based on righteous deeds.

Although some Muslims today under Western secular influence openly deny possession and others even go so far as to deny the existence of the Jinn, both the Qur’aan and the Sunnah say otherwise. There are a number of authentic traditions in which the Prophet (pbuh) is recorded as having exorcised people. There are, as well, traditions of his companions doing the same with his approval. Ya‘laa ibn Marrah said, “Once I went travelling with the Prophet (pbuh) and we came across a woman sitting with her child in the road. She said, ‘Oh messenger of Allaah, this boy has been afflicted and has caused us many trials. I don’t know how many times per day he is seized by spells!’ The Prophet (pbuh) said, ‘Give him to me.’ So she raised him up to him and the Prophet (pbuh) put the boy in front of him in the middle of his saddle. Then he opened the boy’s mouth, blew90 in it thrice and said, ‘Bismillaah (in the name of Allaah)! I am a slave of Allaah, so get away, oh enemy of Allaah!’ Then he returned the boy to the woman, and said, ‘Meet us here on our return and tell us what happened.’ Then we went and on our return we found her at the place. She had with her three sheep so the Prophet (pbuh) asked, ‘How is your boy?’ She replied, ‘By the One who has sent you with the truth, we haven’t noticed anything wrong with him since then, so I’ve brought you these sheep.’ The Prophet (pbuh) said to me, ‘Dismount and take one. Then return the rest to her.’"

Khaarijah ibn as-Salt reported that his uncle said, “Once, when we left Allaah’s messenger’s company, we came across a bedouin tribe. Some of them said, ‘We have been told that you have come with some good things from that man (i.e.Prophet Muhammad). Do you have any medicine or incantation for a man possessed?’ We answered yes, so they brought a madman bound in a spell. I recited the Faatihah over him every morning and evening for three days. Every time I completed the recitation, I would gather my saliva and spit. Finally he got up as if he broke free from being tied in bonds. The Bedouins then brought me a gift as payment, so I said to them, ‘I can’t accept in until I ask Allaah’s messenger.’ When I asked the Prophet, he said, ‘Take it. For, by my life, whoever eats by way of false incantations will bear the burden of his sin. But you have earned that wage with an incantation of truth.” ’

Knowledge of the world of the jinn protects humans from falling into their traps. It provides the believers with a firm basis for understanding ‘supernatural’ events which may occur in their world, without resorting to beliefs and acts of shirk (idolatry).