Boreal
Getting to Know Allah
Allah and the Jinn
Of
all the inhabitants of the Koran, jinns (Allah refers to them collectively as
the jinn) are the most fascinating. They are the most versatile and
mischievous of creatures. They even have a chapter named after them, Surah 72:
The Jinn. Pre-Islamic Arabs believed in the existence of the jinn, which may
explain their significant presence in the Book. The jinn are said to be spirits
that inhabit another dimension. The caricature of the genie is undoubtedly based
on this creature of the Koran. God does not share power with the jinn, or humans
for that matter.
6:100 They set up the jinn as Allah’s partners, although He created them; and they falsely ascribe to Him sons and daughters without any knowledge. Glory be to Him, and highly exalted is He above what they ascribe to Him!
Allah created the jinn from fire before he created man who, in one version of Adam's creation (see Shared Prophets: "Adam," Boreal Books for the six accounts of Adam’s creation), was moulded out of clay and slime.
15:26 And We have created man from potter’s clay, moulded out of slime.
15:27 And the jinn We created before that from blazing fire. Bad jinn can be persuaded to do good if given the proper incentive.
Some less than cooperative jinn, with a little prodding from Allah, helped Solomon build the first temple.
34:12 And We subjected the wind to Solomon, blowing in the morning the space of a month and in the evening the space of a month; and We smelted for him the fount of brass. Of the jinn some worked before him, by the Leave of his Lord, and whoever of them swerved from Our Command, We shall make him taste the punishment of the blazing Fire.
34:13 To fashion for him whatever he wished of palaces, statues, basins like water-troughs and immovable cooking-pots. “Work thankfully, O David’s House; for few of My servants are truly thankful.”
(See Shared Prophets: "Solomon," Boreal Books for much more about Solomon, including his encounter with the Queen of Sheba).
Some people, at one time, worshipped the jinn instead of Allah, who was under the impression that they had worshipped His angels. On Judgement Day, the angels will set Him straight.
34:40 On the Day that He will muster them, then say to the angels: “Are those the ones who used to worship you?”
34:41 They will say: “Glory be to You; You are our protector, apart from them.” No, rather, they used to worship the jinn, most of them believing in them.
34:42 Today, none of them has the power to profit or harm the other, and We will say to the wrongdoer: “Taste the punishment of the Fire which you used to question.”
There is no relationship between Allah and the jinn, no matter what they allege; they, too, “will be summoned” on Judgement Day.
37:158 And they alleged a kinship between Him and the jinn, whereas the jinn know very well that they will be summoned.
37:159 May Allah be exalted above their allegation.
37:160 Except for Allah’s sincere servants.
37:161 Surely, neither you nor what you worship, 37:162 Against Him can ever turn anyone;
37:163 Except he who will be roasting in Hell.
Men and jinn were created by Allah to worship Him, not to feed Him. He will feed the wrongdoers; just don’t rush Him.
51:56 I have not created the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.
51:57 I do not desire provision from them, and I do not want them to feed Me.
51:58 Surely, Allah is the All-Provider, the Mighty One, the Strong.
51:59 The wrongdoers will have a portion like the portions of their fellows; so let them not rush Me. 51:60 Woe unto the unbelievers on that Day which they have been promised.
How the Jinn Heard About the Koran etc.
The jinn had no knowledge of the Koran, despite having eavesdropped on conversations between God and his angels for possibly eons. A group of jinn did, however, become Muslim after hearing Muhammad recite verses from the Book.
THE JINN 72
Al-Jinn
In the Name of Allah,
the Compassionate, the Merciful
72:1 Say: “It was revealed to me that a company of jinn listened; then they said: ‘We have indeed heard a wonderful Qur’an;
72:2 ‘“It guides to rectitude; so we believed in it, and we shall never associate anyone with our Lord;
The verses heard by these jinn, judging by their response, were probably about Allah denouncing those who would say He shares power with a partner or has a son.
72:3 ‘“And that He, may our Lord’s majesty be exalted, has not taken a consort or a son;
The jinn who happened upon Muhammad reciting verses from the Koran now knew that jinn and men were liars who told falsehoods about Allah.
72:4 ‘“And that our fools used to speak impertinently of Allah;
72:5 ‘“And that we thought that neither mankind nor the jinn will impute to Allah any falsehood;
***
From the hadiths we get additional information about this fortuitous stealth encounter.
Narrated Ibn Abbas:
The Prophet set out with the intention of going to Suq Ukaz (market of Ukaz) along with some of his companions. At the same time, a barrier was put between the devils and the news of heaven. Fire commenced to be thrown at them.
The Devils went to their people, who asked them, "What is wrong with you?"
They said, "A barrier has been placed between us and the news of heaven. And fire has been thrown at us."
They said, "The thing which has put a barrier between you and the news of heaven must be something which has happened recently. Go eastward and westward and see what has put a barrier between you and the news of heaven."
Those who went towards Tuhama came across the Prophet at a place called Nakhla and it was on the way to Suq 'Ukaz and the Prophet was offering the Fajr prayer with his companions. When they heard the Qur'an they listened to it and said, "By Allah, this is the thing which has put a barrier between us and the news of heaven."
They went to their people and said, "O our people; verily we have heard a wonderful recital (Qur'an) which shows the true path; we believed in it and would not ascribe partners to our Lord."
Allah revealed the following verses to his Prophet (Sura Jinn 72) Say: "It has been revealed to me." And what was revealed to him was the conversation of the jinn.
Bukhari 12.740
A tattletale tree informed Muhammad of the jinn's presence.
Narrated Abdur-Rahman:
I asked Masruq, "Who informed the Prophet about the Jinns at the night when they heard the Qur'an?"
He said, "Your father Abdullah informed me that a tree informed the Prophet about them."
Bukhari 58.199
***
Some humans sought refuge with the jinn.
72:6 ‘“And that some individual humans used to seek refuge with some men of the jinn, and so they increased them in perversion;
The jinn, like Muhammad, once thought that Allah could not raise the dead.
72:7 ‘“And that they thought, as you thought, that Allah will not raise anybody from the dead;
The jinn admitted to eavesdropping on Paradise in spite of it being heavily guarded.
72:8 ‘“And that we reached out to heaven, but we found it filled with mighty guards and comets;
72:9 ‘“And that we used to sit around it eavesdropping; but whoever listens now will find a comet in wait for him;
Just like they were clueless about the Koran after listening in on Allah’s conversations with his angels for who knows how long, the jinn confessed to also not knowing His plans for the people on Earth.
72:10 ‘“And that we do not know whether ill was intended for whoever is on earth, or whether their Lord intended rectitude for them;
Not all the jinn became Muslims after hearing “the Guidance” (Revelation 72:14).
72:11 ‘“And that some of us are righteous and some are less than that for we were of diverse persuasions;
72:12 ‘“And that we knew that we will not thwart Allah on earth, and that we will not thwart Him by flight;
72:13 ‘“And that when we heard the Guidance, we believed in it; for he who believes in his Lord need not fear to be stinted or over-burdened;
72:14 “And that some us are submitting and some are diverging.’ Those who have submitted have surely sought rectitude.”
Just like the humans who do not submit, bad jinn are Hell’s firewood. They may have been created “from blazing fire” but that does not mean they cannot be burnt over and over.
72:15 But those who have diverged, have been firewood for Hell;
72:16 And that had they followed the Right Path, We would have given them abundant water to drink;
72:17 So as to test them thereby. He who refrains from the mention of His Lord, He will afflict him with terrible punishment;
72:18 And that mosques are Allah’s; so do not call, besides Allah, upon anyone else;
(See Chapter "Prayers" for the remaining revelations in this series.)
Jinn and Men Together on Judgement Day
6:128 And on the Day when He shall gather them all together [saying]: “O, company of jinn, you have misled a great many men.” Their supporters among men will say: “Lord, we have profited much from each other and we have attained the term that you assigned for us.” Then He will say: “The Fire is your resting-place, abiding therein forever, except as Allah wills. Your Lord is truly Wise, All-Knowing.”
6:129 And thus We cause some of the evildoers to dominate the others, because of what they used to do (the evil they committed).
Jinn had their own messengers.
6:130 O company of jinn and men, did there not come Messengers from among yourselves to you, reciting to you My Revelations and warning you of seeing this Day of yours (Judgement Day)? They will say: “We bear witness against ourselves.” They were deluded by the earthly life and will bear witness against themselves that they were unbelievers.
6:131 That is because your Lord would not destroy cities on account of their people’s wrongdoing without warning them (by sending a Messenger to them).
Orderly processing of jinn and men will be the order of the Day.
6:132 And to all are assigned ranks according to what they have done; and your Lord is not unaware of what they do.
The promise made by the “All-Sufficient, the Merciful”—that He may or may not destroy you—might only apply to humans, unless the jinn also reproduce the same way as humans, about which the Koran is silent.
6:133 Your Lord is the All-Sufficient, the Merciful. If He wishes, He will destroy you and bring out after you, as successors, whomever he wishes, as He had produced you from the seed of another people.
6:134 Indeed, whatever you are promised will surely come to pass, and you are not able to escape [it].
Considering the importance of the jinn in the Koran, it is surprising that belief in this creature is not one of the Pillars of Faith[31] in which a Muslim must believe.
1) Belief in God;
2) Belief in the Angels;
3) Belief in the revealed Books of the Prophet;
4) Belief in God’s many prophets;
5) Belief in a Last Day;
6) Belief in the divine measurement of human affairs;
7) Belief in a life after death.
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[31] Not to be confused with the Five Pillars of Islam, which are not beliefs but mandatory activities: 1. Shahadah, declaring allegiance to God. 2. Salat, daily prayers. 3. Zakat, annual charity. 4. Saum, month-long fasting. 5. The Hajj.