AAN London Film Premiere (1952)

JINN OF THE UNSEEN WORLD - PART 2

From the Desk of a layman, Nasir Ali: 

JINN OF THE UNSEEN WORLD - PART 2

“And I (Allah) created not the jinn and humans except they should worship Me (Alone)." (51:56)

Like humans, the Jinn are created with fitra, the state of purity and innocence, i.e. neither born as believers nor as unbelievers.  They are endowed with free will like us, with the power of discrimination to choose between right and wrong, true and false,  and good and bad.  Having been exposed to the revelations on commands and prohibitions, both Jinn and humans are subject to rewards or punishments on the Day of Judgment in keeping with their deeds. 

But does Allah (swt) need the Jinn and Humans to worship Him?  

The answer is a resounding No!  

"O mankind! It is you who stand in need of Allah, but Allah is Rich [Free of all wants and needs], Worthy of all praise"….Surah Fatir 35:15.  

It is confirmed in a Hadith-Qudsi that Allah says:  “O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as pious as the most pious heart of any one man of you, that would not increase My kingdom in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any one man of you, that would not decrease My kingdom in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to rise up in one place and make a request of Me, and were I to give everyone what he requested, that would not decrease what I have, any more than a needle decreases the sea if put into it. O My servants, it is but your deeds that I reckon up for you and then recompense you for, so let him who finds good praise Allah and let him who finds other than that blame no one but himself. [It was related by Muslim (also by at-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah)].  

The Holy Qur’an tells us: “No soul will be questioned about what another soul has done…” (Chapter 17, Verse 15).  To conclude, Allah created Jinn and human beings and He created the heavens and the earth, so that Allah would be known, worshipped Alone, and obeyed. 

While Iblis disobeyed Allah willfully with the full understanding of the consequences, Adam (a.s.) and Hawwa (Eve) did so through simple forgetfulness and heedlessness and were intensely sorry, humbly repenting and beseeching Allah for forgiveness.    Then Adam received from his Lord words (of revelation), and He relented toward him. Lo! He is the relenting, the Merciful. (2:37)   Adam (a.s.) Eve and Iblis all disobeyed Allah’s (swt) command, but their reactions were different on being made aware of the sin.    Adam (a.s.) and Eve acknowledged that they had wronged themselves, and humbly asked for forgiveness and mercy, while Ibis, swollen with pride, refused to even acknowledge that he had done any wrong. He neither sought forgiveness nor repentance and mercy and was thus cursed Iblis and banished and disgraced. 

Jinn like humans belong to different sects and different cults. In the Qur’anic chapter entitled “al-Jinn,” the jinn themselves admit they follow different paths:  “And some of us are righteous, and some of us are otherwise; we are sects differing” (Qur’an 72:11).  “And some of us have surrendered, and some of us have deviated” (Qur’an 72:14).  The jinn are of different ranks in terms of piety or impiety.  Jinn who are on the righteous path, having submitted themselves to Allah, perform their religious duties very well, namely, prayers, fasting during the month of Ramadan, alms-giving and Hajj and Umra.  However, while performing these duties they are generally invisible to human beings.  The evil Jinn are called Shayateen, or devils. They have gone away from the straight path and are unjust and therefore, are the Jinn who are the fuel for hellfire.  Some are heedless; others are disbelievers. The devils among the Jinn have chosen disbelief, idolatry, and disobedience of Allah.  They are the followers of their Chief, Satan or Iblis, who rebelled against Allah by not obeying His command to prostrate before Adam.  Hafiz Ibn Hajr has alluded in his Fath al-Bari that disbelieving Jinn are shaitans, meaning that when the word shaitan is used it means an evil disbelieving jinn. [Fath al-Bari [6:344] and [8:675].    Most scholars such as ar-Razi and Alusi accept that unbelieving Jinn are called devils.  They work mischief and corruption on earth and lure and seduce humans to evil.

In a hadith, transmitted in Imam Muslim’s Sahih from the Hadith narrated by Jabir Ibn ‘Abdullah as said by the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wasallam): “Iblis places his throne upon water; he then sends detachments (for creating dissension); the nearer to him in rank are those who are most notorious in creating dissensions. One of them comes and says: “I did so and so.” And he says: “You have done nothing.” Then one amongst them comes and says: “I did not spare so and so until I sowed the seed of discord between a husband and a wife.” Satan goes near him and says: “You have done well.” Al-A’mash said: “He then embraces him.”  [Sahih Muslim: Book 039 'Kitab Sifat Al-Qiyamah wa'l Janna wa'n-Nar', Number 6755]  

Al-'Ayni said in Sharh Al-Bukhari, “Mujaahid narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas, 'It was reported to us that Iblees has many children but that he relies on five of them: Shabr, Al-A'war, Miswat, Daasim, and Zalanboor…”  “Iblees (Satan) laid five eggs: Zalanboor, Daasim, Thabr, Miswat, and Al-A'war.  Al-A'war is responsible for Zina (fornication or adultery; He beautifies it and entices people to commit it); Thabr is responsible for calamities (He orders people to rip their clothes, slap their cheeks, and make the call of ignorance when stricken by calamity); Miswat is responsible for lies, which he casts people's mouths while they do not know its source); Daasim enters people’s homes: if a person entered his home and did not say 'Salaam', then he enters with him, and if he ate and did not mention the name of Allah (i.e. say Bismillaah), then he eats with him, and he shows him the items in the house that he cannot find (of which he does not know where they are).  As regards Zalanboor, he is the devil of the markets, he sticks his flag in every market between the heaven and the earth.” (Ibn  Abi  al-Dunya  in Maka’ d al-Shayatin,  54 /35)  

As we understand from the Qur’an:  2:18. Deaf, dumb and blind, and they return not.   Allah (swt) knows that they are unlikely to return to the right path.   So even though the Jinn are created from fire, the wrongdoer amongst them will also be thrown into hellfire.   The term "Shaitan" is also used for those disbelieving human beings who have the evil nature of Shaitan and who are active in spreading Fitna and corruption on earth and fighting righteousness.  Therefore we read in Surah 7, Verse 179:  Already have We urged unto hell many of the jinn and humankind, having hearts wherewith they understand not, and having eyes wherewith they see not, and having ears wherewith they hear not. These are like the cattle - nay, but they are worse! These are the neglectful.   They disbelieve in the clear tokens. 

Some people think that jinn will be tormented with the punishment of ice.  We find a reference in Quran in Surah Saad: Here is a boiling and an ice-cold draught, so let them taste it, And other (torment) of the kind in pairs (the two extremes)! [38:57-58].  Extreme cold is called Zamhareer which is a kind of torture, while Hellfire is the abode of torture.  This is proved from a Muttafiq ‘Alay hadith narrated by Abu Huraira.  Sayyiduna Ibn ‘Abbas says: “The inmates of Jahannam will ask to be rescued from the excruciating heat of Jahannam. An icy cold wind will be blown upon them, which will cause their bones to ache after which they will beg for heat again.” (Latā’if al-Ma`ārif) Ibn Abi ad-Dunya narrated from al-‘Amash on the authority of Mujahid who said: Indeed in the fire is a Zamhareer! When people boil from the heat of the fire, they flee towards Zamhareer, when they enter upon it (Zamhareer), the cracking of their bones can be heard. 

 Qabil (Cain) was one of mankind, but Allah wrote him down among the wretched. He was the first of the wretched among mankind, and Iblis was the first of the wretched among the jinn. The majority of the punishment of the shaytans of the jinn in Hellfire is by severe cold, not by heat, although they may be punished with fire. Most of the punishment of the descendants of Adam is through fire.

Many other Islamic scholars have written about the Cold Jahannam and Hellfire and their so many levels and the kinds of food and drinks, but for brevity’s sake all that cannot be mentioned here.   

Fire will burn the Jinn just as it will burn humans in it.  And Allāh Glory be to Him is able to do all things.  It needs to be clarified here that the words Fire and Clay should not be taken literally but in the sense of nature of things or ‘Asal’.  For example, it is well-known that when the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wasallam) was on his heavenly ascendance (Meraj) along with Gabriel, an Afreet (a malignant devil) came with a flaming torch and the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wasallam) could see him all around him. At that time Angel Gabriel told him that he could teach him (s) some Quranic verses that could dampen the torch and would make the Afreet disappear.  It thus becomes clear that if the devils were made of fire, why would they need a flaming torch to frighten the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wasallam).  

It is also related by Al-Nasa’i in conformity with the authentic condition of Al-Bukhari on the authority of `Aisha ®: While the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wasallam) was performing prayer, Satan came to him. The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wasallam) took him and strangled him, and said: “I did so till I felt the coldness of his tongue on my hand and had it not been for the invocation of my brother Sulaiman, he would have been bound until people would see him.” [Related by Ahmad and Abu Dawud on the authority of Abu Sa`id with the wording: I kept strangling him with my hand until I felt his saliva between my two fingers: the thumb and the index.]  Abu Huraira ® reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying: A highly wicked one amongst the Jinn escaped yesternight to interrupt my prayer, but Allah gave me power over him, so I seized him and intended to tie him to one of the pillars of the mosque in order that you, all together or all, might look at him, but I remembered the supplication of my brother Sulaiman: "My Lord, forgive me, give me such a kingdom as will not be possible for anyone after me" (Qur'an, xxxvii. 35). {Sahih Muslim Book 4 Chapter 52 Hadith 1104} & {Muslim Book 5 Hadith 49}.  Also, it is related by the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wasallam) that devil runs through the veins of human beings. If the devils were made of fire, the vein would burn.  

The above examples prove that per se the Jinn or devils are not fire. Then, though human beings are created out of clay it is possible to give punishments with the clay itself.  Also, human beings are created from water but it is possible to give punishment by means of water.  Likewise, the Jinn who are created from the fire of scorching wind are not fire now, as we already noted above.  Therefore, Allah says:   “I will fill Hell with Jinn and men all together" (32:13).  The Ulema are agreed that we should not take the literal meaning unless it is supported by evidence.  The best thing to say is that Allah is capable of doing anything.

O Allah, we seek Your refuge from the torment of Jahannam, from its Zamhareer (coldness) as well as Haruur (heat). Ameen.

Continued in Part 3

NASIR ALI.