JINN OF THE UNSEEN WORLD - EXPLORING SOME BASICS, PART 6.

From the Desk of Layman, Nasir Ali:

JINN OF THE UNSEEN WORLD, EXPLORING SOME BASICS, PART 6:

As we noted before, Abu Tha`labah al-Khushni says that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says: “The jinn are of three types: a type that has wings and they fly through the air; a type that looks like snakes and dogs; and a type that stops for a rest then resumes its journey.” (Reported by At-Tahawi in Mushkil Al-’Athar).

Let us now dwell on one aspect where Jinn were snakes:

JINN AS SNAKES:

Serpents are the animals most associated with Jinn. In Islamic tradition, many narratives concern a serpent who was actually a jinni. The term Jann refers to both a snake and a jinni. The Holy Qur’an uses the same word variously translated as snake and Jinn, according to context:

The connection between Jinn and serpents is strong enough, that those who believe in Jinn fear killing a serpent since a jinni might avenge the murder.  Also, some sources speak of killed jinni leaving a carcass similar to either a serpent or a scorpion behind. Both scorpions and serpents have been venerated in the ancient Near East. Additionally,  serpents and other chthonic animals such as scorpions and lizards are regarded as usual forms of Jinn.

According to one early Islamic tradition Jinn can take the forms of snakes and show up in front of humans. It is for this reason that the Prophet (Sallallaahu ‘Alayhi Wasallam) has forbidden the killing of the snakes discovered in the houses, out of concern that they might be Jinn that have embraced Islam. It is recorded in Sahih Muslim on the authority of Abu Saeed al-Khudri ® that the Prophet (Sallallaahu ‘Alayhi Wasallam) said, “A group of Jinn in Madinah has embraced Islam. So he who sees any one of them should warn it three times. And if it still appears after that, it should be killed, for it must be a devil (evil jinni).”

Imam Nawawi said: What this means is that if they do not disappear after being warned, then they are not the kind of creatures that inhabit houses and they are not among the Jinn who have become Muslims, rather they are devils so there is no sin on you if you kill them and Allah will never give the Shaytaan a way to prevail over you by taking revenge, unlike the creatures (snakes) and Jinn who have become Muslims. And Allah knows best. [Sharh Muslim]

Muslim has recorded it in his Sahih that Abu al-Saib ® went to Abu Saeed’s ® house and found him praying.  Abu al-Saib was waiting for him to finish his prayer when he heard some rumbling in the bundles of wood that were lying in the corner of the house. He looked and he found it was a snake. He was about to kill it when Abu Sa’eed ® gestured to him to sit down. After the prayer, Abu Sa’eed ® pointed to a room and he said, “Do you see this room? “Yes,” answered al-Saib ®.

Abu Sa’eed ® said: “There was once a man who was newly-wed and we

had gone to participate with Nabi (Sal Allahu ‘Alayhi Wasallam) in the Battle of the Trench. He used to ask the Prophet’s permission to go to his wife and the Prophet (Sal Allaahu ‘Alayhi Wasallam) cautioned him to take along his weapons for he feared [an attack from behind by] the Quraidha tribe. The man took his weapons and when he returned to his family he found his wife standing between the doors of the apartment. He was enraged by jealousy and took a stab at her with his spear. She told him to keep his spear away and to enter the house to see what had made her go outside. He entered and found a big snake on the bed. He struck it with his spear and pierced it. He was bent upon taking it outside, but the snake had enough strength to bite him. No one knows who died first from that incident, the snake or the man. The people made a mention of this incident to Nabi (Sallallahu ‘Alayhi Wasallam) asking him to ask Allah to bring that man back to life. Instead, the Prophet (Sallallahu ‘Alayhi Wasallam) said, “Ask forgiveness for our companion. Prophet (Sallallahu ‘Alayhi Wasallam) said, ‘Verily in Madinah, there are Jinn who have accepted Islam,  So if you see any of them, ask them to leave over a period of three days, but if one appears after that, kill it for verily it is a devil.’  In another narration collected by Imam Muslim, the Prophet (Sallallahu ‘Alayhi Wasallam) is reported to have said, ‘Verily these houses have snakes, so if you see any of them, ask it to leave three times. If it leaves, fine, otherwise kill it, for surely it is a disbeliever.’ Then he said, ‘Go and bury your comrade.’ ”

There is one type of snake that is found in the house which we have been given special permission to kill without first requesting it to leave. In Sahih Bukhari, it is recorded from Abu Lubaba that the Prophet (Sallallahu ‘Alayhi Wasallam) said, “Do not kill the Jinn, except every one with two streaks on the back, for they cause miscarriages and take away the eyesight. Therefore, kill them.”

Islamic scholars explain:  The snake mentioned in the hadith is a poisonous one. When it bites a human being, its poison causes blindness and abortion.  The fright and horror one experiences and the effect of the evil eye of this snake while gazing affects human beings so severely that it causes blindness and abortion. Prophet Muhammad (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wasallam) NEVER said to keep poisonous snakes for three days! 

Aisha(R) narrated: The Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, “Five animals are harmful and are lawful to kill while in a state of pilgrimage or otherwise: a snake, a speckled crow, a rat, a biting dog, and a kite.”  (Sahih Muslim)

As is evident in the hadith of Abu Huraira, (may Allah be pleased with him), where he said: "The Messenger of Allah (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wasallam) said: Kill the two black

things while in prayer: the snake and scorpion." (Sunan Abu Dawood, number 921, and Sahih Sunan Abu Dawood 814.)

AISHA ® KILLS A JINN BY MISTAKE:

Aisha ® the wife of the Holy Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wasallam), found a snake in her house and had it killed.  When she fell asleep she was informed in a dream: “You have killed Abdullah the Muslim.”

She replied, “Had he been a Muslim he wouldn’t have been sneaking and peeping at the wives of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wasallam).

“He wouldn’t have looked until you put on your clothes.  He was there only to listen to the recital of the Qur’an.  He was one of those who had listened to the recital of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wasallam).

She ordered twelve thousand dinars be distributed to the poor.  She also had someone sent to Yemen to purchase forty slaves on her behalf and freed them.

It may be noted that such “Blood Money” or compensation is one way of a settlement that obviates the need for a prolonged court proceeding.

This tradition has also been cited in detail by historian and Muhhadith Imam Adh-Dhahabi, in his Siyar A’lam al-Nubala (The Lives of Noble Figures).   

AMRAH BINT ABDUR-RAHMAN (R) & THE SNAKE:

Born during the era of the third Caliph 'Uthman ibn Affan around 29 AH, Amrah bint Abdur-Rahman was brought in the household of Lady A'ishah (Mother of the Believers) from whom she learned the Prophetic Hadith and fiqh and became one of the greatest scholars of all time.  Amrah bint Abdul Rahman belonged to the Tabi’een generation. A party of men went to offer their condolences to her.  As the party was sitting, they heard a stunning noise.  It all happened very quickly.  A gigantic black snake, like a tree trunk, had fallen near Amrah.  She fainted.  It was now a Jew moving towards her.  Suddenly, a white leaf came down from the ceiling. On it was written: Stay away from the daughters of virtuous and useful people.  When he looked at the message he kept rising in the air till he left the house, in the same way as he had come.  (Shibli:117)   

'AMR AL-JINNI:

The tale of ‘Amr al-Jinnī, may God have mercy on him, is a well-known one: he died in the form of a snake in a whirlwind that was seen and it dispersed over him as he lay dying. It was not long before he died. He was a jinni and a righteous servant. 

‘AMR IBN AL-JUMANA:

The death of ‘Amr ibn al-Jumana from Nusaybeen in a snake duel against the Christian jinni named Muhassan ibn Jawshan was attested by the Holy Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wasallam) himself.  The snake was buried by one Hatib ibn Balta’a who was on his way to seeing Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wasallam) when he saw the fight.  Incidentally, while revealing the identity of the dead jinni, Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wasallam) said he had seen Nusaybeen as it was raised to him by Archangel Gabriel to let him see it, upon which he prayed to God Almighty to bless its river, to make its water pure, bless its plants, and bless it with abundant rainfalls.  

 DEATH OF AN UNKNOWN JINNI:

According to Ibn Abil Donya, a man entered the sitting room of Caliph Othman ibn ‘Affan and sought permission to recount an amazing feat he had witnessed.  According to that man, he was in an arid area when he saw two giant snakes coming towards each other and engaging in a fight, then disengaging.  When they left, the man went to the place where the snakes had been fighting each other. He found the soil littered with as many snakes as he had never seen before.  Some of them were exuding a smell of musk.  In their midst, he found a dead but very beautiful snake with very refined features.  The man bent over the dead snake for a closer look and then went about searching left and right among the dead snakes to see if there were more like it, but there was none as beautiful.  Deducing that it was special and that there was something good about it, he took off his bonnet, wrapped the snake in it, and buried it.  As he was leaving the place, he heard someone invisible calling out to him,

“O Abdullah, what is it that you have done?” 

The man told the invisible caller what he had seen and done. 

“You have done the right thing,” said the invisible caller.  “Those were two snake-like parties of jinnis from the tribes of Bani Shaysan and Bani Qays.  They met and killed each other.  Among them was the martyr you have just buried.  He was one of those who had listened to the Divine inspiration of the Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wasallam)”.

Besides Ibn Abil Donya, the above story is also mentioned by the historian al-Tabari.

TRIAL OF SHAH WALIULLAH:

According to a popular belief in India, Shah Waliullah once killed a jinn that had approached him in the form of a snake. Shah Waliullah was taken to the court of the jinn and was in the process of being sentenced when an ancient Muslim jinni – a ‘jinni companion’ of the Prophet and convert to Islam more than a millennium earlier – intervened in the proceeding. This jinn said that he had heard the Prophet himself declare that if anyone takes the form of another creature and is killed, then the killing is forgiven, blood money need not be paid and the killer cannot be punished.

The Story of 'Umar ibn Abdul Aziz and the Snake:

While walking in a desert, the pious Umayyad caliph, 'Umar ibn Abdul Aziz (R), found a dead snake.  He covered it in a scrap of cloth for burial.  This snake was actually a jinn who like 'Amr was among the early accepters of Islam. As stated by al-Damiri, when 'Umar had completed the burial, he heard a voice (of an invisible jinn) telling him that the one who had perished was named Sariq. It also informed him that when Sariq was alive, Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wasallam) had told Sariq: ‘You will die in a waterless land and a devout man will shroud you and bury you.’ The speaker said out of the nine Jinn, he and Sariq had been the last two who had survived.  This meant that the voice belonged to 'Amr ibn Jabir al-Jinni.

DEATH OF THE LAST JINN:

The last of the party of Jinn who had listened to the Qur’an is said to have died on the hands of one ‘Ali Abu Raja’e al-‘Ataredi.  He recounted that he had been travelling with his folk. When they reached the waterfront they halted for some time.  He went to relieve himself.  There he spotted an ailing white snake who was trying to hide.  Moved with compassion at the plight of the snake, he sprinkled some water on it which seemed to give it some relief.  When the time came for resuming the trip, Ali asked the leader to wait a while since he knew what the snake was heading for.  In fact, soon after the early morning prayer, the snake passed away.  Ali took a white piece of material from his baggage, washed the snake, and enrolled it in the said winding-sheet.  Thereafter he dug the earth and buried it.

Thereafter, travelling for the rest of the day and night till reaching another water source the group set up tents.  Ali went to relieve himself when he heard a voice saying, “Salamun ‘Alaykum,” not only once, twice, ten times, a hundred times, even a thousand times or more.

“Who are you?” asked Ali.

“We are the Jinn.  God bless you for what you have done for us.  We shall never be able to reward you.”

“And what have I done?” asked Ali astonishingly.               

“The snake you buried was “Amr” the last of the Jinn who had sworn allegiance to Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wasallam).

CAIRO'S GUARDIAN SNAKE:

It was believed in Egypt that each quarter of the city of Cairo has its peculiar guardian-genius or Noble Spirit which has the form of a serpent.  Now, in the 17th Century there lived a holy man known as Shaykh al-Haridi.  It was believed that after his death he had returned in the form of a large snake, making it uncertain for the people to know whether he was originally a good jinni who first took the form of man and later that of a snake, or in fact was a genuine human being, and who after his death was transformed into a snake. All that they could be ascertained was that it was al-Haridi himself who lived in the crevice of rocks as a serpent near this holy man’s shrine on the east bank of 

 The Nile near the Tahta city in Upper Egypt.  One Muslim legend said he was a pious jinni, i.e. jinni Salih, who had met the Holy Prophet (Sal Allahu Alayhi Wasallam) and sought his intercession to enter the Jannah or Paradise.  In his lifetime, the Shaykh gained fame as a Healer.  Even after his death and transformation into a snake, miraculous cures were attributed to him.  In cases of barren women and those who lost their sense, and victims of stroke, al-Haridi’s Baraka or blessings were invoked. The Coptic Christians, on the other hand, did not deny the miracles but considered him to be a demon king. The fame of the serpent-saint has lasted through all the political and other changes which have passed over Egypt since the days of Sieur Lucas. Norden, the Dane,  sailed up the Nile in 1737.  Passing from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century, we find that the belief in the miraculous powers of the serpent-saint in no way diminished.  The local customs see to it that the shrine is still considered a place of pilgrimage.  

This folk belief survives in modern Egypt, too, although undercover: each of Cairo’s quarters allegedly possesses its own snake-shaped guardian spirit, its own Agathodemon. 

A Serpent-Jinni Helps Abu Zayd (Arab/Western Sahara):

In the Sahara and adjoining African regions, serpents and jinn are the common denizens of water points, caves, tree roots, low-lying thickets, and groves, and both beings are often confused as common protectors of hidden treasures.

As the poet Abu Zayd Muhammad (Abu) ‘l-Khattab al-Qurashi accompanied a party of riders on a journey, they saw a great snake (Shuja') dying because of the heat. They told Abu to kill it, but he allowed it to live. He cooled the snake with water from his waterskin, and it slid away to its lair. The party continued its journey and accomplished its aims. When they returned, they passed that same river valley where the serpent lived. Abu was delayed because his camel was tired. Alone in the strange place, he was afraid, but he heard the voice of a friendly jinni. It gave him a fresh camel so that he could continue his journey. When he got home, he gratefully released the second camel. Then he heard the jinni's voice, telling him that it was the serpent that he had befriended in its agony and that the camel which had brought him to safety had been his reward. Within the haunted deserts and thickets of the Sahara and Arabia, the serpent was both a friend and a foe to man; in its form was the supernatural, always prepared to help or to hurt mankind, depending on the nature of the jinni, or the intentions of its human confronter. Hausa call them aljannu, iskoki, ibilisai.  (Mentioned in Oxford References – A Dictionary of African Mythology)

To continue...

NASIR ALI.