Nick Redfern recently posted this story about a possible connection between abductions and the Jinn, supernatural creatures known from the Quran. There are a number of things said about the Jinn in the Quran that fit abductee narratives. That said, the article Nick points to isn’t that useful for learning about the Jinn. Here is an excerpt from an online Encyclopedia of Islam that breaks down the Quranic material about the Jinn, complete with Quran citations:
- are created, adh-Dhariyat 51:56; ar-Rahman 55:15,33,39
- created of fire al-Hijr 15:27; ar-Rahman 55:15
- created to worship God adh-Dhariyat 51:56
- driven away with stones, al-Hijr 15:18,26-27; as-Saffat 37:77; al-Mulk 67:5; al-Jinn 72:8-9; at-Takwir 81:25.
Compare with Jewish Talmud’s Chagiga 6:1
The ritual of pelting stones into caves during the Hajj is a dramatisation of this. - eat dung and bones, Sahih Bukhari 5.200
- have three properties of angels and three of humans.
- hear the Qur’an, at-Tahrim 66:29; al-Jinn 72:1
- help Solomon build temple, Saba’ 34:12. Compare with Gittin 68.
- Iblis (Satan), one of, al-Kahf 18:51
- in Hell, as-Sajdah 32:13
- man command to seek refuge in Allah from jinn, an-Nas 114:6
- Muhammad helped by Jinn,
“From Abdu-Allah Ibn Massoud; Mohammed the messenger of God said “everyone one of you has a companion from Angels and Jinn.” Even you the Messenger of God? “Even me, but Allah has helped me and my Jinn companion became Muslim, therefore he only advises me to do good” (Ahmed Bahgat, “The Prophets of God” or “Anbi’a Allah”, p.386. Ahmed is an Egyptian)
QN: If his jinn became Muslim, did Mohammed carry out evil orders before his jinn became Muslim? What about ordinary Muslims? See Muhammand and Idolatry.
- revelation of Chapter on Jinn, Sahih Bukhari 1.740
- some sins will be forgiven by Muhammad, al-Ahqaf 46:31.QN: Can Muhammad forgive sins beside Allah?
- some
- are righteous, some are not al-Jinn 72:11,14
- listened to the Prophet and returned to their people as warners al-Ahqaf 46:29
- will fill Hell, Hud 11:119; as-Sajdah 32:13; Ha Mim Sajdah 41:25
- used to listen in high places, but now flames await them, al-Jinn 72:9
- worshipped by man, Saba’ 34:41; as-Saffat 37:158
The parallels are interesting to say the least. What I noticed in reading some of this is that there are some obvious differences between Judeo-Christian theology, as I understand it from the Bible, and Islamic theology as presented here, regarding these beings (“demon” is most likely a misnomer, perhaps “fallen angels” is more appropriate?).
The first thing I noticed was that in the Quran, Mohammed says that his Jinn became a Muslim, whereas, from reading about abduction phenomena, we hear that the beings are said to denounce religion. Of course, it could be that Mohammed is simply covering for his Jinn, in claiming that it has become a Muslim. It also gives him cover from the moral repercussions of ordering the slaughter of people who are not Muslim.
The second difference is that in the Bible we learn that angels who abandoned their first estate cannot return. Therefore, repentance is not an option. If we consider the Book of Enoch (Book of the Watchers) to be a valid account of these beings, we also hear that the fallen angels who came to earth asked Enoch to plea for their salvation on their behalf. This is in stark contrast to what the Quran says that “among them, there are some who are unjust, and some who have surrendered to Allah.” This reminds me of the Alien paradigm, a la Greys vs. Reptilians, Good cop, Bad cop. I am not qualified to linguistically or etymologically interpret scripture, but in 1 Cor 6:3, we read “Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?” (KJV). It seems to me that will indeed be judged in the end of the age, but I am unsure of whether all angels who rebelled have forfeited their ability to be saved, or some can repent, and be saved.
Thank you Dr. Heiser for this interesting information.
@Alexandros Katechis: Some good observations. The Jinn are not demons or angels (Islam has those as well) but a sort of “intermediate yet superior to angels” divine being under Allah. I’ll quibble a bit with your note about aliens rejecting religion. Abduction narratives are full of “aliens” rejecting organized religion — in particular Christianity — but they are also full of religious comments and “spirituality.” I’ve detailed a lot of that on this blog.
On the third note, I tend to think of the Jinn as the Watchers. But I’m still thinking about it.
The Jinn are also known as Genies in folklore and like to play tricks on people. Reminds me of the work of Jacque Vallee.
A Jinn (Genie) in Islam is equivalent to a daemon as those controlled by the Prophet Solomon (Suleiman) and are beings created of smokeless fire with free will just as humans are created of clay with free will – contrastingly, angels are beings of light and have no free will to disobey. Satan (Iblis / Diablos / Devil) is the father of all Jinn as Adam is the father of all humans. As for your fallen angel misconception – the Jinn, created before Mankind, are said to have once been a tribe of angels (Al-Tobary) – the only tribe to have free will as they were not created from light but a smokeless fire – and so could disobey.
I don’t have any misconception here; it’s a basic post in lay terms. You should know “daemon” is the most generic of terms; the djinn are higher, a subset of daemon (mixing languages here), not the equivalent of daemon.
Hello MSH,
I’ve read the book ‘The Facade’ and enjoyed it a lot. It did work to help me understand a few things that were missing. However, I read the above posts and you had some questions, which I’m trying to answer.
QN1) If his jinn became Muslim, did Mohammed carry out evil orders before his jinn became Muslim? What about ordinary Muslims?
This is the greatest example of distorting the concept presented. The angel that follows every human being around is ‘The good side or conscience’ of a person that speaks the good. Similarly, the Jinns that are associated with people are merely whisperers. ‘The devil companion of a person. The one that whispers the bad things’. Now, it’s up to a person to choose who he/she listens to. Now, if Muhammed SAWS says that the one who is with him has become a muslim, then it simply means, that he has accepted Islam out of his own free will. To believe that there is only One God and that the message brought by Muhammed SAWS is in truth.
Now, debating the truth in message of Islam is topic for another discussion. But, based on the respect it gives christ, I don’t think that the message has any problems inherent to it.
you’ll have to explain what you mean by his jinn “becoming Muslim.” I think I know what you mean but I want to make sure.
djinn the sunset of daemon. see http://bit.ly/mu0qb4
whAT IS THE view of islam and violence see buhari
http://bit.ly/mu0qb4
what is the difference between jinn and aliens?
Jinn are not said to come from other planets; if there are aliens (that are the produce of evolution, for sake of discussion), then those aliens would have determinate life spans, need nourishment to sustain their lives, have to reproduce to perpetuate their species, etc. The Jinn are not categorized those ways. (Neither are angels and demons for that matter).
The Jinn are not extra terrestrials. Their life is very much terrestrial, they even feed on animal bones. There are those who are said to be able to fly across the universe, but they seem to come back to Earth and so it can be assumed that they are an Earth based species.
This is not the only evidence of ET is the Quran or Hadith however. There are many references to other creations, Ibn Abbas an early scholar of Islam that learned the Quran from The Prophet (pbuh) himself talked about many other creations with their own prophets (pbut).
As for the issue of the evil Jinn, one of which is in the heart of everyone (including the Prophet), they cannot command people to do anything. Evil Jinn are demons, followers of Satan, who himslef was a jinn that rebelled, though not the first. They are described in the Quran as whisperers who tempt towards evil, which man has the ability to resist, specially if one seeks God’s protection.
What this (very interesting!) article is referring to is possession. Evidence of this does exist in Islamic literature, and it is simply something that is casted off with God’s aid. These jinn are not the whisperers mentioned above, they are pranksters that are doing something they should not be. They are not necessarily demonic, but are definitely being unmindful to Gods orders, which is not to interfere with humans.
Btw, any Jinn that accepts Gods guidance is categorized as a Muslim, and is described as part of the same spiritual family as every other believer, including humans. This is because regardless of how many creations there are, all must refer to the same Creator as a reference point for their actions, morality and purpose of existence.
Hello – What are the “three properties of angels and three of humans” that the Djinn have? There’s no link above and I can’t find a list online.