The Criterion Between The Allies Of the Merciful & The Allies Of the Devil
Chapter 15
Part of what is obligatory to know is that Allah sent Muhammad (sas) to all humans and jinn. Thus there is no human anywhere nor any jinn upon whom the belief in the message of Muhammad (sas) and the following of his way is not obligatory. It is upon each and every one to believe in all of the information which he delivered, and to obey him in every thing he ordered and forbid. Anyone who this message has reached, but did not believe in the prophethood of Muhammad (sas) is a kafir (disbeliever) whether he be a human or a jinn.
Muhammad (sas) was sent to all of the humans and the jinn in the unanimous agreement of the Muslims. The jinn once listened to the Qur'an, and then returned to their people as warners. This occurred when the Prophet was praying with his companions at a place called Batni Nakhla on his way back from At-Taif. Allah informed him of that in the Qur'an, saying:
[And when we sent toward you a group of the jinn, they listened to the Qur'an. When they attended it, they said (to each other): Listen! When it was over, they returned to their people as warners. They said: O, our people, verily we have heard a book which has been sent down after Musa. It verifies that which came before it (i.e. the previously revealed books), and guides to the truth and to a straight path. O, our people, respond to the caller of Allah and believe in Him that He may forgive you your sins, and protect you from a painful punishment. Whoever does not answer the caller of Allah, will not be able to out-do Allah on the earth, and has no allies to protect him from Allah, and these are in blatant error!] Qur'an 46/29-32
After that, Allah sent down the following verse:
[Say: It has been revealed to me that a group of the jinn came and listened. They said: We have heard an amazing recitation! It guides to righteous conduct, so we have believed in it, and will associate no one with our Lord. Verily our Lord, the high in greatness, has never taken a spouse nor offspring. Surely, our foolish ones used to speak abominations about Allah. We used to think that men and jinn would not (both) speak a lie about Allah. And verily some men from among the humans used to seek refuge in men from among the jinn, and so the latter merely increased the former in their burden (their burden of fear as the jinn gain more ability to strike fear into them due to their shirk, and their burden of sin, as they sink deeper and deeper into the shirk of seeking the protection of the jinn instead of Allah.)] Qur'an 72/1-7
i.e. the foolish ones among us, in the clearest opinion of the scholars.
Several of the righteous first generation have said: Men used to, when they descended into a strange valley, say: I seek refuge in the great one of this valley from the evil of the foolish ones among his people (i.e. the jinn). So, when the human sought the aid of the jinn, this only increased the jinn in kufr and transgression, as Allah said:
[And verily some men from among the humans used to seek refuge in men from among the jinn, and so the latter merely increased the former in their burden (their burden of fear as the jinn gain more ability to strike fear into them due to their shirk, and their burden of sin, as they sink deeper and deeper into the shirk of seeking the protection of the jinn instead of Allah.) And verily, they thought, as you thought that Allah would not bring any one back after their death. And we have touched the sky, which we found full of mighty guards and balls of fire.] Qur'an 72/6-8
The devils used to be pelted with fire balls before the revelation of the Qur'an, but they sometimes managed to get some information before the fire balls were thrown. When Muhammad was sent, the sky was filled with mighty guards and fire balls, and these fire balls began to be already waiting to strike them before they had even gained any information. Allah informs us of their statement:
[Verily, we used to sit near it (heaven) in positions to hear, but whoever listens now finds balls of fire waiting to ambush him.] Qur'an 72/9
[It is not devils who brought it (i.e. the Qur'an) down. That is not proper for them, nor are they capable of it. Verily, they are isolated from listening.] Qur'an 26/210-212
[And verily, we do not know if it is a bad end which is intended for those on the earth, or if their Lord wishes to guide them. And verily, among us are the righteous and among us are other than that, we are of different ways and beliefs.] Qur'an 72/10-11
i.e. on many different schools of thought, as the scholars have said about them: They are Muslims, associationists, Jews, Christians, follows of the Sunnah, and innovators.
[And we have believed that we will not be able to out-do Allah on the earth, nor will we be able to out-run Him!] Qur'an 72/12
The jinn here have said that they will not be able to escape Allah whether they stay on the earth or fun away from it.
[And, when we heard the guidance, we believed in it, so, whoever believes in his Lord does not fear being denied any of his good actions nor being held responsible for bad which he did not do. And verily, among us are Muslims, and among us are deviants (Qaasitoon.] Qur'an 72/13-14
A Qaasit is the opposite of a Muqsit which both come from the same root in Arabic. A Muqsit is one who is just and fair, while a Qaasit is one who deviates from the truth and oppresses.
[As for those who submit, they have sought out righteous practice, but as for the deviants, they are the fuel of the hell fire. If only they had kept on the straight way, We would have given them water in plenty. That we might test them therewith, and whoever turns from the reminder of his Lord, we will send him to a ceaseless punishment. And verily, the masajid belong to Allah, so do not call to anyone therein along with Allah. And verily, when the slave of Allah stood praying to Him, they swarmed upon him, nearly trampling him. Say: I only call my Lord, and I associate no one with Him. Say: I control neither your harm nor your guidance. Say: No one will protect me from Allah, and I will find no place of refuge other than Him.] Qur'an 72/14-22
[Except (This refers either to "I control neither your harm nor your guidance", or to "No one will protect me from Allah" above.) to deliver the message from Allah, and the teachings of the Prophethood, and whoever disobeys Allah and His Prophet for him is the fire of hell, he will stay therein forever. Only when they see that with which they have been threatened will they realize who is weaker in helpers and fewer in number.] Qur'an 72/23-24
When the jinn heard the Qur'an, they came to the Prophet (sas) and believed in him. These were the jinn of a place called Naseebain, as is recorded in a sahih hadith narrated by Ibn Masood. It is recorded in another authenticated narration that the Prophet (sas) read to them Sura Ar-Rahman, and every time he read Allah's words:
[So, which of the signs of your Lord do you reject?] Qur'an 55/13
the jinn said: "We reject none of your signs our Lord, praise is to You!"
"When they (i.e. the Muslim jinn) met with the Prophet, they asked him provision for themselves and their cattle. The Prophet (sas) said: Yours is every bone over which the name of Allah was mentioned, you will find it excellently covered with meat, and every piece of dung (of our animals) is fodder for your animals. The Prophet (sas) said: So, do not clean yourselves with it, since it is the provision of your brothers among the jinn." (Muslim and others)
This interdiction has been authenticated by a variety of chains of narration, and is the evidence of the scholars that on should not clean themselves with dried manure, and they said: Since it is forbidden to use these things in this way because they are the provision of the (Muslim) jinn and their cattle, that which is prepared as food for humans and their cattle is more obviously prohibited.
Muhammad was sent to all humans and jinn. This is a greater honor than the taming of the jinn for the prophet Sulaiman, peace be upon him. They were put under his command to do as he wished with them as a king, while Muhammad (sas) was sent to them to order them with that with which Allah had ordered them, because he is the slave of Allah and His messenger, and the rank of the slave and messenger is above the rank of the prophet king.
The disbelievers among the jinn will enter the fire according to both text and consensus of the Muslims. As for their believers, most of the scholars are of the opinion that they will enter paradise, as they are of the opinion that the prophets are only from among the humans, and no jinn was ever sent as a prophet, among them are only warners (who learn from the human prophets and then deliver the message to their people). This is not the place for a detailed discussion of these issues.
What is intended here is that there are different possible relationships between jinn and men: Whoever interacts with the jinn only to order them with that with which Allah and His Prophet (sas) have ordered such as worshipping Allah alone and obeying His Prophet, just as he orders people also to do this, this is one of the best allies of Allah. In doing this, he is one of the successors of the Prophet and his deputies. Those who utilize the jinn in things which are allowed to him are like those who use humans in things which are allowed to them. This means that he orders them with that which is obligatory upon them, and forbids them that which has been forbidden to them, and utilizes them in things which are allowed to him. Such are similar to the kings who do this kind of thing.
This is only if we assume that he is one of the allies of Allah. The maximum extent of this is that he enters under the general wilaya of Allah (i.e. simply being one of the believers), such as the prophet king as compared to the slave and messenger, such as Sulaiman and Yusuf as compared to Ibrahim, Musa, Isa, and Muhammad, may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon them all.
As for those who utilize the jinn in that which Allah and His Prophet (sas) have forbidden - either in shirk, or the killing of innocent people, or transgression upon them short of killing, such as making them become ill, making them forget knowledge which they have acquired, etc, or using them in obscenity and sin such as to bring to them someone with whom they wish to commit a sin, these have sought the aid of the jinn in sin and transgression. If they seek their aid in something which is kufr, they are disbelievers, if they seek their aid in something which is disobedience to Allah, then they are in disobedience, either deviators from the deen, or sinners who have not left the way of the deen.
If they do not have good knowledge of the law (shari'a), and seek the aid of the jinn in what they believe to be karamaat from Allah, such as seeking their aid in making Hajj, or being lifted in the air while listening to the deviant auditions (As-samaa' Al-Bida'i) i.e. "Islamic" music, or the jinn carry them to Arafat thus making an invalid pilgrimage, not the one which Allah and His Prophet have ordered us to make, or other such examples, these people are deceived. Shaitaan has plotted against them, and tried until he succeeded in deceiving them and leading them astray.
Very many of these people do not realize that these phenomena come from the jinn. Rather, they have heard that the allies of Allah are granted karamaat of a miraculous nature, and they do not possess the realities of faith nor the knowledge of the Qur'an which would enable them to differentiate between the karamaat of Ar-Rahman and the deceptions of Shaitaan. So, the devils plot against them according to their beliefs. If he is an associationist who worships planets and statues, they cause them to believe that they are benefitting from this worship of theirs, and his intention is the seeking of the intercession or blessings of the one in whose image the statue is made either king or prophet, or righteous saint. Thus, he believes that he is worshipping that prophet or saint, but his worship is in reality to Shaitaan. Allah said:
[On the day when We will bring them all back and then say to the angels: Are these the ones who used to worship you? They will say: May You be glorified! You are our ally against them. Rather, they used to worship the jinn, most of them are believers in them.] Qur'an 34/40-41
In this way, though those who prostrate to the sun and the moon and the planets intend to prostrate to those things, the devil places himself in line with the objects of their worship as they prostrate to them, so that their prostration is to him. This is why the shaitaan comes in the form of whatever the associationists seek aid from other than Allah. If he is one of those nominally associated with Islam, he may seek the aid of a genuine righteous man among the Muslims who is either absent or dead. Shaitaan then comes to him in the form of that shaikh to whom he called out. If he is one of the associationists of India, for example, shaitaan will come to him in the form of whatever that individual associates as a partner to Allah.
As for the shaikh whose aid was sought (if he is alive), if he is truly knowledgeable of the Shari'a, shaitaan will never inform him of his appearing to his companions who sought his aid. If, however, the one whose aid was sought in this way is weak in knowledge, shaitaan will inform him of their statements, carrying their statements to him, and his to them. The ignorant will then believe that this shaikh heard their voices even at great distances and answered them, while in reality, this only came about via the intermediation of shaitaan!
Some of those to whom this has occurred by way of visions and voices have described what happened, saying:
"The jinn shows me something which sparkles like water or glass, and causes the images of that about which I wish to know to appear therein. I tell the people things in this way. Also, they bring to me the words of my companions who seek my aid from a distance, and then deliver my answer to them." (An ally of shaitaan)
Very many of the shaikhs to whom these things occurred were told by people: You are lying. You do these things by means of tricks and sleight of hand, just as the charlatans enter the fire by using talcum or the skins of bitter oranges, or the oil of frogs, and other such natural tricks. They are then amazed by this accusation and say: By Allah, we know nothing of these tricks. When an experienced person says to them: You speak the truth in what you claim has happened, but these are satanic phenomena. They admit the truth, and all those whom Allah accepts repent from their ways when the truth becomes clear to them, and it becomes clear to them from many angles that these things come only from shaitaan. They see that they are from shaitaan when they realize that they only come about via things like blameworthy innovation in the law or deen (bid'a), or disobedience of Allah, and that they do not come about via that which Allah and His Prophet (sas) love - the lawful and enjoined forms of worship. At that point, they know that these things are of the "miracles" which shaitaan supplies to his allies, and not of the karamaat which Ar-Rahman grants to His allies.
Allah is most knowledgeable of what is right, to him is the return and the end.
Prayers of Allah upon Muhammad, foremost among His messengers and Prophets
And upon his people, his companions, his helpers, his loyalists and successors.
And peace with which we hope for his intercession for us.
Amin.