supernatural and the unseen. The existence of aworld parallel to our
own has always fascinated people. This world is commonly referred to
as the spirit world, and almost every set of people have some concept
of one. With some people, these spiritsare no more then the souls of
dead people- or ghosts. With others, spirits are either the forces of
good or the forces of evil - both battling against one another to gain
influence over humanity. However, both of these explanations are more
in tune with folk tales and fantasy. The true explanation of such a
world comes from Islam. Like every other way, Islam also claims to
explain this realm of the unseen. It is from this realm that Islam
explains to us about the world of the Jinn. The Islamic explanation of
the Jinn provides us with so many answers to modem day mysteries.
Without the knowledge of this world, the Muslims would become like the
non-Muslims and be running around looking for any old answer to come
their way. So, who or what are the Jinn?
Existence
The Jinn are beings created with free will, living on earth in a world
parallel to mankind. The Arabic word Jinn is from the verb 'Janna'
which means to hide or conceal. Thus, they are physically invisible
from man as their description suggests.This invisibility is one of the
reasons why some people have denied their existence. However, (as will
be seen) the affect which the world of the Jinn has upon our world, is
enough to refute this modem denial of one of Allah's creation. The
origins of the Jinn can be traced from the Qur'an and the Sunnah.
Allah says:
"Indeed We created man from dried clay of black smooth mud. And We
created the Jinn before that from the smokeless flame of fire"
(Surah Al-Hijr 15:26-27)
Thus the Jinn were created before man. As fortheir physical origin,
then the Prophet (saws) has confirmed the above verse when he said:
"The Angels were created from light and the Jinn from smokeless
fire"[1]. It is this description of the Jinnwhich tells us so much
about them. Because theywere created from fire, their nature has
generally been fiery and thus their relationship with man hasbeen
built upon this. Like humans, they too are required to worship Allah
and follow Islam. Their purpose in life is exactly the same as ours,
as Allah says:
"I did not create the Jinn and mankind except to worship Me"
(Surah Ad-Dhariyat 51:56)
Jinns can thus be Muslims or non-Muslims. However,due to their fiery
nature the majority of them are non-Muslims. All these non-Muslim
Jinns form a part of the army of the most famous Jinn, Iblis- the
Shaytan[2]. Consequently, these disbelieving Jinns are also called
Shaytans (devils). Asfor the Jinns who become Muslims, then the first
of them did so in the time ofthe Prophet (saws) when a group of them
were amazed by the recitation of the Qur'an. Allah ordersthe Prophet
to tell the people of this event:
"Say (O' Muhammed): It has been revealed to me that a group of Jinn
listened and said; 'Indeed we have heard a marvellous Qur'an. It
guides unto righteousnessso we have believed in it, and we will never
make partners with our lord'"
(Surah Al-Jinn 72:1-2)
In many aspects of their world, the Jinn are very similar to us. They
eat anddrink, they marry, have children and they die. The life span
however, is far greater then ours. Like us, they will also be subject
to a Final Reckoning by Allah the Most High. They will be present with
mankind on the Day of Judgement and will eithergo to Paradise or Hell.
Abilities
That which clearly distinguishes the Jinn from mankind, are their
powers and abilities. Allahhas given them these powers as a test for
them.If they oppress others with them, then they will be held
accountable. By knowing of their powers, we can often make sense of
much of the mysteries which go on around us. One of the powers of the
Jinn, is that they are able to take on any physical form they like.
Thus, they can appear as humans, animals trees and anything else. Over
the last few years the interestin the subject of aliens and UFO's has
become heightened. Programmes such as the X-files and theOuter limits
have increased the popularity of the theory that aliens exist.
Thousands of people have sighted strange looking creatures all over
the world. These sightings however, have still not proven
substantially that aliens exist. Rather - and it seems more plausible
all the sightings of such creatures were just Jinns parading in
different forms. So the next time you see something that looks like
E.T, its most probably just a wicked Jinn trying to scare and confuse
you!
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