What is the difference between a shaytaan (devil) and a jinn? Do
theshayaateen reproduce from males and females?Do the shayaateen
interact with humans and serve them in returnfor the human's
disobeying his Lord? Are there Muslim jinn who serve the Muslims as
theyserved Sulaymaan (peace be upon him)? If the shayaateen or jinn
are able to serve humans, then why do the Muslim jinn not help the
Muslim humans in their wars against the kuffaar, and tell them their
secrets and supportIslam? Why do the kaafirjinn not help the kaafir
humans in some way? Did any examples of suchthings happen at the time
of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)? If there
are any books about such matters, please tell me about them so that I
can be safe from the evil of the shayaateen. May Allaah keep me and
you safe from their evil.
Praise be to Allaah.
The shayaateen are fromamong the jinn; they arethe rebellious ones and
the most evil among them, just as the devils among mankind are the
rebellious ones and the most evil among them. There are among the
jinn, as is the case among mankind, devils who are the rebellious ones
and the most evil, kaafirs and evildoers. There are also Muslims among
them who are righteous and good. Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning):
"And so We have appointed for every Prophet enemies — Shayaateen
(devils) among mankind and jinn, inspiring one another with adorned
speech as a delusion (or by way of deception). If your Lord had so
willed, they would not have done it; so leave them alone with their
fabrications"
[al-'An'aam 6:112]
The Shaytaan is the father of the jinn according to many scholars. He
is the one who disobeyed his Lord and was too proud to prostrate to
Adam, so Allaah expelled him and banished him. Other scholars say that
the Shaytaan was one of a group of angels who were called al-jinn; he
was too proud to prostrate, so Allaah expelled him and banished him.
He became the leader of every evildoer and wicked one, every kaafirand
wrongdoer. Every person has a shaytaan and an angel with him, as the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"There is no one among you but he has with him a constant companion
(qareen) from among the jinn and a constant companion from among the
angels." They said, "You too, O Messenger ofAllaah?" He said, "Me too,
but Allaah has helped me against him (the devil-companion) and he has
become Muslim."
And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said that
the Shaytaan inspires man to evil and calls man to evil. There are
times when he has control over man's heart and can find out, by
Allaah's decree, what a person intends to do of good or evil. There
are also times when the angel has control over a person's heart. He
makeshim incline towards good and calls him to good. These are things
that Allaah has enabled them to do, i.e., He has enabled the two
companions, the jinn-companion and the angel-companion, to do these
things. Even the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
had a shaytaan with him, his constant companion (qareen) from among
the jinn, as stated above,in the hadeeth which says that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"There is no one among you but he has with him a constant companion
(qareen) from among the jinn and a constant companion from among the
angels." They said, "You too, O Messenger ofAllaah?" He said, "Me too,
but Allaah has helped me against him (the devil-companion) and he has
become Muslim."
The point is that every man has with him a companion from among the
angels and a companion from among the shayateen. The believer
suppresses his shaytaan by obeying Allaah and adhering steadfastly to
His religion, so he humiliates his shaytaan until he becomes weak and
unable to stop the believer doing good or make him fall into evil,
except what Allaah wills. The sinner, by his disobedience and evil
actions, gives his shaytaan the strength to make him do evil and
encourageshim to do evil, and discourage him from doing good. The
believer has to fear Allaah and strive against his shaytaan by obeying
Allaah and His Messenger, and seeking refuge with Allaah from the
Shaytaan. And he should strive to help his angel by obeying Allaah and
His Messenger and heeding the commands of Allaah.
The Muslims help their brothers among the jinn to obey Allaah and His
Messenger just as they help their human brothers. Humans may help them
in some matters without realizing it. They may help them to obey
Allaahand His Messenger by teaching and reminding other humans, for
the jinn may attend the lessons of humans in the mosques and elsewhere
and benefit from them. Humans may also hear some things from the jinn
which benefit them;they may wake them up to pray or draw their
attention to things which may benefit them or harm them. All of this
happens even though the jinn do not make themselves visible to humans.
A jinn may make himself visible to some people when pointing them
towards something good or something evil. This may happen, although it
is rare. Usually they do not appear to humans, although their voices
may be heard on some occasions when they wake a person for prayer or
tell him of some things. In conclusion, the believingjinn help the
believers even though the believers may not realizeit, and they love
everything good for them. Similarly, believing humans love everything
good for their believing brethren among the jinn, and they ask Allaah
to give them everything good. They may attend lessons,and they love to
listen tothe Qur'aan and knowledge, as stated above. The believers
among the jinn attend the lessons of humans, atsome times and in some
lands, and they benefit from the lessons of humans. All of this
happens and is well known. This has been clearly stated by many ofthe
scholars whom the jinn contacted and asked about some issues;they told
them that they had attended their lessons. All of this is well-known,
and Allaah is the One Whose help we seek.
Allaah has told us that the jinn listened to the Qur'aan from the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). At the end of
Soorat al-Ahqaaf, He says(interpretation of the meaning):
"And (remember) when We sent towards you (Muhammad) a group (three to
ten persons) of the jinn, (quietly) listening to the Qur'aan. When
they stood in the presence thereof, they said: 'Listen in silence!'
And when it was finished, they returned to their people, as warners.
They said: 'O our people! Verily, we have heard a Book (this Qur'aan)
sent down after Moosa (Moses), confirming what came before it, it
guides to the truth and to the Straight Path (i.e. Islam)"
[al-Ahqaaf 46:29-30]
And Allaah revealed other aayahs in a separate soorah, where He says:
"Say (O Muhammad): "It has been revealed to me that a group (from
threeto ten in number) of jinnlistened (to this Qur'aan). They said:
'Verily, we have heard a wonderful Recitation (this Qur'aan)!"
[al-Jinn 72:1]
Many books have been written on this matter. Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah
have mercy on him) mentioned a great deal on this topic in his books.
There is also a book by one of the scholars entitled al-Marjaan fi
Bayaan Ahkaam al-Jaan, by al-Shibli, which is a useful book. There are
other books written on this topic as well. You can look for them and
ask for them in any bookstore. You could also read the books of
Tafseer and learn from the commentary on Soorat al-Jinn and the other
aayahs from Soorat al-Ahqaaf and elsewhere which speak of the jinn.
You can learna lot from what the mufassireen (may Allaah have mercy on
them) said about the jinn, boththe good and the bad among them.
Kitaab Majmoo' Fataawa wa Maqaalaat Mutanawwi'ah li Samaahat al-Shaykh
al-'Allaamah 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn 'Abd-Allaah ibn Baaz (may Allaah have
mercy on him), vol. 9, p. 373
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