Jinns are one of the scariest things we learn about in Islam! How much do you know about the jinn? Here are 6 facts taken directly from the Holy Qur’an.
Jinns are one of the scariest things we learn about in Islam! How much do you know about the jinn? Here are 6 facts taken directly from the Holy Qur’an.
Jinns have fascinated Muslims for over 1,000 years. From the curious child to the veteran scholar, all Muslims have at some point had questions about and sought to understand jinns.
The general understanding of jinns is that they’re supernatural beings that live amongst humans yet are invisible to us and free from physical form. The concept of the jinn was known in pre-Islamic Arabia. With the advent of Islam and the revelation of the Holy Qur’an, some aspects of the jinn became known to mankind.
Here are six amazing facts about the jinn taken from the Holy Qur’an.
Jinns are made from smokeless fire
The concept of smokeless fire may sound odd but does exist today. Smoke is produced whenever there is not enough oxygen to burn the fuel (known as incomplete combustion). Complete combustion of fuel occurs when enough oxygen is available. During complete combustion, smoke isn’t produced!
I’m not suggesting this is exactly how jinns were created. God created us all, including matter itself, in the spiritual realm where no concept of matter exists. God will use words and concepts we can understand as similies for His actions – it could be the smokeless fire referred to by God is a completely different thing. The creation of jinn is referenced in the Holy Qur’an:
and created jinn from a smokeless flame of fire.”
(55:15)
God has always used a different core element to create living things. For instance, humans are made from clay and water, and angels are made from light.
jinns can be Muslims
One of the biggest myths about jinns is they’re all demonic and evil – entirely untrue! Like humans, jinns can also be Muslim, follow another religion or be atheists. The variety of belief/disbelief amongst the jinn is mentioned by a jinn and preserved in the Holy Qur’an:
Some of us are righteous and others less so: we follow different paths.”
(72:11)
Many a jinn also converted to Islam upon hearing the Holy Qur’an, as mentioned in the first verse of Surah Jinn:
Say, O Prophet, “It has been revealed to me that a group of jinn listened to the Quran, and said to their fellow jinn: ‘Indeed, we have heard a wondrous recitation.”
(72:1)
These verses also suggest the thinking and contemplation capacity of jinn is similar to humans. They heard the recitation of the Holy Qur’an, pondered on it and submitted to Islam.
jinns can communicate with humans
I’m not trying to scare you – but jinn and human communications are more than possible. The Holy Qur’an doesn’t go deep into how this happens but alludes to its possibility:
Men have sought refuge with the jinn in the past, but they have only misguided them further.”
(72:6)
We don’t have a full understanding of how some humans were misguided by jinns. They were likely to be falsely promised something or lied to, which led to their downfall.
We now know not all jinns are bad. This means not all jinn communication is bad either. In fact, Prophet Sulayman (AS) had jinns in his army:
And gathered for Solomon were his soldiers of the jinn and men and birds, and they were [marching] in rows.”
(27: 16-17)
Prophet Sulayman (AS) had loyal believers from different creation groups – humans, jinns, animals and insects.
jinns have ‘supernatural’ abilities
Jinns live in a different plane of existence to humans. The laws are entirely different where jinns live such as the law of space, time and all other laws of science. Some jinns are able to travel large distances very quickly. When Prophet Sulayman (AS) asked one of his followers to bring him the throne of Sheba, a jinn replied:
I will bring it to you before you can even rise from your place.”
(27:39)
This jinn who is part of Sulayman’s (AS) army suggests they can bring it before Sulayman (AS) even has the chance to rise from his chair.
We don’t know whether a jinns ability to travel like this is because they have what we would call ‘supernatural’ abilities or if it’s because the laws where they live merely make it possible.
jinns do the work of humans
Extraordinarily, the jinn is able to perform manual labour like humans. Although (from what I know) humans can’t do activities considered exclusive to jinns, the opposite seems possible. A number of jinns did manual labour under Prophet Sulayman (AS):
They (the jinn) made for him (Sulayman) whatever he wanted – palaces, statues, basins as large as water troughs, fixed cauldrons.”
(34:13)
Our motivation to work is to earn a living. We don’t know if jinns have a system of employment and currency or a concept of economy. These jinns might have done this owing to their belief in and subsequent obedience to Prophet Sulayman (AS) and his message with no motivation to generally seek work for the reasons we do – interesting nevertheless!
Shaytan is a Jinn
The story of Shaytan’s refusal to bow down to Prophet Adam (AS) is oft-repeated in the Holy Qur’an. In this story, we come to know he is a jinn:
They all bowed (to Adam) except Iblis: he was one of the jinn and he disobeyed his Lord’s command.”
(18:50)
Shaytan is the undisputed most famous and well-known jinn in Islam. Shaytan worshipped God for thousands of years and fell from grace because of the act of disobedience cited above. He is now on a mission to misguide as many humans as possible.
Much of what we can learn about jinn and their abilities can be derived from Shaytan and his abilities. For example, we know Shaytan can whisper in our ears and tempt us to do things but never force us and this is likely true of all jinns. Maybe the good jinns whisper good things in our ear? It’s totally possible!
