supernatural creatures

Written by Theresa Corbin

Like any good scary movie with plot and intrigue, any creepy jinn story attracts the darker side of my attention. And it has been brought up on a number of occasions by people who don’t even know each other that they thought I was going to write about the jinn. (Maybe the jinn told them to say that to me?!)

I have no clue. I have never been known to write about any creepy crawly subjects, even though I think it would be tons of fun.

Some may be wondering WTH are you talking about, Corbin? You talkin’ ’bout that Star Wars dude, Qui Gon Jinn?

If you are wondering this, then let me be the first to introduce you to a whole world of the unseen.

The Islamic belief in the jinn is where the Western culture gets the idea of a genie in a bottle. But this is not at all the reality of the jinn, or unseen creatures that walk among us.

Allah says in the Quran:

And We did certainly create man out of clay from an altered black mud.

And the jinn, We created before from scorching fire. (Quran 15:26-27)

From Allah’s words we know from which substance each was created. And that the jinn were created before man from fire. But why jinn?

Allah says:

And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. (Quran 51:56)

So, the purpose of the jinns’ creation is the same as human creation: To worship The Creator of all things. The Quran was revealed for jinn and mankind alike.

The jinn are like us

They think and reflect, eat and drink, get married and have children. They can be good or bad. They live and die,

and will be questioned on the Day of Judgement.

And they are different from us

They are not visible to the human eye, but they can make themselves appear to us as a person or an animal. They have much longer life spans than we do. They posses the ability to travel long distances in a very short time.

God has given the jinn these powers and abilities as a test for them, they are forbidden from using them against His creation, but much like human beings they do use their powers for evil anyway.

Some mean us no harm

An entire group of jinn converted to Islam and became Muslims when they heard the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) recite the Quran. Some are good and listen to the commandment of Allah not to interfere with mankind.

As a matter of fact there is an entire chapter in the Quran (Surat al-Jinn) named after them, in which the belief of and some of the activities of the jinn are explained. Check it out. It is a short chapter of only 28 verses.

And some mean us harm

Once upon a time, their was a jinni (singular for jinn) who was so good he was allowed to pray with the angels. Then Allah created man and told the angels, including the jinni who prayed with them, to bow down to man (Adam). The jinni refused out of arrogance and pride and perhaps jealousy.

This jinni’s name was Iblees, or as he is known in Christianity, Lucifer. He was cast out of the ranks of angels and allowed to roam the earth, swearing that he would try to mislead man until the end of time and so far he has made good on that promise. He is Iblees, the Shaytan, the Devil. And some jinn choose to follow in his path.

Allah tells us about him in the Quran:

[Iblees] said, “My Lord, because You have put me in error, I will surely make [disobedience] attractive to them on earth, and I will mislead them all

Except, among them, Your chosen servants.” (Quran 15:39-40)

Allah has given us direction in the ways we can protect ourselves from the evil of the jinn.

Let me share some jinn stories with you:

Tale 1: Upon waking

When I first converted, I experienced something terrifying upon waking from sleep. I was lying on my back when all the sudden I couldn’t move, my chest felt constricted and I couldn’t speak. Everything went pitch black.

A horrible male voice said that I would give up my religion. Then it showed me a dark hole that never ended and told me he would throw me in if I didn’t turn away from my faith. I was terrified and then all of the sudden the vision, the voice, and the feeling went away.

Allah knows best, but it seemed to me to be a jinni from among those that follow Iblees trying to scare me away from the true path of Islam.

Tale 2: Move!

Just a few days ago, my husband and I were lounging in the living room. I dozed off on the couch and woke up around 3 AM to what I thought was my husband shouting at me saying, “We need to move!”

I thought he was trying to tell me to move to the bed. I shot up and swore I saw his face, just his face no body. Then a second later it was gone, and I could hear him snoring in the bed. Then I realized he would never risk yelling at me while I am sleeping, or any time for that matter, but especially while I am sleeping. He would likely be harmed for the offense. j/j … maybe.

I changed my sleeping position recited Ayat al-Kursi (a verse in the Quran that is recited for protection) and went back to sleep on the couch (Not wanting to face the snoring) very shaken. The next morning I awoke remembering the incident and thought maybe it was a jinn trying to make us move from the house.

May Allah protect us from the evil of mankind and jinn!

Follow us (upper right of the page). Email us (islamwich@yahoo.com). Like our face with your face on Facebook (facebook.com/islamwich). Tumble with us on Tumblr (islamwich.tumblr.com). Pin with us (pinterest.com/islamwich). Follow us on twitter (@islamwich).

Like the post, share it, pin it, comment on it, and/or do whatever social media magic it is that you prefer. Find out more about us in the understandably named “About” page and browse other posts in “Table of Contents”.