Ulemas should

reject the belief in

possession by Jinn

DR. SAYEEDUDDIN
 Ulemas should reject the belief in possession
by Jinn

I have great respect for all the Ulemas and value the work they are doing and also
have complete faith on the existence of Jinns. There are many verses of The
Glorious Quran and the Sahih Hadeeths which talks about Jinns and thus there
cannot be any question on Jinns existence. Shaitaan does his works by misguiding
and creating mischief in the heart of men with the purpose of taking men away
from the right path of the deen. Shaitaan does not makes a person sick or drives
someone crazy or possesses a person.
Possession by Jinn is something that has been accepted and believed by the
majority of Ulemas, and that has been the case from scholars of old times too, but
this was only their ijtehaadi mistake and we have to remember that it is only the
Holy Prophet (PBUH) who is above committing mistake. None of us except him
are error-free.
The belief in possession by Jinn is based on the following three major evidences:
1. A hadeeth of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) where he says that Shaitaan runs
in the veins of men just like blood.
2. Verse 275 of Surah Baqra where it is mentioned that those who deals in
interest will rise from their graves like mad and crazy on the day of
Judgement.
3. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had driven out Jinns from possessed men.
All the above 3 evidences are wrong.
1. Shaitaan runs in the veins of men just like the blood.
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had said this as a lesson for the Muslims to stay
away from wild guessing. He warned all the Muslims to never practise wild
guessing as wild guessing is a fitna. When a person gets jealous of another, he
never sees anything good in him and only find his faults in everything about
him. This is why Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) warned of this sin. It was not
intended to drive the meaning that one should be scared of Shaitaan as it can
possess you and make you run like crazy in the streets with torn clothes and
cursing around everyone. The intention and meaning of this hadeeth was very
different from what we conclude today and it’s a shame that none of us has
tried to understand the true meaning of the word of Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH)
2. Verse 275 of Surah Baqra
Incorrect tafseer of this verse is used to prove that Shaitaan can drive a person
mad. The incorrect tafseer states that men who deals in interest will rise from
their graves like possessed mad men. It is to be noted that neither the day of
Judgement nor graves are mentioned in the verse, which were added in the
tafseer to justify the position of the one writing the tafseer and are only
wrongly added which has given an incorrect meaning to the verse. This verse
has actually made use of Muzarah tense, which can mean both the present
and the future. The mufassireen have traditionally held the belief that Shaitaan
can drive a person mad and have thus mentioned the future, that is the day of
judgement, and have explained the verse as these men will rise from their
graves possessed.
The right meaning of this verse is that Shaitaan has misguided the person and
made him crazy for interest and that’s the reason why these people claim that
interest too is just like a normal business although Almighty Allah has
permitted doing business and made it halaal while taking and dealing in
interest is haram.
3. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) drove out Jinns from possessed men
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) never treated a mental patient as a possessed
person and drove out Jinn from anyone. None of the Sahaabas either ever
drove out Jinns from possessed men. All the hadeeths which mentions that
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) drove out Jinn from possessed men are
fabricated, zaeef and false.
In a hadeeth of Musnad Ahmad, it has been narrated by Yali bin Marrh that
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) blowed at the face of a mad child, and he was
cured. This is a zaeef hadeeth as described by Allama Al Baari and other
scholars.
There is another hadeeth of Musnad Ahmad where Im Rubaan bin Alwaaz ban
Amirulabdi narrates that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) removed clothes from
the back of a boy and then beat him and spoke “Come out enemy of Allah, I
am the Prophet of Allah” to drive out a Jinn from the boy. This too is an
entirely false and zaeef hadeeth.
Incorrect interpretation of the verses of the Holy Quran, zaeef hadeeths,
wrong traditions and wrong assumptions has caused the spread of this false
belief in possession by Jinn which further spreads shirk and biddah in the
community. These false believes also leads to violation of women in the name
of treating them, grave worshipping and superstition which does nothing but
hurts Islam.