Mufti Abu Layth Archive: belief/unseen-beings/jinn-possession

Do obscene or blasphemous thoughts during prayer ruin my salah?

2021-04-26T00:00:00Z

Do obscene or blasphemous thoughts during prayer ruin my salah?

Intrusive or blasphemous thoughts in prayer are not a reason to worry: noticing them is a sign of faith, as a hadith says. Mufti Abu Layth adds that jinn in the Quran means the unseen and possession stories are folklore.

Answer from 26 April 2021 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Lupe Fiasco | Stardom, Semiotics & Soul-searching | MindTrap#56 | Mufti Abu Layth al-Maliki MALM (at 1:28:55)

A more recent answer on fiqh/prayer/conditions-and-validity exists (10 December 2022): Why did Abu Hanifa allow things like praying in Persian?

Watch on YouTube at 1:31:29 · Open the segment

Is jinn possession real?

2021-02-02T00:00:00Z

Is jinn possession real?

There is no such thing as jinn possession, Mufti Abu Layth says; these are mental health issues, and exorcisms can be abuse.

Answer from 2 February 2021 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #200| Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (at 2:50:29)

A more recent answer on belief/unseen-beings/jinn-possession exists (26 April 2021): Do obscene or blasphemous thoughts during prayer ruin my salah?

Watch on YouTube at 2:50:29 · Open the segment

Why does the guest criticise Yasir Qadhi's views on jinn and evolution?

2020-12-11T00:00:00Z

Why does the guest criticise Yasir Qadhi's views on jinn and evolution?

The guest criticises Yasir Qadhi's dogmatic style and his literal readings of Dhul Qarnayn, evolution and jinn, offering a medical explanation for exorcism accounts; Mufti Abu Layth jokes about the zombie theory and calls Brubaker courteous.

Answer from 11 December 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: quoted view (stated in order to be discussed, not necessarily held)

Recording: Dr Javad T. Hashmi | Axis of Morality & Archetypal Myths in the Quran | MindTrap 46 |Mufti Abu Layth (at 2:33:08)

A more recent answer on quran/quran-and-science/evolution exists (19 January 2022): Where do Neanderthals fit in the Islamic story of Adam?

Watch on YouTube at 2:33:08 · Open the segment

Is Omar Suleiman trained as a scholar, and will anyone debate Mufti Abu Layth on jinn possession?

2020-11-21T00:00:00Z

Is Omar Suleiman trained as a scholar, and will anyone debate Mufti Abu Layth on jinn possession?

Mufti Abu Layth challenges any shaykh to debate jinn possession on his show and says Omar Suleiman, though commendable for his civil rights work, is not trained as a scholar or qualified to give rulings.

Answer from 21 November 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: There is no jinn possession in Islam (reply to Sh Omar Suleiman's video) | Mufti Abu Layth (at 49:49)

A more recent answer on dialogue/views-on-contemporary-scholars exists (22 February 2023): Should scholars publicly condemn a scholar said to have joined in a libation ritual?

Watch on YouTube at 49:49 · Open the segment

Is the jinn exorcism and ruqya industry a fraud?

2020-11-21T00:00:00Z

Is the jinn exorcism and ruqya industry a fraud?

The ruqya industry is largely a fraud drenched in abuse; the Mu'tazila, who rejected possession, were never afflicted, and al-Jahiz already recorded a practitioner using a possession claim to explain away a lost virginity. Mufti Abu Layth says the exorcism and ruqya industry is largely fraudulent and drenched in abuse, and he cites al-Jahiz's observation that no Mu'tazili, who rejected possession, was ever afflicted by a jinn.

Answer from 21 November 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: There is no jinn possession in Islam (reply to Sh Omar Suleiman's video) | Mufti Abu Layth (at 43:12)

A more recent answer on belief/unseen-beings/jinn-possession exists (26 April 2021): Do obscene or blasphemous thoughts during prayer ruin my salah?

Watch on YouTube at 43:12 · Open the segment

Do any authentic hadith prove jinn possession?

2020-11-21T00:00:00Z

Do any authentic hadith prove jinn possession?

The hadith cited for possession prove nothing: the Bukhari report that Satan runs in the veins concerns suspicion, the Bukhari report of the epileptic woman treats epilepsy as an illness to be borne patiently, and the remaining reports are weak. Mufti Abu Layth says the hadith cited for possession prove nothing: the Bukhari report that Satan runs in the veins concerns suspicion, the Bukhari report of the epileptic woman treats epilepsy as an illness to be borne patiently, and the remaining reports in Ibn Majah and elsewhere are weak.

Answer from 21 November 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: There is no jinn possession in Islam (reply to Sh Omar Suleiman's video) | Mufti Abu Layth (at 34:00)

A more recent answer on hadith/false-and-fabricated exists (18 October 2025): Why does Mufti Abu Layth see the Quran-only movement as a reaction of anger?

Watch on YouTube at 34:00 · Open the segment

What did classical scholars say about whether jinn can harm or possess people?

2020-11-21T00:00:00Z

What did classical scholars say about whether jinn can harm or possess people?

Imam al-Shafi'i rejected the testimony of anyone claiming to see jinn, Ibn Hazm forbade adding to what Allah said about them, and al-Tahawi held that Satan can only insinuate, not harm; what is called possession is mental illness, and accepting it would void responsibility. Mufti Abu Layth cites al-Shafi'i's refusal of the testimony of anyone who claims to have seen the jinn, Ibn Hazm's ban on adding to what is soundly narrated about them and al-Tahawi's denial that Satan can cause actual harm, and says that what is called possession is mental illness and that accepting possession would leave no will and no taklif.

Answer from 21 November 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: There is no jinn possession in Islam (reply to Sh Omar Suleiman's video) | Mufti Abu Layth (at 26:14)

A more recent answer on belief/unseen-beings/jinn-possession exists (26 April 2021): Do obscene or blasphemous thoughts during prayer ruin my salah?

Watch on YouTube at 26:14 · Open the segment

If a jinn could possess me, how could I be blamed for anything?

2020-11-21T00:00:00Z

If a jinn could possess me, how could I be blamed for anything?

Satan's own words in 14:22, that he had no power over people and only invited them, rule out possession: if the devil could physically prevent prayer or cause harm, people could not be blamed and responsibility would collapse. Mufti Abu Layth holds that 14:22, in which Satan says he had no power over people and only invited them, rules out jinn possession, because if the devil could physically prevent prayer or cause illness people could not be blamed and moral responsibility would be meaningless.

Answer from 21 November 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: There is no jinn possession in Islam (reply to Sh Omar Suleiman's video) | Mufti Abu Layth (at 20:58)

A more recent answer on belief/free-will-and-destiny exists (18 October 2025): If most people love praise and are punished, how is God the most merciful?

Watch on YouTube at 20:58 · Open the segment

Does the riba verse prove that jinn can possess people?

2020-11-21T00:00:00Z

Does the riba verse prove that jinn can possess people?

The riba verse 2:275 uses the image of being struck by the devil as a frame of reference the Arabs knew, like the heads of devils in 37:65; it does not establish possession. Mufti Abu Layth says the riba verse 2:275 uses the image of being struck by the devil as a frame of reference the Arabs knew, just as 37:65 likens the tree of hell to the heads of devils, and that it does not establish jinn possession.

Answer from 21 November 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: There is no jinn possession in Islam (reply to Sh Omar Suleiman's video) | Mufti Abu Layth (at 17:05)

A more recent answer on quran/tafsir exists (18 October 2025): Why are two of the daily prayers recited silently when 17:110 says not to be silent?

Watch on YouTube at 17:05 · Open the segment

What would jinn gain by possessing people, and what follows if they could?

2020-11-21T00:00:00Z

What would jinn gain by possessing people, and what follows if they could?

If jinn could possess people or take any form, nothing in Islam could be trusted and no one would be responsible for their crimes; Mufti Abu Layth notes that only Muslims who believe in possession seem to be afflicted. Mufti Abu Layth says that if jinn could possess people or take any form, as Ibn Taymiyya held, nothing in Islam could be trusted and no one would be responsible for their crimes, and he notes that only Muslims who believe in possession seem to be afflicted by it.

Answer from 21 November 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: There is no jinn possession in Islam (reply to Sh Omar Suleiman's video) | Mufti Abu Layth (at 11:49)

A more recent answer on belief/reason-and-revelation exists (18 October 2025): Why did Mufti Abu Layth bring up 3:188 against the Quran-only position?

Watch on YouTube at 11:49 · Open the segment

Can there be a balanced view on whether jinn possess people?

2020-11-21T00:00:00Z

Can there be a balanced view on whether jinn possess people?

A supernatural claim cannot be balanced; possession is either real or not. If disobedience, missing prayer and riba invited possession, most of the globe would be possessed. Mufti Abu Layth says there can be no balanced version of a supernatural claim, since jinn possession is either real or not, and that if disobedience, missing prayer or riba invited possession then most of the globe would be possessed.

Answer from 21 November 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: There is no jinn possession in Islam (reply to Sh Omar Suleiman's video) | Mufti Abu Layth (at 6:34)

A more recent answer on belief/reason-and-revelation exists (18 October 2025): Why did Mufti Abu Layth bring up 3:188 against the Quran-only position?

Watch on YouTube at 6:34 · Open the segment

The clip: Omar Suleiman on jinn possession, the riba verse and disobedience

2020-11-21T00:00:00Z

The clip: Omar Suleiman on jinn possession, the riba verse and disobedience

In the clip Omar Suleiman says jinn possession is real and affirmed by the riba verse, that most imams have seen supernatural cases, and that disobedience, especially leaving prayer and riba, removes Allah's protection and invites possession.

Answer from 21 November 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: quoted view (stated in order to be discussed, not necessarily held)

Recording: There is no jinn possession in Islam (reply to Sh Omar Suleiman's video) | Mufti Abu Layth (at 2:41)

A more recent answer on dialogue/views-on-contemporary-scholars exists (22 February 2023): Should scholars publicly condemn a scholar said to have joined in a libation ritual?

Watch on YouTube at 2:41 · Open the segment

Why do popular preachers promote belief in jinn possession?

2020-11-21T00:00:00Z

Why do popular preachers promote belief in jinn possession?

Mufti Abu Layth will answer Omar Suleiman's clip as a prime example of preachers promoting superstition; he says they appease the market that buys their commodity.

Answer from 21 November 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: There is no jinn possession in Islam (reply to Sh Omar Suleiman's video) | Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:02)

A more recent answer on dialogue/views-on-contemporary-scholars exists (22 February 2023): Should scholars publicly condemn a scholar said to have joined in a libation ritual?

Watch on YouTube at 0:02 · Open the segment

Is belief in magic spells and jinn possession part of Islam?

2020-04-22T00:00:00Z

Is belief in magic spells and jinn possession part of Islam?

Belief in possession and magic spells holds Muslims back and harms mental health, and the guest says it is not a religious teaching because no verse or authentic hadith establishes it, whatever people believe they have seen. Mufti Abu Layth notes that to believers in jinn the ordinary explanation seems the far-fetched one.

Answer from 22 April 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: quoted view (stated in order to be discussed, not necessarily held)

Recording: Shaykh Dr. Shabir Ally | Juxtaposing the Quran, Jumbling Aisha's age & Jinn Possession | MindTrap#16 (at 1:33:31)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

Watch on YouTube at 1:34:50 · Open the segment

If possession were real, why is there no sahih hadith of the Prophet casting out a jinn?

2020-04-22T00:00:00Z

If possession were real, why is there no sahih hadith of the Prophet casting out a jinn?

The Gospels make exorcism a chief miracle of Jesus, but the Quran never mentions it and there is no sahih hadith of the Prophet casting out a jinn, so the guest calls the belief overstated. Following Bilal Philips's study, he says the symptoms match psychological illness and medical treatment should come first.

Answer from 22 April 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: quoted view (stated in order to be discussed, not necessarily held)

Recording: Shaykh Dr. Shabir Ally | Juxtaposing the Quran, Jumbling Aisha's age & Jinn Possession | MindTrap#16 (at 1:29:36)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

Watch on YouTube at 1:29:36 · Open the segment

Was Jesus born of a virgin, and how could a jinn father a child?

2020-04-22T00:00:00Z

Was Jesus born of a virgin, and how could a jinn father a child?

Mufti Abu Layth says he has recently become inclined to the view of Abdul Karim Athari and Tamanna Imadi that Jesus was born naturally, since the Quran never explicitly states a virgin birth and 6:101 argues from the absence of a companion. The guest sets that controversy aside and says a jinn, being a different species, could not impregnate a woman.

Answer from 22 April 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Shaykh Dr. Shabir Ally | Juxtaposing the Quran, Jumbling Aisha's age & Jinn Possession | MindTrap#16 (at 1:25:40)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

Watch on YouTube at 1:25:40 · Open the segment

Does the Quran support the idea that Shaytan or jinn can control a person?

2020-04-22T00:00:00Z

Does the Quran support the idea that Shaytan or jinn can control a person?

The verse cited for possession is about rising on the Day of Judgment, and the Quran as a whole gives Shaytan only the power to whisper and no authority over Allah's servants. Possession would also destroy personal responsibility and let any criminal evade punishment, and Mufti Abu Layth says the claim that jinn can take any form makes the whole idea absurd.

Answer from 22 April 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Shaykh Dr. Shabir Ally | Juxtaposing the Quran, Jumbling Aisha's age & Jinn Possession | MindTrap#16 (at 1:20:45)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

Watch on YouTube at 1:20:45 · Open the segment

Does Islam teach that jinn can possess people?

2020-04-22T00:00:00Z

Does Islam teach that jinn can possess people?

Mufti Abu Layth does not believe in jinn possession, saying the Quran and Sunnah do not support it. The guest recounts a young man at his da'wah centre whose 'possession' appeared only around believers in it and vanished in front of doctors, which he reads as a psychological phenomenon rather than a jinn.

Answer from 22 April 2020 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Shaykh Dr. Shabir Ally | Juxtaposing the Quran, Jumbling Aisha's age & Jinn Possession | MindTrap#16 (at 1:15:32)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

Watch on YouTube at 1:15:32 · Open the segment

Is it wrong to judge someone who has become an atheist or left Islam?

2019-08-01T00:00:00Z

Is it wrong to judge someone who has become an atheist or left Islam?

A person's atheism or doubts are their own choice and he does not judge them; what he objects to, he says, is staged exorcisms and charity money taken under false pretences. Mufti Abu Layth says that if a person is an atheist it is their choice, as there is no compulsion in Islam, and he does not judge people who have doubts or have left the faith.

Answer from 1 August 2019 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Umm Abdullah & Hasanat Scandal | Mufti Abu Layth (at 10:45)

A more recent answer on belief/salvation-and-non-muslims exists (18 October 2025): If most people love praise and are punished, how is God the most merciful?

Watch on YouTube at 10:45 · Open the segment

Is jinn possession just a difference of opinion among scholars?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

Is jinn possession just a difference of opinion among scholars?

Mufti Abu Layth refuses to treat it that way: although scholars from Fakhr al-Din al-Razi to Shaltut, Ibn Ashur and al-Shawkani rejected possession while Ibn Taymiyya affirmed it, this is not a harmless fiqh difference like raising the hands in prayer, because the belief drives abuse and exploitation and brings ridicule on Islam. Mufti Abu Layth refuses to treat possession as one of two acceptable opinions, since unlike a difference such as raising the hands in prayer it unleashes mass exploitation and abuse and brings ridicule on Islam and the Prophet, and he notes that a number of scholars, among them al-Razi and al-Shawkani, rejected it.

Answer from 15 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn: Myth and Reality in Islam by Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:05:31)

A more recent answer on fiqh/legal-theory exists (18 October 2025): If reason helps us understand the Quran, does the reasoning of earlier scholars matter too?

Watch on YouTube at 1:05:31 · Open the segment

How does Mufti Abu Layth explain an exorcist who says he is possessed by a jinn?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

How does Mufti Abu Layth explain an exorcist who says he is possessed by a jinn?

As displacement of guilt: the exorcist's 'jinn' professed sexual love for him, which Mufti Abu Layth reads as the man projecting desires he could not reconcile with his religious identity onto a jinn. He says the man may sincerely believe it, but belief does not make it true. Mufti Abu Layth reads the exorcist's 'jinn', who professed sexual love for him, as a displacement of guilt, the projection of desires the man could not own as a religious figure, sincerely believed but not true.

Answer from 15 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn: Myth and Reality in Islam by Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:01:35)

A more recent answer on relationships/sexuality-and-orientation exists (22 February 2023): Is it okay for adults or children to change gender?

Watch on YouTube at 1:01:35 · Open the segment

Can a jinn fall in love with someone or break up a marriage?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

Can a jinn fall in love with someone or break up a marriage?

No, in Mufti Abu Layth's view: jinn, if they exist, would be as different from humans as extremophile bacteria, and nobody thinks a bacterium is jealous of their marriage. Relationships end through human behaviour, and people should own that rather than blame the jinn. Mufti Abu Layth holds that even if the jinn exist they would belong to a domain of life as remote from humans as archaea, so the idea of a jinn falling in love with someone or wrecking a marriage is absurd, and people must take responsibility for their own relationships.

Answer from 15 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn: Myth and Reality in Islam by Mufti Abu Layth (at 58:57)

A more recent answer on belief/unseen-beings/jinn-possession exists (26 April 2021): Do obscene or blasphemous thoughts during prayer ruin my salah?

Watch on YouTube at 58:57 · Open the segment

Why do cases of 'possession' in Muslim communities so often involve women with trauma?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

Why do cases of 'possession' in Muslim communities so often involve women with trauma?

Because, Mufti Abu Layth says, such cases are usually breakdowns of a psyche tormented by control, suspicion, forced or cousin marriages and abuse, which the stigma around mental health stops families from acknowledging, so they call it jinn or magic. The hadith that every disease has a cure means go and find it. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the hadith that every disease has a cure known to those who know it is a call to seek explanations, and that many cases called possession in Muslim communities, especially among women, are breakdowns under control, forced marriage and abuse that the stigma around mental health prevents families from naming.

Answer from 15 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn: Myth and Reality in Islam by Mufti Abu Layth (at 55:02)

A more recent answer on belief/unseen-beings/jinn-possession exists (26 April 2021): Do obscene or blasphemous thoughts during prayer ruin my salah?

Watch on YouTube at 55:02 · Open the segment

What is the 'jinn of the gaps'?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

What is the 'jinn of the gaps'?

It is Mufti Abu Layth's name for blaming the jinn for anything not yet understood, as atheists accuse believers of a god of the gaps. He lists conditions such as Capgras delusion, hemispatial neglect, aphantasia and foreign accent syndrome that have or will have natural explanations but would once have been called possession. Mufti Abu Layth holds that attributing whatever cannot yet be explained to the jinn is a 'jinn of the gaps' argument, as weak as the god of the gaps that atheists criticise, and that not knowing an answer does not mean it cannot be known.

Answer from 15 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn: Myth and Reality in Islam by Mufti Abu Layth (at 48:28)

A more recent answer on belief/reason-and-revelation exists (18 October 2025): Why did Mufti Abu Layth bring up 3:188 against the Quran-only position?

Watch on YouTube at 48:28 · Open the segment

If jinn do not possess people, what is ruqya for?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

If jinn do not possess people, what is ruqya for?

The Quran is a cure for what is in the hearts, meaning disbelief and superstition, not a medical treatment. Ruqya and the du'as taught against omens are a scaffolding that steadies a person's faith until it can stand on its own, because the mind clings to ritual. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the Quran's healing is for what is in the hearts, meaning disbelief and superstition, and that ruqya and the du'as taught against omens are a scaffolding, like a walking frame, that steadies people's iman because the human mind clings to ritual.

Answer from 15 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn: Myth and Reality in Islam by Mufti Abu Layth (at 44:33)

A more recent answer on quran/tafsir exists (18 October 2025): Why are two of the daily prayers recited silently when 17:110 says not to be silent?

Watch on YouTube at 44:33 · Open the segment

If exorcisms and ruqya sometimes work, does that prove possession is real?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

If exorcisms and ruqya sometimes work, does that prove possession is real?

No: real symptoms can be produced or relieved by belief alone, as Ted Kaptchuk's study with fake pills and retractable needles showed, so an exorcism or ruqya can 'work' through the placebo effect. Some people would also have recovered regardless. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the placebo and nocebo effects, demonstrated in Ted Kaptchuk's sham-treatment study, explain why people genuinely feel better or worse after exorcisms and ruqya, and that some would have recovered anyway.

Answer from 15 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn: Myth and Reality in Islam by Mufti Abu Layth (at 40:37)

A more recent answer on arts/science-and-the-universe exists (10 March 2023): Can a pregnancy last for years, as was said of Imam Malik's birth?

Watch on YouTube at 40:37 · Open the segment

What medical conditions could have been mistaken for possession in the past?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

What medical conditions could have been mistaken for possession in the past?

Conditions such as palinopsia, where after-images persist, and Charles Bonnet syndrome, where people see faces, teeth and buildings that are not there, have known brain causes today but would once have looked like demons. Oliver Sacks's patient knew her visions were unreal, unlike the persecutory beliefs of psychosis. Mufti Abu Layth holds that conditions now explained neurologically, such as palinopsia and Charles Bonnet syndrome, would in the past have been read as demons or possession for want of any other explanation.

Answer from 15 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn: Myth and Reality in Islam by Mufti Abu Layth (at 36:39)

A more recent answer on arts/science-and-the-universe exists (10 March 2023): Can a pregnancy last for years, as was said of Imam Malik's birth?

Watch on YouTube at 36:39 · Open the segment

Why does it matter whether people believe in jinn possession?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

Why does it matter whether people believe in jinn possession?

Because the belief brings mockery on Islam and sustains an industry of abuse, with beatings, sexual violence and extortion, including a house gifted to a practitioner as a 'cure'. Mufti Abu Layth says Islam will bear the blame and future generations will treat it as mythology. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the belief in possession must be confronted because it exposes Islam to mockery and underwrites an industry of beatings, sexual violence and financial exploitation, for which Islam itself will be blamed by coming generations.

Answer from 15 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn: Myth and Reality in Islam by Mufti Abu Layth (at 34:00)

A more recent answer on belief/unseen-beings/jinn-possession exists (26 April 2021): Do obscene or blasphemous thoughts during prayer ruin my salah?

Watch on YouTube at 34:00 · Open the segment

How do we know mental illness is not really jinn possession?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

How do we know mental illness is not really jinn possession?

Mufti Abu Layth answers that an explanation which fits everything, like a child told that cyborgs cause all events, is not thereby true; the jinn have become the Muslim catch-all. Such belief is what Basil Mitchell's parable of the partisan describes, a faith no evidence can shake. Mufti Abu Layth holds that using the jinn to explain anything unexplained is like a child's all-purpose conspiracy, an unfalsifiable non-propositional faith such as Basil Mitchell's partisan holds, which no evidence or reasoning can touch.

Answer from 15 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn: Myth and Reality in Islam by Mufti Abu Layth (at 28:46)

A more recent answer on belief/reason-and-revelation exists (18 October 2025): Why did Mufti Abu Layth bring up 3:188 against the Quran-only position?

Watch on YouTube at 28:46 · Open the segment

Why do only believers in jinn possession seem to experience it?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

Why do only believers in jinn possession seem to experience it?

Mufti Abu Layth says personal and family anecdotes are used to defend possession while the same Muslims dismiss Hindu miracles or Christian doctrine by reasoning against them, applying reason to everyone's claims but their own. He cites a study finding the brain's rational centre quietens during one's own religious experience. Mufti Abu Layth holds that Muslims apply reason to dismiss other religions' miracles and doctrines but switch it off for possession once a belief has been Islamised, relying instead on anecdotal experiences that only ever afflict believers.

Answer from 15 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn: Myth and Reality in Islam by Mufti Abu Layth (at 24:48)

A more recent answer on belief/reason-and-revelation exists (18 October 2025): Why did Mufti Abu Layth bring up 3:188 against the Quran-only position?

Watch on YouTube at 24:48 · Open the segment

What does the hadith 'Satan flows through the son of Adam like blood' mean?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

What does the hadith 'Satan flows through the son of Adam like blood' mean?

In context it is about suspicion: the Prophet said it after explaining to some men that the woman with him was his wife Safiyya, so it refers to the insinuations that pass through human minds, not to possession. Mufti Abu Layth adds that the exorcism trade is a large industry whose practitioners may nonetheless be sincere. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the hadith that Satan flows through the son of Adam like blood, read in its context with Safiyya, concerns human suspicion and insinuation, since the men addressed were not possessed, and that it does not support possession.

Answer from 15 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn: Myth and Reality in Islam by Mufti Abu Layth (at 22:09)

A more recent answer on belief/unseen-beings/jinn-possession exists (26 April 2021): Do obscene or blasphemous thoughts during prayer ruin my salah?

Watch on YouTube at 22:09 · Open the segment

Should I believe something just because people say the Quran or hadith say so?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

Should I believe something just because people say the Quran or hadith say so?

No: Mufti Abu Layth says the Quran itself appeals to reason, asking people to look, reflect and ponder, and condemns following forefathers blindly, so claims like possession must be tested against reason through the Quran. Someone reading the Quran without a cultural inheritance would never derive possession from it. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the Quran calls people to reason rather than to belief because it says so, and that a claim such as possession, which no one would derive from the Quran without a cultural inheritance, must be tested against reason through the Quran.

Answer from 15 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn: Myth and Reality in Islam by Mufti Abu Layth (at 19:34)

A more recent answer on belief/reason-and-revelation exists (18 October 2025): Why did Mufti Abu Layth bring up 3:188 against the Quran-only position?

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Are there authentic hadith showing the Prophet casting out jinn?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

Are there authentic hadith showing the Prophet casting out jinn?

No report of the Prophet expelling a jinn is free of criticism: the Ya'la ibn Murra and Umm Aban reports are weak, and the sound version of Uthman ibn Abi al-As's story in Sahih Muslim mentions no jinn at all, as al-Nawawi points out. Mufti Abu Layth asks why a Prophet sent as a mercy would never have taught about so common a danger. Mufti Abu Layth holds that no hadith cited for jinn possession is free of criticism, that the sound version of Uthman ibn Abi al-As's complaint in Sahih Muslim mentions no jinn, as al-Nawawi notes, and that the Prophet, sent as a mercy to mankind, never taught about so ubiquitous a danger in any sound transmission.

Answer from 15 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn: Myth and Reality in Islam by Mufti Abu Layth (at 13:03)

A more recent answer on hadith/false-and-fabricated exists (18 October 2025): Why does Mufti Abu Layth see the Quran-only movement as a reaction of anger?

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Does the Quran's riba verse prove that Satan can possess people?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

Does the Quran's riba verse prove that Satan can possess people?

No: Mufti Abu Layth says the verse is imagery, read by the commentators as describing how riba-takers rise on the Day of Judgement or as a picture of consuming greed, and the Quran uses such images, like the zaqqum tree's heads of devils, because humans have imagination. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the riba verse's image of one driven unstable by Satan's touch is Quranic imagery drawing on human imagination, read by commentators as describing the resurrection or greed, and is not evidence for possession, just as the zaqqum tree's 'heads of devils' is not.

Answer from 15 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn: Myth and Reality in Islam by Mufti Abu Layth (at 7:47)

A more recent answer on quran/tafsir exists (18 October 2025): Why are two of the daily prayers recited silently when 17:110 says not to be silent?

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Why did religious scholars end up explaining things like illness and the mind?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

Why did religious scholars end up explaining things like illness and the mind?

Because for most of history the ulama were the only educated class, so people brought them every unexplained question, from the divisibility of atoms to whether the intellect sits in the heart or the brain. They answered with the knowledge of their day, which is the background to the possession belief. Mufti Abu Layth says that the ulama were historically the only learned class and so were asked to explain worldly phenomena with the knowledge of their time, which is the backdrop against which the belief in possession took shape.

Answer from 15 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn: Myth and Reality in Islam by Mufti Abu Layth (at 3:52)

A more recent answer on belief/reason-and-revelation exists (18 October 2025): Why did Mufti Abu Layth bring up 3:188 against the Quran-only position?

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Does jinn possession exist in Islam?

2018-04-15T00:00:00Z

Does jinn possession exist in Islam?

Not as popularly pictured, Mufti Abu Layth holds: the idea of demons taking over a body and causing illness and insanity does not survive the Quran, the authentic Sunnah and reason. He asks what the jinn would even gain by it and sets out to trace where the belief comes from. Mufti Abu Layth holds that jinn or demonic possession, as popularly pictured, does not exist when examined against the Quran, the authentic Sunnah and reason, and that the first question to ask is what objective the jinn would have in possessing anyone.

Answer from 15 April 2018 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn: Myth and Reality in Islam by Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:00)

A more recent answer on belief/reason-and-revelation exists (18 October 2025): Why did Mufti Abu Layth bring up 3:188 against the Quran-only position?

Watch on YouTube at 0:00 · Open the segment

Why not treat jinn possession as just a difference of opinion among scholars?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

Why not treat jinn possession as just a difference of opinion among scholars?

Because it is not a harmless difference like raising the hands in prayer: belief in possession underwrites mass exploitation, a multi-million pound industry and ridicule of Islam and its Prophet. Al-Razi, al-Maraghi, Ibn Ashur and al-Shawkani are among those who denied it, and the abuse must end. Mufti Abu Layth refuses a diplomatic stance that treats possession as one of two valid opinions, because unlike a difference over raising the hands in prayer this belief underwrites mass exploitation and abuse and brings ridicule on Islam and its Prophet.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:56:14)

A more recent answer on history/scholars-and-imams exists (10 December 2022): How did Abu Hanifa become a scholar after starting out as a merchant?

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How does Mufti Abu Layth explain an exorcist who speaks as his own jinn?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

How does Mufti Abu Layth explain an exorcist who speaks as his own jinn?

The exorcist's 'jinn', which declared its love for him, is read as displacement of guilt: a religious man projecting feelings he could not own onto a jinn, believing it sincerely without it being true. People must own their failed relationships instead of blaming jinn. Mufti Abu Layth says the exorcist whose 'jinn' professed love for him was displacing his own guilt by projecting feelings he could not own onto a jinn, sincerely but not truly, and that the 'jinn of the gaps' is nonsensical, makes religion a joke and leaves real abuse untouched.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:51:02)

A more recent answer on wellbeing/islamic-psychology exists (19 August 2022): Why did Salman Rushdie write The Satanic Verses?

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Could a jinn fall in love with my spouse and break up my marriage?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

Could a jinn fall in love with my spouse and break up my marriage?

No: a jinn, created from fire, would belong to a domain of life as alien to us as extremophile bacteria, which do not fall in love or envy marriages. Blaming jinn or magic for a failed relationship comes from the stigma Muslims attach to mental illness. Mufti Abu Layth says Muslims' stigma against mental illness pushes them to blame jinn or magic, and that jinn, if considered at all, belong to a different domain of life from humans, like extremophile Archaea, so they do not fall in love or wreck marriages.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:48:25)

A more recent answer on belief/unseen-beings/jinn-possession exists (26 April 2021): Do obscene or blasphemous thoughts during prayer ruin my salah?

Watch on YouTube at 1:48:25 · Open the segment

Why are so many 'possessed' people in the community women?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

Why are so many 'possessed' people in the community women?

Dissociative disorders that look like possession occur mostly among women with histories of trauma, excessive control, pressured or forced marriages and childhood beatings. The psyche breaks down under such treatment just as the body reacts to injury. Mufti Abu Layth says that dissociative disorders in the community occur more often among women with backgrounds of trauma, excessive control, forced or pressured marriages and beatings, and that the psyche breaks down under such treatment as the body would, which is what gets called possession.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:45:48)

A more recent answer on society/women-and-gender exists (10 March 2023): Who carried on Imam Malik's teaching after him?

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Could strange symptoms blamed on jinn have medical explanations?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

Could strange symptoms blamed on jinn have medical explanations?

Yes: face blindness, mirror-touch synaesthesia, phantom limbs, alien hand syndrome, the Capgras delusion, hemispatial neglect, aphantasia and foreign accent syndrome are all documented conditions that the past could only call demons. Blaming the unexplained on jinn is a 'jinn of the gaps'; the Prophet's hadith on cures says go and find the knowledge. Mufti Abu Layth says the many neurological conditions science now describes, from prosopagnosia to foreign accent syndrome, show that attributing the unexplained to jinn is a 'jinn of the gaps' fallacy, and that the Prophet's hadith on cures tells people to seek the knowledge.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:37:52)

A more recent answer on arts/science-and-the-universe exists (10 March 2023): Can a pregnancy last for years, as was said of Imam Malik's birth?

Watch on YouTube at 1:37:52 · Open the segment

If jinn do not possess people, what is ruqya for?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

If jinn do not possess people, what is ruqya for?

The Quran is a cure for what is in the hearts, meaning disbelief and superstition, and ruqya and the taught du'as are a scaffolding to steady people's iman because humans cling to ritual and fall easily into superstition. The du'a against omens shows the Prophet using this method. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the Quran's healing is for what is in the hearts, meaning disbelief and superstition, and that ruqya and the taught du'as are a scaffolding Allah gave to steady people's iman because humans fall easily into superstition.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:35:16)

A more recent answer on belief/unseen-beings/jinn-possession exists (26 April 2021): Do obscene or blasphemous thoughts during prayer ruin my salah?

Watch on YouTube at 1:35:16 · Open the segment

If someone got better after ruqya or an exorcism, does that prove it worked?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

If someone got better after ruqya or an exorcism, does that prove it worked?

Not necessarily: the placebo and nocebo effects produce real relief and real symptoms, as Kaptchuk's trial with cornstarch pills and retractable needles showed. Some patients would also have recovered anyway and are counted as cures. Mufti Abu Layth says that apparent cures through ruqya or exorcism can be explained by the placebo and nocebo effects, which Ted Kaptchuk's sham acupuncture trial showed produce real symptoms and real relief, or by people who would have recovered anyway.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:31:20)

A more recent answer on arts/science-and-the-universe exists (10 March 2023): Can a pregnancy last for years, as was said of Imam Malik's birth?

Watch on YouTube at 1:31:20 · Open the segment

Could seeing figures or faces that are not there be a brain condition rather than a jinn?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

Could seeing figures or faces that are not there be a brain condition rather than a jinn?

Yes: palinopsia makes after-images persist and Charles Bonnet syndrome makes an overactive fusiform gyrus produce faces, teeth and buildings, as Oliver Sacks's patient saw men with long teeth while knowing they were not real. In the past such visions could only be explained as demons. Mufti Abu Layth says conditions such as palinopsia and Charles Bonnet syndrome show how abnormalities in the brain produce visions of people and shapes that someone in the past could only have explained as demons.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:27:25)

A more recent answer on arts/science-and-the-universe exists (10 March 2023): Can a pregnancy last for years, as was said of Imam Malik's birth?

Watch on YouTube at 1:27:25 · Open the segment

What harm does belief in jinn possession do?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

What harm does belief in jinn possession do?

Belief in possession sustains beatings, sexual violence, exploitation and the extraction of money and even houses, and because it is dressed as Islam, Islam will be dismissed as mythology by the coming generation. Neurosis and psychosis are introduced as the frame for the psychological cases. Mufti Abu Layth says the belief in possession must be tackled because it mocks Islam and its Prophet and sustains a tyranny of abuse, from beatings and sexual violence to the extraction of money and property, and that Islam will be left to carry the blame as mythology.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:24:46)

A more recent answer on belief/unseen-beings/jinn-possession exists (26 April 2021): Do obscene or blasphemous thoughts during prayer ruin my salah?

Watch on YouTube at 1:24:46 · Open the segment

How do we know mental illnesses are not really jinn possessions?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

How do we know mental illnesses are not really jinn possessions?

A theory that explains everything, like a child's cyborg conspiracy, is not thereby true, and 'the jinn' is such a theory for Muslims. Like Basil Mitchell's partisan who rationalises everything the stranger does, this is non-propositional faith that no evidence can reach. Mufti Abu Layth says that explaining anything unexplained by the jinn is a one-size-fits-all paradigm like a child's conspiracy theory or Basil Mitchell's partisan, a non-propositional faith that no evidence or reason can touch.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:19:28)

A more recent answer on belief/reason-and-revelation exists (18 October 2025): Why did Mufti Abu Layth bring up 3:188 against the Quran-only position?

Watch on YouTube at 1:19:28 · Open the segment

People I know have seen jinn possession; does that not prove it?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

People I know have seen jinn possession; does that not prove it?

Anecdotal experience is no proof: Muslims dismiss other faiths' miracle claims by reason while refusing to reason about their own, and possession afflicts only those who believe in it. A brain study found the prefrontal cortex shutting down during people's own religious experiences. Mufti Abu Layth says Muslims accept anecdotal experiences of possession while dismissing other faiths' miracle claims by reason, that possession seems to afflict only those who believe in it, and that people switch off their reasoning for their own faith.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:15:34)

A more recent answer on belief/reason-and-revelation exists (18 October 2025): Why did Mufti Abu Layth bring up 3:188 against the Quran-only position?

Watch on YouTube at 1:15:34 · Open the segment

Does the hadith that Shaytan flows in a person's blood prove possession?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

Does the hadith that Shaytan flows in a person's blood prove possession?

No: the Prophet said it to two men who saw him with his wife Safiyya, about human suspicion, and nobody present was possessed. The Quran itself appeals to reason and proof, so possession must be tested by reason, which someone reading the Quran without cultural baggage would never find in it. Mufti Abu Layth holds that the Quran itself calls people to reason rather than to belief on its own say-so, so a claim like possession must be tested against reason, and that the hadith of Shaytan flowing in the blood concerns human suspicion, as its Safiyya context shows, not possession.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:09:02)

A more recent answer on belief/reason-and-revelation exists (18 October 2025): Why did Mufti Abu Layth bring up 3:188 against the Quran-only position?

Watch on YouTube at 1:09:02 · Open the segment

Are there authentic hadith of the Prophet casting a jinn out of someone?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

Are there authentic hadith of the Prophet casting a jinn out of someone?

None of the hadith cited for possession is free of criticism; the only sound version, Uthman ibn Abi al-As in Sahih Muslim, mentions no jinn, as al-Nawawi notes, and the 'come out, enemy of Allah' reports are weak. The Prophet, a mercy to mankind, would not have left such a thing untaught. Mufti Abu Layth says not a single hadith cited for possession is free of criticism, that the sound version of Uthman ibn Abi al-As's report in Sahih Muslim mentions no jinn, as al-Nawawi notes, and that a Prophet sent as a mercy would not have left a phenomenon affecting everyone untaught.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 1:02:31)

A more recent answer on hadith/authentication exists (19 August 2022): Why did Ibn Hajar say the satanic verses story has some basis?

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Does the Quran's verse about the touch of Shaytan prove that jinn possess people?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

Does the Quran's verse about the touch of Shaytan prove that jinn possess people?

No: the riba verse describes how usurers will rise on the Day of Judgement or pictures their greed, and the image of Shaytan's touch is drawn from human imagination, like the tree of Jahannam whose fruit is 'like the heads of devils'. It is a misused verse, not a proof. Mufti Abu Layth says the riba verse 2:275 describes how such people will rise on the Day of Judgement or pictures their greed, and that like the zaqqum fruit resembling the heads of devils it is imagery drawing on human imagination, not evidence that possession is real.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 58:35)

A more recent answer on quran/tafsir exists (18 October 2025): Why are two of the daily prayers recited silently when 17:110 says not to be silent?

Watch on YouTube at 58:35 · Open the segment

Why did Muslim scholars of the past accept the idea of jinn possession?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

Why did Muslim scholars of the past accept the idea of jinn possession?

Scholars of the past were the only learned people and were asked to explain everything, from the divisibility of atoms to where the intellect sits, so they explained strange behaviour with the best knowledge they had. That is the backdrop to the confusion over possession, not a proof of it. Mufti Abu Layth says the belief in possession took root because the ulama, as the most learned people in pre-modern societies, were asked to explain every worldly phenomenon and answered as best they could with the knowledge of their time.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: general teaching

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 53:21)

A more recent answer on belief/reason-and-revelation exists (18 October 2025): Why did Mufti Abu Layth bring up 3:188 against the Quran-only position?

Watch on YouTube at 53:21 · Open the segment

What do people mean when they say someone is possessed by a jinn?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

What do people mean when they say someone is possessed by a jinn?

The popular picture is that a jinn or demon takes over a person's mind or body, causing illness, obsessive or insane behaviour and broken relationships, supposedly to create mischief. Mufti Abu Layth presents this as the urban myth he will test against the Quran, the authentic Sunnah and reason, after the guest's closing call to disbelieve the whole business.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: quoted view (stated in order to be discussed, not necessarily held)

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 49:23)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

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Why do jinn seem to afflict only people who believe in them?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

Why do jinn seem to afflict only people who believe in them?

Amulet writers, raqis and shrine touts run a business of lies, as the guest's stories of ambiguous amulets and promised sons show. Jinn never trouble him, atheists or non-Muslims, only those of weak belief, which he calls a lie against Allah and his Messenger that robs people of money and women of honour.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: quoted view (stated in order to be discussed, not necessarily held)

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 44:09)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

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Did the Prophet use ruqya or doctors when he was ill?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

Did the Prophet use ruqya or doctors when he was ill?

When the Prophet fell ill Arab doctors treated him, which is how Aisha learnt medicine, so recited verses were never meant as a cure-all and the 'treatment by Quran' books misuse the book. The Quran's verses help against whispering, and one reads them for oneself without any raqi.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: quoted view (stated in order to be discussed, not necessarily held)

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 38:51)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

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Why does the guest warn women never to go to exorcists?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

Why does the guest warn women never to go to exorcists?

Exorcists exploit women: the guest recounts a girl coached to feign possession to hide her lost virginity, and says many women have been made pregnant by such men in India and on a large scale in Britain. Every illness has a cure that must be sought by proper effort.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: quoted view (stated in order to be discussed, not necessarily held)

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 34:55)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

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Did Ibn Taymiyya believe in jinn possession, and does his view have proof?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

Did Ibn Taymiyya believe in jinn possession, and does his view have proof?

Ibn Taymiyya believed jinn possess people and treated them, but by his own rule of accepting nothing without proof from the Quran and Sunnah his claims fail: seeing something leave a patient does not prove it was a jinn. Levitating patients and beating the 'possessed' are tricks played on onlookers.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: quoted view (stated in order to be discussed, not necessarily held)

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 30:59)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

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Which classical scholars denied that jinn can possess people?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

Which classical scholars denied that jinn can possess people?

Ibn Hazm held that claiming possession is a claim without knowledge and haram, since the Prophet spoke only of whispering; al-Tahawi noted that every taught du'a is against whispering, al-Razi said Shaytan cannot cause illness, and al-Shafi'i rejected the testimony of anyone claiming to see jinn, which only prophets can.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: quoted view (stated in order to be discussed, not necessarily held)

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 23:06)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

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If doctors cannot explain an illness, could it be a jinn?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

If doctors cannot explain an illness, could it be a jinn?

An illness doctors cannot explain is not thereby a jinn; that is a story made up without proof. The Quran attributes harm to Shaytan only in the sense that people follow his whispering, as in Ayyub's prayer, and forbids claiming what one has no knowledge of.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: quoted view (stated in order to be discussed, not necessarily held)

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 19:40)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

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Is there any sound hadith that a jinn possessed someone?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

Is there any sound hadith that a jinn possessed someone?

There is no sound hadith of Shaytan possessing anyone; the Ibn Mas'ud report shows the jinn as a lowly creation fed on bones, not masters over humans. The guest's own investigations of 'haunted' houses and 'possessed' women found tricks and nothing else, and exorcism has become a big business.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: quoted view (stated in order to be discussed, not necessarily held)

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 13:06)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

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Does the Quran say that Shaytan or the jinn can possess or control a person?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

Does the Quran say that Shaytan or the jinn can possess or control a person?

The Quran never says people lose their will; it commands believers not to follow Shaytan's footsteps, which presupposes the will and power to refuse. On the Day of Judgement Shaytan himself says he had no authority except to call people, so he teaches and whispers but never forces.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: quoted view (stated in order to be discussed, not necessarily held)

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 7:53)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

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What are the jinn and what can Shaytan actually do to people?

2017-09-20T00:00:00Z

What are the jinn and what can Shaytan actually do to people?

Jinn exist and Shaytan is a clear enemy, but his only power is to whisper, as human misleaders do, and Allah gave people the fitra and reason to resist. Any claim about the jinn must be met by asking for its proof in the Quran and Sunnah and weighing its consequences; an unexplained illness is not proof of a jinn.

Answer from 20 September 2017 · auto-transcribed, may contain errors

Kind: quoted view (stated in order to be discussed, not necessarily held)

Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (at 0:04)

A more recent answer on dialogue/guest-conversations exists (18 October 2025): How should Muslims engage people with very different views of the religion?

Watch on YouTube at 0:04 · Open the segment