# Does the riba verse prove that jinn can possess people?

*The riba verse and the heads of devils: Quranic imagery, not proof of possession*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/6apj1fumn24/s/5/
- Date: 2020-11-21 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: There is no jinn possession in Islam (reply to Sh Omar Suleiman's video) | Mufti Abu Layth (17:05–20:58)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aPj1fuMN24&t=1025s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/6apj1fumn24/

**Topics:** Jinn possession; Tafsir and verse study; How to read the Quran

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** 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.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** 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.

**Evidence, his words at 17:22:** “the actual verse has nothing to do with jin possession everybody is in agreement the actual verse is speaking about people who consume riba on the day of judgment” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aPj1fuMN24&t=1042s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth turns to the verses Suleiman cited. He shows the verse in Surat al-Baqarah on riba and says everyone agrees it has nothing to do with possession: it says that those who consume riba will, in the afterlife, be as though touched by the devil, using a word that means to be thrown about or to keep falling chaotically. To the objection that Allah would not use the image unless it were meaningful, he answers that Allah uses imagery for which the Arabs had an imaginative frame of reference, and gives a parallel in Surat al-Saffat, verse 65, where the tree in the pit of hell emerges as though it were the heads of devils, though no human has ever seen the heads of devils; the frame of reference is there for the imagination, not because anyone has seen them. He then begins the positive case from the Quran, turning to the verse in Surat Ibrahim in which Satan speaks when the affair is settled.

## Sources and names cited

- Quran 2:275 (those who consume riba stand as one struck by Satan): https://quran.com/2/275
- Quran 37:65 (its shoots are like the heads of devils): https://quran.com/37/65
- Quran 14:22 (Satan: I had no power over you): https://quran.com/14/22
- riba
- shaytan

## Transcript (machine tier, 17:05–20:58)

[16:45] [Laughter] that two muslims who believe in jin possession it's funny that muslims who don't believe in jin possessions never get attacked by jinn only muslims who believe in jin possessions you know that's the the dumbest thing this let's go to these verses that he mentioned now this is a right just bringing this here so as you can see just gonna fix this right you can see here this is

[17:22] a verse of the quran now this is a verse you've got in surah baqarah speaking about riba now the actual verse has nothing to do with jin possession everybody is in agreement the actual verse is speaking about people who consume riba on the day of judgment or in the afterlife they will be as though they have been afflicted by the devil now that's

[17:59] so people said well you know like said well why has allah then mentioned this example unless it has unless it's meaningful so why would god say uh as though they've been you know possessed or it doesn't say possessed but as though they've been touched by the devil which was often a word used yet but means to be kind of like to be thrown around or smacked around uh or it could mean to to kind of be constantly falling

[18:35] now to be chaotic with mass with a touch of the devil now this is simply the answer is that allah uses certain imagery that the arabs at the time had some um imaginative frame of reference for and this isn't the only place in the quran here is another example you will see in this verse in safart allah is saying verse 65 that speaking about the afterlife and

[19:12] in a particular tree in in the pits of hell that it emerges as you can see here verse 65 it emerges as though it is the heads of demons of devils now no insane has ever seen the heads of devils so they don't know what this tree looks like but why has allah then given a frame of reference if nobody knows what the tree looks like and the simple answer that everybody will say is that's to use your imagination everybody and and you can see that right

[19:51] there in that verse says oh this is just for the arabs to use their imagination not that anybody has actually seen what the heads of shayateen look like now how do we know that jin possession does not exist clearly by the quran you will see here is a verse of the quran now in surah ibrahim you will see this there's a verse right there that shaytan and shaytan said when the when the affair was settled so it's speaking about the afterlife

[20:31] that when everything was settled the shaitaan says that he says that in allah allah had promised you something and that and that turns out to be true and i promised you something and i betrayed you now listen to this is the quran allah is saying this is what the shaitaan himself is saying

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment 6aPj1fuMN24/s/5. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/6apj1fumn24/s/5/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.