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

*Satan had no power over you: free will, blame and the excuse of physical harm*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/6apj1fumn24/s/6/
- 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 (20:58–26:14)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aPj1fuMN24&t=1258s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/6apj1fumn24/

**Topics:** Jinn possession; Free will and destiny; Tafsir and verse study

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

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

**Evidence, his words at 24:15:** “if a jinn is beating me up when i'm praying why do i have to pray that's stupid and why is it my fault for not praying then” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aPj1fuMN24&t=1455s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth reads Satan's words in 14:22, that he had no power over people and only invited them, so they should blame themselves and not him. He says this matters because those who believe in possession hold that the devil can make a person sick, cause death, cancer, schizophrenia or, as Suleiman said, physical pain when the Quran is read; if the devil could physically stop righteous actions, the Quran's address to people as beings with willpower would be unfair, like inviting someone to eat while setting a trap on the way. He explains that in Islam a person threatened with a beating for praying has a valid dispensation not to pray at that moment and may make it up later, since one need not take physical abuse to pray; so if a jinn beat a person for praying, the person could not be blamed for not praying, and if a jinn impaired reason or made someone kill, the laws could not apply. He then addresses the verse in Surat Sad about Ayyub, saying that several commentators note that his illness had natural causes and that what Satan did was waswasa, whispering doubts that God had forsaken him, which naturally caused suffering.

## Sources and names cited

- Quran 14:22 (Satan: I had no power over you, I only invited you): https://quran.com/14/22
- Quran 38:41 (Ayyub: Satan has touched me with hardship): https://quran.com/38/41
- Ayyub (Job)
- waswasa (whispering)
- rukhsah (dispensation)
- shaytan

## Transcript (machine tier, 20:58–26:14)

[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

[21:07] i had no power over you illa and all i did was invite you i said hey why don't you do this fast you responded do not blame me blame yourselves now why is this important if the devil could actually take over your body he could make you sick now they believe that the devil can make you sick

[21:44] he can make you die he can cause death he can cause cancer he can cause diseases he can cause schizophrenia he can make you not pro it's like omar suleiman said in that video oh if you were possessed if you recited the quran you would feel physical pain stopping you from reading the quran so he could cause you physically to stop doing righteous actions how do you have willpower then how is that the quran addresses you as though you have willpower it tells you look why didn't you do

[22:21] that that's totally unfair if god is going to say look oh why didn't you it's like i ask you to do something oh look what hey why don't you come over here and eat and the moment you start walking over here i've got like a trap set up so now you get caught in that trap and i go well hey why don't you come over here and eat and you're thinking well well that's what i'm trying to do but so if you're saying well wait a minute god is saying pray god is telling you recite the quran however you can't recite the quran because the devil will

[22:59] physically beat you up if you recite the quran he's let's say he's punching you up from inside he's punching he's giving you liver shots so you're feeling as in um said physical pain like i'm actually suffering to read the quran then how am i blamed for not reading the quran let's say it was actually let's say it was actual like if i was now let's say it was salah time and an actual person said to me or he said to you that if you pray right now i will beat you up in islam you do not right now need to pray

[23:38] you can wait till later on you don't need like that is a valid excuse not to pray in islam there is a rosa if you are about to face physical harm you can not do it you can choose to not do it so if a person let's say a person had a stick and he said well if you pray i'm gonna beat you with this stick right now you cannot pray you can choose in islam it is absolutely in fact that is the suitable decision to not cause harm don't worry you can make up for that salah you don't need to pray right now you don't need to take a physical

[24:15] abuse to pray allah does not you know that you don't need to be some kind of like so if that's the actual case with a human now with a jinn if a jinn is beating me up when i'm praying why do i have to pray that's stupid and why is it my fault for not praying then this is utterly stupid if a jinn is afflicting my ability to to use reason then how am i responsible for anything

[24:55] if a jinn is making me kill someone why do the laws apply to me because it could be a jinn i could say well you know jin made me do it so and they use sometimes some of these people they use another verse in surah saad of ayub alaihi when he says

[25:24] now i did show here that in this several mufassirin do highlight that look here with a yuba alaysalam because the quran he says that the harm is the illness he has wallahu and this is speaking uh right so he says uh he says

[25:52] now this sorry hayan now the illness has natural causes nobody's denying that what the shaitaan is doing is the waswasa he's saying oh has god forsaken you has god made you he's making him doubt god so this has caused suffering naturally it would cause suffering so that's what it is now let's not stop there let's go to this is you can see he clearly says

## Cite

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

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