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

*Al-Shafi'i, Ibn Hazm and al-Tahawi on the devil's limits; possession would void taklif*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/6apj1fumn24/s/7/
- 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 (26:14–34:00)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aPj1fuMN24&t=1574s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/6apj1fumn24/

**Topics:** Jinn possession; Jinn, angels and the devil; Depression and anxiety

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

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

**Evidence, his words at 32:50:** “this completely ruins the message of islam there is zero will irrada there is zero taklif because you don't know who's possessed who isn't” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aPj1fuMN24&t=1970s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth says the Quran states that Satan has no power to make people ill, cause death or affect life or health, otherwise he would simply have killed the prophets; people give him far more than he has. Against the claim that imams have witnessed jinn, he cites al-Bayhaqi's report with a clear chain that Imam al-Shafi'i said the testimony of anyone who claims to have seen the jinn would be refused. He cites Ibn Hazm in al-Fisal: Allah mentioned certain things about the jinn, whoever adds to them follows what he has no knowledge of and that is haram for him, and only sound narration counts; he notes that some scholars thought epilepsy involved the devil because, on the science of the day, the four humours reaching the brain were thought to trigger it, whereas today neural activity can be seen and measured. He adds Fakhr al-Din al-Razi to the list and cites Imam al-Tahawi that people seek refuge from Satan in what he has capacity for, namely insinuations and making things appealing, and that causing actual harm or ruining property or animals is out of the question. He argues that accepting possession would empty every crime of value, that Tourette's or catatonic schizophrenia would be called a jinn when ruining one person does nothing to harm mankind or Islam, and that these are mental health issues. Since Satan says blame yourselves, there would otherwise be no will and no taklif; the Prophet's seeking refuge concerned whispers, which are invitations one is free to accept or refuse, so pushing this, he says, is irresponsible and reflects a poor understanding of Islam.

## Sources and names cited

- Imam al-Shafi'i
- al-Bayhaqi
- Ibn Hazm
- al-Fisal fi al-Milal (Ibn Hazm)
- Fakhr al-Din al-Razi
- Imam al-Tahawi
- taklif
- iradah (will)
- waswasa (whispering)
- shaytan

## Transcript (machine tier, 26:14–34:00)

[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

[26:34] has no power whatsoever that he can make people fall ill or that he can make them suffer pain he has no power whatsoever over that and you can see that right there he has no power to cause death or to afflict you know to impact life or to impact health because if that's the case he would have just been he would have just attacked prophets he would have just killed them he would have just you know he doesn't have these powers you are just giving him much more than he actually has and i show you something interesting

[27:12] all the like um said oh all these imams have witnessed jinns and all these things now check this out this is imam shafa baihaki brings with a clear chain saying imam shafer he says anybody who claims to have seen the jinn we would refuse to accept that person's witness testimony we would refuse to accept his witness testimony then you've got

[27:44] this is ibn hasan in his thistle he highlights as well he mentions that look allah mentioned certain things whoever increases above that about jinn possessions he has followed what he has no knowledge about it is haram for him to do that and he says that the only thing we know is from a sound narration and these things haven't come to us and he does accept now you see some of these scholars they accept that they used to think maybe epilepsy was something to do with the demon now you have to understand why

[28:23] because look at you see look at epilepsy now go back hundreds of years and imagine looking at that phenomenon and not understanding how it because a person suddenly goes into shock sometimes they start foaming at the mouth they start shaking start smacking and people don't know what's causing because a person could be absolutely fine so in the past some people felt that it had some internal it was to do with humors the humors reached the brain they triggered this and

[29:02] these people felt that maybe demons assisted those like they did something for those humans to react in that way and that they were basing it on this science of the day that science is utterly wrong we know that's not what triggers uh epilepsy and it is the actual neural activity in the brain that is doing it we can actually see it and measure it as it happens so people of like obviously ibn hasem living almost a thousand years ago he says that look these things may be to do with the humors the greek the greek humors the four humors that you have

[29:41] uh in the body and maybe the devil has something to do with impacting those humors but obviously that is the science of the day and age but even he clearly says that look anything else is so you've had imam shafi'i you've had fakhruddin you've had ibn hazm you've got here imam tahawi look at this he clearly says that people have been asked to seek refuge from the shaitaan in what the shaitaan has capacity over them and that is simply

[30:17] just insinuations telling you in making certain things look appealing that's all and he says that as to he mentions him as to making what he says as to causing actual harm to them or ruining their stuff or causing making the animal suffer or he says yes no shaytan has no means of doing things like that that is utterly out of the question and

[30:56] so you have to just remember something if you accept jin possession nothing carries any value anymore because the any every single crime could be possessed a murderer could just be possessed how do you know what makes you think possession must only be like catatonic schizophrenia so when a person has or tourettes they would just say this is this is a gin but you know if that's the case what good does it if a gin is trying to damage humanity

[31:35] what good does he get by just screwing up this person you know just making one person have schizophrenia how does that ruin mankind it doesn't how does it ruin islam it doesn't so people the these are all mental health issues there is not the quran is clearly against this the shaitaan is saying look all i can do is all i can do is just washwasa i can just invite you to do something

[32:10] look at this he says don't blame me blame you but if he had actual power we can blame him you know if i'm trying if i'm trying to do something physical like imagine leave this building but somebody's actually holding me they're actually physically holding me here i can blame them like if i didn't get out in time i can blame them i can say you know what this is actually your fault so if the shaytan is physically holding me and suppressing me to do something i can blame him but the quran says the shaitaan is being clear that

[32:50] blame yourselves you accepted the invite i just said hey why don't you do this you did it not me this completely ruins the message of islam there is zero will irrada there is zero taklif because you don't know who's possessed who isn't and if you say well no if a person is possessed then it becomes apparent because they they look almost handicapped you think well why why does a person have to look dumb or stupid when he's possessed that might be just dumb and stupid jin how do you know that intelligent jinn

[33:26] won't be more intelligent than that and you because you don't know you're not getting this from the quran anyway you're not getting this from the sunnah and he quoted by the way he quoted he goes on to explain uh saying the prophet used to use these to bless himself now first of all clearly mentions it's just you were swiss it's just whispers and that too where do these whispers come from these infield invites

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment 6aPj1fuMN24/s/7. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/6apj1fumn24/s/7/

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