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

*The guest's closing words, and what people mean by 'jinn possession'*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/7z8yu8kr83y/s/10/
- Date: 2017-09-20 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (49:23–53:21)
- Status: a view quoted in order to be discussed, not a position held
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z8yu8Kr83Y&t=2963s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/7z8yu8kr83y/

**Topics:** Jinn possession; Jinn, angels and the devil; Guest conversations

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

## Longer summary

The guest finishes his session by asking why the jinn never stop him going to prayer, never afflict atheists or non-Muslims, and only trouble those of weak belief, mostly the ignorant in the villages, and calls the belief a great lie against Allah and his Messenger spread to take people's money and women's honour. Mufti Abu Layth then opens his session by setting out the public perception he intends to deconstruct, stressing that he is not saying it is correct: demons, the shayatin or jinn, are thought to enter the mind or take over the body, after which the person falls ill, develops perceptible mental health problems, obsessive behaviour, breakdowns in relationships, bouts of insanity, screaming, anxiety or catatonic freezing and strange gestures. He asks why the jinn would do this and reports the usual answer: to create mischief (fitna and fasad), destroy relationships and harm the children of Adam. This, he says, is the problem to be deconstructed by going back to the Quran, the authentic Sunnah and the sound voice of reason.

## Sources and names cited

- Shaykh Akram Nadwi (guest)
- jinn
- Shaytan
- fitna and fasad (mischief and corruption)

## Transcript (machine tier, 49:23–53:21)

[49:13] that you don't believe me that should to fight me that means don't believe me do you make everybody - no disrespect us I die insert them I humor them I don't respect any Imogen why the door come to me think really you know I go for the Priya I'll go for the potato - stop me and I already stopped people from believing them did not ever whenever I go for the prayer know she'd come and stop me you know just think not only meet happy many many of these you know people who are atheist don't believe anything nothing can come to me to them nothing happens in many many Muslims non-muslims bring this thing nothing ever didn't only happen about those who have got this week belief they

[49:53] think they're you know there's something like that they are the one who suffer from the still and were there more ignores these more cases in the villages you know in people who were not learner this could happen more among them people are have any sense any knowledge any wisdom anything they never affected by anything like that so it was this really big lie Nikolai I guess Allah the messenger to sing something like that and to spread this rumor among the people to get the peoples of money and could take the honor of the women this really no doubt you know it really the punishment will be very very severe in the dev team

[50:30] so when we speak about possessions there's an understanding that people have that are like demons out there and these demons that people envisage are the the shayateen or the jinn and they come and take over they somehow people may vary in the interpretation but they come into the mind or they take over the body of people and usually what they do is they make a person go ill this is the public perception I'm just saying I'm not saying this is correct um this is what the myths the general urban myth out there is that once these demons have

[51:06] possessed people they usually become ill they developed some kind of perceptible mental health issues so they become weird they might appear obsessive they've got OCD this is this is what people their relationships usually mess up this is one of the key things that okay the relationships going downhill it's usually all they've developed some kind of illness or about of insanity they act weird or sometimes what could be called catatonic schizophrenia so

[51:45] they they develop weird limp actions and they freeze and - you know these kind of gestures going on and so this is usually when people see this this is what they picture as Djinn possessions and also in the bouts of insanity they're screaming and shouting and anxiety and all this stuff now a first the key question is why why would the Djinn be doing this that's one question comes to mind we're not saying it's definitely not true but let's just entertaining this premise for a moment why would the Djinn be doing

[52:22] this what is the objective of the Djinn in doing this to start off with well the key thing that comes to mind that most people believe that the kind of cultural myths out there is to create mischief on earth this is the interpretation that to create fitna and facade and to destroy relationships and to harm bani adam' this is what people think so that's the topic and it's not the topic so this is the problem at hand that we're trying to deconstruct and show we'll actually now with that in mind

[53:02] that picture let's go back to the true sources the Quran the Sunnah the authentic Sunnah and and and out the sound voice of reason and let's take a look at this right gene possession demonic possessions the way people pictured this understanding that we've defined does not actually exist but I want to go into why do people where is this confusion stemming from within the Quran and Sunnah where is this coming from and then I want to take a look at

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment 7z8yu8Kr83Y/s/10. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/7z8yu8kr83y/s/10/

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