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

*Reason as the arbiter the Quran itself invokes, and 'Shaytan flows in the blood' read in its context*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/7z8yu8kr83y/s/14/
- Date: 2017-09-20 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Jinn Possessions: Myth and Reality in Islam by Sh. Akram Nadwi & Mufti Abu Layth (1:09:02–1:15:34)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z8yu8Kr83Y&t=4142s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/7z8yu8kr83y/

**Topics:** Jinn possession; Reason and revelation; Individual hadith explained

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

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

**Evidence, his words at 1:10:55:** “the Quran itself comes with this understanding that look you have to resort to reason” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z8yu8Kr83Y&t=4255s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth says the most important point is one made earlier and by scholars such as al-Razi [?]: we only know whether something is accurate through reason. People's logic today is to accept a claim because 'it says so in the Quran', but the Quran did not invite people by saying 'believe me because I said so'; it tells them to look at the camel and the sky, asks whether they do not reflect, demands proof, and condemns those who answer a call to reason by saying this is what our forefathers did. So reason is how he accepts the Quran, and such issues must be bounced back on the voice of reason through the Quran; if a person approached the Quran in a vacuum, without cultural baggage, they would not find possession in it, and people in the past used the best explanation they had for strange behaviour. He notes that our understanding comes from textual, rational, experiential and cultural sources. He then takes the hadith much used by exorcists, that Shaytan flows in the son of Adam like blood, and shows its context: the Prophet, walking with his wife Safiyya, passed two men and turned back to tell them it was his wife; when they protested that he need not explain, he said this. Nobody there was possessed or behaving strangely; the Prophet was speaking of human suspicion and insinuation. He adds that exorcism is a multi-million pound industry, though not everyone in it is devious: many raqis may be sincere and have simply bought into the idea.

## Sources and names cited

- al-Razi [?]
- aql (intellect)
- Quran 88:17-18 (do they not look at the camel, how it was created, and at the sky): https://quran.com/88/17-18
- report: the shaytan flows in the son of adam like blood said when two men saw the prophet with safiyya
- Safiyya bint Huyayy
- knowledge comes from textual, rational, experiential and cultural sources
- raqi (one who performs ruqya; exorcist)
- Shaytan

## Transcript (machine tier, 1:09:02–1:15:34)

[1:08:23] with a woman a burn once again very criticized that she speaks about her grandfather saying her grandfather came with the child saying that the child is ill and the Prophet says you know same kind of thing overage yeah I do a lot come out or enemy of Allah and they saw something coming out heavily criticized some people just say by Eve some people said it's very weak and some people try to strengthen these incidents but once again nothing sorry sorry for such a ubiquitous event for something that would affect everybody the Prophet doesn't really transmit anything in

[1:09:02] sound transmission so it's important to to take this this understanding we will be hearing a lot more about ulema that have taken certain positions that have what they've said and on both sides and I want to go into some psychological cases as well to explain things like that but the most important thing here is that what I want to highlight something and that is that it's actually I mean it's been said earlier on today you heard earlier on today but also people like Imam others early of highlight here and many of the people that bill Oakley you are a for statehood

[1:09:39] team that we only know whether something is accurate through reason when the Quran came to people you see this is people's logic today people's logic today is why is this true because they say some here well how do you know that's true because it's a ha like so for example how do you know the Quran is true well I say so in the Quran that's an illogical statement that's not even how that's not how the Quran came to us to to invite us to the Quran Allah said

[1:10:18] what he didn't say a larger to say believe in me why because I said so in the Quran and who revealed the Quran I did and therefore believing me because I said believe in me in the Quran I said I fell on the Runa a little Emily k4 holy pot do they not look at the avila LS mi a kafir don't they look at the sky don't they look here don't does it make any sense this world has come like this after that act alone do you not ponder ponder over the correlator the Burman Quran is there any

[1:10:55] s telephony is there Allah is calling you to the voice of reason he saying believe me he's condemning this thing of saying O Hara or jet na la Habana when you say to them listen to reason they say oh no no this is what our forefathers used to do so how could you so the Quran itself comes with this understanding that look you have to resort to reason now with reason you can accept you do accept I accept the Quran I accept this it makes sense to me but when we come across these issues we have to bounce

[1:11:33] them back on this voice of reason through accessing the Quran so it's important that this is this is something that I want us all to to keep in mind because this is very key to this topic of demonic possessions and stuff like this that we are we getting all these ideas from to some it to some this this segment I just want to say that we're are we getting all these ideas from because when we if we if you came in a vacuum you had no cultural history you were just an alien you just came approach the Quran and read this you wouldn't have this understanding that these things

[1:12:13] happen and the fact the second point that look people had to explain phenomenon that occurred to them in their environment and they use the best understanding they could and they saw people acting weird they can explain it maybe it is the jinn maybe it is so so they accepted it but whatever as time progresses and we get a greater understanding of what's going on people miss you several evidences and I'd highlighted before that our understanding comes to us either through what is textual rational experiential or

[1:12:51] cultural sources this is where we derive our knowledge from now what's interesting is there is a hadith that is used a lot by people and this in itself if we just sometimes just pause with hadith or evidences when they're being used by people and just look at the bigger picture it has the answer in it so we just heard a hadith share a crime I just read a hadith which is used by many such people that in the shaitaan a dream in Menomonee adam measured at them the shade Shaitan he flows through the

[1:13:30] blood off of the son of Adam through through people this is how he now this hadith it has a content the actual hadith contains the context that the Prophet is walking with his wife and there's a group of people standing there and as they walk past they carry on and the Prophet stops and he comes back and he says in a Sofia but that's my wife Sofia by the way with me and they say subhana Kalodner Subhan Allah ya rasulallah you don't need to say anything as though you don't need to justify to us you know your rasulallah

[1:14:09] this is in the context of the hadith this society this is in the hadith they say Subhan Allah ya Rasulullah you know you you you are who you are and he says in the shaitaan and Yeji demon apne atom metadata that Shaitaan that the insinuations of the Shaitaan are with each and all these people weren't possessed this we were like acting all like unstable and they were all over the place and they weren't behaving any weird symptom and displaying any weird symptoms they were just the facts suspicions that's what the Prophet was speaking about that look I'm not saying you were being suspicious

[1:14:47] but it is human to sometimes have insinuations have negative it's about people that's human so just keeping that in mind and I want us to take a look at the experiential and then the psychological right just speaking before we get into that you just heard some examples about people being so easily conned into a culture this is a massive this is a multi-million pound industry that said I'm not saying that everybody in it is necessarily devious

[1:15:26] and plotting people actually buy into the idea as well so I'm not saying people some many of these Iraqis may be very sincere in what they do they've just bought into the idea that's all experiences is an interesting one why is it that we only take our experiences you heard just a few minutes ago that these gene problems only seem to affect those people who believe in them you don't see atheists you don't see mega atheists you don't see non-muslims getting afflicted now and why only our experiences if we're gonna say yeah because a lot of people when you tell them these things

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment 7z8yu8Kr83Y/s/14. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/7z8yu8kr83y/s/14/

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