# Does Islam teach that jinn can possess people?

*Jinn possession: the case of a young man at the da'wah centre read as psychological*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/ksqksrxndnw/s/16/
- Date: 2020-04-22 · Kind: discussion · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Shaykh Dr. Shabir Ally | Juxtaposing the Quran, Jumbling Aisha's age & Jinn Possession | MindTrap#16 (1:15:32–1:20:45)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsQKsrXndNw&t=4532s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/ksqksrxndnw/

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

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth does not believe in jinn possession, saying the Quran and Sunnah do not support it. The guest recounts a young man at his da'wah centre whose 'possession' appeared only around believers in it and vanished in front of doctors, which he reads as a psychological phenomenon rather than a jinn.

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth says he has not believed in exorcisms and demonic possession, since the Quran and Sunnah do not show them to be true and if anything show the opposite, though the belief is widely held, and asks the guest's thoughts. The guest says he was plunged into the question when a young man who frequented his da'wah centre was found lying on the floor with brothers reading Quran over him; they explained he was possessed by a female jinn, known to be female because she spoke in a female voice, who had been affronted when he urinated against her tree as a child. The young man's problems continued until his brothers called for help because he was throwing things around the house. The guest describes the routine: the young man would call for water, which the brothers placed in his right hand, and he would transfer it to his left, drink with a satanic laugh and frighten them; with the guest present he simply fell back on the couch, which the guest took to mean he respected him as his imam, and nothing seemed abnormal. In hospital, in front of doctors and nurses, his conversation and behaviour were normal, and the possessed behaviour returned only when he was alone with his brothers. The guest interprets this not as deliberate pretence but as the young man feeding off the expectations of those who believed in possession and behaving normally with those who would not take it seriously.

## Sources and names cited

- Dr Shabir Ally (guest)
- jinn
- ruqya (reading Quran over the afflicted)

## Transcript (machine tier, 1:15:32–1:20:45)

[1:15:23] open the Pandora's box on things like exorcisms demonic possessions I know you've spoken on this in the past I've spoken on it as well I mean I've not really believed in these in saying that the Quran and some that does not show these to be true even though it is the wide while widely held as a belief by Muslims yet if anything the Koran seems to show the the opposite to be true what are

[1:15:58] your thoughts and words of this ship hmm CII was plunged into into this whole discussion because there was a young man who used to come to our Dawa center normally young man and then eventually one day I came to the Dawa Center and I found that he's there lying on the floor and some brothers are reading the Quran over him so I try to you know leave the matter as it is settle into the office and then eventually they related to me what was

[1:16:37] happening in in their way of putting it this young man was possessed by by a jinn and it happened to be a female jinn and how do they know because she speaks in a female voice and how did he get it and you know he when he was a kid he urinated against a tree and that tree was obviously possessed by this female jinn and and the jinn who was affronted by his action against the tree then decided to possess him so they were reading Quran to exorcise this gym and they were happy with their results of what they were doing but this young man

[1:17:17] continued to exhibit problems until one day his older brothers called me frantically asking for my help because this jinn possessed lad was throwing things around in the house and and becoming a real threat to them so you know when I went there I tried to talk to him and and he's calling for water so this apparently happened to be like a routine that the brothers already were familiar with he would call for the water and they will bring the water and try to give it to him in his right hand

[1:17:55] because the Muslim would drink with his right hand but this jinn possessed lad what he he transferred the water to his left hand and and and and give is a satanic type of laugh and then drink the water with his left hand so that the brothers were scared out of their wit's so here is a young man asking for water again and they dutifully go and bring the water and they place it in his right hand he he he immediately Francis left and I kick it up from the left hand and

[1:18:31] then this young man just simply fell back on on the sofa as if like falling faint well well the brothers relate to me that this would have been an occasion for great you know ocean because he was in his right hand and so on and he would be violent towards them but he wasn't violent towards me he just simply fell back on on the couch and I I interpreted this different behavior to mean that he respects me as his Imam and and and he was fine with being violent towards

[1:19:10] others but not towards me so I felt all of this as a normal type of behavior I didn't see this as any kind of gin possession or anything all right so things were we're still not getting under control so we took him to a local hospital and they're in the hospital when we went when we were like in the presence of the doctors and nurses and so on all of the conversation would be quite normal and behavior is quite normal when the doctors and so on leave and and were alone with him just me his brothers and and him then they were all be all this kind of acting up

[1:19:50] and and I don't mean acting up in in it like in a deliberate pretence 'iv way but but but suddenly suddenly the lad is transformed into this Djinn possessed individual again you know so the way I interpreted all of this is that when he is with people who believe that this is a phenomenon he is exhibiting the symptoms of that phenomenon and and when he is with people whom he knows like the doctors and nurses who are not going to take this with a grain of salt he he behaves normally so I'm not saying that he's deliberately pretending and trying to deceive anyone

[1:20:28] but I think that somehow in his psychology he's deliberately not deliberately but he is playing up to they like he's feeding off the vibes around here brother if that this happens it is the gin and so on and so he's acting in this way so I started reading the books which explained this phenomenon and I saw that the books which are written by me some scholars to prove that this is an Islamic belief really lacked the proof that I would have expected so for example they want to prove it from the Quran so they take a verse of the Quran that says a Lavinia who know Reba lie Huna in life am i Akuma lady yet a hobbit of shaitana

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment KsQKsrXndNw/s/16. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/ksqksrxndnw/s/16/

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