# Is belief in magic spells and jinn possession part of Islam? *Magic spells, mental health and why possession is not a religious teaching* - URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/ksqksrxndnw/s/20/ - 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 (1:33:31–1:40:04) - 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=KsQKsrXndNw&t=5611s - Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/ksqksrxndnw/ **Topics:** Magic, the evil eye and superstition; Jinn possession; Guest conversations **Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Belief in possession and magic spells holds Muslims back and harms mental health, and the guest says it is not a religious teaching because no verse or authentic hadith establishes it, whatever people believe they have seen. Mufti Abu Layth notes that to believers in jinn the ordinary explanation seems the far-fetched one. ## Longer summary Mufti Abu Layth raises the other side of the coin that harms the Muslim community's mental health: if it is not a demon, people say someone has cast a magic spell on them, even from thousands of miles away. The guest says belief in these phenomena keeps Muslims from advancing scientifically with the modern world, which has largely moved beyond beliefs once shared by all; he notes, and Mufti confirms from Britain, that young men experiencing what they take to be possession sometimes gravitate to the Muslim community and convert because they feel Muslims will understand them, which Mufti says just brings more mental health cases. The guest says Muslims must not advance an ancient belief as part of the religion, since that misrepresents it. To someone who says they saw an exorcism cure a person with their own eyes, he would say he trusts their narrative and it tells him there is something he does not know, but he denies that it is a religious teaching, because a teaching requires verses of the Quran or authentic hadith, and there are none; such beliefs come from superstition or from experiences people interpret this way. He repeats that treating possession as real would undermine the Sharia, since no one could be punished for adultery if jinn could make women pregnant, and that denying it brings people back to responsibility for their actions. Mufti recounts a man who insisted a jinn had slapped him in the eye in a dark bathroom and rejected the suggestion of a problem with the optic nerve as far-fetched, observing that to such people the obvious explanations seem far-fetched and demons and spells do not. He then proposes a few rapid questions from viewers before closing. ## Sources and names cited - Dr Shabir Ally (guest) - jinn - sihr (magic) ## Transcript (machine tier, 1:33:31–1:40:04) [1:33:25] mm-hmm you know similarly to that like what you said share about the car sometimes people do feel or maybe a Djinn is interfering or more so for extending forward from that they say that magic has been done onto my car well somebody has done magic on to me this is another the other side that afflicts you know the other side of the coin that's afflicting so much harm on the Muslim community when it comes to mental health one is demonic possessions and the other is this thing that okay well [1:34:03] if it's not a demon then it's somebody doing a magic spell on me some way and you know 7,000 miles away what what are your thoughts on this year well well all of these phenomena together like the belief that Muslims have in these phenomena is these beliefs are actually keeping muslims from advancing scientifically in along with the modern world there was a time when these things were commonly believed by muslims and non-muslims alike it seems that non-muslims have by and large advanced beyond this of course there are still non-muslims who believe in things like this [1:34:41] sometimes you find that a non-muslim is actually attracted to Islam because of something like you know that because they sometimes we find that a young man amazing that you say that because that is that is true in Canada sometimes it happens that a young man is experiencing some kind of jinn possession and he cannot be understood by people around him but he feels that Muslims will understand him so he gravitates towards the Muslim community and he converts to Islam so Mitch we've just got more mental health cases yeah so so so we [1:35:21] have to watch that we as Muslims do not take this kind of belief which belongs to people from an ancient era and advanced this as though this is part of our religion it is a misrepresentation of our religion if somebody says to me you know what shabbir you had never seen this but I've seen in my own eyes there was this case and there was this gene and there was this Exorcist well it won't follow me exhaust as they would say they shake him and he recited this and then the person was fewer than I saw it with my own eyes I would say if you're you're convinced that that happened and you believe that all the more power to you and I haven't [1:35:58] seen that I don't believe it happened but I trust you and I trust your narrative it raises the question for me it tells me that there's something that I don't know about but if you say that this is a religious teaching in Islam I have to say no because if to say it's a religious teaching we need to know which verses of the Quran specifies that teaching which hadith and how authentic they are and we have to put it all together but since there's no verse of the Quran that specifies that teaching since there is no authentic hadith as you said [ __ ] then where is this coming from as an Islamic belief it's not an [1:36:38] Islamic belief it is a belief that some people have some maybe due to source superstition some maybe due to real experiences that they have had and they're convinced that this is the reality but that's up to them but I think that it's not a reality because to say that this is a reality is going to call into question the world Islamic sharia like if you say that there is a punishment for a person like tick tick at the punishment for adultery if it is true that girls can become pregnant due to jinn possession then no one could ever be penalized for adultery because [1:37:16] everyone can say you know I again did this to me then then what would be your answer if we say however the jinns did not do this then we bring the person to to own up to their responsibility for their actions and it's amazing sometimes how illogical people's reasoning will get like a particular example I recall is I was speaking to somebody who was trying to prove to me that look I know Mufti you don't buy into all of this but I'm telling you it's true because I first and experience tea so I said well ok [1:37:54] tell me what you experienced and he said well I went into this room this bathroom or something and I'm telling you that he says I walked in everything was normal and I got this sudden pain which I had been smacked right in the eye so he said I got this sudden pain straighten me out like I've been smacked literally like somebody smacked me in the eye he said I put the light on looked around there's nobody being right so he said this nobody did [1:38:30] so this was the gin and and I said well I said well it could have been so for example something in the optic nerve they could have been other things going on oh no no no no and I said well ok let's say that is far-fetched like you're saying something in the optic nerve or something going on is far-fetched and what the fact that somebody Oh a demon is slapping you or somebody's doing a magic spell is not far-fetched like I mean look the obvious reasons become so far-fetched to people people say well but yeah I think these [1:39:09] are incredibly important I know we've kind of really been going on today shift there's been there's so much more to talk about I I'd like to just take a few quick questions maybe that some people have been posting and maybe get your responses on them and then we can you know call it a wrap inshallah and I'd love to get you on again to disk to continue certain discussions about the Quran which I did have in mind as well but these discussions were just so amazing that they kind of really I have them but I do want to at some point go over things like the holes about after off and all [1:39:49] of these kind of stuff and different variations but if we just I know a lot of people have been posting questions for you so I don't want to disappoint them if that's okay with you [ __ ] ok yeah for a few minutes yeah a few rapid round people will take some rapid round questions she will give some responses so here's a question my hidden midsize asked a right question for share I don't know if I fully understand this but it says is Islam feudal or anti feudal I don't even know if I understand but but I mean if you yeah so this has ## Cite Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment KsQKsrXndNw/s/20. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/ksqksrxndnw/s/20/ Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.