What is the authenticity of the narrated hadith in which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) recited over a boy, and something like a puppy came out of him?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : And what is the authenticity of the hadith whose meaning is: that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) recited over a boy, and something like a puppy, or resembling a puppy, came out of him? There has been a lot of talk about this issue; we need a comprehensive answer. May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : There is no doubt among the scholars of the Muslims that the possession of humans by jinn is a reality, both in the past and the present. There is an indication of this in the statement of Allah the Exalted when He described the one who consumes riba (usury or interest), saying:[Al-Baqarah 2:275] This is an indication that Satan takes control of a person and strikes him to the right and to the left. This is what is called al-sara' (epilepsy). This epilepsy, whose cause is the domination of jinn over humans, is of a type that is not reached by the known material medical treatments of today. Therefore, doctors, whether they are disbelievers or Muslims, have thrown in the towel because they have no cure for such a disease, as it is related to what lies beyond the natural cosmic causes that are within the length of the human being. As for the jinn, they are a creation as Allah the Exalted described them: [Al-A'raf 7:27] Therefore, the doctors' medicines are of no benefit for this type of epilepsy. Epilepsy has other types which they treat and succeed in curing, but when the cause of the epilepsy is the jinn, there is no cure for it except the lawful ruqyah (healing by Qur'anic recitation), namely the recitation of certain Qur'anic verses or authentic Prophetic supplications. This verse points to this reality. Then come authentic hadiths, including the hadith mentioned in the question. The hadith is in *Musnad al-Imam Ahmad* (may Allah have mercy on him) through various routes, some of which are good: . I do not remember now if the hadith, as it came in the question, mentions something resembling a puppy; this may be in some narrations. But the important point in the hadith is that it came out and he was cured, as if he had been untied from a rope. .
Those who judge by their minds regarding the texts of the Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law) undoubtedly do not accept such reports, because they require faith and knowledge of the routes of hadith, which they do not know, and trust in the imams of hadith, in whom they do not place trust. If they were to do so, they would surrender the leadership of their thought and mind to these hadiths narrated by the people of the Sunnah, which are authentic and not weak. If they knew something of the science that this hadith is weak and cannot serve as a proof, we would say there is no harm. But the noble verse points to what came in this hadith and others, and it has come through routes, some of which are proofs, as I mentioned earlier.
Furthermore, the practice of the scholars of the Muslims has been to follow the noble Prophet (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him). They were known for treating some epileptics in the same way that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) treated that boy. If some of these scholars had been among those who follow the charlatans and fraudsters, we would assume that deception had entered into this matter for them. But as for Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, who raised the banner of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and the call to the Book and the Sunnah, and fought against superstitions and the fraud of the Sufis and Sufi women and the like, this is the man who became famous for treating epileptics and reciting over them certain Qur'anic verses, so that the epileptic would return as if he had not been touched. So denying these realities that came in some authentic hadiths and were acted upon by some of the imams like Ibn Taymiyyah is, in fact, stubbornness beyond stubbornness. And it is amazing that some of those who deny these realities criticize some of the students of our Salafi (a follower of the Salaf) brothers or the people of hadith who may actually rush in adhering to a hadith and err regarding an imam of the Muslims, simply because he came across an authentic hadith and does not care who contradicts them. This group says with disapproval: How is this, when every science has its people and specialists? And they give examples: If you have a sick person, for example, you take him to the scholar, not to the doctor. And if the patient is afflicted with a disease of the eye, you take him to the specialist in treating the heart and chest and the like?!
He says: Every science has its specialization. He states this truth, and there is no doubt in it at all. Then he forgets it, and his traditional, jurisprudential, madhhab-based (school of jurisprudence), materialistic mind judges and denies these realities. So the people of hadith affirm this story, and he does not care about it in the least.
The Shaykh : There is no doubt among the scholars of the Muslims that the possession of humans by jinn is a reality, both in the past and the present. There is an indication of this in the statement of Allah the Exalted when He described the one who consumes riba (usury or interest), saying:
except as one stands who is being beaten by Satan into insanity
كما يقوم الذي يتخبطه الشيطان مِن المسّIndeed, he sees you, he and his tribe, from where you do not see them
إنه يراكم هو وقبيله من حيث لا ترونهمThat the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by a woman who had a boy afflicted with lamam, a touch from the jinn. She brought him to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and complained to him about his condition. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited over him some Qur'anic verses and ordered the jinn possessing this boy to come out, and it came out.
أنَّ النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم مرَّ بامرأة لها صبي مصاب بلمم، بمس من الجن، فجاءت به إلى النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم وشكت إليه حاله فقرأ عليه النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم بعض الآيات القرآنية وأمر الجن المتلبس بهذا الغلام بأن يخرج فخرجThen when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) returned and passed by the woman, he asked her about the boy, and she mentioned that he no longer saw what he used to see before.
ثم لما رجع النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم فمرَّ بالمرأة فسألها عن الغلام فذكرت بإنه لم يعد يرى ما كان يرى من قبلThose who judge by their minds regarding the texts of the Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law) undoubtedly do not accept such reports, because they require faith and knowledge of the routes of hadith, which they do not know, and trust in the imams of hadith, in whom they do not place trust. If they were to do so, they would surrender the leadership of their thought and mind to these hadiths narrated by the people of the Sunnah, which are authentic and not weak. If they knew something of the science that this hadith is weak and cannot serve as a proof, we would say there is no harm. But the noble verse points to what came in this hadith and others, and it has come through routes, some of which are proofs, as I mentioned earlier.
Furthermore, the practice of the scholars of the Muslims has been to follow the noble Prophet (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him). They were known for treating some epileptics in the same way that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) treated that boy. If some of these scholars had been among those who follow the charlatans and fraudsters, we would assume that deception had entered into this matter for them. But as for Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, who raised the banner of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and the call to the Book and the Sunnah, and fought against superstitions and the fraud of the Sufis and Sufi women and the like, this is the man who became famous for treating epileptics and reciting over them certain Qur'anic verses, so that the epileptic would return as if he had not been touched. So denying these realities that came in some authentic hadiths and were acted upon by some of the imams like Ibn Taymiyyah is, in fact, stubbornness beyond stubbornness. And it is amazing that some of those who deny these realities criticize some of the students of our Salafi (a follower of the Salaf) brothers or the people of hadith who may actually rush in adhering to a hadith and err regarding an imam of the Muslims, simply because he came across an authentic hadith and does not care who contradicts them. This group says with disapproval: How is this, when every science has its people and specialists? And they give examples: If you have a sick person, for example, you take him to the scholar, not to the doctor. And if the patient is afflicted with a disease of the eye, you take him to the specialist in treating the heart and chest and the like?!
He says: Every science has its specialization. He states this truth, and there is no doubt in it at all. Then he forgets it, and his traditional, jurisprudential, madhhab-based (school of jurisprudence), materialistic mind judges and denies these realities. So the people of hadith affirm this story, and he does not care about it in the least.