What is your opinion on the violent methods of beating the possessed person to the extent that the jinn may die as a result and come out dead?

The questioner: So, a quick, incidental question. Many people who recite the Qur'an over a person possessed by jinn use electricity and severe beating. Some of them order it to come out, and it comes out. But some people do these things, yet they do not bring it out except dead. They beat it until it dies, meaning this jinn, this jinn, and then it comes out, saying from the right or left nail, and they beat it with the nail or something of that sort, and it dies. So, what is the ruling?

The Shaykh: We do not now see any expansion in the practice of contacting and being misled by jinn through the recitation of the Noble Qur'an, where the Lord of the Worlds said... from the jinn. You may see in this time some people dealing with jinn under the name of exorcising the jinn. I believe this is one of the trials of the current era. What preceded this demonic phenomenon was the summoning of spirits, which used to be called magnetic summoning. That was replaced by the summoning of spirits, and that was eliminated with time. Now, contact with jinn has taken its place: "Are you a Muslim? Are you a disbeliever? Are you...?" and so on. This is actually a long discussion, but on the occasion of what you said—that sometimes the jinn comes out, that the jinn came out dead—this is part of the complete misguidance of jinn for humans, of this kind. When the jinn in the possessed person says, "I am a Muslim," what is to stop this Muslim human from knowing whether this is true or false? Or it says, "I am a Jew, or a Christian, or a Buddhist, or something similar," and all of this has reached us. So, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), as you know from the authentic hadith, said: . And it came in Sahih al-Bukhari and others that the human sometimes tells the truth in some prophecies and news because he has a companion from the jinn. This companion from the jinn ascends to the sky and steals the hearing, then comes and throws into the ear of his human companion what he heard from the sky of the angels' conversation. He hears a piece of news and adds to it ninety-nine pieces of news from his own invention.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: So he lies in the ninety-nine and tells the truth in the one. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) explained this when it was said to him, "We see them sometimes telling the truth," and he said: . So, the jinn fabricates news to mislead humans. Among the fabrications is when it says, "I am a human, I am... excuse me, a Muslim, a Muslim jinn, I am this, I am that." And I say on this occasion: We humans, one of us differs from another human for a year, two years, three, four, or more. This human does not know that this jinn is a hypocrite, being insincere, and wanting to mislead him! The end of the matter is: It is not permissible except to recite the Qur'an over this possessed person, over this jinn. If it comes out, so be it. But conversing with it, listening to its speech, and not knowing how this speech is conducted—this is one of the trials of this time. Therefore, do not believe except in the recitation of the Qur'an only. As for this severe beating that I mentioned, and sometimes the use of electricity, and so on.

The questioner: Shaykh, two hundred and forty volts.

The Shaykh : I seek refuge in Allah.

The questioner: No, but he says to you, "When I asked him, he came with us on the basis of debating the issue, so I told them: It is not permissible to use [electricity]. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'He held it and said: .' They said, 'No, this is difficult with some jinn, so it does not come out except with electricity.'"

The Shaykh : What did he know?

The questioner: He says, "We have used it on patients."

The Shaykh: It is not permissible, my brother. The jinn are a realm of the unseen. We do not know of the unseen except what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has informed us of. Then, there is now the involvement of women; they go to these people, and they beat them and extend their hands, meaning, figuratively, it is a very great trial. So, it is not permissible. Yes.